Text Types and The History of English (Manfred Gorlach, 2004)

Text Types and the History of
English
Manfred Görlach
Mouton de Gruyter
Text Types and the History of English
≥
Trends in Linguistics
Studies and Monographs 139
Editors
Walter Bisang
Hans Henrich Hock
Werner Winter
(main editor for this volume)
Mouton de Gruyter
Berlin · New York
Text Types
and the History of English
by
Manfred Görlach
Mouton de Gruyter
Berlin · New York
Mouton de Gruyter (formerly Mouton, The Hague)
is a Division of Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin.
앪
앝 Printed on acid-free paper which falls within the guidelines
of the ANSI to ensure permanence and durability.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Görlach, Manfred.
Text types and the history of English / by Manfred Görlach.
p. cm. ⫺ (Trends in linguistics. Studies and monographs; 139)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and indexes.
ISBN 3-11-017372-7 (acid-free paper)
1. English language ⫺ History. 2. English language ⫺ Variation.
3. Literary form ⫺ History. I. Title. II. Series.
PE1075.G58 2004
4201.9⫺dc22 2004040231
ISBN 3-11-017372-7
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Contents
List of figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
List of texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
List of facsimiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
1 Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2 A history of text types: A componential analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2 Methods of classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.3 The inventory of text types and distinctive features . . . . . . . . . 8
2.4 Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.5 Outlook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.6 An alphabetical list of English text types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.7 Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
2.8 A list of Old English text types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
3 Text types and the linguistic history of modern English . . . . . . . 99

3.1 Introductory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
3.2 The concept of text types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
3.2.1 Survey of existing research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
3.2.2 Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
3.3 Exemplification: the dedicatory epistle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
3.3.1 Reasons for the choice of the particular type . . . . . . . . . 109
3.3.2 The corpus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
3.4 Interpretation: factors conditioning the form of dedications . . . 112
3.4.1 Cultural history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
3.4.2 Absence of dedications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
3.4.3 Critical views of dedications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
3.5 Linguistic features characteristic of dedications . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
3.5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
3.5.2 Individual features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
3.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
vi Contents
4 Text types and language history: the cooking recipe . . . . . . . . . . . 121

4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
4.2 The cooking recipe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
4.2.1 Preliminary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
4.2.2 Old English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
4.2.3 Middle English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
4.3 The development after 1500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
4.3.1 Developments shared with other text types . . . . . . . . . . 131
4.3.2 Features of recipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
4.3.3 Isabella Beeton, The Book of Household Management 132
4.3.4 Charles E. Francatelli, A Plain Cookery Book . . . . . . . . 134
4.3.5 Anon., Good Things Made, Said and Done . . . . . . . . . . 136
4.4 Cross-cultural comparisons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
4.4.1 The text type exported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
4.4.2 Scotland: Mrs McLintock’s Receipts for Cookery . . . . . 137
4.4.3 Indian examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
4.4.4 Hailans Kuk Buk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
4.5 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
5 A linguistic history of advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
5.1.1 General remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
5.1.2 Text types and their names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
5.1.3 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
5.1.4 Periods in the history of advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
5.1.5 The evidence provided by playful distortions. . . . . . . . . 147
5.1.6 Contemporary criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
5.1.7 The development of a new text type. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
5.2 Linguistic analysis: the 18th century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
5.2.1 The rhetorical background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
5.2.2 Adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
5.2.3 Syntax and word formation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
5.2.4 Other formulaic expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
5.2.5 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
5.3 The 19th century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
5.4 Changes in advertising style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
5.4.1 Sociolinguistic changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
5.4.2 Contrasts with coexisting styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
5.4.3 Changes in lexis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
5.4.4 Changes in syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
5.4.5 Changes in seriousness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Contents vii
5.5 A text type exported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

5.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
6 The church hymn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
6.2 The historical foundations of the text type. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
6.3 The hymn as a text type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
7 Lexical entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

7.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
7.2 Entries in monolingual dictionaries of modern English. . . . . . . 176
8 Linguistic aspects of jokes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

8.1 Approaching the topic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
8.2 Types of jokes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
8.2.1 Situational and pragmatic features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
8.2.2 Unintentional blunders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
8.2.3 Jokes involving more than one language or dialect . . . . 189
8.2.4 Jokes combined with illustrations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
8.2.5 Formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
8.2.6 Jokes based on spelling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
8.2.7 Jokes based on names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
8.2.8 Jokes based on pronunciations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
8.2.9 Jokes based on syntactical ambiguities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
8.2.10 Jokes based on word-formation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
8.2.11 Jokes based on meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
8.3 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
9 Text types and the history of Scots. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

9.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
9.1.1 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
9.1.2 Historical aspects of the range of Scots . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
9.2 Formal texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
9.2.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
9.2.2 Administrative texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
9.2.3 Scholarly prose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
9.2.4 Grammar books and metalinguistic reflexion. . . . . . . . . 207
9.2.5 The language of religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
9.2.6 Formal speech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
viii Contents
9.3 Informal language. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

9.3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
9.3.2 Private letters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
9.3.3 Journalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
9.3.4 Cooking recipes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
9.3.5 Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
9.3.6 Humour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
9.4 Literary texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
9.4.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
9.4.2 Narrative prose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
9.4.3 Lyrical poems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
9.4.4 Drama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
9.4.5 Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
9.5 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
10 Text types and Indian English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

10.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
10.2 Newspaper reports and leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
10.3 Book announcements and reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
10.4 Dedications, forewords and endpieces in scholarly books . . . . 231
10.5 Scholarly expository prose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
10.6 Advertisements of various types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
10.7 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
10.8 Letters and essays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
10.9 Cooking recipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
10.10 The language of literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
10.11 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Facsimiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Indices
Index of persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Index of topics, terms, places and anonymous works . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Index of words and phrases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
List of figures
Fig. 1: The functional distribution of English in various domains

from 700 to 1800 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Fig. 2: Sources of names of text types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Fig. 3: Linguistic disciplines partially overlapping with,
or contributing to, text type linguistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Fig. 4: A first componential analysis of fifteen text types. . . . . . . . . . . 13
Fig. 5: Categories of text type classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Fig. 6: Analysis of seven religious genres. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Fig. 7: The increase of text types from OE to 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Fig. 8: The growth of English lexis compared with that of
designations of text types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Fig. 9: Classification of registers and the position of text types . . . . . . 101
Fig. 10: Text types: the part:whole relationship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Fig. 11: Numbers of books included in Gebert and EL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Fig. 12: Numbers included in EL; absence of dedication is shown
by empty box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Fig. 13: OE text types and their designations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Fig. 14: Numerical increase of cookery books 1500-1900 . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Fig. 15: A possible classification of jokes based on feature analysis . . . 186
Fig. 16: Criteria in ascertaining types of humour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Fig. 17: Combination of verbal play and illustration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Fig. 18: Joke involving non-verbal communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Fig. 19: The ‘life cycle’ of diglossia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
List of texts
Text 1: OE medical recipe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Text 2: ME, 15th century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Text 3: ME rhymed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Text 4: General advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Text 5: Roast Saddle of Mutton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Text 6: No. 13. Bacon and Cabbage Soup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Text 7: XCVIII. To make Geil of Rasps (rapsberry jelly). . . . . . . . . . . 137
Text 8: Chuare (dry dates) ka kheer (sweet milk) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Text 9: Mit na kumu sup (meat and vegetable soup) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
List of facsimiles
Dedications (items 1–10)
1 Cotgrave, Randle. 1611. A Dictionarie of the French and English

Tongues. London; facs. EL 82.
2 Florio, John. 1611. Queen Anna’s New World of Words, or Dictionarie
of the Italian and English Tongues. London; facs. EL 105.
3 Brinsley, John. 1612. Ludus Literarius: or, the Grammar Schoole;
Shewing how to Proceede from the First Entrance into Learning,
to the Highest Perfection. London; facs. EL 62.
4 Bullokar, John. 1616. An English Expositor: Teaching the Interpretation
of the Hardest Words Used in Our Language. London; facs. EL 11.
5 Ray, John. 1691. A Collection of English Words not Generally Used;
with their Significations and Original, in Two Alphabetical
Catalogues. London; facs. EL 145.
6 Pujolas, J. 1690. The Key of the French Tongue; or, a New Method for
Learning it Well, Easily, in Short Time and Almost Without a
Master. London; facs. EL 284.
7 Lane, A. 1695. A Rational and Speedy Method of Attaining to the Latin
Tongue. London; facs. EL 334.
8 Lane, A. 1700. A Key to the Art of Letters: or, English a Learned
Language, Full of Art, Elegancy and Variety. London; facs. EL 171.
9 Bysshe, Edward. 1702. The Art of English Poetry. London; facs. EL 75.
10 Harris, John. 1704. Lexicon Technicum, or, An Universal English
Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. London.
Cooking recipes (items 11–15)
11 Kettilby, Mary. 1724. A Collection of (…) Receipts in Cookery, Physick

and Surgery (…). London: for the author.
12 Francatelli, Charles Elmé. 1852. A Plain Cookery Book for the Working
Classes. London: Phillips and Co.
13 Beeton, Isabella. 1861. Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management.
London: for the author.
14 Anon. 1887. Good Things Made, Said and Done for Every Household,
24th ed. Leeds: Goodall, Backhouse and Co.
15 Reejhsinghani, Aroona. 1978. Cooking the Punjabi Way. Bombay: Jaico.
xii List of facsimiles
Advertisements (items 16–28)
16 Anon. 1680-1720. Trade Cards; from: John Lewis, Printed Ephemera.

London: Faber and Faber 1969.
17 Anon. 1705-1711. “Advertisements”, from Defoe’s Review. London.
18 Anon. 1840. “Advertisements”, from The Newspaper, n.p..
19 Anon. c1820. “Clothing”, from Robert Wood, Victorian Delights.
London: Evans 1967.
20 Anon. 1840? “Lottery”, from Hindley and Hindley. London: Wayland
1972.
21 Anon. 1849. “Advertisement in form of a proclamation”, from Robert
Wood, Victorian Delights. London: Evans 1967.
22 Anon. 1860? “Bryant and May’s Matches”, from Hindley and Hindley.
London: Wayland 1972.
23 Anon. 1887. “Advertising end pieces”, from Good Things. Leeds.
24 Anon. 1880s. “Pears’ soap, and Punch parody”, from Hindley and
Hindley; c1980. “The Present Perfect” and “Happy Ballantine’s
Day”, from modern magazines.
25 Anon. c1900. “Bird’s Custard Powder”, from Scotch Haggis, n.p.
26 Anon. 1980. “Bilingual advertisements”, from Manila Bulletin.
27 Anon. 1972. “Advertisements in Tok Pisin and Bislama”, from Wantok
(1972) and Nabanga (1980).
28 Anon. 1978-80. “Advertisements for sarees, banks and builders”, from
South Asian newspapers.
South Asian texts (items 29 –34)
29 Newspaper report, 1980. “City’s ponywallas hounded”, from The

Indian Express, 6 Oct.
30 Newspaper report, 1978. “Traffic nightmare”, from The Skyline,
Hyderabad, 23 June.
31 Essays, 1982. “Advertising”. “Science in the service of man”, from
B.A. Chishty, R.A. Khan and S.A. Hamid, Polymer English
Grammar and Composition for B.Sc. Students, with a Supplement
on Text Book. Lahore, Urdu Bazar: Polymer.
32 Anon. 1980. “Matrimonial advertisements”, from The Hindu.
33 Anon. 1981-2. “Book advertisements”, from Sterling International
Catalogue. London: Independent Publishing.
34 Anon. 1985. “Film advertisements”, from Deccan Chronicle, 1 Oct.
Abbreviations
ALD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
AmE American English
BrE British English
DCE Dictionary of Contemporary English
EL English Linguistics
EModE Early Modern English
ENL English as a native language
ESL English as a second language
IndE Indian English
IntE International (world) English
LME Late Middle English
ME Middle English
ModE Modern English
MS manuscript
NT New Testament
OE Old English
OED Oxford English Dictionary
PDE Present-day English
Sc Scottish
ScE Scottish English
SOED Shorter Oxford English Dictionary
STC Short Title Catalogue
Foreword
by Hans-Jürgen Diller
The foreword belongs to the fast diminishing number of text classes on

