English Pronunciation in the Eighteenth Century Thomas Spence's Grand Repository of the English Language

by Beal, Joan C.

• ISBN13: 9780198237815
• ISBN10: 0198237812
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-06-24
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Thomas Spence's Grand Repository differs from the many English pronouncing dictionaries produced in the late eighteenth century firstly in that it was intended primarily for the lower classes, and secondly in that it used a truly 'phonetic' script in the sense of one sound = one symbol. In this unique account, Joan Beal pays attention to the actual pronunciations with a view to reconstructing what was felt to be 'correct' pronunciation in eighteenth-century Britain.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables	x	(1)
Abbreviations	xi	(1)
A Note about Bracketing	xii
1. Thomas Spence: His Life and Works	1	(12)
2. Eighteenth-Century English: The `Cinderella' of English Historical Linguistics?	13	(23)
3. Evidence for Eighteenth-Century Pronunciation: The Value of Pronouncing Dictionaries	36	(33)
4. Spence's Grand Repository of the English Language	69	(27)
5. The Phonology of Eighteenth-Century English: Evidence from Spence's Grand Repository and Contemporary Pronouncing Dictionaries	96	(85)
6. Conclusion	181	(45)
Appendices	187	(39)
1. Sample of output from OCP: all words containing the recoded character [3] (= Spence's {XXX})	187	(2)
2a. Nares's list of words with `open A' spelt [a] compared with the same entries in the Grand Repository and three other pronouncing dictionaries	189	(3)
2b. Incidence of `long' and `short' reflexes of ME /a/ before word-final /r/ in the Grand Repository and three other pronouncing dictionaries	192	(1)
2c(i). Words with {Lambda} in stressed syllables in the Grand Repository compared with the same entries in two other pronouncing dictionaries	193	(2)
2c(ii). Words with {Lambda} in unstressed syllables in the Grand Repository compared with the same entries in two other pronouncing dictionaries	195	(1)
2d(i). Words with {XXX} in stressed syllables in the Grand Repository compared with the same entries in two other pronouncing dictionaries	196	(2)
2d(ii). Words with {XXX} in unstressed syllables in the Grand Repository compared with the same entries in two other pronouncing dictionaries	198	(2)
3a(i). Words with {XXX} (=/XXX/) before orthographic [1] in the Grand Repository compared with the same entries in three other pronouncing dictionaries	200	(2)
3a(ii). Words with {XXX} (=/XXX/) before orthographic [1] in the Grand Repository compared with the same entries in three other pronouncing dictionaries	202	(1)
3a(iii). Words with {XXX} (=/XXX/) before orthographic [1] in the Grand Repository compared with the same entries in three other pronouncing dictionaries	203	(1)
3b(i). Words with {XXX} (=/XXX/) after /w/ in the Grand Repository compared with the same entries in three other pronouncing dictionaries	203	(1)
3b(ii). Words with {XXX} (=/XXX/) after /w/ in the Grand Repository compared with the same entries in three other pronouncing dictionaries	204	(2)
4. Reflexes of ME /XXX/ in the Grand Repository and three other pronouncing dictionaries	206	(1)
5a. Words with {XXX} in the Grand Repository (other than those involving `yod-dropping') compared with the same entries in three other pronouncing dictionaries	207	(3)
5b. Words with {XXX} from ME /XXX/ in the Grand Repository compared with the same entries in three other pronouncing dictionaries	210	(1)
6a. Words with the ending [-ure] (unstressed) in the Grand Repository and three other pronouncing dictionaries	211	(2)
6b. Words with {U} (=/juXXX/) after {R} in the Grand Repository compared with the same entries in three other pronouncing dictionaries	213	(1)
6c. Words with {XXX} after {R} by yod-dropping in the Grand Repository compared with the same entries in three other pronouncing dictionaries	214	(2)
6d. Words with {XXX} after {R} by yod-dropping in the Grand Repository compared with the same entries in three other pronouncing dictionaries	216	(1)
7a. Words beginning with [per] in the Grand Repository and three other pronouncing dictionaries (adapted from Shields 1973: 123)	217	(2)
7b. Vowels in unstressed syllables: a selection of words from the Grand Repository and three other pronouncing dictionaries	219	(3)
8. Vowels before /r/ in the Grand Repository and three other pronouncing dictionaries	222	(1)
9. Words of French/Latin origin with initial [h] in the Grand Repository and three other pronouncing dictionaries	223	(1)
10. Words with initial [wh] (in traditional orthography) in the Grand Repository and three other pronouncing dictionaries	224	(2)
References	226	(11)
Index	237