Cover not available

In:Linguistics and Literary History: In honour of Sylvia Adamson
Edited by Anita Auer, Victorina González-Díaz, Jane Hodson and Violeta Sotirova
[Linguistic Approaches to Literature 25] 2016
► pp. 151–170

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
authorization required

Chapter 8. Jane Austen and the prescriptivists

Published online: 20 October 2016
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/lal.25.09hod
In contradistinction to interpretations that have positioned Austen as the epitome of a fixed and finished style, in this chapter I position her as an author who was writing at a time of considerable linguistic and stylistic change. In order to do so, I take both a micro- and a macro-linguistic approach to her writing. First, I focus on one specific grammatical feature that is highly salient to some modern readers, that of concordance with either, neither and none. Second, I examine the metalinguistic comments made by characters and narrators in her novels and consider the extent to which these provide evidence for Austen’s own attitudes. Finally, I explore whether or not it is true that Austen is unconcerned with nonstandard forms of language, comparing her practices to those of her contemporaries. Overall I argue that Austen was writing at a time when both language attitudes and language practices were in flux, and that as an author her style was shaped by the changes in progress, while she in turn made use of changing language attitudes for purposes of characterisation.
References (44)
References
Anon. 2010. Jane Austen: Manuscripts suggest she had a great editor. Huffington Post, 27 October 2010,<[URL]> (4 December 2013).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Adamson, S. 2008. Working out the interest: Williams, Empson and Jane Austen. Critical Quarterly 50(1–2): 103–119. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Austen, J. 1811. Sense and Sensibility: A Novel. In Three Volumes. London: T. Egerton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1813. Pride and Prejudice: A Novel. In Three Volumes. London: T. Egerton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1816. Emma: A Novel. In Three Volumes. London: John Murray. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1818. Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. With a Biographical Notice of the Author. In Four Volumes. London: John Murray. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bailey, R.W. 1996. Nineteenth-Century English. Ann Arbor MI: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baker, R. 1770. Reflections on the English Language. London: Printed for J. Bell, in the Strand.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barchas, J. 2007. Very Austen: Accounting for the language of Emma . Nineteenth-Century Literature 62(3): 303–338. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Beal, J.C. 2004. English in Modern Times: 1700–1945. London: Hodder Education.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blake, N.F. 1981. Non-Standard Language in English Literature. London: Deutsch.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Buchanan, J. 1767. A Regular English Syntax. London: Printed for J. Wren.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Caroe, L. 2010. How Jane Austen failed at spelling using regional accent and poor punctuation. Daily Mail, October 23 2010, <[URL]> (4 December 2013).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Churchyard, H. n.d. Jane Austen and other famous authors violate what everyone learned in their English class. <[URL]> (4 December 2013).
Coote, J. 1788. Elements of the Grammar of the English Language. London: Printed for the Author; and sold by C. Dilly, in the Poultry.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Elfenbein, A. 2009. Romanticism and the Rise of English. Stanford CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fischer-Starcke, B. 2010. Corpus Linguistics in Literary Analysis: Jane Austen and Her Contemporaries. London: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Godwin, W. 1793. An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice. London: Printed for G.G.J. and J. Robinson.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Görlach, M. 1999. English in Nineteenth-Century England. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hatton, A.J.K. 1816. Chronicles of an Illustrious House: A Novel: In Five Volumes. London: Printed at the Minerva Press for A.K. Newman and Co. Leadenhall-Street.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hodson, J. 2007 Language and Revolution: Burke, Wollstonecraft, Paine, and Godwin. Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2014. Dialect in Film and Literature. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hodson, J. and Broadhead, A. 2013. Developments in literary dialect representation in British Fiction 1800–1836. Language and Literature 22(4): 314–332. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hodson, J., Broadhead, A. and Millward, J. (eds). 2014. Dialect in British Fiction 1800–1836, University of Sheffield, database development by Katherine Rogers and Michael Pidd, University of Sheffield Humanities Research Institute 28 November 2014. <[URL]> (4 December 2014).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jaworski, A., Coupland, N. & Galasiński, D. 2004. Metalanguage: Why now? In Metalanguage: Social and Ideological Perspectives, A. Jaworski, N. Coupland & D. Galasiński (eds), 3–8. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lowth, R. 1762. A Short Introduction to English Grammar. London: Printed by J. Hughs for A. Millar and R. & J. Dodsley.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1769. A Short Introduction to Englis Grammar: With Critical Notes. A New Edition, Corrected. London: Printed for J. Dodsely, in Pall-mall; and T. Cadell, Successor to Mr. Millar, in the Strand.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Markus, M. & Heuberger, R. n.d. English Dialect Dictionary Online. <[URL]> (4 December 2014).
Murray, L. 1795. English Grammar, Adapted to the Different Classes of Learners, with an Appendix, Containing Rules and Observations for Promoting Perspicuity in Speaking and Writing. York: Printed and Sold by Wilson, Spence and Mawman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Page, N. 1972. The Language of Jane Austen. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Phillips, K.C. 1970. Jane Austen’s English. London: Andre Deutsch.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Priestley, J. 1761. Rudiments of English Grammar; Adapted to the Use of Schools. with Observations on Style. London: R. Griffiths.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1768. The Rudiments of English Grammar, Adapted to the Use of Schools; with Notes and Observations for the Use of Those Who Have Made Some Proficiency in the Language. 2nd ed. London: Printed for T. Becket, P.A. de Hondt in the Strand, and and J. Johnson in Paternoster-Row.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G. & Svartvik, J. 1972. A Grammar of Contemporary English. Harlow: Longman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rogers, P. 1994. ‘Caro Sposo’: Mrs Elton, Burneys, Thrales, and Noels. Review of English Studies n.s. 45: 70–75. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Romaine, S. (ed.). 1999. The Cambridge History of the English Language. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Singh, A. 2010. Jane Austen’s famous prose may not be hers after all. The Telegraph, October 22 2011. <[URL]> (4 December 2013).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sundby, B., Bjørge, A. & Haugland, K. 1991. A Dictionary of English Normative Grammar, 1700–1800 [Studies in the History of the Language Sciences 63]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sutherland, K. 2010. ‘Austen’s points’: Kathryn Sutherland responds. Language Log 29 November 2010. <[URL]> (3 December 2013).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Terry, J. 1988. Seen but not heard: Servants in Jane Austen’s England. Persuasions: Journal of the Jane Austen Society of North America 10: 104–116.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tieken-Boon van Ostade, I. 2009. An Introduction to Late Modern English. Edinburgh: EUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2014. In Search of Jane Austen: The Language of the Letters. Oxford: OUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tomalin, C. 2000. Jane Austen: A Life. London: Penguin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
University of Oxford. 2010. Austen’s famous style may not be hers after all. 22 October 2010. <[URL]> (4 December 2013).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue