The myth of American English gotten as a historical retention
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Lieselotte Anderwald
Abstract
In this article, I investigate where and when the myth of American English as a conservative variety originates, and how it has become linked to the verb form gotten in particular. Drawing on corpus materials, prescriptive grammar writers of the time, publications on Americanisms, and nineteenth-century newspaper articles, this article shows that gotten is not a historical retention, but was revived in the nineteenth century in American English. However, this revival was not linked (yet) to the idea of it being a specific American form. Once this indexical link was established, however, it seems to have fuelled the rise of gotten further. The concept of gotten as indexing AmE linguistic conservativism is thus indeed a myth (if a powerful one).
Abstract
In this article, I investigate where and when the myth of American English as a conservative variety originates, and how it has become linked to the verb form gotten in particular. Drawing on corpus materials, prescriptive grammar writers of the time, publications on Americanisms, and nineteenth-century newspaper articles, this article shows that gotten is not a historical retention, but was revived in the nineteenth century in American English. However, this revival was not linked (yet) to the idea of it being a specific American form. Once this indexical link was established, however, it seems to have fuelled the rise of gotten further. The concept of gotten as indexing AmE linguistic conservativism is thus indeed a myth (if a powerful one).
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction 1
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Part I. Phonology
- “A received pronunciation” 21
- The interplay of internal and external factors in varieties of English 43
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Part II. Morphosyntax
- The myth of American English gotten as a historical retention 67
- Changes affecting relative clauses in Late Modern English 91
- Diffusion of do 117
- A diachronic constructional analysis of locative alternation in English, with particular attention to load and spray 143
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Part III. Orthography, vocabulary and semantics
- In search of “the lexicographic stamp” 167
- “Divided by a common language”? 185
- Women writers in the 18th century 203
- Eighteenth-century French cuisine terms and their semantic integration in English 219
- Spelling normalisation of Late Modern English 243
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Part IV. Pragmatics and discourse
- A far from simple matter revisited 271
- What it means to describe speech 295
- Being Wilde 315
- “I am desired (…) to desire” 333
- Index 357
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Phonology
- “A received pronunciation” 21
- The interplay of internal and external factors in varieties of English 43
-
Part II. Morphosyntax
- The myth of American English gotten as a historical retention 67
- Changes affecting relative clauses in Late Modern English 91
- Diffusion of do 117
- A diachronic constructional analysis of locative alternation in English, with particular attention to load and spray 143
-
Part III. Orthography, vocabulary and semantics
- In search of “the lexicographic stamp” 167
- “Divided by a common language”? 185
- Women writers in the 18th century 203
- Eighteenth-century French cuisine terms and their semantic integration in English 219
- Spelling normalisation of Late Modern English 243
-
Part IV. Pragmatics and discourse
- A far from simple matter revisited 271
- What it means to describe speech 295
- Being Wilde 315
- “I am desired (…) to desire” 333
- Index 357
