Reviewed by Marc Pierce, University of Texas at Austin

This book opens with an anecdote: On July 4, 2000, the author was asked to participate in a radio interview about the accuracy of the English used in the movie The Patriot. The end result was somewhat disappointing, as the author’s best efforts to offer a nuanced, scholarly discussion of the topic were glossed over by the interviewer, who concluded only that at the time of the Revolutionary War ‘Americans preserved a traditional accent and […] the British […] had changed the language’ (2). This anecdote nicely sets up the subject of the book: ‘How anxiety over language change and variation has transhistorically motivated and underwritten sociopolitical behavior, ideological formation, and mythological construction—how it has been largely a constant in the Anglophone world’ (22). Tim Machan argues that ‘anxiety over language change has euphemistically displaced anxiety about other issues and […] so long as the anxiety remains centered on language, the other issues can never be fully addressed’ (22).

This idea is developed in detail over the course of six chapters. Ch. 1, ‘Language, change, and response’ (1–26), looks at theories of language change and variation as well as anxiety about language change (e.g. compare the connection often drawn by nonlinguists between language change and moral or social collapse). This is followed by ‘A moveable speech’ (27–90), which tackles the question of ‘the sometimes shifting distinction between social evaluations of change and change itself’ (29).

Ch. 3, ‘Narratives of change’ (81–129), reviews some discussions of language change, such as narratives of the Tower of Babel story, and also outlines the development of the artificial language Esperanto. Next, ‘Policy and politics’ (130–85) discusses political aspects of language change, such as the controversy surrounding early translations of the Bible into English or the suppression of Maori in favor of English in New Zealand.

Ch. 5, ‘Say the right thing’ (186–237), examines the ‘ways in which metalinguistic commentary, like literary narratives and public policy, can be determinative in speakers’ attitudes towards change and variation’ (233). Finally, ‘Fixing English’ (238–66), looks at the value invested in language variation and change—for example, how meanings and values become attached to individual words, and how these meanings and values can shift over time. M concludes this chapter by arguing that ‘to assign blame to language, and to minister to it alone, provides short-term solutions to long-term social problems’ (266), as this ‘allows speakers to evade responsibility for what they say [… and] allows them to deny responsibility for what they do’ (266).

This is an excellent book. The subject matter is extremely interesting, the book is well-written, and the arguments are carefully crafted. The only quibbles that I have (e.g. the use of primitive in terms like Primitive Germanic, where the term Proto would be more appropriate) are relatively minor and do not detract from the genuinely high value of this work.