Mencken, H.L. 1921. The American Language
Author: Unknown
Date: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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Reference > Mencken, H.L.
> The American Language

Corbis

This study shows a certain utility. But its chief excuse is its human interest, for it prods deeply into national idiosyncracies and ways of mind, and that sort of prodding is always entertaining.Preface to the
First Edition

H.L. Mencken

The American Language

An Inquiry into the Development of English in the
United States

H.L.
Mencken

This classic was written to clarify the discrepancies between
British and American English and to define the distinguishing characteristics of American English. Menckens groundbreaking study was undoubtedly the most scientific linguistic work on the American language to date and continues to serve as a definitive resource in the field.

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CONTENTS

Bibliographic
Record  Subject
Index  Word and Phrase
List

SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND
ENLARGED

NEW YORK: ALFRED A.
KNOPF, 1921
NEW YORK: BARTLEBY.COM,
2000

Preface to the
First Edition

Preface to the
Second Edition

I. Introductory
1. The Diverging
Streams of English
2. The Academic
Attitude
3. The View of Writing
Men
4. Foreign
Observers
5. The General
Character of American
English
6. The Materials of the
Inquiry

II. The Beginnings of
American

1. The First
Differntiation
2. Sources of Early
Americanisms
3. New Words of English
Material
4. Changed
Meaning
5. Archaic English
Words
6. Colonial
Pronunciation

III. The Period of
Growth
1. Character of the
New Nation
2. The Language in the
Making
3. The Expanding
Vocabulary
4. Loan-Words and
Non-English Influences
5. Pronunciation
Before the Civil War

IV. American and
English Today
1. The Two
Vocabularies
2. Differences in
Usage
3. Honorifics
4. Euphemisms
5. Expletives and
Forbidden Words

V. International
Exchanges
1. Americanisms in
England
2. Briticisms in the
United States

VI. Tendencies in
American
1. General
Characters
2. Lost
Distinctions
3. Processes of
Word-Formation
4. Foreign Influences
Today

VII. The Standard
American Pronunciation
1. General
Characters
2. The
Vowels

VIII. American
Spelling
1. The Two
Orthographies
2. The Influence of
Webster
3. The Advance of
American Spelling
4. British Spelling in the United States
5. Simplified
Spelling
6. The Treatment of
Loan-Words
7. Minor
Differences

IX. The Common
Speech
1. Grammarians and
Their Ways
2. Spoken American As
It Is
3. The
Verb
4. The
Pronoun
5. The
Adverb
6. The
Noun
7. The
Adjective
8. The Double
Negative
9. Other Syntactical
Peculiarities
10. Vulgar
Pronunciation

X. Proper Names in
America
1. Surnames
2. Given
Names
3. Geographical
Names
4. Street
Names

XI. American
Slang
1. Its Origin and
Nature
2. War
Slang

Appendices

I. Specimens of the
American Vulgate
1. The Declaration of
Independence in
American
2. Baseball-American
3. Ham-American
4. Vers
Américain

II. Non-English
Dialects in America
1. German
1. French
2. Spanish
3. Yiddish
4. Italian
5. Dano-Norwegian
6. Swedish
7. Dutch
8. Icelandic
9. Greek
10. The Slavic
Languages

III. Proverb and
Platitude

Bibliography

1. General

2. Dictionaries of
Americanism

3. The Process of
Language Growth

4. Loan-Words

5. Pronunciation

6. Regional
Variations
a. General
Discussions
b. New
England
c. The Middle
States
d. The
South
e. The Middle
West
f. The Far
West
g. The
Colonies
h. Negro-English

7. Spelling

8. Geographical
Names

9. Surnames and Given
Names

10. Non-English
Languages in America
a. German
b. French
c. Dano-Norwegian
d. Dutch
e. Swedish
f. Spanish
g. Icelandic
h. Italian
i. Yiddish
j. Portuguese
k. General

11. Other Colonial
Dialects of English
a. Australian
b. Beach-la-Mar
c. South
African
d. Canadian
e. East
Indian
f. Pidgin-English

12. Slang

13. Euphemisms,
Nicknames, and Forbidden Words

14. Rudimentary
Speech

15. The Future of the
Language

16. Bibliographies of
American English

List of Words and Phrases

General
Index

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