The American Language

Author : H.L. Mencken
Publisher : Knopf
ISBN 13 : 0307808785
Total Pages : 798 pages
Book Rating : 4.83/5 ( download)

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Download or read book American Language Supplement 1 written by H.L. Mencken and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2012-02-08 with total page 798 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Perhaps the first truly important book about the divergence of American English from its British roots, this survey of the language as it was spoken-and as it was changing-at the beginning of the 20th century comes via one of its most inveterate watchers, journalist, critic, and editor HENRY LOUIS MENCKEN (1880-1956).In this replica of the 1921 "revised and enlarged" second edition, Mencken turns his keen ear on: • the general character of American English • loan-words and non-English influences • expletives and forbidden words • American slang • the future of the language • and much, much more. Anyone fascinated by words will find this a thoroughly enthralling look at the most changeable language on the face of the planet.

Author : Rosina Lozano
Publisher : Univ of California Press
ISBN 13 : 0520969588
Total Pages : 376 pages
Book Rating : 4.82/5 ( download)

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Download or read book An American Language written by Rosina Lozano and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2018-04-24 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An American Language is a tour de force that revolutionizes our understanding of U.S. history. It reveals the origins of Spanish as a language binding residents of the Southwest to the politics and culture of an expanding nation in the 1840s. As the West increasingly integrated into the United States over the following century, struggles over power, identity, and citizenship transformed the place of the Spanish language in the nation. An American Language is a history that reimagines what it means to be an American—with profound implications for our own time.

Author : H. L. Mencken
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781434103260
Total Pages : 482 pages
Book Rating : 4.69/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The American Language written by H. L. Mencken and published by . This book was released on 2011-07 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This groundbreaking study clarifies the differences between British and American English and defines the distinguishing characteristics of American English. Cigar-chomping newspaperman H. L. Mencken succeeds not only in providing a lucid description of the American language but also in making his readers laugh, wince, and nod in agreement. It's a readable and fascinating study on why you say "tomayto" and I say "tomahto." A must read for anyone who loves words.

Author : Harvey Daniels
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 312 pages
Book Rating : 4.11/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Famous Last Words written by Harvey Daniels and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Daniels refutes the contention that a literary crisis is raging through the United States and that the English language is deteriorating. By showing that panics concerning the state of language have occured at regular intervals since 2400 B.C., he asserts that language cannot die, that it changes constantly and that attitudes toward language are social attitudes. He identifies several classes of language critics including journalistic critics like Edwin Newman, William Safire and John Simon; educational critics who employ techniques that preclude a student from communicating effectively; and a group of critics he identifies as "the higher authorities" - authors of English handbooks and usage panelists of dictionaries. Also demonstrates the futility of "back-to-basics" literacy programs that drill grammar but ignore actual writing and offers a program for teacher training in writing instruction. ISBN 0-8093-8093-7 (pbk.) : $10.95.

Author : Cleanth Brooks
Publisher : University of Georgia Press
ISBN 13 : 0820331236
Total Pages : 74 pages
Book Rating : 4.32/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Language of the American South written by Cleanth Brooks and published by University of Georgia Press. This book was released on 2007-11-01 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this volume Cleanth Brooks pays tribute to the language and literature of the American South. He writes of the language's unique syntax and its celebrated languorous rhythms; of the classical allusions and Addisonian locutions once favored by the gentry; and of the more earthbound eloquence, rooted in the dialect of England's southern lowlands, that is still heard in the speech of the region's plain folk. It is this rich spoken language, Brooks suggests, that has always been the life blood of southern writing. The strong tradition of storytelling in the South is reflected in the tales told by Joel Chandler Harris's Uncle Remus and in the obsessive retellings that structure William Faulkner's novels and stories. But even more crucially, the language of the South--firmly rooted in the land but with a tendency to reach for the heavens above--has shaped the literary concerns and molded the complex visions to be found in the poetry of Robert Penn Warren and John Crowe Ransom; the stories of Flannery O'Connor, Peter Taylor, and Eudora Welty; and the novels of Warren, Allen Tate, and Walker Percy.

