The English Language: Volume 2, Essays by Linguists and Men of Letters, 1858–1964

A collection of statements by literary men about the nature and use of the English language, its resources, potentialities and development.

W. F. Bolton (Edited by), D. Crystal (Author)

9780521095457, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 1 June 1969

340 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm, 0.67 kg

A collection of statements by literary men and others about the nature and use of the language, its resources, potentialities and development. Volume I covered the period 1490–1839. Volume II starts in 1858 and runs to the 1960s and therefore records the rise first of philology, then of modern linguistic study. Accordingly this volume contains a number of excerpts from the writings of great European and American language-scholars (Sweet, Sapir and Bloomfield among others) as well as by important writers. The volume provides a readable and often entertaining introduction to thought about English, and language generally, during the period and also illustrates the overall development of attitudes. The editors provide an introduction and study questions for those readers who use the book for formal class-study. Distinctive features of the original writings are preserved as examples of variety of style, spelling, punctuation and general presentation. Footnotes explain difficulties.

Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Charles Dickens: 'Saxon-English' from Household Words
2. Henry Sweet: 'Words, Logic and Grammar', from Transactions of the Philological Society
3. Fitzedward Hall: 'English Rational and Irrational', from The Nineteenth Century
4. Walt Whitman: 'Slang in America' from The North American Review
5. J. A. H. Murray: 'General Explanations', from the Introduction to A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles
6. George Bernard Shaw: 'A Plea for Speech Nationalisation', letter to The Morning Leader
7. Robert Bridges: 'The Society's Work', Society for Pure English, Tract XXI
8. A. Lloyd James: 'Broadcast English', BBC Pamphlet
9. Logan Pearsall Smith: 'Needed Words', Society for Pure English, Tract XXXI
10. Edward Sapir: 'Language', from Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences
11. Leonard Bloomfield: 'The Structure of Learned Words', from A Commemorative Volume
12. Eilert Erkwall: 'The Value of Place-Name Study', from the Introduction to The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names
13. I. A. Richards: 'The Interinanimation of Words', from The Philosophy of Rhetoric
14. Eric Partridge: 'Slang', Society for Pure English, Tract LV
15. C. C. Fries: 'The Social Significance of Differences in Language Practice and the Obligation of the Schools', from American English Grammar
16. George Orwell: 'Politics and the English Language', from Horizon
17. Bernard Bloch: 'English Verb Inflection', from Language
18. H. L. Mencken: 'English or American?' from The American Language
19. R. B. Lees: 'A Multiply Ambiguous Adjectival Construction in English', from Language
20. H. Kurath and R. I. McDavid: 'Introduction', from The Pronunciation of English in the United States
21. James Sledd: 'The Lexicographer's Uneasy Chair', from College English
22. Anthony Burgess: 'Words' from Language Made Plain
Study Questions
Select Index of Literary and Linguistic Topics.

Subject Areas: Educational: English language & literacy [YQC]