The Subjunctive in the Age of Prescriptivism

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

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2. Introduction

   • Anita Auer

   Pages 1-15

3. Eighteenth-Century English Grammarians and the Subjunctive Mood

   • Anita Auer

   Pages 16-61

4. The Subjunctive Mood in Eighteenth-Century England: A Corpus Study

   • Anita Auer

   Pages 62-86

5. Eighteenth-Century German Grammars and the Subjunctive Mood

   • Anita Auer

   Pages 87-132

6. The Subjunctive Mood in Eighteenth-Century Germany and Austria: A Corpus Study

   • Anita Auer

   Pages 133-156

7. Standardisation Processes in England and the German-Speaking Areas

   • Anita Auer

   Pages 157-187

8. Back Matter

   Pages 188-221

   PDF

This monograph focuses on the description, use and development of the inflectional subjunctive in English and German in the eighteenth century. A close comparison between meta-linguistic comments (eighteenth-century grammars) and actual language usage (corpus study) allows the evaluation of the influence of prescriptivism on language change.

• German
• Germany
• grammar
• language
• literary diction

• University of Utrecht, Netherlands

  Anita Auer

ANITA AUER is an Assistant Professor of English Language and Linguistics at the University of Utrecht, Netherlands. She has taught and lectured in Austria, England and the Netherlands. Her research interests and publications are mainly focused on historical linguistics in relation to English and German.

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