which Manfred Görlach has not written extensively. Apart from one or two
observations on forewords in Indian English scholarly books (ch. 10.4) he
does not seem to have discussed the genre. The examples quoted there are
of the greatest cultural and linguistic interest, but a sentence like “I crave
the indulgence of my learned readers for the various shortcomings of the
book.” is hardly an appropriate model for the present writer. The reasons are
directly related to a problem which Manfred Görlach has treated at some
length: the polysemy or vagueness of the lexemes with which we refer to
text classes. There are at least two kinds of foreword: one is written by the
author of the book, the other by someone else. The latter belongs to a
“notional or deep structure text type” which has been called “Eulogy”
(Longacre 1996: 10), the former to one which we might call “captatio
benevolentiae”.1
In the presence of a book like the present one, the eulogist’s task is easy.
First of all, the growing tribe of scholars working in the field of diachronic
text linguistics (including text typology) will be grateful to Manfred Görlach
for gathering together papers which until now were scattered over a number
of conference volumes and thus not easily accessible in all parts of the
scholarly world. But above all they will admire, once more, the energy which
has enabled him to address such a wide range of topics. Trying to divide this
mass of learning into manageable portions, we may distinguish three major
fields of interest. Two of them became apparent already in the first papers
which he devoted to the subject: the lexicon of text class names and the
exemplary analysis of selected text classes (chs. 2 and 3). A third group
traces the development of text classes in the context of national varieties of
English, such as Scots and Indian English; it thus combines an older interest
with the new one (chs. 9 and 10).
1 To Longacre (as well as Biber and many others) text types are expert categories defined by internal,
formal features, while genres are folk categories defined on external, contextual grounds. Görlach’s text
types are folk categories in whose definition internal and external criteria are combined (ch. 3.2.2). My
use of text type follows Longacre. Whenever a distinction between genre and text type seems unneces-
sary, I use the superordinate term text class.
xvi Foreword
Since the study of Indian English has already been touched on, it is perhaps
best to begin with the third group. That the number of text classes is an im-
portant measure of the social function of a language, and of the complexity
of the society using that language, is an insight that has long been familiar to
historians of the English language. What has been called the “reestablishment
of English” is reflected in the growing number of text classes using English
after the Norman Conquest. Görlach applies this insight to language varieties,
noting a decrease in Scottish and an increase in Indian English. While the
decrease in Scottish English merely shows one native variety giving way to
another, Indian English is a variety with few if any native speakers (ch.
10.1). Much of the material offered by Görlach will cause amusement as
well as guilty consciences. As linguists we like to think of our discipline as
objective and value-free. With characteristic boldness, Görlach honours this
principle in the breach rather than the observance, using naughty words like
deviation, wrong, garbled or overuse in his description of a provincial Indian
journalist’s English (ch. 10.2, all in one paragraph). There is an awkward
lesson to be learnt here: many linguists will argue that such qualifications
simply reflect our Eurocentric arrogance and have no place in a truly scien-
tific description of Indian English. We may even add, in a rather less value-
free vein, that to discriminate against the variety of English so characterized
is to alienate its users from their own culture. But must we not keep in mind
that accomplished Indian writers in English of world-wide repute will never
use that kind of English and that, for instance, Arundhati Roy’s justly fierce
criticism of President Bush would never find a hearing if it were expressed
in such language? Görlach’s epithets may raise some anti-prescriptivist eye-
brows, but they do reflect the complex relationship between exogenous
norms and endogenous practice which characterizes the use of English as a
second language. Norms are an important facet of linguistic reality which
sociolinguists and language teachers ignore at their own and others’ peril.
The growth of his collection of text class names is perhaps the most
eloquent testimony to Görlach’s energy and the comprehensiveness of his
approach. By 1990 he had already found more than 1,000 lexemes denoting
text classes (Görlach 1991d: 203; 1992b: 743). That number has now grown
to about 2,000 (Görlach 2001: 53, 56, 63–81, 2002c: 17; cf. this volume,
ch. 2). The sheer numbers demonstrate the daunting dimensions of the field
which he has opened for us. As I have tried to show with the example of
foreword, many of these lexical items are polysemous. Polysemy or vague-
ness is a necessary condition for semantic change, a fact which Görlach
illustrates, above all, with recipe (ch. 4) and advertisement (ch. 5). In recent
years he has extended his approach to a more ambitious enterprise: a com-
ponential analysis of the entire lexicon of text class names. In the original
Foreword xvii
version of ch. 2 (Görlach 2001: 53) he admits that he had decided “with
many qualms” to base his analysis on “more or less encyclopedic distinc-
tions”. In the present volume (ch. 2.3) the qualms have been reduced from
“many” to “some”. In my humble opinion that is a step in the right direction,
and I am looking forward to the day when the qualms will have been entirely
overcome. The distinction between “encyclopedia” and “lexicon” or “diction-
ary” is so uncertain (cf. Lyons 1995: 100 –101) that it should not be allowed
to stand in the way of an important and useful project. If a lexicon of text
class names is to be of use to historical text linguists, it must draw on
knowledge of the objects designated by those names, i.e. on encyclopedic
knowledge. The example of foreword and its synonyms preface and intro-
duction shows that a semantic analysis in terms of lexical distinctive features
is insufficient: all three words may refer to texts written either by the author
of the book or by someone else. The opposition [± by author] thus does not
seem to be distinctive in the lexicon. But the linguistic characteristics of the
texts concerned will vary greatly according to whether the feature in question
is specified plus or minus.
In Görlach’s work the study of text class names is intimately connected
with that of individual text classes. The food recipe, the dedication and the
advertisement have become the object of important case studies (chs. 3, 4,
5). They have a single, sharply defined purpose and are accordingly instan-
tiated in short texts: the recipe tells us how to do something, the advert
urges us to do, i.e. buy, something, and the dedication praises a person. This
fact alone should make them ideal for a study of the nexus between form and
function which is the basic Erkenntnisinteresse of all linguistic research. But
since these genres represent non-expository, non-narrative text types sensu
Longacre, they are seriously under-represented in the computer-readable
corpora of both contemporary and historical English which have so far pro-
vided the basis for the best-known text-typological studies. The absence of
a procedural text type from Biber’s typology may well be a consequence of
his sampling frame. A Biber-type feature analysis of these and similar genres
as suggested by Manfred Görlach (ch. 2.6, 3.2.2) may indeed open exciting
perspectives. Above all, it may tell us to what extent those genres remain
limited to their original functions and thus to their original text types.
Typologically, we think of the cookery book as a book telling us how to
cook. But Görlach’s analysis has shown that historically it may acquire
other functions as well. The extent to which these other functions are
reflected in linguistic form is a question which should be of interest to all
linguists – not just historical ones. Our hope must be that in his new status
as professor emeritus Manfred Görlach will find the time and the resources
to extend his research in these promising directions.
1 Preface
The present book summarizes my reflexions on what I see as one of the

most important – and most neglected – topics of synchronic and diachronic
linguistics. I am convinced of the fact that the structural development of
modern languages is closely bound to their functional range and the con-
ventions that have been established for appropriate usage in the individual
text types covered by the respective language. One of the most decisive fac-
tors is what other languages are available in a specific speech community
for what purposes in spoken and written form, and how well-defined the
conventions are for an individual text type. Proper definitions, and investi-
gations including diachronic developments and diatopic contrasts seem to
be indispensable before, for instance, corpus linguistics can claim to make
reliable statements based on a representative text selection. The topic is,
however, of a much wider relevance since text typology and the interpreta-
tion of individual representatives over time and geographical space promise
to yield insights into cultural history and present-day variation as no other
field of linguistics possibly can – in a way, such research is a partial redis-
covery of the ancient discipline of rhetorics, whose major concern was to
describe and teach what linguistic means were appropriate for individual
contexts.
Most of the chapters here included derive from contributions to
festschriften, conferences and journals; the reprints are here revised with
substantial changes in the form of corrections, updatings, cuts and adapta-
tions to make a book in which (hopefully) tout se tient. Moreover, publica-
tion from camera-ready manuscript made it possible to complement the few
texts quoted in support of my arguments in the original articles by selected
facsimiles. These are provided in the appendix without further analysis, for
self-study and as stimulating texts for readers particularly interested in the
topic.
Publishers have generously allowed me to re-use material from my ear-
lier articles (see first footnotes to individual chapters) and to reproduce
specimens used for illustration – however, most of my examples are from
early sources no longer copyrighted.
Many colleagues have been helpful in commenting on individual papers.
Special thanks are due to John Davis who was kind enough to read through
the entire book, to Hans-Jürgen Diller who contributed a foreword, to Sirka
2 Preface
Laass who produced a computer printout of the text with great care, to
Werner Winter who accepted the book for publication and to experts at
Mouton de Gruyter who advised me during the last stages of production.
Cologne, July 2003 Manfred Görlach

2 A history of text types: A componential analysis
2.1 Introduction 2
As has been known for some time, linguistic investigations cannot be lim-
ited to the classic disciplines of phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicol-
ogy, whether we approach the topic in a synchronic or a diachronic way.
The correlation between types of situation, textual functions and con-
ventionalized linguistic features, a discipline structured by what has been
called register or style (cf. Crystal and Davy 1969), is certainly one of the
most attractive fields available for future research. In the history of philol-
ogy/ Sprachwissenschaft/ linguistics certain topics and periods have been
prominent fields of investigation – the tradition concentrated on Laut- und
Formenlehre in 19th-century comparative linguistics and philology, whereas
syntax and semantics have been more prominent in diachronic investiga-
tions more recently. Such refocusing is not just a matter of changing meth-
ods and scholarly objectives, but should also – ideally – be guided by the
salience of linguistic developments on a specific level in a particular period.
Thus, it can be argued that OE is the ideal period for investigating inflex-
ional morphology and calques, the OE/ ME transition phase for the loss of
inflexion and the resulting typological changes, ME for the impact of
French/ Latin on the native vocabulary and societal triglossia, EModE for
unmonitored homogenization in spelling and functional selection as well as
borrowing necessitated by the expansion of domains affecting syntax and
stylistic variation, the 18th century for attitudes on correctness and prescrip-
tive grammar, and the 19th/20th centuries for phonetics and phonology,
dialectology, sociolinguistics, and multilingualism, and so forth (cf. Görlach
2
This chapter is based on my contribution to the Bochum conference (= Görlach 2001). It is here
greatly expanded to serve as an introduction to the present book and comprises a thoroughly revised list
of text types, supplied with short definitions and dates taken from the SOED. The original paper has
profited from comments of participants at the conference. I also gratefully acknowledge the intellectual
debt to Peter von Polenz, who mentioned in a seminar some thirty years ago (!) that an analytical
description of text types might well start with a componential analysis of types which have conventional
names given to them – in German or in any other language. The same idea was followed up by Dimter
(1981: 33), who counted entries designating everyday concepts of text types in German in Duden
(1973); he found some 1642 names, of which 480 are basic (grundlegend) and 1162 derivative
(abgeleitet: mostly compounds), but thinks there may be as many as 5,000 categorizable in 120 classes
(1981: 20).
1995a). In particular, the history of European ‘vernaculars’ after 1500 is

characterized by a dramatic increase of functions in tandem with the decline
of international languages – Latin in western Europe, and French for many
societies – from the Middle Ages onwards. As a consequence, the national
languages were elaborated, refined and regularized in order to make them
fit for standard functions in written and spoken forms and for use in all pos-
sible situations, which makes the time after 1500 the obvious period for
research into the development of conventionalized text types.
A greatly simplified graph can serve to illustrate this radical functional
expansion for English in the course of some 1100 years of its history:
Figure 1. The functional distribution of English in various domains from 700 to 1800
(adapted from Görlach 1992b)
From the 15th century onwards, various linguistic innovations accordingly

helped to refine the barren and inadequate vernacular. Since the deficiencies
of English were then seen quite clearly by educated users, who compared
their native tongue with the excellence of Latin, the measures undertaken to
improve the English language were largely deliberate (although not sup-
ported by any kind of offical language planning). Many prominent writers,
who felt responsible for the barren vulgar tongue, dealt with lexical and
syntactical gaps as well as with what was widely felt as a lack of elegance –
and they created conventions for a great number of text types, either by
making existing variation functional or by borrowing or inventing new dis-
tinctions. Stylistic adequacy, not restricted to literary genres, was measured
Introduction 5
against the buzz-word of classical rhetoric, decorum (itself modelled on the

Greek tò prépon). Accordingly, the EModE period is the first in the history
of the language in which material for text typology is both plentiful and,
because text production was to a greater extent guided by concepts of
appropriateness than in any earlier period, fruitful for investigations of how
the conventionalization of text types progressed. As with the expansion of
lexis, there were, in principle, three methods to achieve this, all used in the
process of the standardization of English:
1. The continuation of earlier types. This might include a more specific

delimitation in order to distinguish them from similar types, possibly by
semantic differentiation of formerly synonymous terms, or even a split
into two different types – as happened to the dedication which developed
out of the (dedicatory) letter (cf. ch. 3).
2. The transfer of features from one category to a new type – as occurred
(partly) with the cooking recipe, for which conventions could build on
the earlier medical recipe (cf. ch. 4).
3. The borrowing of text types (and their concomitant features) from
another language and culture; this method was widely employed in
scholarly registers and literary genres, especially since the latter relied
on the principle of imitatio and thus required formal imitation of the
characteristics of genres. Compare the vernacular beginnings of genres
such as bucolic or epic poetry (as in Spenser or Milton), and the numeri-
cal rise of text types in the Renaissance period (cf. fig. 7 below).
That the opposite development, the functional reduction of a language, can

also happen, is well illustrated by the functional history of Scots (ch. 7).
Destandardization in fact tends to be accompanied by a loss of functional
range, that is, a shrinking number of text types in which the language is
employed. The variety thus becomes dialectalized and dominated by
another standard language and is in consequence impoverished with regard
to its linguistic expressiveness.
Finally, the expansion of English around the world has created various
forms of language contact. As a consequence, individual text types used in
non-native English speech communities have either remained alien, that is,
restricted to expatriate ENL forms, or they were imitated in the respective
ESL varieties. Other text types were translated, thus enriching the number
of functional categories in the receiving language. (An extreme example of
this procedure is the existence of a cookery book in the Tok Pisin of New
Guinea where it created a new genre in a culture which has no use for it,
because oral traditions predominate, cf. 4.4; also note the unusual type of
Philippine advertisements employing English and Filipino in the same item,
facs. 26). Alternatively, existing native categories were often transferred to
the nationalized varieties of English in the country. Compare my analysis of
the situation in India (ch. 10): if we wish to explain why a certain text in
IndE strikes us as peculiar, we will have to determine:
1. Which text types are not found in English and never have been
2. Which text types are represented locally only by IntE – either because
such books are always imported, or written by expatriates
3. If local Englishes are used, what present-day regional and social varia-
tion there is (as in the metropolitan vs. provincial contrast in many
anglophone countries’ daily newspapers, which combines with the
tabloid vs. quality distinction to form very intricate patterns)
4. If there has been a historical development within the genre, in what ways
existing deficiencies have been filled (indigenous developments, or
through borrowing of styles from BrE, AmE or other forms of English)
5. How conspicuous ‘misuses’ of register found in the individual category
are, and whether these are to be explained by the carry-over of features
from related text types. How important stylistic traditions and expecta-
tions in the local languages are, i.e. how far deviances from IntE can be
explained as stylistic calques
6. What new text types have developed in regional Englishes to satisfy
communicative needs, and how (5.) features in old and new text types
compare
7. What evidence of stylistic ‘colonial lag’ is found in individual text types
in different varieties, i.e. why some local traditions strike us as markedly
‘Victorian’. (quoted from Görlach 1998a: 130)
For scholars it is therefore important to settle various basic sociohistorical

