Elements of Orthoepy: Containing a Distinct View of the Whole Analogy of the English Language; so far as it relates to Pronunciation, Accent, and Quantity.

NARES (Robert).

Published by London: Printed for T. Pay and Son, 1784

About this Item

FIRST EDITION. 8vo, 214 x 127 mms., pp. xxvi [xxvii note, xxviii blank], 372 [373 - 375 Addenda, 376 blank, 377 - 416 Index], contemporary calf, spine ornately gilt in compartments, red leather label; front joint cracked, rear joint slightly cracked, corners slightly worn, binding a little rubbed, but a good copy. The philologist and clergyman Robert Nares (1753-1829) was one of the most innovative of the scholars in the late 18th century interested in the structure of language. ODNB notes, "It was one of a number of works published during the last quarter of the eighteenth century (and later) which aimed to provide speakers, especially the linguistically insecure and those aspiring to middle-class status, with clear guidance on how certain words were to be pronounced. He drew particular attention to words in which the stress pattern was susceptible of variation, designating this area of vocabulary 'the most unstable part of the English language'. The work was popular, but, inevitably, controversial. James Boswell thought highly of it, considering it a 'work of uncommon merit and great utility'…The Monthly Review concurred…"We earnestly recommend this work to the lovers of Philology; and we do not scruple to pronounce it the most useful, perspicuous, and complete publication that hath appear on the subject of English Orthoepy." The work was reissued under a different title in 1792.

Seller Inventory # 30778

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Elements of Orthoepy: Containing a Distinct View of the Whole Analogy of the English Language; so far as it relates to Pronunciation, Accent, and Quantity.
• Publisher: London: Printed for T. Pay and Son
• Publication Date: 1784
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Seller catalogs:
  • jp1