Attitudes to usage

Posted on September 19, 2011 by BtU Admin

A little while ago, a survey was held among alumni of the English department of the University of Leiden to find out about their attitudes to particular usage problems. The items surveyed can be found in David Crystal’s Encyclopedia of … Continue reading →

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“Guardians of the language”

Posted on September 18, 2011 by Ingrid Tieken

Who are the guardians of the English language, and why do they have so much authority? Why are their books so popular, and what are they expecting to gain by it all? These are some of the questions that Flor … Continue reading →

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Prescriptivism and how it all began

Posted on September 17, 2011 by Ingrid Tieken

In the English language, the rise of prescriptivism is closely linked with the publication of Robert Lowth’s Short Introduction to English Grammar, in 1762. One of the new features of this grammar was the appearance of detailed criticism of grammatical … Continue reading →

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Fowler into the OED

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Ingrid Tieken

In 2009, the first edition of Fowler’s Modern English Usage (1926) was reprinted by Oxford University Press, as part of their World Classics Series. In the introduction, David Crystal assesses Fowler’s status as a writer of this popular usage guide, as well as the book … Continue reading →

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Pocket Fowler

Posted on September 15, 2011 by BtU Admin

The pocket edition of Fowler’s Modern English Usage is available online. You can access it if you have access to the Oxford English Dictionary. On the OED homepage, click on Oxford Reference Online, then on English Language Reference, on Pocket Fowler’s Modern English Usage: … Continue reading →

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The end of prescriptivism?

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Ingrid Tieken

David Crystal wrote the final chapter of Lynda Mugglestone’s The Oxford History of English (OUP 2006), and in that chapter, he focusses on the way English will be developing in the course of the 21st century. One important effect on … Continue reading →

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Special issue of English Today

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Ingrid Tieken

Last year, a special issue appeared of English Today, entirly focussed on usage guides. Topics included how Fowler became “The Fowler”, taboo and purism, the birth of the usage guide, the issue of prescriptivism in a major dictionary like the … Continue reading →

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New edition of The King’s English by Kingsley Amis

Posted on September 12, 2011 by BtU Admin

The title of this usage guide was obviously inspired by its famous ancestor published in 1881, by George Washington Moon. As for the title of Amis’s book, being called “the King” was “a nickname he tolerated”, according to his son … Continue reading →

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“Telling it like it is”

Posted on September 12, 2011 by BtU Admin

On 12 September 2011, Marilyn Hedges received her Master’s degree from the University of Leiden (The Netherlands). Her thesis, which has the above title, is subtitled “An assessment of attitudes to language change based on the use of like“, and … Continue reading →

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