Overview

This volume presents a sociolinguistic perspective on the history of the English language. Based on original empirical research, it discusses the social factors that promoted linguistic changes in earlier English, and the people who were the leading force behind them. The authors focus on the major grammatical developments that shaped the language in Tudor and Stuart times, the period that laid the foundations for modern Standard English. Nevalainen and Raumolin-Brunberg adopt an interdisciplinary approach, exploring the extent to which sociolinguistic models and methods can be applied to the history of English.

Full Product Details

Author:   Terttu Nevalainen ,  Helena Raumolin-Brunberg
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Longman
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 1.50cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.441kg
ISBN:  

9780582319943

ISBN 10:   0582319943
Pages:   288
Publication Date:   05 March 2003
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   No Longer Our Product
Availability:   Out of stock  
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Table of Contents

Preface List of Tables List of Figures Publisher's Acknowledgements 1. INTRODUCTION: ISSUES IN HISTORICAL SOCIOLINGUISTICS 1.1 Sociolinguistics Backprojection? 1.2 Contemporary Perceptions of Usage 1.3 Sociohistorical Reconstruction 1.4 Research Topics 2. SOCIOLINGUISTIC PARADIGMS AND LANGUAGE CHANGE 2.1 Sociolinguistic Paradigms 2.2 Descriptions and Explanations 2.3 Theoretical Pluralism 2.4 Theory in Historical Sociolinguistics 3. PRIMARY DATA: BACKGROUND AND INFORMANTS 3.1 Data in Historical Sociolinguistics 3.2 Generic and Temporal Concerns 3.3 Tudor and Stuart England 3.4 The Corpus of Early English Correspondence (CEEC) 4: REAL TIME 4.1 The S-Shaped Curve 4.2 Timing Linguistic Changes 4.3 Previous Studies 4.4 The Time Courses of Fourteen Changes 4.5 Conclusion 5: APPARENT TIME 5.1 Ongoing Change in Relation to Age 5.2 Apparent Time in Historical Research 5.3 Previous Studies 5.4 Age Cohorts and Individual Participation in Ongoing Changes 5.5 Conclusion Appendix 5.1: The informants for Figure 5.1. Subject YOU vs. YE Appendix 5.2. Informants for Figure 5.2. 3rd sg -s VS. -TH Appendix 5.3. Informants for Figure 5.3. Which Vs. the Which Chapter 6. GENDER 6.1 The Gender Paradox 6.2 Historical Reconstruction 6.3 Previous Studies 6.4 Gender and Real-Time Linguistic Change 6.5 Conclusion 7. SOCIAL STRATIFICATION 7.1 Social Order in Sociolinguistics 7.2 Reconstructing Social Order 7.3 Previous Studies 7.4 Social Order in Language Change 7.5 Conclusion 8. REGIONAL VARIATION 8.1 Regional Dialects in England Today 8.2 Reconstructing Regional Differences in Tudor and Stuart England 8.3 Previous Empirical Studies 8.4 Regional Variation and Late Middle and Early Modern English 8.5 Conclusion 9. HISTORICAL PATTERNING OF SOCIOLINGUISTIC VARIATION 9.1 Modelling Variability 9.2 Modelling Sociolinguistic Variation Historically 9.3 Previous Empirical Studies 9.4 VARBRUL Analyses of Five Historical Changes 9.5 Summary and Conclusions 10. CONCLUSION 10.1 The Changes in Retrospect 10.2 The Principle of Contingency 10.3 Uninterrupted Continuity of Change? Appendix I: Methodology: how to Count Occurrences Appendix II: Numerical Information Appendix III: The Letter Collections References Author Index Subject Index

Reviews

'...this innovative and accessible book contains much (in addition to the perplexing photograph on its front cover) to absorb, stimulate, and no doubt provoke its readers. It deserves a wide audience.' English Language and Linguistics, Vol. 8/1 - 2004

Author Information

Terttu Nevalainen was appointed Associate Professor at the Department of English, University of Helsinki, in 1993 and full Professor of English Philology at the same department in 1997. Her research interests include phonetics and English historical lexicology, but the new discipline she has actively developed and worked on, together with Helena Raumolin-Brunberg, over the last ten years is historical sociolinguistics. Helena Raumolin-Brunberg, after a period as acting Associate Professor of English at the Department of Translation Studies, University of Helsinki, (1989-1992), has devoted her time to research on historical sociolinguistics.

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