Usage guides and the Age of Prescriptivism
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Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade
Abstract
Questioning the traditional association of the Age of Prescriptivism with the 18th century, this study distinguishes between prescription as a late stage in the English standardisation process and the subsequently arising prescriptivism, with possibly stronger roots in America than the UK. The typical product of prescriptivism is the usage guide, published in increasing numbers over the years and enormously popular today. Irregular verbs are used as a case study to demonstrate how usage guides treat usage problems, and to bring to light their essentially idiosyncratic nature. Results from a survey conducted to try and assess the effects of prescriptivism in the eyes of the general public showed that currently a form of anti-prescriptivism is developing, though this does not actually seem to herald the end of English standardisation as such.
Abstract
Questioning the traditional association of the Age of Prescriptivism with the 18th century, this study distinguishes between prescription as a late stage in the English standardisation process and the subsequently arising prescriptivism, with possibly stronger roots in America than the UK. The typical product of prescriptivism is the usage guide, published in increasing numbers over the years and enormously popular today. Irregular verbs are used as a case study to demonstrate how usage guides treat usage problems, and to bring to light their essentially idiosyncratic nature. Results from a survey conducted to try and assess the effects of prescriptivism in the eyes of the general public showed that currently a form of anti-prescriptivism is developing, though this does not actually seem to herald the end of English standardisation as such.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Linguistic norms and conventions 1
- Usage guides and the Age of Prescriptivism 1
- “Splendidly prejudiced” 29
- Paradigm shifts in 19th-century British grammar writing 49
- Promotional conventions on English title-pages up to 1550 73
- What can we learn from constructed speech errors? 99
- The proverbial discourse tradition in the history of English 129
- Testing a stylometric tool in the study of Middle English documentary texts 149
- Pragmatic and formulaic uses of shall and will in Older Scots and Early Modern English official letter writing 167
- Studying dialect spelling in its own right 191
- Index 213
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Linguistic norms and conventions 1
- Usage guides and the Age of Prescriptivism 1
- “Splendidly prejudiced” 29
- Paradigm shifts in 19th-century British grammar writing 49
- Promotional conventions on English title-pages up to 1550 73
- What can we learn from constructed speech errors? 99
- The proverbial discourse tradition in the history of English 129
- Testing a stylometric tool in the study of Middle English documentary texts 149
- Pragmatic and formulaic uses of shall and will in Older Scots and Early Modern English official letter writing 167
- Studying dialect spelling in its own right 191
- Index 213