questions before they start a more narrowly linguistic analysis. It is also
interesting to observe that the cultural and linguistic situation in India as
indicated above represents a mirror image of Renaissance England (fig. 1),
English having now become the dominant prestige language and developed
from a borrower to a lender, from a large-scale importer to the world-wide
exporter of linguistic and cultural assets, including text types.
Methods of classification 7
2.2 Methods of classification 3
My remarks above will have intimated that I prefer an analytical approach

that looks to the function and the situation as the determining factors for the
emergence of conventionalized types individualized by a specific designation
and, when available, the appropriate selection of linguistic features. This
method does not, however, exhaust the possibilities, and it may be useful to
reflect on available alternatives which can help us to correct or complement
the approach here chosen. It might be added that the study of text types is a
comparatively new discipline and that there are still far too few labourers in
the vineyard4. Moreover, the national scholarly traditions diverge a great
deal: Germany has seen a boost of relevant research from around 1970, but
the results of these efforts found insufficient attention abroad in the 1970s
and 1980s (cf. the publications by Adamzik 1995; Dimter 1981; Frier 1979;
Große and Wellmann 1996; Gülich and Raible 1972, 1977; Hempfer 1977;
Hinck 1977; Koch 1971; Lux 1981; Reichmann and Wegera 1988; Steger
1984/1998; Werlich 1975; Wimmer 1984). The lack of scholarly transfer at
least partially explains why the Anglo-Saxon tradition (mainly represented
by Biber and Finegan) is so different. Also compare Besch’s Sprach-
geschichte (1984/21998), in which the sections devoted to each period of the
historical development of German are rounded off with a chapter on text
types, whereas the Cambridge History of the English Language (= CHEL,
Hogg 1994–2001) has no equivalent. If such chapters had been included in
the English collection, they would have provided a natural complement or
continuation to the treatment of ‘syntax’ and usefully contributed to a func-
tional history of English including its standardization on various levels and
in different domains.5 On the other hand, the relevant chapters even in the
3
One of the most ambitious attempts at establishing methodical foundations of the discipline by com-
parison of the major tenets of scholars writing on genre/ text type is provided by Diller (2001). His
results are, however, difficult to apply to an empirical study such as mine. Lee (2001) has recently
attempted to sort out the problem of text types for the classification of genres in computer-readable cor-
pora, but his results are not totally convincing, and not applicable to problems treated in my study .
4
For the rhetorical tradition which correlated stylistic appropriateness with functions and situations, and
thus provides a kind of prehistory of the discipline, with an enormous time depth and substantial impact
in the formation of new text types and the elaboration of old ones, especially in the Renaissance, see below.
5
In one of the first redactional conferences at Cambridge I strongly urged (without any success) that
each volume should have a chapter on text types rather than merely on ‘literary language’ so that readers
might become aware of what types made use of English (rather than Latin or French, cf. graph 1 above).
The restriction to literature in the CHEL now means that the special position of the literary language is
less clear than it might have been and that many text types are excluded (or dubbed ‘literary’with dubi-
ous claims to that qualification).
recent second edition of the Sprachgeschichte (Vol. I, 21998) do not make

any mention of Biber’s research.
2.3 The inventory of text types and distinctive features
Analysis should then, I suggest, start with the compilation of a list of words
designating specific text types. The assumption is that although not all con-
ventionalized uses of a language have a term relating to them, those that
have can probably be correlated with specific functions and recurring lin-
guistic features as well as writers’ intentions and readers’ expectations 6.
However, a decision on which terms qualify for inclusion is quite problem-
atic, as it is with exhaustive listings of members in other semantic fields; the
difficulties of such a delimitation are here caused by the following points in
particular:
1. The polysemic nature of many terms, especially where a specific speech

act or an action is accompanied by a spoken utterance or a written state-
ment, which can then metonymically acquire the name (cf. my category
C below). In many cases the noun is clearly related to a verb (the
rebuke+Ø, resign+ation, agree+ment) clearly showing the semantic
process behind the coinage.
2. The semantic vagueness of many words means that they can serve for
names of text types in specific contexts without becoming terminologi-
cal. As will be shown below, vagueness is a particular problem for early
stages of English, the specification of terms being a characteristic feature
of the development of the English standard language – and this goes
hand in hand with salient linguistic features becoming expected or oblig-
atory for these re(de)fined types.
3. By contrast, the usage and reference of many terms are highly special-
ized; they do not belong to the common vocabulary, but are restricted to
individual domains, such as literature, law, administration and the
church in particular. As a consequence, they do not contrast with every-
day designations of text types, and can be analysed only as members of
specific terminological fields.
6
As a consequence my approach excludes research aimed at establishing universal categories derived
from communicational, pragmatic, speech-act and logical classifications (cf. Große 1974).
The inventory of text types and distinctive features 9
4. A few terms are obviously foreign and their applicability to English con-
texts is doubtful; often the foreign nature combines with their occurrence
in historical contexts or extremely specialized jargon.
5. There is an old controversy as to whether compounds should be included
in the analysis of lexical fields. There is, in the field under discussion, no
limit to the possible specifications which make a term applicable to indi-
vidual domains: consider here the combinations of bill of x, or com-
pounds with writ, book, etc. as first or second elements. The degree of
lexicalization, that is, of the loss of transparency, can indicate whether
designations should be listed, but the criterion is impossible to apply in
an objective way (cf. the detailed discussion of bill and letter below).
Literary scholars tend to distinguish between different kinds of stories
and tales, but it is uncertain which of these qualify as text types, and on
the basis of which criteria.
6. Many expressions relate to certain portions of individual text types (a
dedication) or, by contrast, collections of items (a newspaper); these
terms should all be included since they can be described in a kind of
‘syntax’ of text types.
7. By contrast, the following terms do not qualify for inclusion in a list of
text types as I define the concept:
a) names of styles (headlinese, euphuism)
b) names of rhetorical figures (such as anadiplosis, … zeugma) and syn-
tactical structures (anaphora, parataxis)
c) expressions relating to ways of speaking and writing in a non-specific
manner, or to differences in the production of texts (scribbling, stut-
tering etc.)
In sum, we can state that when text types become conventionalized, the
need for specific designations arises. These names will be in the form of
new items – ad-hoc compounds or paraphrases which in due course will
become lexicalized – or consist in existing terms applied to the new text-
specific context, or derive by metonymy from the object on which the text
is placed or (more frequently) the name of an action/activity being trans-
ferred to the result in form of a written text, and finally speech acts coming
to be also used as text types (cf. figure 2).
While these restrictions are comparatively easy to formulate in principle,
they are very difficult to apply to specific instances. This becomes quite evi-
dent when a list of potentially relevant terms and their distinctive features is
put to the test. Ephemera present a special problem for text-type classifica-
tion. Categories offered in relevant studies or encyclopedias (Richards 1988,
ad hoc
compounds applications
paraphrases text
types objects with
inscriptions
speech
acts activities
> results
Figure 2. Sources of names of text types
2000; Allen and Hoverstadt 1983; Lewis 1962; Makepeace 1985; Curties
1994) are based on encyclopedic criteria and leave open how far specific
types of text are constitutive for, or contribute to, the classification. I have
here chosen Richards’ Encyclopedia of Ephemera (2000) – all 1,100 entries
conveniently listed on the fly-papers. The headwords provided very few
additions to my earlier list (such as equivoque) – most are subclasses (at
best) defined by specific applications (mostly in form of compounds) or
they designate items which may have a text on them rather than constituting
text types. Thus Richards details under Funeralia alone:
invitations to funerals, undertakers’ papers, monumental masons’ papers,
mourning outfitters’ papers, funeral meeting announcement, burial card,
mourning stationary, memorial card, cemetery papers, mortuary and coro-
ner’s cards and state funeral papers (Richards 2000: 155–8).
Finally, the variability of individual texts (so to speak a parole feature of

their ‘realization’) can provide serious problems of classification. How
much change by copyists can be tolerated to accept the view that the text
has remained ‘the same’? Such revisions are particularly conspicuous in
certain text types. In ME, romances were frequently tailored to the situation,
region and specific audience, or revised according to the singer’s literary or
social preferences, or affected by memorial transmission, or rewritten as
prose. Obviously, there is here a mixture of unintentional and deliberate
adaption, determined by a framework of oral traditions. By contrast, the
drastic changes in the transmission of church hymns are mostly intentional

(ch. 6), representing accommodations to different denominations, specific
uses in individual services, or changing tastes7.
Another major problem is that terms may either not have acquired suffi-
ciently precise reference, or are deliberately used with non-terminological
vagueness. Special problems of understanding are caused by the language
used in OE poetry, where the principle of variation forced distinct terms
into the function of quasi-synonyms (cf. 1.8 below; semantic vagueness also
led to the large-scale interchangeability of terms relating to narratives in
ME, such as lif, legend, romaunt, geste etc.).
According to the methods of structuralist analysis we should expect the
following categorical relations organizing the semantic field:
1. The contents of words, or rather the individual senses which function in

the field, can be the same – which makes them synonyms, or they can be
differentiated by distinctive components; these include in my analysis, in
contrast to other semantic studies, encyclopedic features (such as ones
like ‘legal, poetical’ (cf. category A below) and their functioning in dif-
ferent varieties (such as regional forms of English, cf. category L; styles
and attitudes/connotations). Note that intralinguistic features (dialect,
archaism) can in principle be distinguished from those with encyclope-
dic reference (foreignisms, historical items).
2. Text types can be free or bound (cf. category H below). Minimal free
items can be combined to form new entities; the resulting composite
items (cf. G) on the complex level can be orderly/predictable (as in a
dictionary), or conglomerates (cf. I), organized according to historical
conventions (as in a newspaper) or be idiosyncratic (as in a private let-
ter). Bound types have regular functions in a greater whole. Note that
generic items will group related text types together (ephemera, news)
without necessarily making them parts of larger units; such items conse-
quently lack proper singulars (? ephemeron, news item).
3. Words denoting text types undergo semantic developments, as other
words and concepts do, as a consequence of cultural change; their refer-
ents often alter their form over time, and it is desirable that such linguis-
tic and encyclopedic changes are kept apart. There can be mergers of
7
For other types of revision cf. bowdlerization, rewriting ad usum Delphini or ‘easy readers’ pro-
duced for use in language learning. They share the intentionality of the rewriting, and the fact that they
do not transcend the boundaries of the text types (in contrast to, say, librettos based on prose works). All
these types, it is needless to say, provide serious problems for textual editing.
types and semantic splits occasioned by new features introduced to dis-

tinguish new types.
4. Text types can be borrowed, and many of course were, usually together
with methods and terminologies, as in the domains of law, literature and
academic/scientific writing in many European Renaissance societies; such
text types can be nativized (in forms and functions) or remain aliens, cf.
category K. It is quite obvious that many text types remain national; the
fact becomes apparent in entries in bilingual dictionaries. We will find that
convention.
independent
accomp. el.
speech act
homogen.
technical
intention
fictional
original
written
formal
prose
topic
letter ± — + + O ± — + — R + — I
diary — — + + O — — + — O + — Rm
joke ± + + — O — — + — E — + A
conversation — — + — O — — + — O + — O
drama — — + + O — — ± — O + + A
act/bill + + + + L + + + — Dr — — C
newsp. advert — — — + O — — + + C + — Pu
sermon — — + — R + — + — R + — T
polit. speech — — + — P ± — + — R + — T
leader — + — + O + ± + — R + — T
hymn + + + + R + — — + O — O T
sonnet + + + + Lt + — — — O + + A
libretto — — + + O — — ± + O + + A
oath ± + + — O + — + — C — — Af
proverb + + + ± O — — + — O — O T
Figure 3. A first componential analysis of fifteen text types (quoted from Görlach
1999): topics: L = legal, Lt = literature, R = religion, P = politics; speech
acts (in a general understanding): C = commissives, D = declarations, Dr =
directives, E = expressives, Rp = representatives; intention: A = amuse,
Af = affirm, Cd = codify, I = inform, Pu = publicize, Rm = remind, T =
teach; O = indistinct or various
many terms are translated by paraphrases (as the proposed translation of

