by Bill Bryson
Wilson, P. G. German Grammar. London: English Universities Press, 1962.
Wolff, Diane. Chinese for Beginners. New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1974.
Wood, Frederick T. Current English Usage, revised by R. H. and L. M. Flavell. London: Macmillan Press, 1981.
Wrenn, C. L. A Study of Old English Literature. London: George G. Harrap & Co., 1967.
Index
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Aby-sel-pha (Dilworth), 169
Académie Française, 150, 166, 168
accents. See dialects
acronyms, 10
acrostics, 255–56
Adams, J. N., 240
Adams, John, 150
Adams, John Quincy, 150, 191
Addison, Joseph, 155
adjectives, 48, 59, 64, 76, 147
adverbs, 64, 157
affixes, 84, 85, 155
African languages, 21, 123–24
Afrikaans, 21
Agincourt, Battle of, 56
Ainu, 15–16
Aitchison, Jean, 101, 163–64
Albanian, 25, 77
Alcuin of York, 49
Alfred the Great, king of England, 56, 96–97
alphabet(s)
alternatives to, 126–30
Anglo-Saxon, 133
Cyrillic, 34
evolution of, 126–27, 133
Greek, 254
Oriental, 128–29
phonetic, 90, 119
phonographic, 140
Roman, 133
runic, 44, 133
syllabic, 128–29
Western, 34, 126–27
American Academy of
Language and Belles Lettres, 150, 151
American Dialect Society, 106
American dialects
black, 111, 123–25
British dialects vs., 102–3, 106–7, 184
broad vs. flat a sound in, 112, 172
Dixie, 109
East Coast, 93, 109, 111–13, 187
ethnic, 111, 114, 122–24, 186–87
“hillbillys,” 187
hypercorrection of foreign accents in, 114
impact of social isolation on, 108–9, 123–24, 185–88
main eastern divisions of, 107–13
Midland, 107, 111, 186
New England, 43, 107, 109, 111, 112, 114, 187
New York City, 111–12, 113
Northern, 107–13, 184, 185
relative uniformity of, 186–87
residual British traces in, 43, 99, 104–6, 111–12, 183, 187–90
Southern, 107–9, 112, 122–24, 187
suppressed r sound in, 113
An American Dictionary of the English Language (Webster), 170
American English
Australian English vs., 117
British adoption of, 189–95
British English vs.. See British English
diction and, 92–93
efforts at reform and improvement of, 150, 152, 191–92
impact of foreign languages on, 177–97, 269–72
national concerns about, 269–74
new words coined, 77–78, 180–84, 189–92
perceived inferior status of, 190–94
varieties of. See American dialects
The American Heritage Dictionary, 90, 130, 158, 162
The American Language (Mencken), 274
American Philological Association, 141
American Revolution, 103, 150, 183
The American Spelling Book (Webster), 170
American Talk: The Words and Ways of American Dialects (Hendrickson), 109, 111, 124
American Way, 250
Amerind, 16, 76
Amherst College, 172
Amish, 185–86
amphibology, 264
anagrams, 127, 252, 255, 256, 258
The Anatomy of Swearing (Montague), 240
Angles, 42–44, 96, 229
An Anglo-American Interpreter (Horwill), 195
Anglo-Norman, 51–56, 74, 76, 133–34
Anglo-Saxons, 44–53, 151
language of, 44, 47, 52–53, 57, 75, 77, 83, 133–34, 155, 169, 241
literacy achieved by, 133
pagan and primitive culture of, 44, 46
aphesis, 92
apocope, 92
apostrophes, 148
Armenian, 25, 77, 270
Arthur, King, 46
articles, 10, 30, 48, 63
Atlanta Constitution, 124
Atlantic, 254
Augarde, Tony, 254–55
Augustine, Saint, 47
Austen, Jane, 81
Australian English, 92, 115–16, 121, 274
Ayto, J., 165
Babbitt (Lewis), 195
Bacon, Francis, 66, 191, 256
