Varieties of English in Writing
The written word as linguistic evidence
Published on 28. October 2010
Book
Hardback
378 pages
978-90-272-4901-2 (ISBN)
Description
This volume is concerned with assessing fictional and non-fictional written texts as linguistic evidence for earlier forms of varieties of English. These range from Scotland to New Zealand, from Canada to South Africa, covering all the major forms of the English language around the world. Central to the volume is the question of how genuine written representations are. Here the emphasis is on the techniques and methodology which can be employed when analysing documents. The vernacular styles found in written documents and the use of these as a window on earlier spoken modes of different varieties represent a focal concern of the book. Studies of language in literature, which were offered in the past, have been revisited and their findings reassessed in the light of recent advances in variationist linguistics.
Reviews / Votes
Hickey's collection of articles offers many rare samples of authentic writing based on numerous varieties of spoken English from various historical sources, resulting in informative and appealing reading on an area of historic English speech-based writing that is well-worth exploring by today's linguists. -- Robert A. Cote, Sharjah Women's College, United Arab Emirates, on Linguist List 22.2544. 2011More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Amsterdam
Netherlands
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 245 mm
Width: 164 mm
Weight
855 gr
ISBN-13
978-90-272-4901-2 (9789027249012)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
10/2010
1st Edition
John Benjamins Publishing Company
€112.99
Available for download
Person
Content
1. Preface; 2. List of contributors; 3. Linguistic evaluation of earlier texts (by Hickey, Raymond); 4. Non-standard language in earlier English (by Claridge, Claudia); 5. Assessing non-standard writing in lexicography (by Durkin, Philip); 6. Northern English in Writing (by Wales, Katie); 7. Southern English in writing (by Melchers, Gunnel); 8. The distinctiveness of Scots: Perceptions and reality (by McClure, J. Derrick); 9. Irish English in early modern drama: The birth of a linguistic stereotype (by Hickey, Raymond); 10. '[H]ushed and lulled full chimes for pushed and pulled': Writing Ulster English (by McCafferty, Kevin); 11. Dialect literature and English in the USA: Standardization and national linguistic identity (by Cohen Minnick, Lisa); 12. Written sources for Canadian English: Phonetic reconstruction and the low-back vowel merger (by Dollinger, Stefan); 13. Earlier Caribbean English and Creole in writing (by Migge, Bettina); 14. Earliest St Helenian English in writing: Evidence from the St Helena Consultations (1682-1723) (by Schreier, Daniel); 15. An abundant harvest to the philologer'?: Jeremiah Goldswain, Thomas Shone and nineteenth-century South African English (by Siebers, Lucia); 16. A peculiar language': Linguistic evidence for early Australian English (by Burridge, Kate); 17. Describing and complaining: Written evidence of early New Zealand English pronunciation (by Gordon, Elizabeth); 18. Feature index; 19. Name index; 20. Subject index