The English Language: A Guided Tour of the Language

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The English Language: A Guided Tour of the Language Page 31

by David Crystal


  Braj B. Kachru, The Alchemy of English (Pergamon Press, 1986, 200 pp.). A scholarly study of the spread of non-native varieties of English, with particular reference to their impact on other languages, the emergence of new standards, and their role in literary creativity.

  Roger Lass, The Shape of English: Structure and History (J. M. Dent, 1987, 384 pp.). A synthesis of ideas and techniques relating to the history and present structure of the language. Particular reference is made to grammar and pronunciation, and to regional and social varieties.

  Dick Leith, A Social History of English (Routledge and Kegan Paul, 2nd edition 1997, 312 pp.). An introductory account of the development of the language, paying particular attention to the historical and social circumstances that affect linguistic change; makes use of relevant concepts in sociolinguistics.

  Tom McArthur, The Oxford Companion to the English Language (Oxford University Press, 1992, 1184 pp.). An encyclopedic account of the language, written by over 100 contributors in short alphabetically organized articles.

  Tom McArthur, The English Languages (Cambridge University Press, 1998, 247 pp.) An account of the current trends affecting the English language, with particular reference to the emerging range of ‘new Englishes’ the world over.

  Tom McArthur (ed.), English Today (Cambridge University Press, four issues yearly since 1985). An international review of the English language, aiming to provide a popular but responsible account of important issues in English language development and use around the world; contains articles, reviews, discussion pieces, a correspondence column, and many illustrations of English in use.

  Robert McCrum, William Cran and Robert McNeil, The Story of English (Faber and Faber, and BBC Publications, 1986, 384 pp.). The book based on the BBC television series, with full-colour maps and illustrations, emphasizing the regional and social diversification of spoken English, and especially the varieties which have developed in recent years.

  Leonard Michaels and Christopher Ricks (ed.), The State of the Language (University of California Press, 1980, 609 pp.). A collection of essays and poems on all aspects of the contemporary language; a mixture of objective and subjective observations contributed by linguists, novelists, broadcasters, critics, and many others. Second edition, 1989.

  J. Platt, H. Weber and M. L. Ho, The New Englishes (Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984, 225 pp.). A thematic treatment of the way new varieties of English have developed in non-native situations, giving detailed analyses and illustrations of the linguistic characteristics of several varieties.

  Randolph Quirk and Gabriele Stein, English in Use (Longman, 1990, 262 pp.) An introductory text, giving an account of the structure and uses of the modern language, with particular reference to the realities of English usage and the styles and varieties which are to be observed.

  Randolph Quirk and H. G. Widdowson (ed.), English in the World (Cambridge University Press, and The British Council, 1985, 275 pp.). A collection of papers by linguistic and literary scholars on the teaching of English language and literature around the world; a text which stresses the history of ideas and current trends in analysis.

  Peter Trudgill and Jean Hannah, International English: A Guide to Varieties of Standard English (Edward Arnold, 3rd edition 1994, 176 pp.). A succinct account of the main differences in pronunciation, spelling, grammar, and vocabulary in the chief regional varieties of English; largely devoted to description and illustration of these differences.

  Appendix C

  Data Sources

  The following sources of data are referred to in the book.

  p. 62 Robert Burchfield, The Spoken Word: A BBC Guide. London: BBC Publications, 1981.

  p. 91 The sociolinguistic data is from J. K. Chambers and P. Trudgill, Dialectology. Cambridge: CUP, 1980.

  p. 98 G. N. Leech, English in Advertising. London: Longman, 1966.

  p. 102 W. O’Barr, Linguistic Evidence: Language, Power and Strategy in the Courtroom. London: Academic Press, 1982.

  p. 105 J. Kettle-Williams, ‘CB Rubber Duck. 10–10’. Language Monthly, 13, 1984, 20–22.

  p. 111 R. K. Gordon, Anglo-Saxon Poetry. London: Dent, 1926.

  p. 113 Afferbeck Lauder, Let Stalk Strine. Sydney: Ure Smith, 1965.

  Frank Shaw, Fritz Spiegl and S. Kelly, Lern Yerself Scouse. Liverpool: The Scouse Press, 1966.

  Jim Everhart, The Illustrated Texas Dictionary of the English Language, Vol. 2. Lincoln: Cliff’s Notes, 1968.