Baddeley, Alan, 163
Bailey, Nathaniel, 167
Balfour, Arthur, 140n
Barber, C. L., 53, 63
Barnett, Lincoln, 55, 56, 99, 130, 161, 202, 273
Bartlett, John Russell, 185
Basic English, 213–14
Basque, 15, 16, 37, 74
Baugh, Albert C., 46, 53, 54, 66, 74, 85, 138, 151, 161, 168, 192, 211
BBC, 190, 202, 220
BBC Advisory Committee on Spoken English, 190
Bede, 32, 46, 48, 49, 56, 97
Behan, Brendan, 41
Belgium, 3, 35–36, 207, 270
Bell Telephone Laboratories, 91
Bellow, Saul, 270
Bentham, Jeremy, 79, 192
Beowulf, 43, 57
Bernstein, Theodore M., 133, 152,
157
Bible, 61, 137, 161, 170–72
translations of, 178, 192, 213
Bickerton, Derek, 20–22
bilingualism, 3, 31–32, 34–41, 269–70
Bill 101 (Canada), 36
Bleak House (Dickens), 81
Bonhours, Dominique, 159
Boontling, 264
Bopp, Franz, 23
Bord na Gaelige, 41
Boston Morning Post, 182
Bougalie, 123
Bowdler, Thomas, 246
Breton, 37, 39
British dialects, 117–22
American dialects vs., 43, 99, 104–6, 111–12, 184, 187–90
class distinctions in, 112, 118–20
East Midlands, 57–59, 60
London, 57–59, 60, 62, 92, 98, 118, 119–20, 187–88, 267
northern vs. southern, 43, 50, 57–58, 60, 63
study of, 119–20
varieties of, 43, 57–59, 106–7, 117–22, 134
British English, American English vs.
dialectic differences in, 43, 99, 104–6, 111–12, 183, 187–90
pronunciation differences in, 171–72, 188
spelling differences in, 100, 143, 170–72, 175–76, 194
swearing differences in, 250–51
usage differences in, 2, 66, 81, 86, 103, 155, 170–72, 184, 187–97, 246–47, 251, 274–75
British Isles, 46, 47, 58, 185
Brittany, 26, 46
Browning, Robert, 73–74
Bruce-Gardyne, Jock, 156
Bryant, William Cullen, 192
Burchfield, Robert, 2, 103, 274–75
works of, 9, 52n, 78, 83, 130, 148, 149, 183
Burger brothers, 264
Burnley, David, 59
Burns, Robert, 122
Bush, George, 152, 273
Butts, Alfred, 254
Cable, Thomas, 46, 53, 54, 66, 74, 85, 138, 151, 161, 168, 192, 211
Caedmon, 48
Caesar, Gaius Julius, 142
Cajun, 123–24, 187
Cambridge University, 58, 213, 219, 228
Canada, 16, 36–37, 117, 202, 270
The Canterbury Tales (Chaucer), 56, 58, 61, 243
Canute, king of England, 52
Cape Breton Island, 26
capi
talization, 158, 260
Cardenio (Shakespeare), 65
Carlyle, Thomas, 79
Carnegie, Andrew, 141–42
Carroll, Lewis, 256
Carter, Jimmy, 152, 216
case forms, 29, 47
Cassidy, Frederic, 110
catachresis, 80–83
Catalan, 26, 37
cave paintings, 12, 13, 15
Cawdrey, Robert, 135
Caxton, William, 58, 59, 98, 137, 138
Ceausescu, Nicolae, 37
cedillas, 131
Celtic, 23, 26, 46, 51, 54, 121. See also Gaelic
Celts, 26, 42–46, 51
decline and dispersion of, 46, 54
Roman relations with, 44–45
sophisticated civilization of, 44–45
tribal vs. national character of, 26, 45
Census Bureau, U.S., 269
Charlemagne, Holy Roman Emperor, 27, 48–49
Charles II, king of England, 221
Charles, prince of Wales, 38, 119
Chaucer, Geoffrey, 55–56, 65, 81, 133, 138
language of, 58–62, 96–98, 138, 243
Cheers, 276
Chicago Tribune, 142
Chinese, 3, 16, 21
dialects of, 7, 89–90, 128, 201
writing of, 126–28, 140
Choctaw, 182
Chomsky, Noam, 18
Christianity, 47
Church of England, 47
Ciardi, John, 159
Cicero, 27, 226
circumflexes, 131
Civil War, U.S., 124, 175
Civilisation (Clark), 49
Claiborne, Robert, 117, 148
Clark, Kenneth, 49
clerihews, 256, 261
Cockney, 119, 266, 276
Cody, Buffalo Bill, 234
cognates, 16, 24
