Article published In: New Approaches to the Study of Later Modern English
[Historiographia Linguistica 33:1/2] 2006
► pp. 139–168
William Perry’s The Royal Standard English Dictionary (1775)
A provincial’s attempt to ascertain and fix a standard to the pronunciation of the English tongue
Published online: 17 July 2006
https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.33.1.09stu
https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.33.1.09stu
Summary
This paper examines the role of William Perry (1747–post 1805), an active Scottish schoolteacher and lexicographer, in the prescription of norms for a ‘correct’ pronunciation of standard English, being perfectly in line with the language guardians of the time. Although Perry shares a few characteristics with Thomas Sheridan (1719–1788) and James Buchanan (fl. 1753–1773), as he himself maintains in the Preface to his The Royal Standard English Dictionary, first published in Edinburgh in 1775, he also reveals a certain dissatisfaction with the way ‘the sounds of words are expressed’ by the other two 18th-century scholars. Therefore, the paper examines the ‘more rational method’ proposed in his attempt to better represent the sounds of the English language.
Résumé
Cet article examine le rôle de William Perry (1747–post 1805), enseignant d’école écossais et lexicographe, dans l’imposition de normes pour une prononciation ‘correcte’ de l’anglais standard, en ligne parfaite avec les gardiens de la langue de l’époque. Bien que Perry ait quelques traits communs avec Thomas Sheridan (1719–1788) et James Buchanan (fl. 1753–1773), comme il l’affirme lui-même dans la Préface de son The Royal Standard English Dictionary, publié pour la première fois à Edimbourg en 1775, il fait également preuve d’un certain désaccord avec la manière dont ‘les sons des mots sont exprimés’ par les deux autres savants du XVIIIe siècle. Aussi l’article examine-t-il également la ‘méthode la plus rationnelle’ proposée dans sa tentative de mieux représenter les sons de la langue anglaise.
Zusammenfassung
Thema dieses Artikels ist die Analyse der Rolle, die William Perry (1747–post 1805), ein als Schullehrer und Lexikograph tätiger Schotte, beim Verschreiben der Normen für eine ‘genaue’ Aussprache des Standard-Englischen, in vollkommener Angleichung an die Sprachenwächter jener Zeit, gespielt hat. Obwohl Perry wenige Eigenschaften mit Thomas Sheridan (1719–1788) und James Buchanan (fl. 1753–1773) teilt, wie er selbst in der Vorrede zu seinem The Royal Standard English Dictionary (erste Veröffentlichung: Edinburg 1775) behauptet, zeigt er eine gewisse Unzufriedenheit mit der Art und Weise, in der von den beiden anderen Gelehrten des 18. Jahrhunderts die Laute der Wörter ausgedrückt werden. In diesem Artikel deshalb wird die rationellere Methode überprüft, die er bei seinem Versuch vorgeschlagen hat, die Laute des Englischen besser darzustellen.
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