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

Lynch, Jack

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802777694 ISBN 13: 9780802777690

Verlag: Walker Books, 2013

Inhaltsangabe

Book by Lynch Jack

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Críticas:

The English language changes... Lynch recognizes that grace, clarity, and precision of expression are paramount. His many well-chosen and entertaining examples support his conclusion that prescriptions and pedantry will always give way to change, and that we should stop fretting, relax, and embrace it. (Boston Globe)

In his sprightly new history of the notion of "proper" English...Lynch [asks] us all to calm down, please, and recognize that "proper" English is a recent and changeable institution. (Salon.com)

[A] delightful look at efforts through the centuries to define and control the English language... [Lynch] gives us not a history of the English language but a history of those who have tried to make sense of it. (Washington Post)

Lynch's book pleasingly delineates the conflict between those who have attempted to embalm English and those who have documented, and in some cases revelled in, its plasticity and mutability. (Financial Times)

Lynch writes in funny and engaging prose about the human side of language history and the people who have helped make English so darn complex... Lynch's highly readable book will appeal to all users of the English language, from word buffs to scholars alike. (Library Journal)

Reseña del editor:

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 poses a pair of questions-what does proper English mean, and who gets to say what's right? Our ideas of correct or proper English have a history, and today's debates over the state of the language-whether about Ebonics in schools, the unique use of language in a South Park episode, or split infinitives in the Times-make sense only in historical context. As historian Jack Lynch has discovered, every rule has a human history, and the characters who populate his narrative are as interesting for their obsessions as for their erudition. Charting the evolution of English with wit and intelligence, he provides a rich historical perspective that makes us appreciate a new the hard-won standards we now enjoy.

Über diese Auflage

• Verlag: Walker Books
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0802777694
• ISBN 13: 9780802777690
• Einband: Tapa blanda
• Anzahl der Seiten: 336