{"id":326,"date":"2010-03-20T10:00:49","date_gmt":"2010-03-20T08:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/elanguage.net\/blogs\/booknotices\/?p=326"},"modified":"2010-02-11T10:43:38","modified_gmt":"2010-02-11T08:43:38","slug":"language-anxiety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/?p=326","title":{"rendered":"Language anxiety"},"content":{"rendered":"
Language anxiety:<\/strong> Conflict and change in the history of English. By Tim William Machan<\/strong>. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Pp. x, 302. ISBN 9780199232123<\/a>. $65 (Hb).<\/div>\n

Reviewed by Marc Pierce<\/strong><\/a>, University of Texas at Austin<\/em><\/p>\n

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<\/em>. The end result was somewhat disappointing, as the author\u2019s 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 \u2018Americans preserved a traditional accent and [\u2026] the British [\u2026] had changed the language\u2019 (2). This anecdote nicely sets up the subject of the book: \u2018How anxiety over language change and variation has transhistorically motivated and underwritten sociopolitical behavior, ideological formation, and mythological construction\u2014how it has been largely a constant in the Anglophone world\u2019 (22). Tim Machan argues that \u2018anxiety over language change has euphemistically displaced anxiety about other issues and [\u2026] so long as the anxiety remains centered on language, the other issues can never be fully addressed\u2019 (22).<\/p>\n

This idea is developed in detail over the course of six chapters. Ch. 1, \u2018Language, change, and response\u2019 (1\u201326), 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 \u2018A moveable speech\u2019 (27\u201390), which tackles the question of \u2018the sometimes shifting distinction between social evaluations of change and change itself\u2019 (29).<\/p>\n

Ch. 3, \u2018Narratives of change\u2019 (81\u2013129), 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, \u2018Policy and politics\u2019 (130\u201385) 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.<\/p>\n

Ch. 5, \u2018Say the right thing\u2019 (186\u2013237), examines the \u2018ways in which metalinguistic commentary, like literary narratives and public policy, can be determinative in speakers\u2019 attitudes towards change and variation\u2019 (233). Finally, \u2018Fixing English\u2019 (238\u201366), looks at the value invested in language variation and change\u2014for 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 \u2018to assign blame to language, and to minister to it alone, provides short-term solutions to long-term social problems\u2019 (266), as this \u2018allows speakers to evade responsibility for what they say [\u2026 and] allows them to deny responsibility for what they do\u2019 (266).<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Language anxiety: Conflict and change in the history of English. By Tim William Machan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Pp. x, 302. ISBN 9780199232123. $65 (Hb). 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=326"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":327,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326\/revisions\/327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}