coins, 44
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 79, 155, 190
colloquialisms, 63, 78, 100
Columbus, Christopher, 32
Commissariat Général de la Langue Française, 206
Commission de Surveillance de la Langue Française, 36
Commission on Terminology, 206
Common Market, 39
A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language (Webster), 170
computers, 2, 129, 164–65, 214–15
Concise Oxford Dictionary, 249
The Concise Scots Dictionary, 122
Condell, Henry, 65
Confucius, 128
Congress, U.S., 140, 150, 217
consonants, 32, 54, 90, 93, 131
Constitution, U.S., 184, 269
Cooke, Alistair, 270
Copperud, Roy H., 157
Cornish, 41
Cornwall, 43
Council for Basic Education, 272
Cousins, Norman, 270
Cowper, William, 100–101
Cree, 63
creole languages, 20–22, 32, 200
Cro-Magnon people, 13–15
Crockett, Davy, 77
Cromwell, Oliver, 102, 136, 221
crossword puzzles, 127, 250, 252–54, 256
cryptograms, 256
Crystal, David, 55, 132, 135
curse tablets, 45
Cymbeline (Shakespeare), 80
Cynewulf, 255
Cyrillic alphabet, 34
Daily Mail (London), 275–76
Danelaw, 50
Danes, 49–50, 229
Danish, 5, 211, 215
Dante Alighieri, 27
Darwin, Charles, 140
Davenport, John, 93
Day, John, 136
de Quincey, Thomas, 154
De Recta et Emendata Linguae Anglicae Scriptione Dialogus (Smith), 149
Dean, Roy, 252
declensions, 48, 54
Defoe, Daniel, 150, 155
Des Moines Register, 273
Dhimotiki, 35
diacritical marks, 131
dialects, 25–26, 28, 57–59
distinguishing features of, 106–7
ethnic, 111, 114–15, 122–24, 186–87
occupational, 115
placement and identification through, 107–13, 115, 117–18
political and social ramifications of, 113, 116, 118–20
religious significance of, 115
as separate languages, 121
spelling reflected in, 131–34, 139, 144, 167–68
study of, 106–12, 119–20
written, 106, 119
See also specific dialects
Diary in America (Marryat), 246
Dickens, Charles, 79, 81, 155, 262
diction, 92–96
dictionaries, 160–76, 253, 256
definitions in, 160–65, 167–68
distinctions lacking in, 90, 146, 157–58, 164
early examples of, 135, 166–76
French, 150
function of, 157–58, 173
history and development of, 166–76
mistakes in, 72, 147–48, 158
quotations and illustrations in, 168
revision and updating of, 160, 173, 175
spelling in, 70–71, 147–48, 170–71
terms ordinarily excluded from, 160–61, 173, 246, 249
unabridged, 158, 165–66
vocabulary size in, 4, 160, 165, 166–67, 168, 172, 173–74, 175–76
See also specific dictionaries
Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE), 110–11
Dictionary of the English Language (Johnson), 168
A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, 147, 194, 274
Diller, K. C., 163–64
Dilworth, Thomas, 169
diphthongs, 90, 112
Disraeli, Benjamin, 264
Dissertations on the English Language (Webster), 169–70
Dodsley, Robert, 166
Dohan, Mary Helen, 79, 178
Domei news agency, 209
Domesday Book, 98, 133, 223
Dos, Don’ts and Maybes of English Usage (Bernstein), 133
double negatives, 21
Dravidian languages, 15
Dryden, John, 149
Duff brothers, 264
Dunbar, William, 241
Dutch, 10, 25, 35–36, 76, 86, 177–78, 215, 275
EastEnders, 276
The Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Bede), 46
Echo (London), 263
Eckerson, L. D., 163
Ecole Centrale de Paris, 207
Economist, 20, 33, 39, 201, 203
Education Digest, 270
Education for Economic Security Act, 217
