The prodigal tongue
Subtitle: the love-hate relationship between American and British English
By: Lynne Murphy
Published: 2018
Language: eng
Number of pages: 360
ISBN-13: 9780143131106
Copyright date: 2018
Subjects: Usage; Psychological aspects; English language; Variation; History
Other titles: Love-hate relationship between American and British English
Description: "An American linguist teaching in England explores the sibling rivalry between British and American English. "If Shakespeare were alive today, he'd sound like an American." "English accents are the sexiest." "Americans have ruined the English language." "Technology means everyone will have to speak the same English." Such claims about the English language are often repeated but rarely examined. Professor Lynne Murphy is on the linguistic front line. In The Prodigal Tongue she explores the fiction and reality of the special relationship between British and American English. By examining the causes and symptoms of American Verbal Inferiority Complex and its flipside, British Verbal Superiority Complex, Murphy unravels the prejudices, stereotypes and insecurities that shape our attitudes to our own language. With great humo(u)r and new insights, Lynne Murphy looks at the social, political and linguistic forces that have driven American and British English in different directions: how Americans got from centre to center, why British accents are growing away from American ones, and what different things we mean when we say estate, frown, or middle class. Is anyone winning this war of the words? Will Yanks and Brits ever really understand each other?"--

"An American linguist teaching in England explores the sibling rivalry between British and American English"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 299-343) and index.
Table of contents: title: The Queen's English, corrupted; title: The wrong end of the bumbershoot: stereotypes and getting things wrong; title: Separated by a common language?; title: America: saving the English language since 1607; title: More American, more Ænglisc?; title: Logical nonsense; title: Lost in translation; title: The standard bearers; title: The prognosis; title: Beyond Britain and America.