Modern English
(1750-1900) Pronunciation
period of fixing or stabilising the
English language
age of vocabularies and grammars
(over 200 works on grammar
appeared between 1750 and 1800)
Major historical impacts on the
language:
1760 The Industrial Revolution
(new scientific terms entered the language)
1775-1783 - The War of Independence
(independent nation of English speakers)
19th Century English
characterised as deceitful in its
familiarity
spelling, punctuation and grammar
very close to what they are today
differences in pronunciation (word
stress)
words had different meaning
Ex: four Officers were lounging
together (lounge = stroll; not lie
carelessly on a chair)
old-fashioned idioms - substitution
produces contemporary equivalent
Ex: caught in the fact (act);
whatever the event of (outcome)
William Cobbet: Grammar of the
English language in a Series of
many regional accents different
ways of pronouncing words
flawless pronunciation = a sign of
good education and class
attempts to have one correct
pronunciation
John Walker: Pronouncing
dictionary of English (1774)
- provides rules to be observed by the
natives of Scotland, Ireland and
London for avoiding their
respective peculiarities
- several words are accented
differently: cement (noun) - stress is on the
first syllable
balcony - stress is on the
middle syllable
Grammar
Social role of grammar:
good grammar = a sign of good
breeding; non-standard usage = a mark
of vulgarity
Literature: only uneducated
characters used barbarous
constructions (like have went, had
took)
letters (1829)
- recommended past tenses and past
participles of 200 verbs
Grammar differences in:
Tense usage: So, you are
come at least!
Auxiliary verbs: She
doubted not.
Irregular verbs: and much
was ate
Articles: to be taken into
the account
Contracted forms: It would
quite shock you would not it ?
Prepositions: he told me in
our journey
Adverbs: I stood for a
minute, feeling
dreadfully.
Comparative: the properest
manner
Prescriptive Grammar
the rules of correct grammatical
usage were first drawn up
certain forms prescribed as
correct; others proscribed
(banned) as incorrect
 - deleting k from words ending in -ick
most influential grammarians: (music, magic)
Robert Lowth: Short Introduction to
English Grammar (1762) A Compendious Dictionary of the
Lindley Murray: English Grammar English Language (1806)
(1794)
- condemnation of the double negative contains 28,000 words
construction attacked Johnson's Dictionary for
- never put a preposition at the end of the its difficult words, vulgarisms and
sentence excessive quotations
Proposals:
American spelling reform - substitutions: -er for -re (theatre, center)
-se for -ce (defense)
proposed as a political consequence -k for -que (check)
independence led to desire to be - single l before a suffix, depending on the
distinct from Britain stress (traveling)
Noah Webster
- American version of Dr. Johnson An American Dictionary of the English
- gave America its first dictionary and Language (1828)
speller
proposed changes to spelling which contains 70,000 words
became standard features of American coveres scientific and technical
English terms
terms connected with
The American Spelling Book (1783) American life and culture
(plantation, skunk)
also called The Blue-Backed Speller new feature: etymologies

Proposals: Webster preferred spellings

that matched pronunciation better
- deleting u from words ending in -our
(e.g. color, labor, favor)