Text Types and the History of English

Manfred Görlach

Published by De Gruyter Mouton 2004

Text Types and the History of English

Manfred Görlach

Volume 139 in the series Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs [TiLSM]

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110197167

Overview
Contents

About this book

The history of modern European languages has been largely determined by the range of functions they have acquired, particularly after 1500. This development necessitated a notable expansion of their syntax and lexis, but is most characteristically reflected in the conventionalization of text types.

Starting from the German concept of Textsorte as developed from the 1960s onwards, the present account is a first comprehensive attempt at charting the field for the history and present-day situation of the English language. In text types, a designation is linked with a more or less stable form which guides the writer’s production as well as the reader's expectation, permitting one to recognize straightforward uses as well as deliberate misuses. Some two thousand of such designations are here listed with minimal definitions and dates for first occurrences. The discussion then concentrates on selected types, which are seen as especially illustrative for English: book dedications, cooking recipes, advertisements, church hymns, lexical entries, and jokes. Their functions and development over time are treated in correlation with their specific linguistic characteristics and adaptations to different period styles and social changes in the readership. The functional range of text types in traditions outside England and the consequences of the export of English categories are exemplified by the history of Scots/Scottish English and of English in India. The arguments are accompanied by a lavish supply of textual excerpts and more than fifty pages of facsimiles, which are especially relevant for insights derived from typographical features. A full bibliography and indices are provided at the end.

The book will prove useful for decisions on the constitution of representative text corpora and stimulate research into a greater number of individual text types as well as contrastive analyses at least among European languages.

Author / Editor information

Manfred Görlach is Professor Emeritus at the University of Cologne, Germany.

Topics

Frontmatter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	i
Contents Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	v
1. Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. A history of text types: A componential analysis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
3. Text types and the linguistic history of modern English Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	99
4. Text types and language history: The cooking recipe Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	121
5. Alinguistic history of advertising Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	141
6. The church hymn Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	163
7. Lexical entries Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
8. Linguistic aspects of jokes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	181
9. Text types and the history of Scots Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	201
10. Text types and Indian English Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	225
11. Facsimiles Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	253
Backmatter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	309

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
Edition: Reprint 2013
Pages
- Front matter: 17
- Main content: 330
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 19
- Other: 34 Faks.
Keywords: Englisch /Sprache; Textlinguistik; Texttypologie

eBook

Published: August 22, 2008
ISBN: 9783110197167

Hardcover

Published: March 25, 2004
ISBN: 9783110173727