A Survey of Modern English

by Gramley,Stephan

• ISBN13: 9780415300353
• ISBN10: 0415300355
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2003-12-03
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Fully revised and updated, the second edition of this authoritative guide to modern English is a comprehensive, scholarly and systematic review of modern English. In one volume, the book presents a description of both the linguistic structure of present-day English and its geographical, social, gender and ethnic variations. Covering new developments such as the impact of email on language, and corpus-based grammars, the second edition of this accessible text has been extensively re-written and brings the survey of modern English right up to date. Offering new examples and suggestions for further reading, the book is essential reading for all students of English language and linguistics.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	xi
Preface	xiii
Abbreviations	xv
Introduction	xvii
1 The English language: standards and variation	1	(20)
1.1 Standard English	1	(1)
1.2 Language attitudes	2	(2)
1.3 The emergence of Standard English	4	(3)
1.4 Standard and General English	7	(2)
1.5 Sociolinguistic dimensions of English	9	(3)
1.6 Words in use: the register approach	12	(7)
1.7 Further reading	19	(2)
PART 1 English as a linguistic system	21	(122)
2 Vocabulary	23	(25)
2.1 Words and meaning	23	(1)
2.2 Lexical relationships	24	(2)
2.3 Dictionaries	26	(2)
2.4 Growth and structure of the English vocabulary	28	(5)
2.5 New words	33	(2)
2.6 Euphemisms and politically correct language	35	(1)
2.7 Word, formation	35	(7)
2.8 Shifts of meaning	42	(1)
2.9 Meaning change	43	(2)
2.10 The register approach	45	(2)
2.11 Further reading	47	(1)
3 Words in combination	48	(18)
3.1 Fixed expressions as clichés	50	(1)
3.2 Collocations	51	(4)
3.3 Idioms	55	(3)
3.4 Binomials	58	(1)
3.5 Pragmatic idioms	59	(1)
3.6 Proverbs and commonplaces	60	(2)
3.7 Fixed expressions in texts	62	(2)
3.8 Further reading	64	(2)
4 The pronunciation and spelling of English	66	(31)
4.1 The phonology of English	66	(1)
4.2 Segmental sounds	67	(2)
4.3 The consonants	69	(9)
4.4 The vowels	78	(7)
4.5 Suprasegmentals	85	(5)
4.6 The orthography of English	90	(6)
4.7 Further reading	96	(1)
5 Grammar	97	(48)
5.1 Word classes	97	(9)
5.2 Functional phrases	106	(1)
5.3 Functional sentence elements	107	(3)
5.4 The verb phrase (VP)	110	(18)
5.5 The noun phrase (NP)	128	(4)
5.6 Nominalization	132	(1)
5.7 Catenation	133	(4)
5.8 The clause	137	(4)
5.9 Further reading	141	(2)
PART 2 Uses and users of English	143	(82)
6 Written texts and English for specific purposes (ESP)	145	(23)
6.1 Textuality	145	(2)
6.2 Cohesion and coherence	147	(5)
6.3 A typology of texts	152	(5)
6.4 ESP and the register model of language	157	(1)
6.5 Syntactic features of English for science and technology (EST)	158	(3)
6.6 Lexicon and word, formation in EST	161	(3)
6.7 The EST text	164	(2)
6.8 Further reading	166	(2)
7 Spoken discourse	168	(27)
7.1 General considerations	168	(2)
7.2 Meaning	170	(4)
7.3 Conversational interaction	174	(10)
7.4 Turns, schemas and topics	184	(4)
7.5 Discourse markers	188	(5)
7.6 Further reading	193	(2)
8 Modes of address, power, solidarity and politeness
8.1 The linguistic elements of address in English	195	(3)
8.2 Power, solidarity and politeness	198	(2)
8.3 Domains of modes of address	200	(7)
8.4 Situation of use	207	(1)
8.5 Further reading	208	(1)
9 Language and gender	209	(16)
9.1 Reference to males and females	210	(2)
9.2 Language use of males and females	212	(6)
9.3 Communicative strategies	218	(3)
9.4 Language acquisition and development	221	(1)
9.5 Non-verbal behaviour	222	(1)
9.6 Further reading	223	(2)
PART 3 National and regional varieties of English	225	(124)
10 English in the British Isles	227	(23)
10.1 England and Wales	227	(7)
10.2 Scotland	234	(5)
10.3 Ireland	239	(6)
10.4 Urban British English	245	(3)
10.5 Further reading	248	(2)
11 English in America	250	(22)
11.1 The languages of the United States and Canada	250	(1)
11.2 National and regional varieties of AmE	251	(6)
11.3 Social variation in AmE	257	(2)
11.4 Ethnic varieties of AmE	259	(6)
11.5 The languages of the Caribbean	265	(2)
11.6 The linguistic continuum	267	(1)
11.7 Linguistic characteristics of CaribE	268	(2)
11.8 Further reading	270	(2)
12 Standard British and American English in comparison	272	(24)
12.1 Pronunciation	272	(7)
12.2 Spelling and punctuation	279	(4)
12.3 Grammar and morphology	283	(6)
12.4 Lexis	289	(5)
12.5 Further reading	294	(2)
13 English in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa	296	(18)
13.1 Australian English (AusE)	296	(7)
13.2 New Zealand English (NZE)	303	(4)
13.3 South African English (SAE)	307	(5)
13.4 Further reading	312	(2)
14 English as a second language (ESL)	314	(35)
14.1 English in Africa	316	(8)
14.2 English in Asia	324	(11)
14.3 Pidgin and Creole English	335	(12)
14.4 Further reading	347	(2)
Bibliography of dictionaries	349	(6)
General bibliography	355	(24)
Index	379