“Divided by a common language”?
The treatment of Americanism(s) in Late
Modern English dictionaries and usage guides on both sides of the
Atlantic
The present study investigates the treatment of
the term Americanism and its plural form in their
generic sense in selected British and American reference works of
the 19th and early 20th centuries. It concentrates on two special
types of reference books, namely dictionaries of Americanisms and
usage guides from both sides of the Atlantic. By analyzing whether
the paraphrase or the labelling conveys a positive, a neutral, or a
negative stance, the terms Americanism(s) serve as
keywords for Anglo-American linguistic attitudes towards the “other”
variety. Methodologically, the study combines socio-lexicography and
meta-pragmatics; the results show a change in the relationship of
the two varieties and also substantive differences in how the two
types of reference book deal with the topic.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Background and method
- 2.1The Scottish connection:
Americanism coined on
Scotticism
- 3.Dictionaries of Americanisms
- 3.1Pickering
(1816)
- 3.2Bartlett
(1848)
- 3.3Farmer
(1889)
- 3.4Thornton
(1912)
- 3.5Summary
- 4.British and American usage guides
- 4.1Alford
(1864)
- 4.2Moon
(1865)
- 4.3White
(1870)
- 4.4Fowler & Fowler
(1906)
- 4.5Partridge
(1942)
- 4.6Gowers
(1948)
- 4.7Summary
- 5.Summary and conclusion
-
Notes
-
References
References
1.Primary sources
1.1Dictionaries
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4
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