Krankenschein is medical insurance record card or Rentenbescheid which
is paraphrased notice of the amount of one’s pension – the harmonization
of European law will here lead to terminological innovation).
The componential analysis of lexical items should ideally start from compar-
isons of senses establishing the minimal semantic differences. The method
has been fruitfully applied to smaller lexical fields, especially where the
number of distinctive features is limited and fields are organized in obvious
patterns. A tentative feature analysis of a few text types will be useful to
illustrate the method here described (cf. figure 3 above).
Such a comprehensive description was out of the question in a field com-
prising some 2,000 terms. (There are even more if we count the individual
senses of polysemous items separately.) I have therefore decided, with some
qualms, to start from more or less encyclopedic distinctions, which have
been impressionistically postulated in the hope that they will turn out to
reflect semantic contrasts.
If we want to visualize the position of text type linguistics, the obviously
closest disciplines are rhetoric (dealing with appropriateness of expression)
and stylistics (treating the choice of linguistic alternatives) – two disciplines
that are very close to each other and for some scholars in fact largely identical;
text linguistics investigating coherence and cohesion as constitutive features
text
linguistics stylistics
pragmatics text type

linguistics rhetoric
socio-
linguistics English
for special
purposes
Figure 4. Linguistic disciplines partially overlapping with, or contributing to, text

type linguistics
of textuality; pragmatics offering the situation-related explanation; sociolin-

guistics correlating text types with sociohistorical reality; and English for
special purposes accounting for the specialized registers necessitated by topic
and form especially in (but not restricted to) the jargon of specific trades.
2.4 Procedure
As my sample analysis of selected items taken from letter C (cf. figure 5)

serves to show, it is theoretically possible to describe the contents of terms
which appear to belong to the field under investigation as clusters of dis-
tinctive features.
A next consideration might be to test whether any specific feature combi-
nation occurs more than once and then to decide whether this is so because
the terms can indeed be regarded as synonymous or whether we have to add
more features to our description – possibly now starting indeed from semantic
contrasts rather than predetermined notional components. I have been working
on the problem, starting with ‘simple’ items and progressing towards more
complex ones: ideally, all 2,000 items should be subjected to such a test.
Distinctions used for text types in figure 5 include (bold letters signifying
categories are further explained below):
A (field) a law, b religion, c science, d literature, e politics/econ., f war, g

education, h biography, i history, j journalism, k rhetoric, l personal life, B
(intention) a to document, describe, b teach, instruct, c edify, d entertain, e
bind, f warn, agitate, persuade, g invoke, h justify, i declare, accuse, j judge,
k disguise, l insult, C (action) a = with/ b = without, D (music) a = with/ b =
without, E (illustration) a = with/ b = without, F (conglomerate) a = yes/ b =
pure/ c = part of series/ d = reply, G (composite) a = yes/ b = minimal, H
(status) a = free/ b = bound, I (textuality) a = proper text/ b = non-text (list
etc.), J (original) a = yes/ b = dependent (copy), c = translation/ d = imita-
tion, K (nativeness) a = English/ b = foreign, L (standardness) a = BrE/ b =
BrE non-standard/ c = US/ d = other, M (time) a = present-day/ b = histori-
cal, N (medium) a = written/ b = spoken/ c = written to be spoken/ d = per-
formed, O (formality) a = formal/ b = informal/ c = neutral, P (form) a =
prose/ b = verse, Q (formula) a = formulaic/ b = free, R (orientation) a =
contents-oriented/ b = form-oriented, S (specialization) a = technical/ b =
common, T (communication) a = interactive/ b = non-interactive, mono-
logic, U (truth) a = true/ b = fictional, V (spontaneity) a = spontaneous/ b =
revised, W (publicness) a = public/ b = non-public, X (extent) a = short/ b =
long, Y (officialness) a = official, binding/ b = not binding
Procedure 15
Figure 5. Categories of text type classification ; taxonomic framework based on 25

semantic/encyclopedic components: Generally applicable categorizations:
m = general, n = either/or, o = does not apply (in all categories), x = other
Another concern is to determine whether (or in how far) the collection of

2,000 items represents a single semantic field. The answer to this question
is bound up with the decision on whether items with more than one sense
should be considered as polysemous (as defined by the shared archiseme) or
as homonymous – which would then argue for the existence of more than
one field. It is also possible that some components may function as field-
establishing archisemes – which would point to the possibility that the area
here investigated might better be considered a set of overlapping fields. Let
me illustrate the problem with a few examples.
1. The field of religion has always puzzled me. If we group the concepts of
prayer, sermon and church hymn under this label (cf. Figure 4), we will
find that most of the individual features making up their contents agree
with those of the items petition, political speech/lecture and folk-song
respectively. Obviously, what we have here is a multidimensional set of
contrasts rather than one solely organized within the field of religion.
rel. to Bible
stereotyped
educational
in service
by priest
dialogue
address
by rote
public
sung
read
anthem + + + + — — — + — — —
hymn + + + — — — — + — + —
sermon + + — ± ± + + — + + —
homily + + — ± + + + — + + —
lesson + + + + — + + — — ± —
prayer ± ± ± — — — + — + + —
litany + + + ± — — ± ± + — +
Figure 6. Analysis of seven religious genres (quoted from Görlach 1999: 143)
2. A few items might have been given two entries in my list. However, I
have not yet made a full study of my provisional classification into poly-
semous and homonymous items. It appears evident that legend ‘narrative
dealing with a saint’s life, intended for believers as a pattern to imitate’
Procedure 17
and ‘words accompanying and explaining a map, picture, etc.’ have no

semantic components in common – we cannot even assume that a saint’s
life will always be in written form. Note that other entries in my list are
polysemous so that their senses appear to merit, and possibly need, sepa-
rate descriptions, such as address, canon, entry, gloss, menu and patent.
Finally, subdivisions tend to break up into more and more subtypes which
may well be clearly distinct in linguistic form as they are in communica-
tional function. Consider the general item report which can be specified as
sports report, which is again subcategorized as to medium (newspaper,
radio, television, etc.) and further according to the type of sports, more
detailed categorizations which are correlated with major textual differences
not only in the field of lexis.
As regards the actual state of my reflexions, I cannot do any better than
to explain the categories used in my preliminary classification. Note that
not all distinctions are binary, or binary plus ‘does not apply’, as in many
systems of structural semantics. I have rather tried to keep my system as
flexible as possible, with later categorization in stricter form to follow if
advisable. Also, the sequence of my parameters A to Y has no logical order
so far – an analysis of existent clusters and gaps, preferably with the use of
a data bank, will in future hopefully tell us more about the generality or
salience of the categories and how they might be optimally arranged.
A – ‘field’ is an obvious parameter which needs little justification, only that

the number of possible distinctions is almost infinite, and it is not yet clear
how specific, or how general, the classification should be for the purpose.
B – ‘intention’ has a large-scale overlap with speech-act categories. I have

chosen the more general term in order not to exclude any text types which
can be subsumed under speech acts only with great difficulty, or not at all.
Again, it is not quite clear how many subcategories there should be; such
matters will be easier to decide when it comes to stating whether two terms
are synonymous or distinguished by a feature not yet named, or not sepa-
rated, in my provisional grid.
C – very many terms relate to an act or an action as well as the document

that confirms the action. This polysemy is indicated by the fact that such
terms tend to be derivations from verbs on -nes or -ung in OE, and -ing and
predominantly -ation from ME onwards: a resignation is the act of resign-
ing, but also the written statement that you hand in when you step down.
This parameter offers the greatest difficulties in deciding whether a term

really belongs to the semantic field under investigation, or whether uses re-
lating to written forms should not better be regarded as ad-hoc metonymic
applications which do not constitute an extension of meaning proper.
D and E relate to types in which the words do not come alone but are
always accompanied by either music (esp. in songs) or illustrations/graphs/
graphics (ranging from cartoons to maps). I have so far only noted the fact
in a binary form as yes/no, or with/without. Further subclassification may
well be necessary.
F, G, and H relate to the status and complexity of a given text type. A com-
parison with the terminology of mineralogy will be useful for F: I have
called types like letters or newspapers conglomerates because they contain
a melt-down of component parts of different genres, unified by their position
in the larger whole, but also by their accommodation to the personal, group
and period style of the text in which they occur. By contrast, ‘composite’ is
meant to indicate that there is a fixed sequence and functional distinction
between parts, as a book can be expected to start with a dedication, ac-
knowledgements, table of contents, etc. and end with a reference section and
an index. These categories are, according to H, bound, that is, they do not
occur by themselves, as prefixes and suffixes do not in word-formation, but
they are of course text genres, as much as affixes are morphemes. A free text
type, then, corresponds to a lexeme in that it is independent.
I should, in a logical sequence, come much earlier in the conspectus. Is the

type a proper text, that is, one that has coherence and cohesion, or is it not?
Of the types mentioned above, a list of contents or an index obviously do
not qualify as proper texts (cf. ch. 7). Admittedly, experimental poetry can
use even such unconnected morsels, but this does not seem to be a valid
counter-argument.
J makes statements about intertextuality. A text can be original, or it can be

copied, cribbed, paraphrased, revamped, imitated, or translated.
K answers the question of whether the type is native to British culture,

whether it has found a permanent place in properly English textual classi-
fications – or whether it designates, as a foreignism, textual genres in non-
English(-speaking) societies. Similarly,
Procedure 19
L distinguishes the validity of the term/concept as generally ‘English’, or

found only in one of its regional or social forms: obviously we can here dis-
tinguish US or Australian standard forms of English on the one hand from
regional non-standard or sociolectal sub-standard varieties, etc. on the other.
M makes a statement about the existence of the genre in present-day culture;

if the type no longer exists, the item has historical relevance at best.
Although “c = obsolete” introduces another dimension, the concept being
still valid, and the name of a text type just having been replaced by another
term, I have provisionally included the distinction here. (A study of strictly
modern concepts and their names could do without section M altogether; it
is here included since I see text typology as a historical phenomenon, the
rise and fall of concepts and their designations being one of the central
objectives of the approach).
N – medium repeats the well-known classification of an utterance being either

spoken or written, plus the ‘mixed’ forms, namely ‘written to be spoken’ (as
with a sermon) or ‘spoken and subsequently written down’ (as in depositions,
interviews, etc.)
O – formality is one of the central parameters in stylistics; there are connec-

tions with N (medium) and A (field) in particular, but it is generally agreed
that the parameters are independent and should be kept distinct. The number
of grades is a matter of dispute, but it is here assumed that a distinction
between formal:neutral:informal is sufficient for our purpose.
P – the distinction between prose and verse allows many subclassifications,

since prose can range from content-oriented expository writing to highly
rhetorical forms of Kunstprosa, whereas verse can be rhymed and metrical,
but need not be. I have here provisionally retained the binary distinction,
but may well have to increase the number of categories under this heading.
Q – the degree of formulaicness varies a great deal from type to type, and
from culture to culture. It cannot even be assumed that the degree of for-
malization will be stable, or teleologically develop towards greater formu-
laicness, as examples like the cooking recipe or the dedication show (cf.
chs. 3 and 4). By contrast, legal texts have developed towards a perfectly
unambiguous formulaic form, and then frozen into a permanent shape
which can be supplemented, or replaced, but cannot vary idiosyncratically.
Since we have to do with a cline or a more-or-less of formulaicness, the
binary distinction here accepted is likely to prove insufficient for further

stages of investigation.
R – contents-oriented texts (reports and other expository texts, almost

always in prose) contrast with those in which form is equally important, and
perhaps more so. Again, the binary distinction is not satisfactory, but dis-
tinctions will have to be looked at again from the point of view of connec-
tions with P and Q above.
S – technical vs. common is meant to capture a distinction between types of

information (couched in corresponding diction) addressed to different types
of addressees; contrast the specialist who expects technical information
often restricted to a small group of insiders, with general information
addressed to all (texts which may also serve to entertain, etc., cf. B).
U – distinguishing ‘true’ vs. ‘fictional’ texts permits, in principle, various

subclasses. What about texts that the author believes to be true but which
are not (c), or, an especially relevant point, those which are claimed to be
true, but are in fact forgeries fabricated to deceive (d)? The binary dis-
tinction is here in need of supplementation, but for reasons different from
categories which exhibit a cline (Q R S, etc.).
V – the character of a text as basically spontaneous as against one which is

premeditated and prepared well in advance may overlap with other distinc-
tions and thus be of minor importance in the classification, even though it
does not appear to be just a matter of logical inclusion.
W – whether a text type has a public function or not, and whether an indivi-
dual text is formulated to meet this requirement, has obviously to do with the
field, the situation, the formality and the finality of the form; again overlaps
with other parameters will be investigated to see how the classification can
be refined.
X – whether a text is short or long is again a gradual distinction – but it is

also a qualification measured against our expectations: a text can be long
for a telegram or a letter, but be short for a short story (a genre for which the
term ‘short short story’ has been tried).
Y – the official character of a text means that there is an authority that sees
to it that the contents are binding for the people affected – a typical feature
Outlook 21
of laws and regulations; contrast various forms of advice and explanation

which are not binding.
2.5 Outlook
The sketch here presented will have to be tested for its validity in a more
comprehensive study. My aim, which may indeed prove impossible to
achieve, is to contrast terms of the ModE semantic field of text types, using
methods of componential analysis, in order to include an exhaustive inven-
tory of designations (and exclude terms that are similar but do not belong),
and to explore the internal structures of the field. This will mean establishing
synonymous relations, homoeonyms (co-hyponyms) and their semantic
differences to find out about minimal distinctions, and finally establish what
sets of encyclopedic or notional features are necessary for the description
and to see how these can be supplemented by semantic components that
serve to distinguish between two items, or two senses of the same signifié.
I hope that the reduction to clusters of features of the individual text
types will lead to more plausible descriptions of why there are similarities
and contrasts of types across the fields and styles they appear to form part
of, such as similarities between the sermon, the political speech and the uni-
versity lecture – and if you happen to have misclassified this exposition as a
sermon, you have nicely confirmed my hunch.
Even if my attempt at a classification of the evidence for ModE, and an
explanation of semasiological and onomasiological/cultural development in
the history of English, will prove not fully manageable in the long run, it
will, I hope, help us to understand why certain linguistic features are pre-
ferred in individual text types and not in others. I hope that my approach
will complement the outstandingly relevant research undertaken by Biber
(1988, 2001, etc.), which more or less starts from the other end, analysing
the patterning of a large set of linguistic features, their frequencies and com-
binability in various text types.
In a historical dimension, it appears to be rewarding to follow up various
paths. There is an obvious connection of my approach with the Historical
Thesaurus of English (forthcoming), even if the parameters used for classi-
fication do not entirely agree with mine. (The OE Thesaurus, Roberts and
Kay 1995, has proved to be useful for the OE list, with data arranged by
subject matter, although the categorizations were far from similar to those
arising from my semantic analysis). We might also wish to investigate, with
the help of the OED, the chronological growth of the vocabulary relating to
the field, and the notional and semantic expansion that has occurred, partly
as a response to the development of a culture that relies increasingly on
written documents, but in which communication in general has gained a
degree of frequency, importance and thematic as well as social and geo-
graphic diversity undreamt of even a hundred years ago. Even if first occur-
rences of lexical items and individual senses as documented in the OED are
incomplete and otherwise not fully reliable, an analysis made of the OED
data promises to bring us much closer to a description of how text types
have developed in the history of English (cf. 2.7). One of the complicating
factors is that both semantic distinctions and factual, notional, or ency-
clopedic categories cannot be expected to have remained stable, and that
vague, unspecific uses in texts cannot always be detected without involving
the interpreting linguist in a heuristic circle. However, it will be fascinating
to find whether the development of new functionally defined categories and
the textual history of linguistic features à la Biber have a detectable connec-
tion.
A first step was to complete the 2,000 entries by definitions, including
semantic subdistinctions and dates, which permits us to see this lexical
expansion of the field much more clearly. It was suggested at the Bochum
conference that a book-length compilation would be of eminent value even
if analysis did not proceed beyond this dictionary of terms.
Another major problem is how far a categorization based on present-day
structures can be transferred to the history of English. This has so far been
neglected because:
1. The components of what determines a text type will have to be settled