  Sam Llewellyn, Yacky dar moy bewty! London: Elm Tree Books, 1985.

  p. 114 Eric Partridge, Comic Alphabets. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1961.

  p. 128 Bob Cotton and Malcolm Garrett, You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet: The Future of Media and the Global Expert System. London: Institute of Contemporary Arts, 1999.

  p. 129 John Naughton, A Brief History of the Future: The Origins of the Internet. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1999, p. 150.

  Tim Berners-Lee, Weaving the Web. London: Orion Business Books, 1999.

  p. 146 A. Ellegård, Who was Junius? Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell, 1962.

  p. 147 C. B. Williams, Style and Vocabulary: Numerical Studies. London: Griffin, 1970.

  p. 148 J. Svartvik, The Evans Statements: A Case for Forensic Linguistics. Gothenburg: Almqvist and Wiksell, 1968.

  p. 159 A. Zettersten, A Statistical Study of the Graphic System of Present-day American English. Lund: Studentlitteratur, 1968.

  p. 160 Written word-count data from Thorndike and Lorge (see p. 157), and R. Edwards and V. Gibbon, Words Your Children Use. London: Burke Books, 2nd edn., 1973. Spoken data from surveys carried out at Lund University and Reading University

  p. 181 Bengt Odenstedt, The Inscription on the Undley Bracteate and the Beginnings of English Runic Writing. Umeå University, 1983.

  p. 230 A. S. C. Ross, ‘U and non-U’, in Nancy Mitford (ed.), Noblesse Oblige, London: Hamish Hamilton, 1956.

  p. 276 R. L. Cooper, ‘The avoidance of androcentric generics’, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 50 (1984), 5–20.

  p. 278 B. B. Kachru, ‘South Asian English’, in Bailey and Görlach (see p. 301).

  p. 283 F. Weeks, A. Glover, P. Strevens and E. Johnson, Seaspeak Reference Manual. Oxford: Pergamon, 1984.

  p. 289 J. Dayananda, ‘Plain English in the United States’. English Today, 5, 1986, 13–16.

  Index

  The alphabetical arrangement of this index is word-by-word

  a, pronunciation of, 88–90

  abbreviations, 38, 41, 222; in Netspeak, 135–6; scribal, 165

  Aboriginal borrowings, 258

  Academy, 223

  accents, 64–7, 88–91, 113–15, 259–60, 296

  acronyms, 135–6

  acrostics, 116

  adjectives, use of, 32–3

  advertising, 151, 253–4

  Africa, English in, 3

  air-traffic control, 281–2

  Alfred, King, 171, 186

  alliteration, 154

  American Dialect Society, 139

  American English, 240–48; dialects of, 243–5; State names, 245–6; v. British English, 77, 249, 264–9, 292–3

