21.3329, Qs: Resource Search: History of American English

[linguist at LINGUISTLIST.ORG]

LINGUIST List: Vol-21-3329. Wed Aug 18 2010. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 21.3329, Qs: Resource Search: History of American English

Moderators: Anthony Aristar, Eastern Michigan U <aristar at linguistlist.org>
            Helen Aristar-Dry, Eastern Michigan U <hdry at linguistlist.org>
 
Reviews: Monica Macaulay, U of Wisconsin-Madison  
Eric Raimy, U of Wisconsin-Madison  
Joseph Salmons, U of Wisconsin-Madison  
Anja Wanner, U of Wisconsin-Madison  
       <reviews at linguistlist.org> 

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org/

The LINGUIST List is funded by Eastern Michigan University, 
and donations from subscribers and publishers.

Editor for this issue: Danielle St. Jean <danielle at linguistlist.org>
================================================================  

We'd like to remind readers that the responses to queries are usually
best posted to the individual asking the question. That individual is
then strongly encouraged to post a summary to the list. This policy was
instituted to help control the huge volume of mail on LINGUIST; so we
would appreciate your cooperating with it whenever it seems appropriate.

In addition to posting a summary, we'd like to remind people that it
is usually a good idea to personally thank those individuals who have
taken the trouble to respond to the query.

To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at
http://linguistlist.org/LL/posttolinguist.cfm.

===========================Directory==============================  

1)
Date: 17-Aug-2010
From: Ashley Williams < amw9z at virginia.edu >
Subject: Resource Search: History of American English
 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:36:08
From: Ashley Williams [amw9z at virginia.edu]
Subject: Resource Search: History of American English

E-mail this message to a friend:
http://linguistlist.org/issues/emailmessage/verification.cfm?iss=21-3329.html&submissionid=2644895&topicid=8&msgnumber=1
  


I'm looking for brief readings (article/chapter length) on the history of 
American English for my undergrads in my American Studies course, 
Language in the US. When we've covered this before, we typically read 
the two chapters from Finegan & Rickford's edited volume, "Language 
in the USA" (one by Richard Bailey, "American English: Its origins & 
history", the other by Edward Finegan, "American English & its 
distinctiveness"), which work well as introductory material. Sometimes 
I've supplemented this with excerpts from Bill Bryson's book "Made in 
America", but this doesn't exactly inspire discussion. I've had luck with 
Finegan's mention of the controversy surrounding the "translations" of 
Harry Potter into American English - is there anything else out there 
that also covers this? 

I guess I'm looking for further supplementary material that isn't too 
lengthy and that undergrads might find interesting. Perhaps journal 
articles or book chapters on some particularly American usage 
(historical or otherwise)? Something comparing an aspect of American 
usage vs. British or other usage? An interesting, discussion-worthy 
diatribe against American English? Anything else useful?

Any suggestions? Thanks so much for your help. 

Linguistic Field(s): Historical Linguistics
                     Ling & Literature
                     Sociolinguistics




-----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-21-3329