Download or read book Towards a Standard English, 1600-1800 written by Dieter Stein (linguiste).) and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 1994 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines how English grew from an assortment of dialects into a standard national language with notions of correctness and social sanctions for using incorrect forms. The 12 essays consider the codification of particular forms such as the conclusive perfect and the third person neuter possessive, what people made the decisions, the interaction between written and spoken English, the importance of social factors, and other topics. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR