The Lexicographer's Dilemma: The Evolution of 'Proper' English, from Shakespeare to South Park by Jack Lynch

The Lexicographer's Dilemma: The Evolution of 'Proper' English, from Shakespeare to South Park



Download The Lexicographer's Dilemma: The Evolution of 'Proper' English, from Shakespeare to South Park



The Lexicographer's Dilemma: The Evolution of 'Proper' English, from Shakespeare to South Park Jack Lynch ebook
Publisher: Walker & Company
Page: 336
ISBN: 9780802717009


For language buffs and lexicographers, copy editors and proofreaders, and anyone who appreciates the connection between language and culture—the illuminating story of “proper English.” In its long history, the English language has had many lawmakers—those who have tried to regulate, or otherwise organize, the way we speak. The Lexicographer’s Dilemma offers the first narrative history of these endeavors, showing clearly that what we now regard as the only “correct” way to speak emerged out of specific historical and social conditions over the course of centuries. As literary historian Jack Lynch has discovered, every rule has a human history, and the characters peopling his narrative are as interesting for their obsession as for their erudition. The struggle between prescriptivists, who prescribe a correct approach, and descriptivists, who analyze how language works, is at the heart of Lynch’s story. From the sharp-tongued satirist Jonathan Swift, who called for a governmentsponsored academy to issue rulings on the language, and the polymath Samuel Johnson, who put dictionaries on a new footing, to John Horne Tooke, the crackpot linguist whose bizarre theories continue to baffle scholars; Joseph Priestley, whose political radicalism prompted riots; and the ever-crotchety Noah Webster, whose goal was to Americanize the English language—Lynch brings to life a varied cast as illuminating as it is entertaining. Grammatical “rules” or “laws” are not like the law of gravity, or laws against theft or murder—they’re more like rules of etiquette, made by fallible people and subject to change. Charting the evolution of English, Jack Lynch puts today’s debates—whether about Ebonics in the schools or split infinitives in the New York Times—in a rich historical context, and makes us appreciate anew the hard-won standards we now enjoy.

MORE EBOOKS:
Download The Complete Idiot's Guide to Foreign Currency Trading, 2E ebook
Download Living from the Heart: Heart Rhythm Meditation for Energy, Clarity, Peace, Joy, and Inner Power e book
Download Statistical Treatment of Analytical Data epub
Download In the Miso Soup ebook
Fractal Time epub free download







Tags: The Lexicographer's Dilemma: The Evolution of 'Proper' English, from Shakespeare to South Park ebook pdf epub djvu mobi rar
The Lexicographer's Dilemma: The Evolution of 'Proper' English, from Shakespeare to South Park pdf epub djvu free download
Download The Lexicographer's Dilemma: The Evolution of 'Proper' English, from Shakespeare to South Park free ebook pdf epub
The Lexicographer's Dilemma: The Evolution of 'Proper' English, from Shakespeare to South Park read online free book
The Lexicographer's Dilemma: The Evolution of 'Proper' English, from Shakespeare to South Park cheap ebook for kindle and nook
Jack Lynch ebooks and audio books
The Lexicographer's Dilemma: The Evolution of 'Proper' English, from Shakespeare to South Park download pdf epub rar rapidshare mediafire fileserve 4shared torrent depositfiles scribd