Standardizing Written English: Diffusion in the Case of Scotland, 1520-1659

Amy J. Devitt

ISBN 10: 0521024048 / ISBN 13: 9780521024044

Published by Cambridge University Press, 2006

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Standardizing Written English: Diffusion in the Case of Scotland, 1520-1659
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521024048
• ISBN 13: 9780521024044
• Binding: Paperback / softback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 240 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Professor Devitt offers a new view of the linguistic process of standardization, the movement of specific language features towards uniformity. Drawing on theoretical arguments and empirical data, she examines the way in which linguistic conformity develops out of variation, and the textual and social factors that influence this process. After defining and clarifying the general theoretical issues involved, the author takes as a specific case study the standardization of written English in Scotland in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and shows that standardization is a gradual process, that it occurs at significantly different rates and times in different genres, that it encompasses periods of great variation, and that it occurs concurrently with sociopolitical shifts. The interrelationship of linguistic features, genres, and social pressures shape the nature and direction of standardization.

Book Description

This book offers a new view of the linguistic process of standardization, the movement of specific language features towards uniformity. Drawing on theoretical arguments and empirical data, it examines the way in which linguistic conformity develops out of variation, and the textual and social factors which influence this process.