English grammar writing started in the late 16th century and flourished during the 18th century. It was common for grammarians during this era to adopt a prescriptivist attitude towards language; that is, they would dictate norms of correct usage of the language rather than describing language use. This trend lost weight from the 19th century onwards.
One of the constructions prescriptive grammarians usually criticised was it is me, with an object case pronoun, as opposed to the traditionally correct it is I, with a subject case pronoun. The aim of this paper is to look at the reasoning behind grammarians’ choice of correct form, and assess the effects of prescriptivism on actual language use. This was done by looking at a self-compiled precept corpus made of 66 historical English grammars, ranging from the 16th to the 20th century, as well as a usage corpus (ARCHER and Old Bailey) with data from the same eras.
The results show prescriptivist negative comments towards it is me decreasing diachronically, and while grammars definitely did not advocate for the use of the object case pronoun in this construction, people still used it in their speech, but not, however, on their writings, which clearly indicates a division between the uses of these two constructions. It is me has, nonetheless, succeeded in becoming part of the present-day Standard.
This dissertation hopes to make a valuable contribution on the field of Normative Linguistics, and to be used as ground for future research.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
2.1. English grammars, grammarians and grammar writing: the creation of the standard
2.2. The field of Normative Linguistics
2.3. Pilot study
3. Initial hypotheses, aims, and research questions
4. Methodology
4.1. Precept Corpus
4.2. Usage Corpus
5. Results and discussion
5.1. Diachronic change in attitudes
5.2. Labels, reasons, and topics
5.3. Target audience
5.4. Author’s place of birth
5.5. The dichotomy of gender: grammarians and target audience
5.6. The effects of prescriptivism on language use
6. The ‘controverted phrase’ nowadays
7. Conclusion
Objectives and Topics
This research aims to investigate the historical linguistic opposition between the traditionally "correct" construction "it is I" and its counterpart "it is me" by analyzing prescriptive grammars and usage corpora from the 16th to the 20th century to determine the impact of prescriptivist attitudes on actual language use.
- The rise and influence of prescriptivism in historical English grammars.
- Diachronic shifts in grammarians' attitudes toward the "it is me" construction.
- The impact of sociolinguistic variables like gender, place of birth, and target audience on prescriptive views.
- Comparing prescriptive theory against actual language usage patterns in historical corpora.
- The persistence of the "it is me" debate in modern standard English.
Excerpts from the Book
1. Introduction.
The production of English grammars started in the late 16th century with the publication of William Bullokar’s Pamphlet for Grammar (1586), as reported by Alston (1965) in what still is the standard source of reference for the history of grammar writing in England to this day. After the publication of this grammar, production took off in an intermittent manner; and it was not until the 18th century that grammar writing really flourished in England, when there was a “growth of interest in living languages and science” (Sundby et al. 1991: 4).
There was a lot of variation among early grammarians and the grammars they wrote, but a common point for most of them was their prescriptivist tone. Prescriptivism is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “The practice or advocacy of prescriptive grammar; the belief that the grammar of a language should lay down rules to which usage must conform.” (s. n. prescriptivism). Prescriptivism reached its peak in eighteenth century grammars, with Robert Lowth (1710-1787) – author of one of the most prominent grammars of the eighteenth century, A Short Introduction to English Grammar (1763) – being its highest exponent (Tieken-Boon van Ostade 2010); while the other side of the coin, descriptivism (describing how language is used without imposing rules) became the preferred trend from the nineteenth century onwards. Vorlat (1979) differentiates three types of grammars.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter outlines the history of English grammar writing, defines prescriptivism, and introduces the focus on the "it is I" versus "it is me" debate.
2. Literature Review: This section covers the theoretical framework of standard language, the evolution of prescriptive versus descriptive traditions, and the emerging field of Normative Linguistics.
3. Initial hypotheses, aims, and research questions: The chapter sets the primary objectives of the dissertation and introduces the research questions regarding the effectiveness of prescriptive commentary on usage.
4. Methodology: This chapter describes the self-compiled precept corpus of 66 grammars and the usage corpora (ARCHER and Old Bailey) used to analyze language behavior.
5. Results and discussion: This central chapter presents the findings on diachronic attitudinal changes, the impact of grammarian demographics, and the observed effects on actual language usage.
6. The ‘controverted phrase’ nowadays: This section examines the current status of the debate in contemporary grammars and public discourse.
7. Conclusion: The final chapter summarizes the findings, confirming that prescriptive efforts had only a marginal effect on the eventual standardization of the construction.
Keywords
Prescriptivism, Normative Linguistics, English Grammar, Standard English, Corpus Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Language Change, It is me, It is I, Diachronic Analysis, Grammarians, Usage, Standardization, Object case, Linguistic attitudes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this dissertation?
The dissertation examines the historical and linguistic debate between the construction "it is I" (traditionally deemed correct) and "it is me" (the object case form) through the lens of prescriptive grammar.
What are the primary fields of research?
The work is grounded in Normative Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, and Corpus Linguistics, focusing on how prescriptive attitudes shaped language standards.
What is the main goal of this research?
The primary aim is to assess whether prescriptive comments from historical grammarians had a measurable impact on how people actually used the language over several centuries.
Which methods were employed for the analysis?
The author utilized a self-compiled "precept corpus" of 66 historical grammars and compared the findings against existing usage corpora, specifically ARCHER and the Old Bailey Corpus.
What does the main body of the work cover?
It covers the diachronic evolution of attitudes toward the construction, examines external factors such as the author's gender and place of birth, and analyzes how "it is me" appears in spoken versus written records.
What are the characterizing keywords of the research?
Key terms include Prescriptivism, Normative Linguistics, Corpus Linguistics, diachronic analysis, and the historical standardization process of English.
Did the author find that prescriptivism was successful in changing language usage?
The findings suggest that prescriptivism had a marginal effect at best; "it is me" continued to be used in spoken registers and eventually became part of the modern standard despite persistent criticism.
How did gender influence the results found in the grammars?
The study found that female grammarians tended to be more conservative and often mirrored or reinforced established negative opinions about the "it is me" construction compared to their male counterparts.
- Citar trabajo
- Xoana Costa Rivas (Autor), 2015, "It is me" vs. "It is I". Case Study on the effects of prescriptivism, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/342209
