English Pronunciation in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

This work provides a detailed account of word level pronunciation in England and Scotland between 1700 and 1900. All major and minor source materials are presented in depth and there is a close discussion of contemporary attitudes to pronunciation standards and orthographic reform. The materials are presented in three chronological periods: 1700-1750, 1750-1800 and the Nineteenth century, so that the reader is able not only to see the main characteristics of the pronunciation of both vowels and consonants in each period, but can also compare developments from one period to another, thus identifying ongoing changes to the phonology.

'This volume relies on a wealth of primary sources, which the author investigates with great accuracy, thus giving a very detailed picture of how Late Modern English commentators approached phonological variation at the segmental level. The comments provided by the authors discussed shed considerable light on how speakers saw their usage and strove to change or maintain it. As a result, this valuable study sets itself at the crossroads between historical phonology, historical dialectology, and historical perceptual dialectology.' Professor Marina Dossena, Universita' degli Studi di Bergamo, Italy

'...it is an essential work of reference for any scholar with an interest in the history of English linguistics in this period.' - Joan C. Beal, Historiographia Linguistica

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