Meaning in the History of English
Words and texts in context
Editors
Uncovering the meaning of individual words or entire texts is a complex process that needs to take into consideration the multiple interactions of linguistic organization including orthography, morphology, syntax and, ultimately, pragmatics. The papers in this volume pay close attention to these interactions and assess both the details of the texts and entire texts within their relevant contexts. All the papers deal with data from the history of English, and they cover a wide range from Old English manuscripts to Early Modern English letters and medical texts to Late Modern English cant vocabulary.
[Studies in Language Companion Series, 148] 2013. vii, 348 pp.
Publishing status: Available
© John Benjamins
Table of Contents
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Preface | pp. vii–viii
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Uncovering layers of meaning in the history of the English languageAndreas H. Jucker, Daniela Landert, Annina Seiler and Nicole Studer-Joho | pp. 1–16
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Part I. Graphemics and phonology
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Layers of reading in the Old English Bede: The case of Oxford Corpus Christi College 279BChristine Wallis | pp. 19–38
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Unlikely-looking Old English verb formsEric Gerald Stanley | pp. 39–60
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On the importance of noting uncertainty in etymological research: Some implications of a re-examination of the etymology of roadPhilip Durkin | pp. 63–80
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Part II. Lexicology and semantics
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“A Wiltshire word, according to Kennett”: The contribution of MS Lansd. 1033 to Halliwell’s Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words (1847)Javier Ruano-García | pp. 81–98
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Enforcing or effacing useful distinctions? Imply vs. inferDon Chapman | pp. 99–128
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The role of context in the meaning specification of cant and slang words in eighteenth-century EnglishRoxanne But | pp. 129–154
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Part III. Syntax
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Let’s talk about utonLinda van Bergen | pp. 157–184
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Exploring part-of-speech profiles and authorship attribution in Early Modern medical textsJukka Tyrkkö | pp. 185–210
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The positioning of adverbial clauses in the Paston lettersYoko Iyeiri | pp. 211–230
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Part IV. Genres
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Complexity and genre conventions: Text structure and coordination in Early Modern English proclamationsAnu Lehto | pp. 233–256
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Formulaic discourse across Early Modern English medical genres: Investigating shared lexical bundlesJoanna Kopaczyk | pp. 257–300
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“Treasure of pore men”, “countrymans friend” or “gentlewomans companion”? On the use of interpersonal strategies in the titles of Early Modern English medical textsMarta Sylwanowicz | pp. 301–318
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“I saw ye Child burning in ye fire”: Evidentiality in Early Modern English witness depositionsPeter J. Grund | pp. 319–342
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Name index | pp. 343–344
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Subject index | pp. 345–348
“There is much excellent scholarship, and intriguing directions for English historical linguistics are opened up by papers spanning different linguistic domains, such as parts of speech for author identification, or semantic change and prescriptivism.”
David Denison, University of Manchester
“This volume opens new vistas for various aspects of the historical study of English. It is significant that the textual evidence for most of the articles is derived from historical corpora. Meaning in the History of English offers extremely useful and inspiring reading both to senior scholars and to young researchers at the beginning of their scholarly career.”
Matti Rissanen, University of Helsinki, in Journal of Historical Pragmatics 16(2): 304-309
Cited by (4)
Cited by four other publications
Los, Bettelou & Patrick Honeybone
2022. Introduction. In English Historical Linguistics [Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 358], ► pp. 2 ff. 
Dossena, Marina
2019. Chapter 6. “With kindest regards”. In Politeness in Nineteenth-Century Europe [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, 299], ► pp. 197 ff.
Haser, Verena, Anita Auer, Bert Botma, Beáta Gyuris, Kathryn Allan, Mackenzie Kerby, Lieselotte Anderwald, Alexander Kautzsch, Maja Miličević, Tihana Kraš & Marcus Callies
2015. IEnglish Language. The Year's Work in English Studies 94:1 ► pp. 1 ff.
[no author supplied]
2014. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. English Language and Linguistics 18:3 ► pp. 599 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 19 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.
Subjects
Main BIC Subject
CF/2AB: Linguistics/English
Main BISAC Subject
LAN009000: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General