An Introduction to Late Modern English

For decades it has been commonly believed that the English language has remained fairly static since the beginning of the eighteenth century, but recent research shows that this is far from true. An Introduction to Late Modern English focuses on the tail end of the standardization process (codification and prescription), during which such important social changes as the Industrial Revolution shaped the language. Late Modern English currently generates a lot of scholarly attention, mainly due to new developments in sociohistorical linguistics and corpus linguistics. By drawing on this research, Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade offers a fuller account of the language than previously possible. Her volume is designed for students and beginning scholars and is grounded in recent research in which sociolinguistic models are applied to earlier stages of the language (1700-1900). It focuses on people as speakers and writers of English, and it provides research questions aimed at acquiring skills at working with such electronic research tools as Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO), the Oxford English Dictionary, and the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. The book also references electronically available texts and databases such as Martha Ballard's Diary, the Proceedings of the Old Bailey, and Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management.