25.2400, Books: Fixing English: Curzan

Mon Jun 2 21:05:10 UTC 2014

LINGUIST List: Vol-25-2400. Mon Jun 02 2014. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 25.2400, Books: Fixing English: Curzan

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Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2014 17:04:37
From: Joyce Reid [jreid at cambridge.org]
Subject: Fixing English: Curzan

E-mail this message to a friend:
http://linguistlist.org/issues/emailmessage/verification.cfm?iss=25-2400.html&submissionid=31974022&topicid=2&msgnumber=1
 Title: Fixing English 
Subtitle: Prescriptivism and Language History 
Publication Year: 2014 
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
	   http://cambridge.org

Book URL: http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/languages-linguistics/history-english-language/fixing-english-prescriptivism-and-language-history?format=HB 

Author: Anne Curzan

Hardback: ISBN:  9781107020757 Pages:  Price: U.K. £ 55.00
Hardback: ISBN:  9781107020757 Pages:  Price: U.S. $ 80.00

Abstract:

Over the past 300 years, attempts have been made to prescribe how we should and should not use the English language. The efforts have been institutionalized in places such as usage guides, dictionaries, and school curricula. Such authorities have aspired to 'fix' the language, sometimes by keeping English exactly where it is, but also by trying to improve the current state of the language. Anne Curzan demonstrates the important role prescriptivism plays in the history of the English language, as a sociolinguistic factor in language change and as a vital meta-discourse about language. Starting with a pioneering new definition of prescriptivism as a linguistic phenomenon, she highlights the significant role played by Microsoft's grammar checker, debates about 'real words', non-sexist language reform, and efforts to reappropriate stigmatized terms. Essential reading for anyone interested in the regulation of language, the book is a fascinating re-examination of how we tell language history. 

Introduction: does prescriptivism fail?; 
1. Prescriptivism's umbrella: standards, style, restoration, and political intervention; 
2. Prescriptivism's lessons: scope and 'The history of English'; 
3. Checking grammar and grammar checkers; 
4. Dictionaries and the idea of 'real words'; 
5. Non-sexist language reform and its effects; 
6. Reappropriation and challenges to institutionalized prescriptivism; 
7. Finding shared ground: public conversations about prescriptivism. 

Linguistic Field(s): Discourse Analysis
                     Historical Linguistics
                     Sociolinguistics

Subject Language(s): English (eng)

Written In: English  (eng)

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