  anagrams, 117

  Anglo-Saxon see Old English

  Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 186

  assimilation, 57–9

  assonance, 154

  at (@), 135, 139

  aureate terms, 194

  Australian English, 113, 256–60

  Authorized Version of the Bible, 214–20, 235–6

  authorship research, 145–50

  aygo-paygo speech, 123

  back slang, 123

  Bacon v. Shakespeare, 147–8

  Bailey, Nathaniel, 221

  BBC English, 59–65, 90

  Bede, the Venerable, 164–5

  Beowulf, 171–3

  Berners-Lee, Tim, 129

  between you and I, 30

  Bible translation, 194, 214–20

  bicapitalization, 137

  bidialecticism, 294

>   bilingualism, 284, 294

  Birmingham, 67

  Black English, 252–6; vernacular, 155–6

  ‘Blankety Blank’, 115

  blending of words, 135

  Bombaugh, C. C., 119

  Book of Common Prayer, 218

  Boorde, Andrew, 236

  borrowing, 39–41, 80, 174–7, 192–5, 210–13, 247–8; in Europe, 271–4

  Britain, early languages of, 170–71

  British Council, 6

  Burchfield, Robert, 62

  Burns, Robert, 236

  Caedmon story, 165

  ‘Call My Bluff’, 115

  calypso, 111

  Canadian English, 250–52

  Caribbean English, 252–5

  Carroll, Lewis, 119, 126

  Cawdrey, Robert, 221–22

  Caxton, William, 79, 205–9

  CB codes, 105

  Celtic languages, 170–71, 234

  centre slang, 123

  chatgroups, 129–30, 133–8

  Chaucer, Geoffrey, 197–201

  Chaucerisms, 210

  Cheke, John, 210–11

  China, English in, 6–7

  code games, 123

  comic alphabets, 114

  commentary, 128

  commuting, 67

  complaints about grammar, 30–31

  compound words, 41; on the Net, 135

  Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, The, 21

  confusion between words, 81

  consonants, 55–9

  conversation, 24–6, 94–6

  conversion, 41, 213–14

  Cotton, Bob, 128

  courtroom strategies, 102–3

  creoles, 16–17, 254–6

  crosswords, 115–16

  cummings, e. e., 151

  Danes, 174–8

  Das, Kamala, 280

  Dayananda, James, 289–90

  decimate, use of, 44

  Defoe, Daniel, 223

  description v. prescription, 28–9, 226–7

  deviant English, 150–56

  dialects, 36–7, 91–3, 158–9, 243–4, 252, 274; Estuary English, 66; future for, 296; jokes about 113–15; Middle English, 203–6; Old English, 171–3

  dictionaries, 221–27, 248–9; choice between, 50–51

  different from/to/than, 30–31

  Donne, John, 151

  dotcom, 139

  doublets, 119

  Dryden, John, 223

  duels, linguistic, 111–12

  Dunbar, William, 111–12, 235

  e-, 139

  Early Modern English, 207–32

  eggy-peggy speech, 123

  Eliot, T. S., 154

  elision, 57–9

  Elizabethan literature, 221

  Ellegård, Alvar, 146

  Elyot, Thomas, 210

  e-mail, 129–34, 136–8

  emoticons, 131–2

  English Now, 30, 63

  Estuary English, 65–7

  etymological fallacy, 44

  etymology, 39–41, 79

  Evans, Timothy, 148–9

  Exeter Book, 111

  feminism, 275–6

  Flower, Kathy, 7

  flyting, 111–12

  Follow Me, 7

  foreign-language use, 4–8

  forensic linguistics, 147–50

  Franglais, etc., 273

  French: English influence on, 271–3; influence on English, 78, 189–94, 210–11

  future of English, 11–12, 292–7

  g dropping, 61

  Gadsby, 118

  Gaelic, 234–40

  Garrett, Malcolm, 128

  Gates, Bill, 139

  gematria, 121–2

  glottal stops, 65–6

  gobbledegook, 285

  Goh Chok Tong, 296

  Golden Bull Awards, 285

  Gowers, Ernest, 43–5

  graffiti, 108

  grammar, 21–33; Middle English, 188–9, 195–6; Old English, 168–70; preferences in, 32–3; regional, 239, 255–6, 266–7, 277; and sexism, 275–6

