Description
Book SynopsisA spirited account of the life and times of one of the seminal figures in history of English grammar which dispels the myth of Lowth as the icon of prescriptivism, and establishes him as a key figure in the history of English grammar. It will appeal to everyone interested in the history of English the long-running debate on linguistic correctness.
Trade ReviewTieken's great virtue is paying attention to what Lowth actually wrote, both for publication and for private circulation. rather than depending on the caricatures. She has discovered a writer on language who was uncommonly sensitive to different degrees of formality ... The Bishop's Grammar is not the last word on Lowth but, if we're lucky, it will reduce the amount of foolishness attributed to "the eighteenth-century grammarians" by those who haven't bothered to read them. * Jack Lynch, Times Literary Supplement *
This is a key book for any scholar working on grammatical norms of the English language, and/or the codification and standardisation of English. Tieken-Boon van Ostade provides an alternative account to the standard depiction of Robert Lowth as an initiator of prespective grammar... it would be of great interest to a range of scholars, from those working on the nuances of eighteenth century grammar, to those looking at modern usage, and more broadly at the codification and standardisation of languages. Tieken-Boon van Ostade presents her argument well throughout the text, and it is clear that she is a stalwart defender of Lowth's name. * Laura Paterson The Linguist *
Tieken-Boon van Ostade has presented a book which is remarkable in many ways ... Apart from enriching the study of grammaticography with this methodological innovation, the author also makes a significant, well-founded contribution to debate about prescriptivism. * Simon Pickl, Language and History *
Table of Contents1. Prejudice and Misconceptions ; 2. Life and Career ; 3. The Grammar: Origin and Publication History ; 4. The Grammar: Contents and Approach ; 5. Reconstructing Lowth's Social Network ; 6. Communicative Competence and the Language of the Letters ; 7. Lowth's Own Usage and the Grammar's Norm of Correctness ; 8. The Grammar and the Rise of prescriptivism ; 9. Conclusion ; References ; Index
