Spring 2007

E 395N • 18th & 19th Century British & American English

Course Description

This course deals with the social and linguistic development of English in Britain and the Americas between 1700-1900. It begins with an overview of the origins of the language and the circumstances of its spread out of the British Isles across the Atlantic, not only to the United States but also to Canada and the Caribbean area, and examines the emergence of various regional, social and ethnic dialects and the efforts to cultivate a distinctively "American" Language, consulting inter alia such authors as Webster and Mencken. We will look at divergent regional varieties such as e.g. Scots and Trinidadian Vernacular, and their use as literary mediums.

Texts

A workbook will be available from Speedway Copy and list of required and recommended readings provided.

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