Tertulia Logo
Sign upLog In
Cart Icon0
Cart Icon0
The co-op bookstore for avid readers
Book Cover for: Fixing English, Anne Curzan

Fixing English

Anne Curzan

Paperback
Regular price$41.99With free membership trial$21.0050% off your first book+ Free shipping
In Stock– Ships within one business day

Do you recommend this book?

Yes!

No

Over the past 300 years, attempts have been made to prescribe how we should and should not use the English language. The efforts have been institutionalized in places such as usage guides, dictionaries, and school curricula. Such authorities have aspired to 'fix' the language, sometimes by keeping English exactly where it is, but also by trying to improve the current state of the language. Anne Curzan demonstrates the important role prescriptivism plays in the history of the English language, as a sociolinguistic factor in language change and as a vital meta-discourse about language. Starting with a pioneering new definition of prescriptivism as a linguistic phenomenon, she highlights the significant role played by Microsoft's grammar checker, debates about 'real words', non-sexist language reform, and efforts to reappropriate stigmatized terms. Essential reading for anyone interested in the regulation of language, the book is a fascinating re-examination of how we tell language history.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Cambridge University Press
  • Publish Date: Apr 28th, 2016
  • Pages: 208
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 9.00in - 6.00in - 0.44in - 0.63lb
  • EAN: 9781316604885
  • Categories: • Linguistics - Historical & Comparative

About the Author

Curzan, Anne: - Anne Curzan is Professor of English in the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Michigan.

More books by Anne Curzan

Book Cover for: Says Who?: A Kinder, Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares about Words, Anne Curzan
Book Cover for: Says Who?: A Kinder, Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares About Words, Anne Curzan
Book Cover for: How English Works: A Linguistic Introduction, Anne Curzan
Book Cover for: First Day to Final Grade: A Graduate Student's Guide to Teaching, Anne Curzan
Book Cover for: A History of the English Language, Michael Adams
Book Cover for: Gender Shifts in the History of English, Anne Curzan

What people are saying

Mentioner image for: Kory and Steve
Kory and Steve
@FiatLexPodcast
6 years

RIP FIAT LEX: A podcast about dictionaries by people who write them. Kory's book! https://t.co/WIK2B5NqPT Steve's book! https://t.co/pHit99v4QC…

DAY 29: If your nerd is really into the "why" of grammar and language, then they absolutely need a copy of "Fixing English: Prescriptivism and Language History" by Anne Curzan. Technical, but your nerd can hang with it. https://t.co/QAHfgT32Ec

twitter.com
Mentioner image for: Helen DeWitt
Helen DeWitt
@helendewitt
3 years

Author of The Last Samurai, Lightning Rods, Some Trick. Interested in languages, statistics, dataviz. NOT Helen de Witt the film curator, who is @diamantecroc

@john_self Almost certainly not, but I never know whether I would agree with the fixes. So many are proposed by people whose views on language seem to be shaped by style manuals rather than, say, @LanguageLog or Anne Curzan's splendid Fixing English.

twitter.com
Mentioner image for: Gretchen McCulloch @gretchenmcc.bsky.social
Gretchen McCulloch @gretchenmcc.bsky.social
@GretchenAMcC
3 years

Internet Linguist. NYT bestselling author of BECAUSE INTERNET. Cohost @lingthusiasm, a podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics. she/her 🌈

@emilymbender Anne Curzan's book Fixing English has a bit about spellcheck/grammar check?

twitter.com

Praise for this book

"Anne Curzan takes prescriptivism seriously; this informative, engaging and readable book deserves serious attention from anyone with an interest in the history - or the future - of English."
Deborah Cameron, University of Oxford
"This is the most sensible study I have read of the urge to fix and regulate the English language. Anne Curzan is one of the most accomplished historical linguists at work today, and Fixing English represents a clear and effective case for why, like it or not, "prescriptivism" has always been with us."
Seth Lerer, University of California, San Diego

What people are saying

Mentioner image for: Kory and Steve
Kory and Steve
@FiatLexPodcast
6 years

RIP FIAT LEX: A podcast about dictionaries by people who write them. Kory's book! https://t.co/WIK2B5NqPT Steve's book! https://t.co/pHit99v4QC…

DAY 29: If your nerd is really into the "why" of grammar and language, then they absolutely need a copy of "Fixing English: Prescriptivism and Language History" by Anne Curzan. Technical, but your nerd can hang with it. https://t.co/QAHfgT32Ec

twitter.com
Mentioner image for: Helen DeWitt
Helen DeWitt
@helendewitt
3 years

Author of The Last Samurai, Lightning Rods, Some Trick. Interested in languages, statistics, dataviz. NOT Helen de Witt the film curator, who is @diamantecroc

@john_self Almost certainly not, but I never know whether I would agree with the fixes. So many are proposed by people whose views on language seem to be shaped by style manuals rather than, say, @LanguageLog or Anne Curzan's splendid Fixing English.

twitter.com
See more