Writing and ‘the Standard’: England, 1795–1834
-
Tony Fairman
Abstract
This article gives a detailed description and discussion of seven applications for poor relief, as found in the archives of English County Record Offices. All letters were written by or for poor writers between 1795 and 1834. As the variety used in these letters is not ‘Standard’, nor ‘dialect’, the second part of the article is devoted to the question of how this variety relates (or does not) to traditional linguistic views on standardisation. Contrary to the prevailing ‘standard language ideology’, it will be claimed that the present letters can only be interpreted adequately through a linguistic theory ‘which treats all varieties of English equally and discards none’.
… in writing the history of powerless people, drawing on conventional, published sources is far from enough.
Adam Hochschild (2002: 104)
© Walter de Gruyter
Articles in the same Issue
- Obituary for Professor Alan S. Kaye
- Introduction: Lower class language use in the 19th century
- ‘Everyday language’ in emigrant letters and its implications for language historiography – the German case
- Writing and ‘the Standard’: England, 1795–1834
- Variation in Canadian French usage from the 18th to the 19th century
- Double diglossia – lower class writing in 19th-century Finland
- Writing ability and the written language of Danish private soldiers in the Three Year's War (1848–50)
- ‘Lower class language’ in 19th century Flanders
- Book reviews
Articles in the same Issue
- Obituary for Professor Alan S. Kaye
- Introduction: Lower class language use in the 19th century
- ‘Everyday language’ in emigrant letters and its implications for language historiography – the German case
- Writing and ‘the Standard’: England, 1795–1834
- Variation in Canadian French usage from the 18th to the 19th century
- Double diglossia – lower class writing in 19th-century Finland
- Writing ability and the written language of Danish private soldiers in the Three Year's War (1848–50)
- ‘Lower class language’ in 19th century Flanders
- Book reviews
