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In:Norms and Conventions in the History of English
Edited by Birte Bös and Claudia Claridge
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 347] 2019
► pp. 1–22

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Usage guides and the Age of Prescriptivism

 | University of Leiden
Published online: 27 May 2019
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https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.347.02tie
Abstract
Questioning the traditional association of the Age of Prescriptivism with the 18th century, this study distinguishes between prescription as a late stage in the English standardisation process and the subsequently arising prescriptivism, with possibly stronger roots in America than the UK. The typical product of prescriptivism is the usage guide, published in increasing numbers over the years and enormously popular today. Irregular verbs are used as a case study to demonstrate how usage guides treat usage problems, and to bring to light their essentially idiosyncratic nature. Results from a survey conducted to try and assess the effects of prescriptivism in the eyes of the general public showed that currently a form of anti-prescriptivism is developing, though this does not actually seem to herald the end of English standardisation as such.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.On the rise of prescriptivism
  • 3.The earliest English usage guides
  • 4.Irregular verbs: A case study
  • 5.The effects of prescriptivism
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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