Speaking American: A History of English in the United States
When did English become American? What distinctive qualities made it American? What role have America's democratizing impulses, and its vibrantly heterogeneous speakers, played in shaping our language and separating it from the mother tongue? A wide-ranging account of American English, Richard Bailey's Speaking American investigates the history and continuing evolution of our language from the sixteenth century to the present. The book is organized in half-century segments around influential centers: Chesapeake Bay (1600-1650), Boston (1650-1700), Charleston (1700-1750), Philadelphia (1750-1800), New Orleans (1800-1850), New York (1850-1900), Chicago (1900-1950), Los Angeles (1950-2000), and Cyberspace (2000-present). Each of these places has added new words, new inflections, new ways of speaking to the elusive, boisterous, ever-changing linguistic experiment that is American English. Freed from British constraints of unity and propriety, swept up in rapid social change, restless movement, and a thirst for innovation, Americans have always been eager to invent new words, from earthy frontier expressions like "catawampously" (vigorously) and "bung-nipper" (pickpocket), to West African words introduced by slaves such as "goober" (peanut) and "gumbo" (okra), to urban slang such as "tagging" (spraying graffiti) and "crew" (gang). Throughout, Bailey focuses on how people speak and how speakers change the language. The book is filled with transcripts of arresting voices, precisely situated in time and space: two justices of the peace sitting in a pumpkin patch trying an Indian for theft; a crowd of Africans lounging on the waterfront in Philadelphia discussing the newly independent nation in their home languages; a Chicago gangster complaining that his pocket had been picked; Valley Girls chattering; Crips and Bloods negotiating their gang identities in LA; and more. Speaking American explores--and celebrates--the endless variety and remarkable inventiveness that have always been at the heart of American English.
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Contents
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Introduction
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Chesapeake Bay before 1650
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Boston 16501700 27
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Charleston 17001750
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Philadelphia 17501800
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New Orleans 18001850
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New York 18501900
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Chicago 19001950
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Los Angeles 19502000
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Epilogue
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References
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Index
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Other editions - View all
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Speaking American: A History of English in the United States Richard W. Bailey No preview available - 2011 |
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Speaking American: A History of English in the United States Richard W. Bailey No preview available - 2012 |
Common terms and phrases
African American Africandescended Algonquian Algonquian language American English Angeles arrived Barbados Bartram became began Benjamin bilingual Blade Runner borrowed Boston Britain British Caribbean Charleston Chesapeake Chicago Chicano English colonists colony creole culture described dialect Dictionary distinctive eighteenth century England English in America English Language Amendment Englishspeaking European expressions film Franklin French gangs German Gidget Gullah Henry Muhlenberg immigrants Indian influence Irish James John kind of English linguistic literacy London Los Angeles Louisiana Massachusetts migrants Mississippi Mobilian Mobilian Jargon multilingualism nation Native Americans Negro nineteenth century North numbers observed Orleans Oxford Pennsylvania Gazette percent persons Philadelphia pidgin Pocahontas population pronunciation published record reported settlement settlers seventeenth century slang slave social Society South Carolina SouthCarolina Gazette Spanish speakers speaking spelling spoken Swedish Thomas Tocqueville translated Tribune University Press Valley Girl Valspeak varieties of English Virginia visitors voices vowel West William women words York