Chapter 41. An American Accent
- Spectacular linguistic uniformity
- geographic (without barriers of regional dialect)
- social (without barriers of class and caste)
- symptoms and causes of a striving for national unity
- classless language provided vernacular for equality
- Pronunciation
- southern pronunciation a survival of older ways
- once-isolated regional English dialects met
- linguistic melting pot
- European travelers amazed by proper and grammatical spoken English
- Strength of forces toward a uniform speech
- resistance to borrowing
- lack of invention of new words
- borrowing limited
- before Revolution, only striking new characteristic of the language was its uniformity
- Americanisms
- employed by Rev. John Witherspoon in 1781
- surprisingly little need for the word
- brash and extravagant developing in 19th century
- late 19th and early 20th century developments
- borrowing from French, Spanish, etc.
- free commercial invention of words (e.g., Kodak, Sanforized)
- vocabulary did not become distinctly American until 50 years after Revolution
Chapter 42. Quest for a Standard
- The literati expressed an enthusiasm for standardization
- Ben Franklin as spokesman for provincial America
- tinkered with spelling
- father of Purism in American English
- never wavered from this quest
- became a tool in the Age of Pedants
- a purer, more English English
- preoccupied writers into the 19th century
- 1776-1800 a period when a large number of Americanisms were added to the language
- purists stepped up the battle
- Noah Webster
- attempted to purify language
- restoring it to condition of best language in best period of England
- grossly underestimated the number of distinctly American words and usages
- little justification for his for calling his 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language "American"
- somewhat of a dictator in his approach to language
- Spelling
- in 17th century, each person spelled as he pleased
- in 18th century, authors spelled fairly much alike
- Dr. Johnson's Dictionary (1757) became a standard
- Learning a standard language
- essential to partaking in the enjoyments of a ruling aristocracy
- late 18th and early 19th centuries saw a prolific output of dictionaries, grammars, and guides to proper speech
- subversive to old caste
- a way of (democratized) language suitable to New World
Chapter 43. Culture by the Book: The Spelling Fetish
- Spelling bee (a more appropriate fit for volume 2, The National Experience)
- a game which popularized the effort to make proper speech accessible to all
- "bee" itself an Americanism
- American attitude toward pronunciation
- emphasis on rules on proper speaking and
- writing profoundly
- tendency toward spelling pronunciation
- giving each spelled syllable its pronounced due
- affected pronunciation of proper names and places
- "Dictatorship of the schoolmarm" (first known use of 'schoolmarm", 1831)
- declared teachable rules of English
- dissolved class distinctions
- kept one more avenue open in a mobile society
- possible only through a program of universal education
- Early New England settlers
- responsible for early establishment of uniformity
- middle-class and literate
- champions of the common school
- People's English takes place of Related posts
- everyone privileged to speak like an aristocrat
- suited to a county without a cultural capital
Related posts:
The Americans: The Colonial Experience by Daniel Boorstin, Book 1. The Vision and the Reality Part 1. A City Upon a Hill: The Puritans of Massachusetts. (12/8/2014)
The Americans: The Colonial Experience. Part 2. The Inward Plantation: The Quakers of Pennsylvania. (12/10/2014)
The Americans: The Colonial Experience. Part 3. Victims of Philanthropy: The Settlers of Georgia. (12/13/2014)
The Americans; The Colonial Experience, Part 4. Transplanters: The Virginians. (12/14/2014)
The Americans: The Colonial Experience. Book 2. Viewpoints and Institutions. Part 5: An American Frame of Mind. (12/17/2014)
The Americans: The Colonial Experience. Book 2. Viewpoints and Institutions. Part 6: Educating the Community
The Americans: The Colonial Experience. Book 2. Viewpoints and Institutions. Part 7: The Learned Lose Their Monopolies. (12/24/2014)
The Americans: The Colonial Experience. Book 2. Viewpoints and Institutions. Part 8: New World Medicine. (12/31/2014)
The Americans: The Colonial Experience. Book 2. Viewpoints and Institutions. Part 9: The Limits of American Science
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