The Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language (Oxford Paperback Reference)

by TomMcArthur (Editor), RoshanMcArthur (Editor)

• Used

  Hardcover
  1998

  $3.25

  From Sanskrit to Scouse, this volume provides a single-volume source of information about the English language. The guide is intended both for reference and and for browsing. The international perspective takes in language from Cockney to Creole, Aboriginal English to Zummerzet, Estuary English to Caribbean English and a historical range from Beowulf to Ebonics, Chaucer to Chomsky, Latin to the World Wide Web. There is coverage of a wide range of topics from abbreviation to Zeugma, Shakespeare to split infinitive and there are substantial entries on key subjects such as African English, etymology, imperialism, Pidgin, poetry, psycholinguistics, sexism and slang. Box features include pieces on place-names, the evolution of the alphabet, the story of OK, borrowings into English, and the Internet

• Used

  Paperback
  1992

  $4.20

  This language reference book, written by over 90 specialist contributors, contains articles ranging from the core aspects of English - its grammar, history, pronunciation and usage - to such wider issues as linguistics, education, literature, technology and geography. There are entries for people, books and institutions which have shaped the language, or its study, and there is wide coverage of English throughout the world, and the influence of politics and culture. Fully cross-referenced with bibliographies for major entries, and an index of people included in the text, the volume also contains a chronology of the English language from Roman times to the 1990s.