A corpus-based study of abbreviations in eighteenth-century English grammars

Abstract

During the late modern period, the English language went through serious attempts at grammar codification and prescription, not seen before at this level. Even if during 1700–59 English grammars were published discreetly, the number of works from the 1760s onwards boomed significantly. Among the extra material that grammars offered the potential users of the book, quality paratextual constituents and subsidiary contents were much appreciated. This paper presents a corpus-based study of abbreviations in eighteenth-century English grammars, one aspect that has traditionally been briefly outlined in these reference books and has received little scholarly attention, possibly on account of its subsidiary nature. However, and although not directly related to the ongoing process of codification of the English language, my corpus-based analysis suggests that abbreviations were indeed relevant in the written language of that historical period, either as jargonistic shorthand or as indicators of (in-)formal register and respect for the addressee in epistolary contexts.