synchronically first – and why should this not be done on the basis of
PDE which has the greatest range of types, has competent speakers to
test my assumptions, and presents a terminal stage of developments?
2. Concepts and functions change, and even if we determine some kind of
continuity of a genre, we may find that the components defining it have
changed over time. My grid is, then, itself a historical one, namely one
which first and foremost illustrates distinctions of PDE. It will have to
be complemented by
a) histories of text types according to form (see my studies of dedica-
tions and cooking recipes, chs. 3 and 4);
b) the cultural history of texts – what role did individual types play in
society?
c) intertextual histories – how did types influence each other or how did
they become differentiated?
An alphabetical list of English text types 23
2.6 An alphabetical list of English text types (based on SOED entries)
Entries: I have added (to my list in Görlach 2001) over a hundred new items
that I came across when doing the definitions or which I found in browsing
in several dictionaries. On the other hand, at least the same number of the
old list was deleted, because items did not seem to qualify, either not desig-
nating text types proper, or being too rare or too technical or too foreign.
Moreover, I have now omitted most of the compounds for which no diction-
ary evidence was to be found – transparent items are usually not entered
because they can be understood from their parts. Although for a scholar
interested in text types these items can be well-defined distinct entities, lex-
icographical evidence necessary for my entries is absent8.
Definitions and dates are normally taken from the SOED: its reduced
data make it much easier to select the relevant items, or identify individual
senses that belong to the semantic field. Only relevant senses of polyse-
mous items are included. Definitions which sometimes provide extensive
factual information (as in types of bills or writs) have been shortened to an
extent that permits identification but needs turning to the SOED for a full
understanding. Items or senses marked as obsolete or archaic are accompa-
nied by a dagger (†); those that are said to be hist(orical) have been left
unmarked. However, in compounds and derivations, definitions are some-
times omitted, and dates frequently so. Although the SOED method of dat-
ing first occurrences to the first, second or last third of the century is not
entirely satisfactory, I have here retained it since it is adequate for a chrono-
logical analysis. Wherever dates were added from other sources, they have
been adapted to the SOED pattern. Definitions not from the SOED are aster-
isked, but I have not found an easy way of supplying first occurrences
where neither SOED nor OED gave any information.
On the basis of these admittedly incomplete data the following first steps
for an analysis have been taken:
1. A list of 100 more generic terms frequently found in definitions have

been automatically counted and, in order to stress their specific status,
been capitalized. This list was then compared with the list of central
8
The SOED/OED and Webster 3 contain strikingly different selections of legal compounds like bill
of…, letter of…, order of…, writ of…. Most of these terms are highly technical (and would therefore not
qualify for an inclusion in my list); however, it is impossible for a non-specialist to be sure, or to decide
which of these are exclusively part of the British or US legal system – only Scottish items appear to be
consistently marked as such.
lexical items employed in definitions of recent dictionaries, and with fre-

quencies in Cobuild dictionaries and in West’s list.
2. A distinction was made between widely known items (in normal print)
and more marginal ones (in small print, esp. those from terminologies
used in the domains of law, the church and literature – unless their mar-
ginal status led to their omission in the first place) or items of purely his-
torical interest and many words now obsolete.
3. Items considered to be foreign/ not integrated are italicized as they are in
the SOED.
A
abbreviation abridgement LME
abbreviature abridgement L16
ABC †3a spelling-BOOK, reading primer LME-M17
abecedary †1a primer LME
abjuration 1 renunciation on OATH, recantation LME
abnegation 1 DENIAL, rejection (of a DOCTRINE) LME
abracadabra charm, SPELL M16
abridgement 2 epitome or COMPENDIUM of a larger work LME
abrogation repeal M16
absolution 1b FORMULA in which remission of sins is declared LME
abstract B1a SUMMARY of BOOK or DOCUMENT LME
abuse 4† verbal INSULT M16
acclamation shout of approbation or welcome M16
accolade 1 salutation marking the bestowal of knighthood E17
accord peace TREATY, AGREEMENT ME
ACCOUNT 2 STATEMENT of moneys, goods ME, 3 STATEMENT as to the
discharge of any responsibility ME
ACCOUNT BOOK BOOK in which ACCOUNTs are kept, *ledger L17
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 6 (law) WRIT against a bailiff etc. E16, NOTE:
compounds
acquittance 3 a release in WRITING, a receipt in full LME
acquittal (law) 4 deliverance from a CHARGE by VERDICT … L15
acrostic(h) 1 POEM in which initial (etc.) LETTERs make WORDs L16
act 4 DECREE passed by legislative body, a STATUTE LME, 5 RECORD of
DECREEs, verifactory DOCUMENT LME, 7a each of the main divisions
of a PLAY E16, 8† THESIS publicly defended E16
adage traditional MAXIM, PROVERB of common experience M16
adaptation something adapted M19
addendum additional matter at end of BOOK L19
address 3 DISCOURSE delivered to an audience, formal SPEECH L19, 5

superscription of a LETTER E18
address BOOK *BOOK with persons’ addresses L19
adjudication ORDER ORDER declaring bankruptcy M19
adjuration earnest APPEAL, esp. in exorcism LME
admission 2b concession, ACKNOWLEDGEMENT E19
admonition 2 STATEMENT of COUNSEL or REPROOF LME
adversaria miscellaneous REMARKs; common-place BOOK E18
advertisement †1 admonition, INSTRUCTION LME–E18, † information,
notification LME–E18, †3 NOTICE to readers LME, 5 public
ANNOUNCEMENT L16
ADVICE 4 COUNSEL LME
advisement †3 ADVICE, INSTRUCTION how to act LME
advisory *REPORT giving information L17
aerogram *air LETTER E20
affiance 3 pledging of faith, esp. in marriage LME
affiche NOTICE affixed to wall, poster E19
affidavit (law) written STATEMENT confirmed by OATH M16
AFFIRMATION 2 ASSERTION LME, 3 (law) solemn DECLARATION L17
affront open INSULT L16
afterpiece *farce after a PLAY L18
afterWORD *epilogue L19
agenda †2 MEMORANDUM BOOK M18, 3 LIST of items of business M19
agitprop communist propaganda M20
agony column personal column in newsPAPER L20
AGREEMENT 2 (law) legally binding arrangement LME
agrément *approval of a diplomatic representative E20
aide-memoire BOOK or DOCUMENT as an aid to memory M19
album blank BOOK for insertion of VERSEs etc. E17, *representative COL-
LECTION of literary selections
alibi PLEA by person accused that he was elsewhere L18
allegation †2 excuse, PLEA LME–E17, *formal averment, unsupported
ASSERTION E17
allegory 2 an instance of NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION M17
allocution 1 formal or hortatory address E17, *address by pope L17
allowance †7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, admission L16–M18
allusion †1 pun, 2† parable, allegory M16–L18, 3 indirect REFERENCE E17
almagest early TEXTBOOK of astrology and alchemy LME
almanac annual TABLE LME, *publication containing COLLECTION of
useful facts, publication containing data on royal families etc. LME
alphabet 3 INDEX in alphabetical ORDER M16

altercation 2 vehement dispute, noisy CONTROVERSY LME
ambassade † MESSAGE carried by ambassador LME–L16
amendment 3 change or addition to a DOCUMENT L17
amoret † 3 love-sonnet or -SONG, only 16C
amphigory piece of nonsense-VERSE E19
ana COLLECTION of a person’s memorable SAYINGs M18
anacreontic erotic POEM M17
anagoge *literary interpretation, exegesis M19
analects literary gleanings M17
analysis II critical examination of literary COMPOSITION L16
anathema FORMULA of consigning to damnation L16
anatomy 5 detailed examination or analysis M16
ANECDOTE 2a NARRATIVE of an amusing incident E18
animadversion 2 censure, blame L16, 3 criticism, censorious COMMENT L16
annals 1 NARRATIVE of events year by year, historical RECORDs M16
annotation(s) 1 NOTE by way of EXPLANATION or COMMENT LME
ANNOUNCEMENT public NOTICE, PROCLAMATION L18
annual/annuary BOOK reviewing last year’s events L17
annulment DECREE of invalidity L17
annunciation ANNOUNCEMENT LME
ANSWER 1 REPLY to a QUESTION OE, 2 REPLY to a CHARGE ME, 3 REPLY
to an objection ME, 4 REPLY to an APPEAL ME
anthem 2 COMPOSITION in non-metrical prose set to music LME, 3
(national ~) a SONG of PRAISE LME
ANTHOLOGY 1a COLLECTION of POEMs M17, of other works L18
antiphon 1 COMPOSITION sung responsively by a choir LME (OE antefn)
antiphonary/antiphoner COLLECTION of antiphons E17 (OE antefnere)
aperçu SUMMARY, conspectus E19
aphorism 1 concise STATEMENT of a scientific principle E16, 2 pithy
OBSERVATION, MAXIM L16
Apocrypha 1 WRITING of doubtful authorship or authenticity, esp. Bible LME
apologia written DEFENCE L18
apologue moral FABLE M16
apology 1 formal DEFENCE M16, 2 excuse M16, 3 EXPRESSION of regret M16
apophthegm pithy MAXIM M16
aporia *PASSAGE in SPEECH or WRITING incorporating a difficulty or doubt L19
apostasy *renunciation of faith or religious vows ME
apostil marginal NOTE, annotation E16
apostrophe (rhet) exclamatory PASSAGE M16
apparatus (criticus) variant readings etc. in critical TEXT M19

APPEAL 2c REQUEST for public donations L19
appendix 1 addition to a BOOK or DOCUMENT M16
application 3 practical LESSON or moral LME, *verbal or written
REQUEST (for a job etc.) L17
appointment †1 AGREEMENT, CONTRACT LME–M18, 2 AGREEMENT for
a a meeting LME
appreciation 2 assessment E17
approbation †1 CONFIRMATION, proof LME–E18, 3 approval expressed M16
approval *certification as to acceptability L17
arbitrament DECISION or award made by an arbiter LME
arbitration 2 settlement of a dispute LME
archives 2 RECORDs kept in archive M17
ARGUMENT 1 connected series of STATEMENTs ME, 2 reason urged to
support a proposition LME, 5a verbal dispute, quarrel L15, 7 SUMMARY
of a BOOK, INDEX, TABLE of contents M16
argy-bargy disputatious ARGUMENT L19
aria long SONG for one voice E18
art ballad *ballad composed with conscious artistry L19
ARTICLE non-fictional COMPOSITION in newsPAPER E18
ARTICLEs †4b terms, conditions M17
aside 1 WORDs spoken aside E18, 2 incidental WRITING or REMARK L19
aspersion 3 calumination, defamation M17
assent 1 CONSENT, compliance ME, 2 official sanction ME
assentation *ready assent esp. when insincere L15
ASSERTION 1 positive STATEMENT, DECLARATION LME
assessment 2 official valuation of property M16
asseveration solemn AFFIRMATION, emphatic DECLARATION, OATH M16
assignment 6 DOCUMENT effecting legal transference of property L16
assize DECREE or EDICT made by legislative body ME
assumpsit *PROMISE or CONTRACT not under seal E17
assurance 1 formal guarantee or pledge LME, 8 positive DECLARATION E17
atlas 2 COLLECTION of maps M17
attachment 5 sth. attached, adjunct L18
attestation 1 evidence, CONFIRMATION LME
aubade POEM written to be heard at dawn L17
audience 3 formal INTERVIEW LME
audio BOOK *audiocassette recording of a BOOK L20
audit †2 STATEMENT of ACCOUNT, balance sheet LME–M17
audition 3 trial hearing for employment L19
autobiography STORY of a person’s life L18

autograph BOOK/album BOOK in which person collects signatures M19
ave (Maria) PRAYER to the Virgin ME
averment (law) formal STATEMENT LME, 2 ASSERTION E17
aviso †1 intelligence, notification E–M17
avizandum (law) further consideration E17
avowal open DECLARATION or ACKNOWLEDGEMENT M18
award 1 judicial DECISION LME
axiom 1 MAXIM, RULE L15
B
babble 1 idle TALK L15, 4 crossTALK from CONVERSATIONs on other
telephone lines M20
backbiting SLANDER ME
badinage humorous banter M17
bagatelle piece of VERSE in light style M18
balance sheet written STATEMENT of the assets of an organization M19
ballad light simple SONG L15, 3 lively POEM, in which a popular NARRA-
TIVE is graphically told M18
ballad-opera *PLAY into which popular SONGs are introduced L18
ballade POEM divided into stanzas of equal length LME
ballot-PAPER voting PAPER used in a secret voting M19
ballyhoo showman’s touting SPEECH, bombastic nonsense L19
ban †1 public PROCLAMATION or EDICT, SUMMONS ME, †3 formal eccles.
denunciation L16, 4 interdict M17
bank-BILL = AmE bank NOTE L17
bank BOOK BOOK to provide a RECORD E18
banker’s ORDER *standing ORDER to a bank L17
bankNOTE = bank BILL L17
banns 1 NOTICE of an intended marriage ME, †2 PROCLAMATION of a
performance of a PLAY, prologue ME
banter nonsense talked to ridicule L17
barney noisy altercation M19
battle-cry war-cry, slogan E19
battledore (BOOK) † hornBOOK, primer M17–19
bedside BOOK BOOK for reading in bed E20
bedtime STORY STORY told to child at bedtime E19
behest †1 vow, PROMISE OE–L16, 2 COMMAND ME
Belief † the Apostles’ Creed ME
belles-lettres ESSAYs, criticism M17
bench WARRANT WARRANT for the arrest of a person L17

