Studies in the History of the English Language IV: Empirical and Analytical Advances in the Study of English Language Change

The volume is a collection of studies that approach different questions in the history of the English language using a range of evidence and explanations for change across different periods, genres, and aspects of the language. Areas covered include a range of periods of the English language, from Old English to nineteenth-century Canadian English and present-day Pennsylvania English, and examine materials including translations, the accounts of medieval London tradesmen, internet searches, and family records from Louisiana. The contributions represent the current state of research in the field and the nature of the debates in which scholars and historians engage as regards the nature of the evidence adduced in the explanation of change and the robustness of analytical frameworks.