A Cultural History of the English Language

Knowles, Gerry

ISBN 10: 0340676809 / ISBN 13: 9780340676806

Published by Edward Arnold & Co, London, 1997

About this Item

minor cover wear and soil, corners lightly bumped, remainder mark, interior tight and clean, x + 180 pages including appendix and index, traces change in English in its social and cultural context including the implications of the internet Size: 6.25 x 9.25.

Seller Inventory # AL7701

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Cultural History of the English Language
• Publisher: Edward Arnold & Co, London
• Publication Date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0340676809
• ISBN 13: 9780340676806
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Good
• Seller catalogs:
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About this title

Synopsis

This book presents a new interpretation of the history of English. Access to large corpuses of English has allowed scholars to assess the minutiae of linguistic change with much greater precision than before, often pinpointing the beginnings of linguistic innovations in place and time. The author uses the findings from this research to relate major historical events to change in the language, in particular to areas of linguistic inquiry that have been of particular importance in recent years, such as discourse analysis, stylistics and work on pidgins and creoles. The book does not attempt to chronicle changes in syntax or pronunciation and spelling, but is designed to complement a corpus-based study of formal changes. The story of English is brought up to the late 1990s to include, amongst other things, discussions of Estuary English and the implications of the information superhighway.

About the Author

Gerry Knowles eas formerly Senior Lecturer in Linguistics at the University of Lancaster, UK.