benediction blessing LME
benedictional BOOK of forms of benediction L18
benison blessing, benediction ME
bequest legacy LME
berceuse lullaby L19
beseechment entreaty L17
bestiary medieval moralizing TREATISE on beasts M19
biblia pauperum *medieval illustrated BOOK for religious education
bibliography BOOK containing sytematic DESCRIPTION of BOOKs E19
bid tender L18
Bildungsroman NOVEL dealing with a person’s formative years E20
BILL (see detailed analysis) ME
BILL of adventure *CERTIFICATE made out by merchant
BILL of COMPLAINT written STATEMENT of the plaintiff’s case E17
BILL of costs solicitor’s ACCOUNT of CHARGEs E20
BILL of debt BILL promising to pay E17
BILL of exchange written ORDER to pay a specified sum L16
BILL of fare MENU, PROGRAMME M17
BILL of health CERTIFICATE on infectuous disease on ship M17
BILL of indictment *(law) formal DOCUMENT accusing sb. of crime E16
BILL of lading shipmaster’s detailed receipt L16
BILL of mortality weekly STATEMENT of deaths M17
BILL of rights *1 English STATUTE of 1689, 3 any CHARTER of basic
human rights
BILL of sale CERTIFICATE of transfer of property E17
billet †1 short written DOCUMENT LME, †2 informal LETTER, †3 ballot-
PAPER E17–L18
billet doux love-LETTER L17
biography 1 history of lives L17, 2 written life of a person L18
black LIST *LIST of persons disapproved of E17
black sanctus † burlesque HYMN or anthem L16
blame †3 an ACCUSATION ME–L16
blandishment flattery L16
blarney smoothly flattering TALK L18
BLASPHEMY profane TALK ME
blather loquacious nonsense E18
blatherskite foolish TALK M17
blazon(ry) DESCRIPTION of heraldic devices E17
blessing 1 benediction OE
blue BOOK parliamentary REPORT M17

blueprint PLAN, scheme E20
blues melancholy SONG of S U.S. Blacks E20
blurb publisher’s DESCRIPTION of BOOK on jacket E20
boast 2 excessively proud STATEMENT ME
boilerplate stereotyped WRITING for newsPAPERs (US)
BOND 5 AGREEMENT ME, 7 DEED, debenture L16
bonmot *clever or witty SAYING, witticism, repartee M18
BOOK †CHARTER, DEED OE, †2 NARRATIVE, RECORD, LIST OE–L17, 3
COLLECTION of PAPER OE, 5 main subdivision of LITERARY WORK ME
BOOK of ACCOUNT *BOOK recording transactions, ledger
BOOK of common PRAYER *official BOOK of church SERVICEs of Church of
England M16
BOOK of hours *BOOK of PRAYERs for particular canonical hours ME
BOOK of life RECORD of those achieving salvation ME
BOOK of WORDs libretto E20?
BOOK plate ownership LABEL L18
BOOK REVIEW *evaluative ACCOUNT of a BOOK M19
bourd amusing TALE ME
breve 1 authoritative LETTER ME
brevet †1 official LETTER, indulgence LME–M18, 2 DOCUMENT conferring privi-
leges L17
breviary 1 BOOK containing daily SERVICEs LME
brief 1 official/legal LETTER, WRIT, SUMMONS ME, 2 disciplinary LETTER
from Pope LME, †3 LETTER, NOTE, sth. written LME–L18, 5 SUMMARY,
synopsis (US) M16, †6 LIST L16, 7 (law) SUMMARY of facts M17, 7b
INSTRUCTIONs M19
broadcast 2 radio/TV transmission E20
broadsheet = broadside L16
broadside broadsheet L16
broadside ballad *NARRATIVE VERSE of 16th/17th centuries
brochure booklet, PAMPHLET M18
bucolic(s) pastoral POEM E16
budget 2b long LETTER full of NEWS E19, periodic ACCOUNT of revenue M18
bull (papal) EDICT, MANDATE ME
bulletin 2 short official ACCOUNT… weather conditions M18
bumph worthless LITERATURE; official PAPERs L19
burlesque derisively imitative literary COMPOSITION M17
burletta musical farce M18
business LETTER *LETTER in business following respective conventions M18
buzz 4 busy RUMOUR, NEWS L18

by(e)law 2 regulation made by local authority LME, 3 accessory LAW M16
byword 1 PROVERB OE, †3 hint, aside M16–M17, †4 phrase frequently
used by an individual M16–E18
C
cable(gram) MESSAGE by telegraphic cable M19
cahier PAMPHLET, fascicle M19
cajolery instance of flattery, deceit M17
calendar 4 LIST, REGISTER (of saints, cases for trial) LME
call 4 SUMMONS ME, 5 DEMAND, CLAIM ME, 9 communication by tele-
phone L19? call-up (PAPERs) SUMMONS, conscription M20
calumny slanderous STATEMENT or REPORT LME
cancel *written PASSAGE suppressed or deleted E19
cancellation annulment of a reservation, of a legal DOCUMENT M16
canon 1 eccles. LAW, DECREE, RULE OE, 2 part of Mass ME, 3 general
LAW, RULE, EDICT, principle LME
canon LAW *body of ecclesiastical LAW
cantata NARRATIVE recitative E18
canticle 1 SONG, HYMN in LITURGY ME
canto 1 division of a long POEM L16, †2 SONG, ballad E17–E18
cantrip (Sc) SPELL, charm L16
canvass solicitation of support L18
canzone Ital./Prov. SONG or ballad L16
capias (law) WRIT for arrest LME
capitulary 1 COLLECTION of ORDINANCEs M17
capitulation †1 COVENANT, TREATY M16–M19, pl. ARTICLEs of AGREE-
MENT, 2 STATEMENT of main divisions L16
capitulum *PASSAGE or reading from the Bible M18
caption 3 (law) CERTIFICATE attached to legal instrument L17, 4 heading
of chapter, wording appended to illustration, subtitle L18
CARD †2 map, chart E16
CARD INDEX INDEX with each item on separate CARD M19
caricature *ludicrous distortion of LITERARY WORK M18
carol 4 joyful HYMN LME
carte du pays a STATEMENT of the state of affairs M18
cartel †1 written challenge M16, †2 written AGREEMENT, 5 manufac-
turer’s AGREEMENT E20
cartogram map with statistical information L19
cartoon amusing drawing with or without caption; a sequence in a strip M19
cartulary †1 COLLECTION of medical recipes only LME, 2 COLLECTION of

CHARTERs or RECORDs M16
case BOOK BOOK containing legal, medieval cases M18
case history RECORD of a person’s history E20
case study RECORD of an attempt to understand a person, matter E20
cashBOOK BOOK in which RECORD of cash paid and received is entered E17
CATALOGUE REGISTER, systematic enumeration, LIST of BOOKs in a
library LME
CATALOGUE raisonné descriptive CATALOGUE with COMMENTs L18
catch-phrase phrase in frequent current use M19
catchWORD first WORD of a page given at foot of previous one; cue; slogan E18
catechism 2 TREATISE for INSTRUCTION E16, 3 BOOK of INSTRUCTION
by QUESTION and ANSWER M17
cause LIST LIST of cases awaiting trial E19
causerie chatty ARTICLE E19
cautel 3 precautionary INSTRUCTION or provision LME
caution 3 WORD of warning, official reprimand L16
cavatina short, simple SONG E19
caveat 1 warning, proviso, NOTICE to a court M16
cavil captious or frivolous objection L16
censure †1 judicial SENTENCE LME–M19, 3 critical assessment M16, 5
adverse JUDGEMENT E17
census 3 official enumeration of population M18
census return *published results of census M19
cento COMPOSITION made up of quotations E17
ceremonial 3 BOOK containing the ORDER of ritual E17
CERTIFICATE 2 DOCUMENT attesting status, abilities; a LICENCE M16, 3
(law) WRITING in which NOTICE of proceedings is given E17
certification 2 (Sc law) NOTICE or warning, †5 a CERTIFICATE M16–L18
cess †3 assessment, only L16
cessavit †WRIT to recover land E16
chaff good-humoured raillery or repartee M19
chain LETTER LETTER in which recipient is asked to send copies to others E20
challenge †1 ACCUSATION, †2 false CLAIM ME–M18, 3 SUMMONS, 4 call
to respond LME, 5 (law) exception taken LME
chanson French SONG L15
chant 1 SONG L17
chanty see shanty M19
chapBOOK PAMPHLET of TALEs, ballads, TRACTs E19
character 5 REPORT on person’s qualities, testimonial M16
character sketch brief written DESCRIPTION of a person L19

CHARGE 9 ACCUSATION L15
CHARGE sheet PAPER to RECORD CHARGEs made at police station M19
charm VERSE having magic power, incantation ME
chart 1 map L16, 2 sheet of tabulated information M19, 2a LIST of popular
discs M20, †3 CHARTER, DEED E17
CHARTER 1 written DOCUMENT granting privileges ME, 2 written CON-
TRACT between individuals ME, 3a LICENCE M16
charts see chart 2a
chat idle or frivolous TALK, GOSSIP M16, internet L20
chat show = TALK show L20
chatter incessant, trivial TALK M19
checkLIST * LIST of names, TITLEs etc. for REFERENCE, LIST of qualified
voters M19
cheque 3 written ORDER to bank L18
cheque BOOK BOOK containing printed cheques M19
cheque CARD CARD issued by banks M20
chirograph † formal handwritten indenture of a fine ME
chitchat GOSSIP L17
chorale metrical HYMN M19
chorus 2 refrain of a SONG L16
chrestomathy COLLECTION of selected PASSAGEs for language learning M19
CHRONICLE 1 continuous RECORD of events ME, 2 REGISTER, NARRA-
TIVE LME
CHRONICLE PLAY/DRAMA PLAY based on historical ACCOUNTs E20
chronique scandaleuse compilation of GOSSIP M19
circular B2 LETTER, NOTICE, advertisement, for distribution L18
circumscription 1 INSCRIPTION around a coin LME
citation (law) SUMMONS ME, 3 quotation M16, 4 descriptive ANNOUNCE-
MENT of an award E20
CLAIM 1 contention, ASSERTION ME, 2 right or TITLE to ME
claptrap 2 language used to elicit applause, pretentious but empty ASSER-
TIONs E19
class-LIST LIST of those who have passed an examination L19
classifieds/classified advertisements advertisements in newsPAPER E20
CLAUSE 2 particular ARTICLE, stipulation, proviso in official DOCUMENT
LME
clench/clinch †4 pun, quibble M17
clerihew short, witty nonsensical VERSE E20
clippings = (press) cuttings 2c (US) M19
clishmaclaver idle GOSSIP E18

closet DRAMA/PLAY *PLAY to be read rather than acted
clue 4b WORD or phrase indicating WORD to be inserted in crossWORD
puzzle E20
cock-and-bull STORY incredible TALE L18
CODE 1 (law) COLLECTION of STATUTEs M18
CODE-BOOK LIST of symbols used in a CODE L19
code 1 = CODE L16, 3 COLLECTION of pharmaceutical DESCRIPTIONs M19
codicil 1 supplement to a will LME, b appendix L18
cognizance 5 (law) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, esp. of a fine L16
collation 1b monastery reading ME, †2 homily, TREATISE LME–M17
collect 1 short PRAYER said by minister ME
collectanea PASSAGEs collected from various sources, miscellany M17
collectar(ium) BOOK of collects ME
COLLECTION †2 SUMMARY, abstract LME–E18
colloquium †1 CONVERSATION, dialogue L16–M18
colloquy 1 DISCOURSE, dialogue LME
collusion 2 (law) AGREEMENT between people LME
colophon 2 STATEMENT at end of BOOK on authorship etc. L18
column 2b part of newsPAPER devoted to special subject M19
comédie larmoyant sentimental comedy E19
comédie noire macabre rendering of tragic theme M20
comedy †1a NARRATIVE POEM with happy ending LME, 1b, 2a kind of
DRAMA LME
comic opera with much spoken dialogue E20
comic (PAPER) 1 light or amusing PAPER, PERIODICAL L19
comic strip strip cartoons E20
COMMAND 1 ORDER, commandment LME
commandment †1 authoritative ORDER or injunction ME
commandments the ten commandments given to Moses ME
COMMAND PAPER PAPER laid before Parliament L19
commedia dell’arte improvised popular comedy L19
commemoration 2 recital, mention L16
commendation 1 liturgical office ME, 3 RECOMMENDATION L15
COMMENT †1 COMMENTARY LME–L19, 2 explanatory NOTE LME, criti-
cal matter added to BOOK L16, 4 criticism, REMARK M19
COMMENTARY 1 expository TREATISE LME, 1b MEMOIR L15, 1c spoken
DESCRIPTION of an event L19, 3 EXPOSITION, annotation M17
commentation †*COMMENTARY on a TEXT L16
commercial 2 broadcast advertisement M20
commiseration condolence M16

commission 2 COMMAND, INSTRUCTION LME, 3 WARRANT conferring
authority LME
commitment 1b WARRANT consigning person to prison M18
common LAW English LAW applied by national courts ME
commonplace 2a notable PASSAGE entered in BOOK M16, 3 platitude M16
commonplace BOOK *BOOK containing quotations, POEMs etc. M16
communication †2 CONVERSATION LME–E17, 5 written PAPER of infor-
mation, OBSERVATIONs, COMMENTs L15
communiqué official STATEMENT on a meeting M19
COMPACT 1 AGREEMENT or CONTRACT made between parties L16
COMPENDIUM 1 DIGEST, epitome L16
compilation 2 COLLECTION from various sources LME
COMPLAINT †1 lamentation, plaintive POEM LME, 2 formal ACCUSA-
TION, PLEADING E18
COMPLAINTs BOOK *BOOK in which customers etc. can enter COMPLAINTs
compliment 1 polite EXPRESSION of PRAISE M17, 3 formal greetings as
the accompaniment to a MESSAGE M17
complimentary close/closing *FORMULAE at end of LETTER
complin(e) office before night ME
COMPOSITION (short piece of non-fictional WRITING as a school exercise,
ESSAY) E17, † AGREEMENT, TREATY ME
compromise 2 arbitration LME
compte rendu REVIEW, STATEMENT E19
computus 1 medieval set of TABLEs for calculations M19
concession 3b privilege granted M16
CONCLUSION 1 termination of SPEECH or WRITING LME, 4 deduction
LME, †5 dictum, dogma LME–L17
concordance †2a parallel (Bible) PASSAGE LME–E18, 2b alphabetical
LIST of principal WORDs in a BOOK LME
concordat AGREEMENT, COMPACT between Vatican and secular govern-
ment E17
condensation abridgement of a BOOK L18
condition †4 AGREEMENT, COVENANT, TREATY L15–E18, 5 provision in
a will or CONTRACT L16
condolence(s) 2 formal DECLARATION of regret E17
conduct BOOK BOOK for recording person’s offences (GUIDE BOOK on
proper behaviour) M19
confabulation 1 chat, familiar CONVERSATION LME
conference proceedings *published REPORT or RECORD of a conference
CONFESSION(s) 4 DECLARATION of a belief LME, 6 part of public litany,

