History of linguistic prescription in English
Prescription is the formulation of normative rules for language use. This article discusses the history of prescription in English. For a more general discussion, see linguistic prescription.
Origins
Languages, especially standard varieties or official languages used in courts of law, for administration of government, and for the promulgation of official works, tend to acquire formally regulated norms over time. Once English became the language of administration of law in England, a form of late Middle English called chancery English became such a standard.[1]: 102 When William Caxton introduced printing with movable type into England, the norms of his grammar and spelling were taken largely from chancery English.[2]
However, the "correction" of English grammar was not a large subject of formal study until the 18th century. Poet
Lowth's method included criticising "false syntax"; his examples of false syntax were culled from Shakespeare, the
Wider dissemination
During the 19th century, with the rise of popular journalism, the
Contemporary stylebooks such as the
Criticism
During the second half of the 20th century, the prescriptivist tradition of usage commentators started to fall under increasing criticism. Thus, works such as the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage, appearing in 1993, attempt to describe usage issues of words and syntax as they are actually used by writers of note, rather than to judge them by standards derived from logic, fine distinctions, or Latin grammar.[10]
Topics in English usage prescription
- ain't
- null comparative
- comparison of absolute adjectives
- double negative
- History of English grammars
- preposition
- serial comma
- singular they
- split infinitive
- superlativeof two
- y'all
References
- ISBN 9781134773398.
- ^ "Caxton's English". Caxton's Chaucer. Treasures in Full. British Library.
- OCLC 18948588. Archived from the originalon 1 December 2008.
- ISBN 9780191595219.
- ^ Lowth, Robert (1763). A Short Introduction to English Grammar (Second ed.). London: A. Millar. p. 37 n. 6 – via Internet Archive.
- JSTOR 457587.
- ISBN 9780521763899.
- ^ Lowth (1763), p. 105.
- ISBN 9783110206982.
- ^ "What to read to become a better writer". The Economist. 9 September 2022.