Unlocking the English language

Burchfield, R.W.

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ISBN 10: 0571141234 ISBN 13: 9780571141234

Published by Faber and Faber, 1989

Language: English

Condition: Used - Very good Hardcover

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Pages slightly tanned. Weight: 1.0 Language: English.

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Bibliographic Details

Title

Unlocking the English language

Publisher

Faber and Faber

Publication Date

1989

Language

English

ISBN 10

0571141234

ISBN 13

9780571141234

Binding

Hard covers, dust jacket

Edition

1st edition.

Condition

V.g.

Dust Jacket Condition

V.g.

Seller catalogs

Language

About this title

Synopsis

Book by Burchfield, R.W.

From Publishers Weekly

"Phooey," "airport" and "pacifism" are among the words that entered the English language between 1900 and 1930; more recent coinages include "hi-fi," "baby boom" and "yuppie." Language, we are shown here, is a fast-changing medium, and not only in the area of vocabulary: lexicography is a battlefield where different social classes, schools of grammar, philosophies and far-flung speakers vie to impose their viewpoints. In an elegant, involving introduction to some of the thorniest issues in modern language use and abuse, Burchfield, who has served as chief editor of the Oxford English Dictonary , ponders the "fast speech rules" that govern daily conversation and bemoans the "devastating loss of religious mystery" in modernized versions of sacred texts. How should lexicographers deal with derogatory racial, ethnic and religious terms? At what historical point did American English become different from British English? Burchfield tackles these and other questions in scholarly essays sure to intrigue anyone who loves words and language.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

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