7 creed M16
CONFIRMATION 4 a confirmatory STATEMENT LME
confutation complete ARGUMENT in which a thing is confuted LME
congé †3 formal PERMISSION to depart L15–L18
congratulations 2 congratulatory EXPRESSIONs M17
conjecture 3 surmise; reading not found in TEXT E16
conjuration 2 solemn APPEAL, entreaty LME, 4 incantation, SPELL, form of
WORDs used in conjuring LME
conjuring BOOK * BOOK containing tricks M17
CONSENT AGREEMENT ME
conspectus SUMMARY, synopsis M19
constitution 4b set of fundamental principles of a state M18
consultation †2 (law) a WRIT E16
contemplation 1 devout meditation (as a TEXT) ME
contents (TABLE of) c. as a part of a BOOK L15
contest 1 CONTROVERSY, DEBATE M17
CONTRACT 1 binding AGREEMENT ME, 2 DOCUMENT E17
contradiction 3b self-contradictory STATEMENT, phrase E18
contribution 2b WRITING forming part of a joint LITERARY WORK E18
CONTROVERSY 1 disputation on matter of OPINION LME, 2 prolonged
ARGUMENT or DEBATE LME
contumely contemptuously insulting language LME
conundrum 4 riddle with a punning ANSWER, puzzle L17
convention AGREEMENT or COVENANT; esp. diplomatic AGREEMENT E17
CONVERSATION 5 informal interchange of information L16
converse 2 CONVERSATION L16
COPY 1 transcript ME, 3a matter of TEXT prepared for printing L15
COPY-BOOK †1 BOOK containing copies of DOCUMENTs M16–M17, 2
BOOK with copies to be imitated L16
COPY of VERSEs short VERSE COMPOSITION done as an exercise M17
coronach 2 Celtic funeral lamentation M16
correction 1 emendation ME
correspondence 6 communication of LETTERs M17
corrigenda LIST of errors on a slip in a BOOK E19
COUNSEL 1 ADVICE ME
counterfeit forgery LME
countermand COMMAND revoking earlier one L15
counterorder ORDER reversing a previous one L18
courant †3 newsPAPER E17 (also coranto)
court circular daily REPORT issued to the press M19

courtesy BOOK *medieval/Renaissance BOOK defining the RULEs of polite behaviour
court ORDER ORDER given by a court of LAW M17
court PAPER *official PAPER giving particulars of the business M18
court ROLL RECORD of a manorial court M15
COVENANT 1 mutual AGREEMENT ME, 2 (law) formal AGREEMENT of
legal validity
crack 3a boastful TALK, exaggeration, lie LME, * sharp or cutting REMARK
E18
cradle-SONG lullaby L15
credit CARD CARD issued by bank L19
credit NOTE written ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of sum credited
creed 1 brief formal SUMMARY of Christian DOCTRINE OE
crib 11 translated version for illegitimate use by students E19
criminal CODE system of jurisprudence L18
criminal LAW LAW for punishment of offenders L16?
criticism work of a critic L17
critique critical analysis, ARTICLE or ESSAY M17
cross REFERENCE REFERENCE to another place in a BOOK M19
crossTALK repartee, CONVERSATION L19
crossWORD (puzzle) to be filled in from clues provided E20
crudity 4 crude idea, STATEMENT, LITERARY WORK M17
cry 3 APPEAL ME, 4 SUMMONS (Sc), †5 loud public ANNOUNCEMENT,
PROCLAMATION, EDICT ME, †5c public COMPLAINT, 6 public REPORT
or RUMOUR ME, 9b political or electioneering slogan L18
cryptogram/-graph coded MESSAGE L19
cryptology secret SPEECH or communication M17
cue WORD or phrase as a signal to begin a SPEECH M16
curriculum vitae brief ACCOUNT of one’s life E20
CURSE 1 SENTENCE of excommunication OE, 2 profane OATH, imprecation OE
curtain LECTURE wife’s private REPROOF to her husband E17
curtain line last line of PLAY, act or scene M20
curtain SPEECH *SPEECH of thanks to an audience
customs DECLARATION *form for stating goods to be declared M19
cycle 4 series of POEMs or SONGs M17
D
daily B1 daily newsPAPER M19
damn OATH, imprecation E17
databank *repository of data accessible by many users L20
data sheet LEAFLET containing a SUMMARY of useful information L19

dayBOOK † journal, DIARY, logBOOK L16
death CERTIFICATE official DOCUMENT stating time, place,…
death-ROLL LIST of those killed in accident, battle M19
death WARRANT WARRANT for the execution of a convicted person L17
DEBATE 2 contention in ARGUMENT M19
DEBATE POEM / débat type of medieval POEM M19
debenture †1a voucher… LMA, 1b CERTIFICATE authorizing repayment…
M17, †2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of indebtedness L16–17
DECISION 1 final (formal) JUDGEMENT or VERDICT LME
declamation 1set SPEECH LME, 3 impassioned or emotional SPEECH,
harangue L16
DECLARATION 2b STATEMENT or CONFESSION of love M18, 3 emphatic
or solemn ASSERTION LME, 4 PROCLAMATION LME, 5 (law) formal
AFFIRMATION L15
DECLARATION of peace formal PROCLAMATION of peace M16
DECREE 1 EDICT or LAW of eccl. council ME, 2 ORDINANCE set forth by
the civil or other authority LME, 3 judicial DECISION LME
DECREE nisi provisional ORDER for divorce L19
decreet †1 DECREE, 1b (Sc law) final JUDGEMENT of civil court LME
decretal 1 papal DECREE ME, 2 DECREE, ORDINANCE L16
decretum DECREE E17
dedication 2b dedicatory INSCRIPTION L16
dedicatory † d. INSCRIPTION or address L16–17
dedimus (law) WRIT empowering private person… LME
deduction INFERENCE, CONCLUSION L15
DEED (law) written or printed instrument… for transfer of property etc. ME
DEED of COVENANT *AGREEMENT to pay a regular amount of money
DEED poll DEED made and executed by one person only L16
defamation LIBEL, SLANDER LME
defeasance DOCUMENT setting out that an AGREEMENT is null and void LME
DEFENCE 5 SPEECH or WRITING for … LME, 10 (law) DENIAL LME
DEFINITION 2 precise STATEMENT, EXPLANATION of concept LME
DEMAND 1 peremptory REQUEST ME, †2 QUESTION, REQUEST ME, 3
(law) legal CLAIM LME
démarche diplomatic initiative M17
demonstration 4 (Rom. law) STATEMENT of alleged facts M19
DENIAL STATEMENT or ASSERTION that sth. is untrue L16
denunciation †1 PROCLAMATION LME, 2 ACCUSATION, CHARGE LME, 3
threatening ANNOUNCEMENT M16, 5 public condemnation, invective M19
deposition TESTIMONY in court LME

deprecation †1 PRAYER LME, 2 EXPRESSION of disapproval E17
deputation †3 DOCUMENT conveying an appointment, WARRANT E17
DESCRIPTION 1 detailed ACCOUNT LME, †2 INSCRIPTION LME–L18
detective STORY/NOVEL L19 *STORY whose plot revolves around the solving of
a crime
diagnosis formal STATEMENT on patient’s disease L17
dialectic 1 logical disputation or ARGUMENT LME
dialogism 1 (rhet) DISCUSSION under form of dialogue M16, 2 CONVERSATIONal
phrase or SPEECH E17
dialogue 1 LITERARY WORK in conversational form ME, 2 CONVERSA-
TION LME, 3 diplomatic exchange of PROPOSALs M20
DIARY 1 daily RECORD of events L16, 2 BOOK, calendar with daily memo-
randa E17
diatessaron arrangement of the four GOSPELs as one NARRATIVE L16
diatribe 2 DISSERTATION directed against a person, denunciation E19
dictate 1 authoritative INSTRUCTION L16, †2 dictated UTTERANCE E17,
†3 authoritative pronouncement, dictum E17–E18
dictation 1 authoritative UTTERANCE or PRESCRIPTION M17, 3 dictated
untterance M19
DICTIONARY 1 BOOK explaining vocabulary E16, 2 REFERENCE BOOK
arranged alphabetically M17
dictum 1 SAYING, pronouncement L16, 2 (law) EXPRESSION of OPINION
by judge L18, 3 MAXIM E19
DIGEST 2 (law) abstract of body of LAW, systematically arranged L16, 3
COLLECTION of STATEMENTs, methodologically arranged COM-
PENDIUM M16
digression 1 deviation from main topic in SPEECH or WRITING LME
diktat 1 severe settlement imposed M20
dilemma 1 (rhet.) form of ARGUMENT E16
dime NOVEL cheap sensational NOVEL M19
diploma 1 state PAPER, CHARTER M17
DIRECTION 3 INSTRUCTION LME
directive INSTRUCTION for procedure M17
directory 1a BOOK of RULEs, an ordinal LME, 1b BOOK with alphabetical
LIST of people M18, 1c computer file M20
dirge 1 office of the dead ME, 2 funeral SONG E16
disclaimer 2 DENIAL of a CLAIM, disavowal L18
disclamation 2 repudiation, disclaimer E17
disclosure 3 revelation E19
DISCOURSE †4 ACCOUNT, NARRATIVE L16–M17, 5 formal DISCUSSION,

TREATISE, homily L16
DISCUSSION 2 examination by ARGUMENT, DEBATE M16
dispatch 7 written MESSAGE requiring fast delivery, esp. official M16
disputation 1 ARGUMENT, DISCUSSION LME, as an exercise M16, †2
DISSERTATION M16–E17
dispute †1 oral or written DISCUSSION E17–M19, 2 CONTROVERSY,
heated contention E17
dissent 1 opposition to a PROPOSAL LME
DISSERTATION 2 spoken or written DISCOURSE M17, extended scholarly
ESSAY L19
distringas (law) a WRIT … LME
dithyramb 1 ancient Greek choric HYMN E17, 2 passionate or inflated POEM,
SPEECH or WRITING M17
ditty 1 SONG, lay ME, 2 any COMPOSITION in VERSE LME
diurnal 1 (eccl.) BOOK containing daytime canonical hours M16, †2
DIARY E17, †3 newsPAPER published daily M17
divan 6 ANTHOLOGY of POEMs in Persian, series of POEMs E19
docket †1 abridged ACCOUNT, SUMMARY L15, 1c (law) abridged AC-
COUNT of juridicial proceedings M17, 2 LIST of LAW cases E18, 3 LABEL
attached to goods E18, 5 set of PAPERs, file M20
DOCTRINE †1 LESSON, PRECEPT LME–E18, 2 dogma, tenet LME, 3 body
of principles LME
docuDRAMA documentary DRAMA M20
DOCUMENT 3 official PAPER LME
documentary film film based on real events E20
documentation 5 DOCUMENTs collectively E20
docutainment documentary film designed as entertainment L20
doggerel burlesque VERSE in irregular rhythm M17
dogma 1 tenet or DOCTRINE, arrogant DECLARATION of OPINION M16, 2
DOCTRINEs, esp. religious matters L18
domesday BOOK comprehensive RECORD of ownership of lands in 1086, L16
doom †1 STATUTE, LAW, ORDINANCE, DECREE OE, 2 juridicial DECISION OE
doomBOOK CODE of Anglo-Saxon LAWs OE
dossier COLLECTION of PAPERs or information L19
double TALK = double speak, TALK deliberately ambiguous or obscure M20
douceur † complimentary SPEECH or turn of phrase L17–E19
doxology 2 liturgical FORMULA of PRAISE to God M17
draft 3 preliminary version (esp. of official DOCUMENT) M18, = draught
12 (L15)
DRAMA 1 PLAY for acting on stage E16

DRAMA-documentary *television film based on real events L20
dramatic monologue *LITERARY WORK (as a part of a DRAMA)
dramatis personae LIST of characters in a PLAY or STORY M18
dream BOOK containing interpretations of dreams L18
dream vision form of medieval POEM E20
dressing-down *severe reprimand L18
driving/driver’s LICENCE official DOCUMENT authorizing sb. to drive a
vehicle
driving test official test of motorist’s competence
droll(ery) 3 JOKE, funny STORY M17
dubbing alternative soundtrack M20
ducat railway or admission TICKET (= docket 3) L19
E
eclogue pastoral POEM LME
ecphrasis (rhet) lucid, self-contained EXPLANATION E18
EDICT 1 ORDINANCE, PROCLAMATION ME
editorial newsPAPER ARTICLE M19
effatum † SAYING, dictum, MAXIM M17–L18
effusion 3 literary COMPOSITION regarded as an outpouring of emotion E17
elegit (law) WRIT of execution E16
elegy 1 SONG of lamentation E16, 2 POEM in elegiac metre L16
éloge †1 encomium M16–E19, 2 DISCOURSE in honour of a deceased person E18
elogy † 1 SAYING, EXPRESSION, INSCRIPTION L16–M17, 2 eulogy E17–M18, 3
biographical NOTICE, only M17, 4 funeral ORATION, only L17
elucubration 2 literary COMPOSITION M17
e-mail information sent by telecommunication network L20
enabling act STATUTE empowering a person to take action L19
enabling BILL legislative enactment L19
enabling STATUTE act allowing leases L19
enaction = enactment M17
enactment 2 ORDINANCE, STATUTE E19
enarration † 1 EXPOSITION, COMMENTARY L16–M17, 2 DESCRIPTION, detailed
NARRATIVE L16–E19
enchiridion handBOOK, MANUAL LME
encomium high-flown EXPRESSION of PRAISE; panegyric M16
encyclical (LETTER) papal LETTER sent to bishops M19
encyclopedia 2 BOOK containing information on all branches of knowl-
edge, arranged alphabetically M17
endorsement 1a COMMENT with which DOCUMENT is endorsed M16, 1b

