Date: 13-Jul-2009 From: Daniel Davies <ddaviescambridge.org> Subject: Gender Shifts in the History of English: Curzan E-mail this message to a friend
Title: Gender Shifts in the History of English
Published: 2009
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
http://us.cambridge.org
Author: Anne Curzan
Paperback: ISBN: 9780521117265 Pages: Price: U.K. £ 18.99
Paperback: ISBN: 9780521117265 Pages: Price: U.S. $ 34.99
Abstract:
Note: This is the paperback edition of a previously announced book.
How and why did grammatical gender, found in Old English and in other Germanic languages, gradually disappear from English and get replaced by a system where the gender of nouns and the use of personal pronouns depend on the natural gender of the referent? How is this shift related to 'irregular agreement' (such as she for ships) and 'sexist' language use (such as generic he) in Modern English, and how is the language continuing to evolve in these respects? Anne Curzan's accessibly written and carefully researched study is based on extensive corpus data, and will make a major contribution by providing a historical perspective on these often controversial questions. It will be of interest to researchers and students in history of English, historical linguistics, corpus linguistics, language and gender, and medieval studies.
Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. Defining English gender; 2. The gender shift in histories of English; 3. A history of gender, people and pronouns: The story of generic he; 4. Third-person pronouns in the gender shift: Why is that ship a she?; 5. Gender and asymmetrical word histories: When boys could be girls; 6. Implications for non-sexist language reform; Appendix 1. Background on Early English Personal Pronouns; Appendix 2. Helsinki Corpus Texts and Methodology; References; Index.
Linguistic Field(s):
Applied Linguistics
Historical Linguistics
Sociolinguistics
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