Grammar Wars: Language as Cultural Battlefield in 17th and 18th Century EnglandAlthough 17th- and 18th-century English language theorists claimed to be correcting errors in grammar and preserving the language from corruption, this new study demonstrates how grammar served as an important cultural battlefield where social issues were contested. In Grammar Wars, author Linda C. Mitchell situates early modern linguistic discussions, long thought to be of little interest, in their larger cultural and social setting to show the startling degree to which grammar affected, and was affected by, such factors as class and gender.In her examination of the controversies that surrounded the teaching and study of grammar in this period, Mitchell looks especially at changing definitions and standardization of 'grammar', how and to whom it was taught, and how grammar marked the social position of marginal groups. Her comprehensive study of the contexts in which grammar was intended or thought to function is based on her analysis of the ancillary materials - prefaces, introductions, forewords, statements of intent, organization of materials, surrounding materials, and manifestos of pedagogy, philosophy, and social or political goals - of more than 300 grammar texts of the time. Grammar Wars is a landmark study of an important movement in the foundation of the modern world. |
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Page 24
... Robert Lowth argues in A Short Introduction to English Grammar ( 1762 ) that students must be fully acquainted with their native tongue before they can master a foreign language such as Latin . He instructs , " When [ a learner ] has a ...
... Robert Lowth argues in A Short Introduction to English Grammar ( 1762 ) that students must be fully acquainted with their native tongue before they can master a foreign language such as Latin . He instructs , " When [ a learner ] has a ...
Page 35
... Robert Lowth was a prescriptive grammarian who did not like change or variation because he thought language would be corrupted . In A Short Introduction to English Grammar ( 1762 ) , he goes back to ancient Latin rules in an attempt to ...
... Robert Lowth was a prescriptive grammarian who did not like change or variation because he thought language would be corrupted . In A Short Introduction to English Grammar ( 1762 ) , he goes back to ancient Latin rules in an attempt to ...
Page 52
... Robert Lowth has prescriptive precepts in mind when he calls for building a foundation . He states in English Grammar ( 1763 ) that a " good foun- dation in the General Principles of Grammar is in the first place necessary for all those ...
... Robert Lowth has prescriptive precepts in mind when he calls for building a foundation . He states in English Grammar ( 1763 ) that a " good foun- dation in the General Principles of Grammar is in the first place necessary for all those ...
Contents
Vernacular Claims Victory | 17 |
Hartlib Comenius Milton | 46 |
Good Grammar or Good Writing | 73 |
Copyright | |
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according Andrews Clark Memorial argues authors Charles Gildon claims Clark Memorial Library Comenius's composition correct defines grammar discussion easy eighteenth century England English Dictionary English Grammar English language English Tongue Essay examples explains females foreigners foundation French George Dalgarno Gildon gram grammar books grammar texts grammarians guage Hartlib idea John John Wilkins Johnson knowledge Latin grammar Latin Tongue learn English learning grammar letter-writing letters lexicographers Lily's linguistic literacy logic London Lowth Maittaire method middle class Miège Milton moral mother tongue nations nouns Orbis sensualium pictus pedagogical pedagogy Philosophical Language practice pronunciation Real Character Robert Lowth rules of grammar Samuel Hartlib scholars schoolmasters sentence seventeenth and eighteenth seventeenth century skills social speaking and writing speech spelling style syntax taught teaching grammar things understand universal grammar universal language usage verbs vernacular vocabulary wanted Wilkins William Andrews Clark women words writing instruction