This volume of "The Penguin History of Literature" is devoted to its medium, the English language. A first section considers present-day English, its sounds, grammar, vocabulary and stylistic varieties. A second section describes the growth of the language over the centuries and concludes with chapters on the social context of English-language studies and the role of English in the modern world. While each essay stands complete in itself, the book is designed to provide a grounding in the modern language through which to explore past developments. It constitutes an introduction to the subject, and full biographies point the way to further investigation. "The Penguin History of Literature" is a critical survey of English and American literature in ten volumes. Each volume is a collection of original essays specially commissioned for the series, which, taken together, cover 14 centuries of literature from the Anglo-Saxons to the present.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Book Description:
A collection of statements by literary men and others about the nature and use of the language, its resources, potentialities and development. Volume II starts in 1858 and runs to the 1960s and therefore records the rise first of philology, then of modern linguistic study.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherPenguin
- Publication date1993
- ISBN 10 0140177604
- ISBN 13 9780140177602
- BindingPaperback
- Edition number3
- Number of pages384
- EditorCrystal David, Bolton W.