Joseph Priestley’s (1733–1804) Rudiments of English Grammar (1761, second revised edition 1768) has often been interpreted as demonstrating that, unlike most 18th-century grammarians, Priestley took a descriptive approach towards the study of language. This article argues that such a characterisation both of Priestley’s work and that of his contemporaries is misleading. The article offers a reappraisal of Priestley’s Grammar, demonstrating that the idea of linguistic perfectibility is central to his linguistic ideas, but that it has often been overlooked by modern commentators. The two editions of Priestley’s Grammar are assessed, and it is argued that the substantial alterations that he makes for the second edition reveal a grammarian struggling to bring order to the study of the English language.
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Beal, Joan C.2004. English in Modern Times. London: Edward Arnold.
Bevilacqua, Vincent M. & Richard Murphy, eds. 1965. “Introduction”. A Course of Lectures on Oratory and Criticism by Joseph Priestley. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
Cameron, Deborah. 1995. Verbal Hygiene. London & New York: Routledge.
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Finegan, Edward. 1998. “Chapter 6: English Grammar and Usage”. Cambridge History of the English Language, volume IV1: 1776–1997 ed by Suzanne Romaine, 536–588. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Godwin, William. 1793. An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice. 21 vols. London: G.G.J. & J. Robinson.
Godwin, William. 1797. “Of English Style”. The Enquirer: Reflections on education, manners and literature by William Godwin, 368–488. London: G.G.J. & J. Robinson.
Harris, Roy. 1993. “Introduction”. Reprint of Course of Lectures on the Theory of Language and Universal Grammar by Joseph Priestley, v–xi. London: Routledge / Thoemmes Press.
Hoecker, James J.1987. Joseph Priestley and the Idea of Progress. New York: Garland.
Leonard, Sterling Andrus. 1962 [1929]. The Doctrine of Correctness in English Usage 1700–1800. New York: Russell & Russell.
Locke, Don. 1980. A Fantasy of Reason: The life and thought of William Godwin. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
McIntosh, Carey. 1998. The Evolution of English Prose, 1700–1800: Style, politeness, and print culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Michael, Ian. 1970. English Grammatical Categories and the Tradition to 1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mitchell, Linda C.2001. Grammar Wars: Language as cultural battlefield in 17th and 18th century England. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Mugglestone, Lynda. 2003 [1995]. ‘Talking Proper’: The rise of accent as social symbol. 2nd rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon.
Percy, Carol. 1994. “Paradigms for Their Sex? Women’s grammars in late eighteenth-century England”. Histoire Épistémologie Histoire 16:2.121–141.
Priestley, Joseph. 1761. Rudiments of English Grammar; Adapted to the Use of Schools. with Observations on Style. London: R. Griffiths.
Priestley, Joseph. 1762. A Course of Lectures on the Theory of Language and Universal Grammar. Warrington: W. Eyres. (Facs.-reprint, London: Routledge / Thoemmes Press, 1993.)
Priestley, Joseph. 1768. The Rudiments of English Grammar, Adapted to the Use of Schools; with Notes and Observations for the use of those who have made some Proficiency in the Language. 2nd edition revised. London: T. Becket, P. A. de Hondt & J. Johnson.
Priestley, Joseph. 1772. A Course of Lectures on Oratory and Criticism. London: J. Johnson. (Facs.-reprint, Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1965.)
Rodriguez-Gil, Maria. 2002. Teaching English Grammar in the Eighteenth Century: Ann Fisher. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Las Palmas, Tenerife.
Romaine, Suzanne. 1998. “Introduction”. Cambridge History of the English Language, vol. IV1: 1776–1997 ed. by Suzanne Romaine, 3–56. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Saussure, Ferdinand de. 1974 [1916]. Course in General Linguistics. Edited by Charles Bally and Albert Sechehaye in collaboration with Albert Riedlinger. Translated by Wade Baskin. London: Fontana.
Schofield, Robert E.1997. The Enlightenment of Joseph Priestley: A study of his life and work from 1733 to 1773. College Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press.
Smith, Olivia. 1986. The Politics of Language 1791–1819. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon. [1st ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984.]
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Swift, Jonathan. 1712. A Proposal for Correcting, Improving, and Ascertaining the English Tongue in a Letter to the Most Honourable Robert Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, Lord High Treasurer of Great Britain. London: Benj. Tooke. (Facs.-reprint, Menston, Yorks.: Scolar Press, 1969.)
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