The American Language: A Preliminary Inquiry Into the Development of English in the United StatesPerhaps the first truly important book about the divergence of American English from its British roots, this survey of the language as it was spoken-and as it was changing-at the beginning of the 20th century comes via one of its most inveterate watchers, journalist, critic, and editor HENRY LOUIS MENCKEN (1880-1956). In this replica of the 1921 "revised and enlarged" second edition, Mencken turns his keen ear on: [ the general character of American English [ loan-words and non-English influences [ expletives and forbidden words [ American slang [ the future of the language [ and much, much more. Anyone fascinated by words will find this a thoroughly enthralling look at the most changeable language on the face of the planet. |
From inside the book
Page iv
... Verb . 4. The Pronoun 5. The Adverb 6. The Noun 7. The Adjective • 221 221 228 • 235 238 243 248 253 255 1. Grammarians and Their Ways 255 262 271 291 304 308 308 8. The Double Negative 310 9. Other Syntactical Peculiarities 313 10 ...
... Verb . 4. The Pronoun 5. The Adverb 6. The Noun 7. The Adjective • 221 221 228 • 235 238 243 248 253 255 1. Grammarians and Their Ways 255 262 271 291 304 308 308 8. The Double Negative 310 9. Other Syntactical Peculiarities 313 10 ...
Page xvi
... verbs as to steam - roller ( in the political sense ) and to joy - ride are actually English . Others have maintained that various well - known American spellings , lately begun to be imi- tated in England , originated there . In the ...
... verbs as to steam - roller ( in the political sense ) and to joy - ride are actually English . Others have maintained that various well - known American spellings , lately begun to be imi- tated in England , originated there . In the ...
Page 22
... verb , hasten out into the happy sunshine and imme- diately begin to do what the race always has done - including truly idiomatic writers — namely , use a singular verb on all such occasions , is only depressing to those who place the ...
... verb , hasten out into the happy sunshine and imme- diately begin to do what the race always has done - including truly idiomatic writers — namely , use a singular verb on all such occasions , is only depressing to those who place the ...
Page 23
... verb tiptoed as an amazing and incredible thing . On tiptoe , or a - tiptoe , he could well understand because he had seen it in print at home . But the well - recognized truth that our language is largely made up of interchangeable ...
... verb tiptoed as an amazing and incredible thing . On tiptoe , or a - tiptoe , he could well understand because he had seen it in print at home . But the well - recognized truth that our language is largely made up of interchangeable ...
Page 32
... verb and the father of an adjective . Bust , carved out of burst , erects itself into a noun . Bum , coming by way of an earlier bummer from the German bummler , becomes noun , adjective , verb and adverb . Verbs are fashioned out of ...
... verb and the father of an adjective . Bust , carved out of burst , erects itself into a noun . Bum , coming by way of an earlier bummer from the German bummler , becomes noun , adjective , verb and adverb . Verbs are fashioned out of ...
Contents
1 | |
38 | |
45 | |
66 | |
74 | |
86 | |
LoanWords and NonEnglish Influences | 100 |
Pronunciation Before the Civil | 110 |
THE COMMON SPEECH | 255 |
Vulgar Pronunciation | 314 |
PROPER NAMES IN AMERICA | 321 |
AMERICAN SLANG | 360 |
7 | 408 |
Dutch | 416 |
The Slavic Languages | 422 |
The South | 439 |
TENDENCIES IN AMERICAN | 173 |
Processes of WordFormation | 183 |
74 | 196 |
Foreign Influences Today | 197 |
86 | 202 |
THE STANDARD AMERICAN PRONUNCIATION | 206 |
AMERICAN SPELLING | 221 |
g Icelandic | 451 |
LIST OF WORDS AND PHRASES | 459 |
157 | 462 |
GENERAL INDEX | 483 |
INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES | 487 |
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Common terms and phrases
accent adjective adverbs ain't Ameri American English American language appears authority becomes borrowed Boston Brander Matthews British called century changed colonists common speech commonly consonants course criticism denounced Dialect Notes Dictionary difference diphthong distinction drop Dutch England English Language English words Englishman example familiar final foreign forms French German given names grammar grammarians habits heard i-sound immigrants Indian inflections influence Irish Jews John Know Me Al Krapp Lardner late letter lish literature loan-words locutions London Louise Pound Lounsbury Magazine means native never newspapers Noah Webster noun origin perhaps philologists plural political preterite pronounced purists Review rhyme Richard Grant White says seems seldom sense shows slang sound Spanish spoken standard English substitution surnames survives syllable tendency Thornton tion United usage verb vocabulary vowel vulgar American vulgate Webster words and phrases writing Yiddish York