Some twenty years ago it was widely believed that nothing much happened to
the English language since the beginning of the eighteenth century. Recent
research has shown that this is far from true, and this book offers an
introduction to a period that forms the tail end of the standardisation
process (codification and prescription), during which important social
changes such as the Industrial Revolution are reflected in the language.
Late Modern English is currently receiving a lot of scholarly attention,
mainly as a result of new developments in sociohistorical linguistics and
corpus linguistics. By drawing on such research the present book offers a
much fuller account of the language of the period than was previously
possible. It is designed for students and beginning scholars interested in
Late Modern English.
The volume includes:
*A basis in recent research by which sociolinguistic models are applied to
earlier stages of the language (1700-1900)
*A focus on people as speakers (wherever possible) and writers of English
*Research questions aimed at acquiring skills at working with important
electronic research tools such as Eighteenth Century Collections Online
(ECCO), the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and the Oxford Dictionary of
National Biography (DNB)
*Reference to electronically available texts and databases such as Martha
Ballard's diary, the Proceedings of the Old Bailey and Mrs. Beeton's Book
of Household Management.
An Introduction to Late Modern English is available in North America from
Columbia University Press.