Author : Paul Baker
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1107088860
Total Pages : 279 pages
Book Rating : 4.63/5 ( download)

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Download or read book American and British English written by Paul Baker and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-09-28 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is British English becoming more like American English? Paul Baker tracks the changes, trends and distinctions of both languages to answer this question.

Author : Ilan Stavans
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 0313348057
Total Pages : 155 pages
Book Rating : 4.51/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Spanglish written by Ilan Stavans and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2008-08-30 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spanglish-a hybrid of Spanish and English-is intricately interwoven with the history and culture of Latinos, the largest and fastest-growing minority group in the United States. With deep roots that trace back to the U.S. annexation of Mexican territories in the early to mid-19th century, Spanglish can today be heard in as far-flung places as urban cities and rural communities, on playgrounds and in classrooms around the country. This volume features the most significant articles including peer-review essays, interviews, and reviews to bring together the best scholarship on the topic. Learn about the historical and cultural contexts of the slang as well as its permeation into the pop culture vernacular. Ten signed articles, essays, and interviews are included in the volume. Spanglish-a hybrid of Spanish and English-is intricately interwoven with the history and culture of Latinos, the largest and fastest-growing minority group in the United States. With deep roots that trace back to the U.S. annexation of Mexican territories in the early to mid-19th century, Spanglish can today be heard in as far-flung places as urban cities and rural communities, on playgrounds and in classrooms around the country. This volume features the most significant articles including peer-review essays, interviews, and reviews to bring together the best scholarship on the topic. Learn about the historical and cultural contexts of the slang as well as its permeation into the pop culture vernacular. Over 10 signed articles, essays, and interviews are included in the volume. Also featured is an introduction by Ilan Stavans, one of the foremost authorities on Latino culture, to provide historical background and cultural context; a chronology of events; and suggestions for further reading to aid students in their research.

Author : Peter Martin
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691210179
Total Pages : 370 pages
Book Rating : 4.79/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Dictionary Wars written by Peter Martin and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-09-08 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Peter Martin recounts the patriotic fervor in the early American republic to produce a definitive national dictionary that would rival Samuel Johnson's 1755 Dictionary of the English Language. But what began as a cultural war of independence from Britain devolved into a battle among lexicographers, authors, scholars, and publishers, all vying for dictionary supremacy and shattering forever the dream of a unified American language.

Author : Mary Kohn
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1108876749
Total Pages : 253 pages
Book Rating : 4.42/5 ( download)

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Download or read book African American Language written by Mary Kohn and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-12-03 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From birth to early adulthood, all aspects of a child's life undergo enormous development and change, and language is no exception. This book documents the results of a pioneering longitudinal linguistic survey, which followed a cohort of sixty-seven African American children over the first twenty years of life, to examine language development through childhood. It offers the first opportunity to hear what it sounds like to grow up linguistically for a cohort of African American speakers, and provides fascinating insights into key linguistics issues, such as how physical growth influences pronunciation, how social factors influence language change, and the extent to which individuals modify their language use over time. By providing a lens into some of the most foundational questions about coming of age in African American Language, this study has implications for a wide range of disciplines, from speech pathology and education, to research on language acquisition and sociolinguistics.

Author : Christopher Davies
Publisher : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN 13 : 9780547350288
Total Pages : 260 pages
Book Rating : 4.87/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Divided by a Common Language written by Christopher Davies and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2007-09-26 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This guide to the language differences between the United States and United Kingdom is “a fascinating collection full of all kinds of surprises” (Minneapolis Star Tribune). Taxi rank . . . toad in the hole . . . dustman . . . fancy dress . . . American visitors to London (or viewers of British TV shows) might be confused by these terms. But most Britons would be equally puzzled by words like caboose, bleachers, and busboy. In Divided by a Common Language, Christopher Davies explains these expressions and discusses the many differences in pronunciation, spelling, and vocabulary between British and American English. He compares the customs, manners, and practical details of daily life in the United Kingdom and the United States, and American readers will enjoy his account of American culture as seen through an Englishman’s eyes. Davies tops it off with an amusing list of expressions that sound innocent enough in one country but make quite the opposite impression in the other. Two large glossaries help travelers translate from one variety of English to the other, and additional lists explain the distinctive words of Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. This delightful book is the ideal companion for travelers—or anyone who enjoys the many nuances of language.