Chapter 2
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Examples and Resources
Page # | Callout # | Link | Description |
24 | 2.1 | http://www.bartleby.com/141/ | The Elements of Style. Full text online. |
26 | 2.2 | http://english.fsu.edu/canterbury/knight.html | The Knight’s Tale. Full text online. |
29 | 2.3 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azM6xSTT2I0 | Scene from Good Will Hunting. Note the use of Standard American (rhotic) vs. Boston and British English (non-rhotic). |
32 | 2.4 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbqkjchOww8 | John Simon, prescriptivist. From Do You Speak American. |
33 | 2.5 | a) http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/ b)http://www.lynnetruss.com/ |
a) Biography of William Safire with a link to his On Language column b) Lynne Truss's official website |
34 | 2.6 | a) http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/the_good_word/2012/ b) http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=4654 |
a) Steven Pinker’s Slate article, "False Fronts in the Language Wars" b) Geoffrey Pullum’s response to prescriptivist Nevile Gwynne |
34 | 2.7 | a) http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5430 b) http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Texts/preface.html |
Both links go to Johnson’s “Preface to a Dictionary of the English Language.” |
34 | 2.8 | http://www.oed.com | The Oxford English Dictionary. |
35 | 2.9 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbqkjchOww8#t=1m28s | Jesse Sheidlower and descriptive views of language. From Do You Speak American. (starting at 1:28). |
35 | 2.10 | http://public.oed.com/the-oed-today/recent-updates-to-the-oed/ | Recent updates to the OED. |
35 | 2.11 | http://ahdictionary.tumblr.com/post/74834243179/an-archivist-mines-the-usage-ballots | The American Heritage Dictionary, "An Archivist Mines the Usage Ballots" |
36 | 2.12 | urbandictionary.com | Urban Dictionary. |
36 | 2.13 | http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/21/business/media/urban-dictionary- | Urban Dictionary as an authority? "For the Word on the Street, Courts Call Up an Online Witness," from the New York Times. |
37 | 2.14 | a) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRED-vr_xFw&list=PL6089621A87373FBE&index=3 b) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFctP2zDMEI |
English with subtitles: a) Video of Tangier Island, VA, from American Tongues b) Clip from the TV show Swamp People |
38 | 2.15 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/14130942 | Americanisms in the UK. |
Flashcards
Suggested Reading
Grammar, Standardization, and Language Authorities
Curzan, A., & Adams, M. (2006). How English works: A linguistic introduction. New York, NY: Pearson Longman.
Lippi-Green, R. (2012). English with an accent: Language, ideology, and discrimination in the United States (2nd ed.). London and New York, NY: Routledge.
McWhorter, J. (1998.) Word on the street: Debunking the myth of a ‘pure’ standard English. New York: Perseus.
Milroy, J., & Milroy, L. (1999). Authority in language: Investigating standard English (3rd ed.). London & New York, NY: Routledge.
Wardhaugh, R. (1999). Proper English: Myths and misunderstandings about language. Maden, MA: Blackwell.