Talking Proper The Rise of Accent As Social Symbol

by Mugglestone, Lynda

• ISBN13: 9780199250622
• ISBN10: 0199250626
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-12-20
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Talking Proper is a history of the rise and fall of the English accent as a badge of cultural, social, and class identity. Lynda Mugglestone traces the origins of the phenomenon in late eighteenth-century London, follows its history through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and chartsits downfall during the era of New Labour. This is a witty, readable account of a fascinating subject, liberally spiced with quotations from English speech and writing over the past 250 years.

Author Biography

Lynda Mugglestone is News International Lecturer in Language and Communication, University of Oxford and Fellow in English Language and Literature, Pembroke College, Oxford.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. vi
Preface to the Second Edition	p. vii
Acknowledgements	p. viii
Introduction: 'A National Obsession'	p. 1
The Rise of a Standard	p. 7
Accent as Social Symbol	p. 50
The Practice of Prescription	p. 77
/h/ and Other Symbols of the Social Divide	p. 95
Ladylike Accents and the Feminine Proprieties of Speech	p. 135
Literature and the Literate Speaker	p. 173
Educating Accents	p. 212
The Rise (and Fall?) of Received Pronunciation	p. 258
Notes	p. 295
References	p. 334
Index	p. 353
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