  grammars, early, 27–8, 226–7

  graphology, 136–8

  Graves, Robert, 156

  Great Vowel Shift, 79, 201–2

  Greek, borrowings from, 210–11

  grid games, 121

  The Guardian, 95

  Guest, E., 292

  h dropping, 61, 91

  Hart, John, 222

  Henryson, Robert, 235

  Herbert, George, 152–3

  history of English, 161–300

  Hogan, Paul, 260

  hopefully, use of, 31

  Hopkins, Gerard Manley, 156

  humour, 107–15, 151

  Humphreys, Barry, 260

  identity, 11, 96–103, 274–80, 295

  idioms, 216

  The Independent, 296

  India Today, 4

  Indian English, 3–4, 277–80

  inflections, 169–70

  information explosion, 281

  inkhorn terms, 210–13

  intelligibility, 11, 280–97

  Internet, 128–39, 229

  intrusive r, 60–61

  Irish English, 237–40; Northern, 239–40

  irregular words, 196

  -ize verbs, 43–5

  Jamaican English, 254–5

  John of Trevisa, 205

  Johnson, Samuel, 223–6

  jokes, 107–9

  Joyce, James, 155–6

  Junius letters, 146–7

  Kentish dialect, 173, 203

  King James Bible, 214–20

  ‘knowing about’ grammar, 26–31

  Lallans, 236

  Langland, William, 197

  Latin, 11, 22, 44, 78, 79, 167, 170–74, 194–5, 210–13, 293

  law, language of, 100–103

  Leech, Geoffrey, 98

  Lern Yerself Scouse, 113

  Let Stalk Strine, 113

  letters, silent, 79

  letters v. sounds, 54, 60

  lines of poetry, 152–4

  linking r, 59

  lip rounding, 58

  lipograms, 118

  literature, 150–56

  Liverpool, 37, 67, 113

  Lowth, Robert, 27, 226

  Malenglish, 295

  man, use of, 275

  meaning, changes in, 43–5

  Mendenhall, T. G., 147–8

  Mercian dialect, 173

  Middle English, 184–206; history of, 190–91; spelling, 79; v. Old English, 190

  Midland dialects, 203–4

  Milton, John, 154

  missionaries, 171, 173–4

  Mitford, Nancy, 230

  MOOs, 129–30

  morphology, 23

  Morse, Samuel, 159

  mother-tongue use, 2

  MUDs, 129–30

  Mulcaster, Richard, 213, 221

  Murray, Lindley, 27, 226

  names, 38–9, 177; see also place names

  National Curriculum, 296

  Naughton, John, 129

  negatives, double, 31, 188, 256

  Netspeak, 129–38, 141; abbreviations in, 142–3

  New Zealand English, 257–60

  Newcastle, 67

  nice, use of, 44

  none, use of, 30

  Norman invasion, 189–91

  normative thinking, 222–7

  Northern dialect, 203–5

  Northumbrian dialect, 173

  Nue Spelling, 83

  O’Barr, William, 102–3

  Odenstedt, Bengt, 181

  Old English, 163–83; history of, 170–73; spelling of, 78

  only, use of, 30

  onomatopoeia, 124

  Orwell, George, 288–9

  Oxford Dictionary of New Words, 139

  palindromes, 118

  pangrams, 118

  Partridge, Eric, 114

  pauses and punctuation, 95

  personal English, 144–60

  Peterborough Chronicle, 185–90

  phon
etic transcription, 54–6

  pidgins, 13–17, 254

  pig Latin, 123

  Pilgrim Fathers, 241

  Pitman, James, 83

  place names, 171, 175–6, 245–8

  Plain English, 285–91

  playing with English, 107–26

  poetry, 151–6, 197–8

  Pope, Alexander, 154

  prefixation, 41, 135

  prepositions at ends of sentences, 31

  Priestley, Joseph, 227

  printing, 78–9, 205–9

  printing, impact of, 127

  pronouns and sexism, 275–6

  pronunciation, 52–68; complaints about, 59–63; controversies, 62; Estuary English, 67; history of, 168, 196–7, 201–2; regional standards of, 234, 241, 252, 254, 257–65, 277

  punctuation, 95; on the Net, 137–8

  puns, 112

  purists, 210, 213, 223–7

  Puritan settlers, 241–3

  Quirk, Randolph, 21

  r, pronunciation of, 59–61, 89

  radio, 128

  Rao, Raja, 280

  rapping, 110–11

  readability scores, 289–91

  rebus, 117–18

  Received Pronunciation, 54–5, 64–8, 88, 128, 259–60, 263

  regional varieties of language see dialects

  religious language, 99, 151, 173–4

  Renaissance, the, 209–14

  rhyme, 154

  rhythm, 152–3, 255, 277

  riddles, 108–11

  Roanoke settlement, 240–41

  Rolle, Richard, 204–5

  Ross, A. S. C., 230

  Royal Society, 223

  rules of grammar, 26–31, 226–7

  runes, 171, 179–83

  Ruthwell Cross, 182

  Scandinavian names, 175–7

  Schonell, F., 74

  scientific vocabulary, 228–9

  Scots English, 234–7

  Scott, Walter, 236

  Scrabble, 120, 121

  Seaspeak, 282–4

  second language use, 2–4, 276–80

  sexism and language, 275–6

  Shakespeare, William, 27, 214–18; authorship of, 147–8

  shall/will, use of, 26, 31

  Shavian, 83

  Shaw, George Bernard, 83–4, 88

  short messaging service (SMS), 141

  Singapore, 296

  Singlish, 296

  slang, 36–7, 229

  smileys, 131–2

  social status, 63–7, 230–32, 260–63, 271–80

  sound symbolism, 124–6

  South African English, 260–3

  South Asian English, 277–80

  Southern dialect, 203–5

 

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