In Search of Jane Austen

Preface and acknowledgements Abbreviations Chapter 1. Introduction 1.1. Introduction 1.2. The language of the letters 1.3. A sociolinguistic analysis 1.4. Jane Austen's language 1.5 A single-author, focussed corpus 1.6. The wider perspective Chapter 2. Letter-writing 2.1. Introduction 2.2. The surviving letters and those that were lost 2.3. Letter-writing materials 2.4. The postal system 2.5. Letter-writing: a social activity 2.6. Being dependent on the post Chapter 3. A social network of letter writers 3.1. Introduction 3.2. Jane Austen's correspondents 3.3. Letter-writing formulas 3.3.1. An index of formality? 3.3.2. Opening formulas 3.3.3. Closing formulas 3.3.4. Dating and signing letters 3.4. The correspondence network and the lost letters Chapter 4. The letters as a corpus 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Types of letters 4.3 Self-corrections 4.4 Short forms 4.5 Dashes and capitalisation 4.6 Two corpora for analysis Chapter 5. The language of the letters: Spelling 5.1. Introduction 5.2 A dual spelling system 5.3. Epistolary spelling in the letters 5.3.1. Tho' and thro' 5.3.2. Older spellings 5.3.3. Other epistolary spelling features 5.4. More variable spelling features 5.5. Problems with the apostrophe 5.6. Spelling as evidence of pronunciation 5.7. A consistent if idiosyncratic speller Chapter 6. The language of the letters: Words 6.1. Introduction 6.2. Jane Austen in the OED 6.3. Creative language use 6.4. Vulgar words and intensifiers 6.5. Linguistic involvement 6.6. Referring to close relatives 6.7. Jane Austen's linguistic fingerprint? Chapter 7. The language of the letters: Grammar 7.1. Introduction 7.2. Developing grammatical awareness 7.3. Variable grammar in the letters 7.4. Verbal -ing forms 7.5. Changing grammar Chapter 8. Authorial identity 8.1. Introduction 8.2. The discarded Persuasion chapters 8.3. Different house styles for Mansfield Park? 8.4. Dating The Watsons 8.5. Why analysing spelling matters Chapter 9. Conclusion Appendix 1. Letters referred to in the text Appendix 2. Letters (sent and received) referred to by Jane Austen Appendix 3. Transcription of letter 139 Appendix 4. Jane Austen's epistolary network References