Edward the Confessor, king of England, 52
Edwards, David, 217
Edwards, Ralph, 233
“Elegy Wrote in a Country Churchyard” (Gray), 62
Elementary Spelling Book (Webster), 170
Eliot, T. S., 217
Elizabeth I, queen of England, 99, 188
Elizabethan Age, 62, 99–100, 136,
187
ellipsis, 146
Ellis, A. J., 188
Elyot, Thomas, 79
emphasis, 90–91, 95, 101–2, 228
Eneydos, 58
England
as center of culture and learning, 47
Christianity brought to, 47
Norman conquest of, 51, 54, 223, 228, 242
Roman invasion and occupation of, 43–46, 121, 133, 221, 229, 242
seven early kingdoms of, 43
successive linguistic waves in, 42–57, 229
tribal invasion and settlement of, 12–13, 43–46, 49–50
Viking invasion and occupation of, 49–50, 229
English
advantages of, 6–7, 10–11, 67–69, 84–86, 94–95, 151–52, 159, 242–43
airlines’ use of, 2–3, 206, 249
Anglo-Norman impact on, 51–56, 74, 76, 133–34
Celtic words in, 46
as common tongue, 3, 207–8
common usage mistakes in, 147�
��48, 152–57, 159
complexities of, 2, 11, 47–48, 84–86, 87–89, 147–49
conciseness of, 10–11, 67–69, 84, 211
distinct sounds in, 90–91, 100, 101–2, 129
distinctions lacking in, 4–5, 21, 63, 68
early lower-class status of, 52, 54–55, 66
English (cont.)
estimated numbers of speakers, 1, 200–202
evolution of, 42–66, 165–66, 174
evolutionary losses in, 63, 67–68, 98–99
exceptional growth periods of, 78–79, 177
first writing in, 44
flexibility and versatility of, 6–7, 54, 84–86, 151–52, 242–43
French impact on, 75–76, 83, 101–2, 179
genderlessness of, 10, 54
Germanic basis for, 25, 42–43, 47, 53, 77, 96, 275
global use and importance of, 1–4, 66, 198–217
good vs. bad usage of, 145–59, 190–94, 273
impact of journalism and media on, 155–56, 158, 190, 191–92, 194–95, 202, 207–8, 247–50, 269–70, 276
international business and technical use of, 2–3, 78, 160–61, 198–200, 201–2, 209
international study of, 3–4, 202–3, 216–17
Latin influence on, 7, 27–28, 46, 74–77, 81, 83, 149, 155, 241, 242
other languages compared with, 4–11, 32–33, 86, 87–90
perceived decline of, 153, 269–76
redundancy in, 69
reform efforts and, 150–51, 171, 213–15
resistance to spread of, 3, 206–7, 208
richness and expressiveness of, 56–57, 67–70, 84, 87–88
scientific use of, 2, 3, 78, 160–61, 201–2
as second language, 201–2, 207–9
simplified versions of, 213–15
as symbol of colonialism, 208
teaching of, 202–3, 207
unconscious use of, 11, 91
vocabulary size and richness in, 4, 56–57, 67–70, 160–65, 168, 175–76, 177–78
words and phrases adopted by, 5, 34, 51, 53, 74–77, 101–2, 116, 131, 139–40, 177–81
words and phrases expropriated from, 2, 21, 32, 53, 198–200, 203–7
English Civil War, 221
The English Language (Burchfield), 9, 52n, 78, 83, 130, 148, 149, 184
The English Language (Crystal), 55, 132, 135
Ericson, Leif, 32
Eskimo-Aleut, 5, 16
Esperanto, 37, 212–13, 215
Espy, Willard R., 257
An Essay Upon Projects (Defoe), 150
Ethelbert, king of Kent, 47
etymology, 73, 77, 148, 173, 174, 191, 267
euphemism, 244, 247–49, 265–66
European Community, 209
European Free Trade Association, 3
Euskadi to Azkatasuna (ETA), 37
Euskara, 15, 37
Evans, Bergen, 158
Every Man in His Humour (Jonson), 245
Family Shakespeare (Bowdler), 246
Feiffer, Jules, 69
Ferris, Richard, 237
Field, Richard, 65
Fielding, Henry, 262
films, 192, 194–95, 215, 276
