An approach to the historical sketches of the English language in eighteenth-century grammars of English

Abstract

During the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries, some works of language codification–such as dictionaries and grammars–started to include short histories of the English language, which varied in size and depth but had common content organisation, common aims and common ideological tenets. An earlier study of historical accounts of the English language contained in the prefaces to seventeenth- and eighteenth-century dictionaries has demonstrated the high frequency of these complementary appendices in lexicographical works (Rodríguez-Álvarez, 2009). In the prefatory matter, the lexicographers usually provided a short account of the different languages English had been in contact with throughout its history in order to explain the origin of the copious vocabulary in the language. Besides, the front pages of the dictionaries announced the inclusion of these histories, thus, making it clear that such complementary annexes increased the value of the lexicographical works. This article aims to compare the historical accounts of English contained in eighteenth-century grammars, hitherto overlooked by scholars, with those attached to contemporary dictionaries in order to establish: (a) whether the histories of English in grammars followed a pattern similar to that found in contemporary dictionaries regarding language ideology and contents; and (b) whether grammarians felt equally compelled to include this kind of section in their grammars. This comparative analysis reveals many similarities in the historical sketches of English included in both types of textbooks, so much so that a net of plagiarism can be identified. These historical accounts of the language, however, proved to be less frequent in grammars, and, apparently, less relevant to grammar writers and publishers.