Timeline: Early
Modern English
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Learn about the events and people that shaped
the development of English in the 16th and 17th centuries... |
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Printing and Its
Consequences
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Learn about the introduction of printing by William Caxton and
its consequences for the emergence of Standard English... |
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The "Ink-horn" Controversy
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Learn about the reasons for the rise of
loanword antipathy that spilled out into the "ink-horn"
controversy... |
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Shakespeare Home
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This section of the
web site explores
Shakespeare's linguistic and poetic legacy... |
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The Impact of the Bible
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The Bible's lexicon is less than
half that of Shakespeare, but its impact has been much greater.
Learn why... |
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Coventry Martyrs and
the Bible
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Learn about
16th century religious strife in Coventry when men and women were
martyred for their belief that the Bible should be read in
English... |
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Biblical Phrases Test
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Take an online test
to check your knowledge of proverbial expressions from the
Bible... |
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The Rise of
Prescriptivism
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Learn about cultural and
social pressures that led to the rise of prescriptive attitudes
about the use of English... |
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A Projected
English Academy
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Read Daniel Defoe's 1697 proposal on founding an
institution to look after the language... |
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Scenes from
"My Fair Lady" (video)
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Watch how important the notion of "correct"
English is for the transformation of a flower-girl into a
lady... |
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David Crystal Interviewed at the Hay
Festival 2007 (video)
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Watch David Crystal condemning a rigid
prescriptivist approach to language use in general and spelling
in particular... |
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A History of
English Dictionaries
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Learn about the early stages in the development
of English lexicography that culminated in Samuel Johnson's classic
Dictionary... |
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Early
Dictionaries & Glossaries
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Learn about the latest revisionist thinking about
the origins of the English lexicographic tradition.. |
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Johnson's
Dictionary
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Learn about the extent of continuity and
innovation in Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language... |
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Johnson's
Definitions
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Read
a small selection of some of the more amusing entries drawn from the
first edition (1755) of Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the
English Language... |
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Samuel Johnson's Brief
Biography
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Samuel Johnson's life covers many points, but it's a story about
overcoming considerable adversity, to ultimately become one of the
best known men of his age... |
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Samuel Johnson's
Witticisms
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Johnson’s witticisms
were recorded by his loyal biographer, Boswell, who has left us
a portrayal
of Johnson as a human being: flawed, eccentric, opinionated, and,
above all, lovable...
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Blackadder and Dr Johnson (video)
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Blackadder accidentally burns the manuscript
of Dr Johnson's Dictionary and must rewrite in one night the
work that took Johnson 10 years...
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Standardizing the Language
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Learn about the efforts of the
orthographers,
orthoepists,
and
grammarians to standardize the English language... |
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Up with which
we will not put
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Learn about the type of linguistic prescriptivism
up with which Winston Churchill would not put... |
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British vs. American English
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This section of the web site
explores the forces that shaped the unique
character of American English and made it diverge from its British
parent... |
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The Impact of the Industrial
Revolution
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Learn about the linguistic consequences of the Industrial Revolution
and the remarkable expansion of scientific and technical
vocabulary... |
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