Nineteenth-century English
By: Richard W. Bailey.
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Published: 1996
Place of publication: Ann Arbor
Language: eng
Number of pages: 372
Subjects: English language -- 19th century -- History; English language -- Great Britain -- History; English language -- United States -- History
Other titles: 19th century English
Description: Six aspects of nineteenth-century English are treated in separate chapters: writing, sounds, words, slang, grammar, and voices. In each domain, innovation and obsolescence are discussed as they were observed by contemporary writers. Thus Bailey shows how linguistic details gained powerful social meaning in the emergent stratification by class, region, race, and gender of the anglophone community. An abundance of quotations provides insight into the way English was used.

Illustrations and drawings from nineteenth-century sources show how English looked and how people envisioned themselves using the language. Nineteenth-Century English will be of interest to historians of English language and literature and scholars in cultural studies, anthropology, and linguistics as well as the general reader.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 323-346) and index.