American English - 02 edition

Tottie, Gunnel : University of Zurich

Gunnel Tottie is Professor of English Linguistics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. She is author of Negation in English Speech and Writing (1991) and editor of Creating and Using English Language Corpora (with Udo Fries and Peter Schneider, 1994), and Negation in the History of English (with Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade and Wim van der Wurff, 1999).

"A splendidly informative, yet lucid and easy-to-consult work. It contains all one might expect - such as clear chapters on vocabulary and accent - but also much much more: the sections on American culture, metaphor, greetings, swearwords, and websites are super-useful."

--Jean Aitchison, Worcester College, University of Oxford

"I have many excellent European students whose English grammar is first-class but who have no idea what a sophomore is. This book is a wonderful introduction to the interface between American English and American society which attends not only to linguistic detail but also to the way in which the culture of Americans is reflected in their language."

--Peter Trudgill, Fribourg University

Submitted by Blackwell Publishing Web Site, December, 2001

Word Index.
List of Tables.
List of Figures.
Preface.
Introduction.
1. Writing it and Saying it.
2. American History for Language Students.
3. Running America: Government and Education.
4. Life and Language in the United States.
5. American English Vocabulary: A Systematic View.
6. Caught Out or Caught Off Base? Metaphors in American English.
7. The Grammar of American English.
8. Using English in the United States.
9. Varieties of American English.
10. Language Politics in the U.S.A.: English and Other Languages.
Linguistic Glossary.
Bibliography
Index of Abbreviations and Acronyms.
Index of Zip Codes for States.
Subject Index.
Word Index.