Reviews for Thinking about Language: Theories of English (Perspectives on the English Language Series)

The average rating for Thinking about Language: Theories of English (Perspectives on the English Language Series) based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-12-28 00:00:00 Colin Mason Peter Rickard's A HISTORY OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE was first published in 1974 with a second edition appearing in 1989. Please note that although this listing describes the second edition, I read the first edition and my review is based on that. Rickard was Drapers Professor of French at Cambridge and in this 174-page text he brings us from the earliest days when the speech of France was but a collection of vulgar Latin dialects to the modern standard language. Along the way, he shows how sound change spurred morphological change, how literary production down through time reflects the evolution of the language, and what polemics authorities engaged in on language standardization. I should mention that this a not a book for those with some French who want to learn how to read earlier texts. The reader of A HISTORY OF FRENCH ideally has some training in Latin and in basic linguistics (phonology and morphology). I'd recommend reading W. Sidney Allen's VOX LATIN before Rickard's history, in order to have a better understanding of the pronunciation of late Latin. My only real complaint about Rickard's history is that discussion of diaspora French is missing. Once the various dialects of France have formed a standard language, his focus rests entirely on that standard language and its registers in France. African French, which I find quite fascinating, is in no way covered. Neither is Quebec French, which is simply inexplicable.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-04-15 00:00:00 Gary Leach Clear and accessible. Throughout, I was thinking of the interplay between academic discourse (as power) and its treatment of discourse and power. I think that for people unfamiliar with critical discourse analysis this book provides as good introduction which will achieve a 'leap' in the way texts are received.