RECORD of an offence E20, 2 CONFIRMATION, ratification M17
enforcement NOTICE NOTICE issued by local authority M20
engagement †3 formal PROMISE, AGREEMENT M17
engrossment definitive COPY of a legal DOCUMENT E16
enigma 1 riddle involving metaphor, † obscure or allusive SPEECH M16
enquiry 1 INVESTIGATION LME, 4 QUESTION, query M16
entreatment †1 DISCUSSION, CONVERSATION M16
entreaty 3 earnest REQUEST, supplication L16
entry sth. entered in a REGISTER, DIARY; WORD, phrase defined in a DIC-
TIONARY LME
enunciation †2 proposition L16–M18
envoi concluding part of LITERARY WORK LME
ephemera printed or written items produced for short-time use M20
epic epic POEM E18
epigram 1 short POEM ending in witty turn of thought LME, 3a pointed
SAYING L18
epigraph †1 imprint on a TITLE-page L16–E19, 2 INSCRIPTION (on tomb-
stone etc.), LEGEND on coin E17, 3 = MOTTO 2, M19
epilogue 1 postscript LME, 2 SPEECH at end of PLAY L16, †3 (rhet.) con-
cluding part of SPEECH, only M17
episode 2 digression in NARRATIVE L17, 2b part of TV/radio serial E20
epistle 1 literary, formal LETTER OE, 1b LITERARY WORK in VERSE LME,
1c PREFACE, LETTER of dedication E17, 2 part of New TESTAMENT ME
epistolary NOVEL * NOVEL written in the form of LETTERs
epitaph tombstone INSCRIPTION LME
epithalamium SONG or POEM for wedding L16
epitome 1 SUMMARY of written work E16
epode 1 (serious) LYRIC POEM E17, 2 part of a Greek LYRIC ode L17
epopee = epopoiea, epic POEM L17
epos epic POEM, esp. NARRATIVE on national history M19
equivoque expression capable of more than one meaning, PUN E17
errand †1a MESSAGE OE–M18, PETITION or PRAYER presented through a saint ME
errata 2 LIST of errors in a TEXT M17
erratum error noted in a LIST appended to a BOOK M16
escheat 4 WRIT to obtain possession LME
ESSAY 6 short prose COMPOSITION L16, †7 first draft M17–L18
essayette short ESSAY L19
estimate STATEMENT by a contractor of price expected M18
estreat 1 COPY of legal RECORD ME
etiquette †2 RULE of etiquette, observance prescribed L18-E19, 3 LABEL M19

euchology BOOK of PRAYERs M17
eulogy SPEECH, WRITING in PRAISE of (dead) person L16
evangel 2b any of the four GOSPELs LME
evangelistary 1 BOOK containing GOSPEL portions of LITURGY M17
evening PAPER newsPAPER published after midday M19
evening PRAYER Anglican SERVICE of evenSONG L16
evenSONG 1 SERVICE of vespers OE, 3 SONG in evening LME
evidence 6 information in legal INVESTIGATION LME, 7 DOCUMENT
establishing fact LME
evocation 4 FORMULA used for evoking spirit M17
examination 3 formal interrogation LME, 3b RECORD of STATEMENTs
made by witness M16
exam(ination) PAPER QUESTIONs to be answered M19
excerpt EXTRACT from a BOOK, manuscript E17, 2 offprint L19
excerption excerpt, COLLECTION of excerpts E17
excision PASSAGE removed from a BOOK M16
excommunication 2 SENTENCE by which sb. is excommunicated M17
excursion †3a digression in SPEECH or WRITING L16–E19
excursus 1 fuller treatment in an appendix E19, 2 digression within a NARRATIVE M19
excuse apology M19
exeat 1 PERMISSION for absence E18, 2 PERMISSION to move to another diocese M18
exegesis EXPOSITION, GLOSS, explanatory NOTE E17
exemplar 3 COPY of BOOK, transcript LME
exemplum illustrative or moralizing STORY L19
exequy funeral ode L19
exercise 5b DISSERTATION submitted for a degree M16, 5c sth. written by
a pupil E17, 5d ESSAY, SERMON E18
exercise BOOK BOOK containing set exercises L19
exhibit 1a (law) DOCUMENT produced in court E17
exhortation 2 set SPEECH, formal or liturgical address LME
ex libris INSCRIPTION, LABEL, BOOKplate L19
exode 1 in Roman drama, comic interlude L17
exodus second BOOK of the Bible OE
exorcism 3 FORMULA in exorcizing M16
exordium introductory part of TREATISE L16
expatiation 3 lengthy treatment of a topic E17
EXPLANATION 2 STATEMENT accounting for sth. E17, 3 DECLARATION of
reconciliation M19
explication †2b EXPOSITION, PARAPHRASE M17–L18
explicit † STATEMENT at end of BOOK ME–M19, CONCLUSION M17

exposé 1 orderly STATEMENT of facts E19
EXPOSITION 1 expository ARTICLE, COMMENTARY ME, 2 detailed STATE-
MENT or DESCRIPTION LME
expository 1 written COMMENTARY ME
expostulation 2 spoken remonstrance, protest, REPROOF L16
EXPRESSION 2 explicit mention, DESCRIPTION LME, 3 spoken UTTER-
ANCE, written DECLARATION E17
exprobration REPROACHful UTTERANCE M16
extempore † improvised SPEECH L16–E19
EXTRACT †1 SUMMARY LME–M17, 2 (Sc law) authenticated COPY M16, 5 PAS-
SAGE from a BOOK, excerpt, quotation M17
extravaganza 2 literary COMPOSITION of fanciful character L18
F
FABLE 1 fictitious NARRATIVE ME, 2 MYTH, LEGEND ME, 3 short STORY
of animals conveying a moral ME, 5 idle TALK LME, 9 plot of PLAY or
POEM M17
fabliau burlesque VERSE TALE E19
fabrication false STATEMENT, forgery L18
facetiae 1 witticisms E16
facsimile (edition) 2 exact COPY, reproduction L17
fact sheet PAPER on which facts are set out briefly M20
factum (law) 2 STATEMENT of facts L18
fairy TALE TALE about strange incidents, unreal STORY M18
fantasy literary COMPOSITION on imaginary worlds M20
farce dramatic work presenting ludicrously improbable events E16
fascicle part of a BOOK M17
fax MESSAGE sent by facsimile telegraphy M20
feature prominent ARTICLE in newsPAPER M19
feature PROGRAMME broadcast based on one specific subject M20
felicitation(s) congratulatory SPEECH or MESSAGE L18
festival †1 BOOK containing an exhortation for each feast day L15–E17
festschrift volume of WRITINGs collected in honour of a scholar E20
fiat 1 authoritative pronouncement, DECREE, ORDER LME, 2 COMMAND L16
fib trivial or venial lie E17
fiction NARRATIVE of imaginative events L15
fidei-commissum bequest instructing heir to transfer the legacy E18
fieri facias (law) WRIT to sheriff for executing JUDGEMENT LME
figment invented STATEMENT, STORY, DOCTRINE LME
file 1 COLLECTION of PAPERs kept, LIST, CATALOGUE E16, 1b COLLEC-

TION of related RECORDs stored by computer M20
film SCRIPT *TEXT of a film M20
final DEMAND ACCOUNT which is creditor’s last attempt to procure money owed M20
fine †6 (law) final AGREEMENT or settlement of a SUIT ME
fine print *printed matter in small type = small print M20
flash CARD with WORDs, shown briefly to a child as an aid to learning E20
flattery undue or insincere PRAISE ME
flight PLAN prearranged scheme for a particular flight M20
florilegium COLLECTION of choice EXTRACTs, ANTHOLOGY E17
flow chart * diagram showing the movement of goods = flow diagram M20
flowers rhetorical embellishments, fine phrases LME
flyer 7 small handBILL or flysheet, issued by police or for advertising L19
flyingsheet two- or four-page LEAFLET or circular = flysheet L18
flyting * poetical invective, with tirades of abusive VERSE (Sc) E18
folder 3 folded PAMPHLET, circular (US) L19
folk-SONG SONG of popular origin M19
folk-STORY/TALE TALE of popular origin L19
follow-up second advertisement, LETTER referring to an earlier one E20
footNOTE NOTE printed on foot of page E19
foreboding PREDICTION, presage LME
forecast 3 conjectual estimate (weather), PREDICTION L17
foredoom JUDGEMENT pronounced beforehand M16
forewarning prior NOTICE or admonition LME
foreWORD PREFACE, introductory REMARKs M19
form 10 regularly drawn DOCUMENT LME, †10b recipe, presentation
LME, 10c DOCUMENT with blanks to be filled up M19
FORMULA 1 set form of WORDs prescribed by authority or custom E17, 1b
~ as a DEFINITION of a principle E18, 1c stock epithet, phrase, line
repeated (esp. in epic poetry) L19
formulary COLLECTION of FORMULAe M16
FRAGMENT(s) 1b extant portion of written work L16
frame STORY STORY serving as a framework for other stories E20
franchise 3 legal immunity or exemption ME
free LIST LIST of persons or things to be admitted free of payment E19
free VERSE = VERSE libre E20
fundamental basic principle, RULE, ARTICLE M17
fytte section of POEM or STORY, canto OE
G
gab †1 mockery, derisive deception, only ME, 2 piece of bravado, boast M18
gabble voluble confused unintelligible TALK E17
gabfest prolonged conference or CONVERSATION L19
gaffe clumsy or indiscreet REMARK E20
gag JOKE M19
galimatias meaningless TALK, gibberish M17
galley proof proof from phototypesetter L19
gambit 2 opening move in DISCUSSION M19
game LICENCE LICENCE to hunt M19
garland 7 COLLECTION of short literary pieces, ANTHOLOGY E17
garnishment (law) legal NOTICE E16
gasconade extravagant boasting M17
gazette 1 news-sheet, newsPAPER E17, 2 official journal of government
appointments etc. M17
gazetteer 2 geographical INDEX or DICTIONARY E18, †3 newsPAPER, only
M18
genealogy 1 ACCOUNT of person’s descent, pedigree ME
georgic(s) 1 BOOK or POEM dealing with husbandry E16
gest †2 STORY, VERSE/prose romance ME
ghazal Persian LYRIC POEM L18
ghost-WRITING TEXT written on behalf of another person E20
gibberish unintelligible SPEECH E16
gibe scoffing SPEECH, TAUNT L16
gleanings * excerpts gleaned from other works M17
GLOSS 1 EXPLANATION of a WORD, COMMENT, PARAPHRASE M16, 2
GLOSSary, interlinear TRANSLATION L16
glossary COLLECTION of GLOSSes; LIST with EXPLANATIONs of obsolete,
dialectal, or technical terms LME
glossology (EXPLANATION of) terminology in any science M19
gnome short pithy STATEMENT, MAXIM, aphorism L16
GOSPEL one of the four RECORDs in the NT OE
GOSPEL harmony *conflation of the four GOSPELs indicating parallel PASSAGEs L16
GOSPEL SONG *TEXT accompanying evangelical singing E20
GOSSIP 4 idle TALK E19
GOSSIP column newsPAPER devoted to social NEWS M19
Gothic NOVEL/STORY NOVEL with supernatural or horrifying events L18
graffito WRITING on a wall M19
GRAMMAR 3 TREATISE on GRAMMAR M16
GRAMMAR BOOK *BOOK containing GRAMMAR for use in schools E16
grant †1 CONSENT, PROMISE, ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ME–L17

graphic NOVEL STORY in form of a comic strip
green PAPER tentative REPORT of Br. government PROPOSALs M20
greetings salutation OE
greetings CARD CARD with MESSAGE of good will L19
guarantee DOCUMENT giving security … M19
GUIDE 3a MANUAL on a specified subject E17, ~ on a city M18
GUIDE BOOK * BOOK for the guidance of visitors E19
GUIDEline laid down as a GUIDE to procedure L18
H
habeas corpus (law) WRIT requiring a person to be brought before a judge
LME
hagiology CATALOGUE of saints E19
haiku short Japanese POEM E19
handBILL printed NOTICE circulated by hand M18
handBOOK MANUAL, GUIDEBOOK E19
handLIST of BOOKs etc. for easy REFERENCE M19
handout circular or PAMPHLET giving information E20
handWRITING written DOCUMENT M16
harangue SPEECH addressed to an assembly, impassioned address or
monologue LME
head 17c HEADLINE in newsPAPER E20
heading 8 TITLE at head of page M19
HEADLINE 3b (sub)TITLE in newsPAPER, SUMMARY of main items during
broadcast bulletin E19
head NOTE (law) SUMMARY giving the principle of the DECISION M19
hearing 4 trial before judge L16
hearsay REPORT, RUMOUR LME
heckling interruption with aggressive QUESTIONs or abuse M17
herbal BOOK containing DESCRIPTIONs of plants E16
heresy 1 OPINION opposite to orthodox DOCTRINE ME
hierograph sacred INSCRIPTION M19
hint 1b small piece of practical information L18
historical (NOVEL) M17
historiette ANECDOTE, short STORY E18
history 2 methodical RECORD of events LME, 4 historical PLAY LME
history PLAY *PLAY based on historical events M20
hitLIST (sl) LIST of prospective victims M20
hitparade LIST of best-selling RECORDs M20
hoarding structure for displaying advertisements E19

holograph 1 DOCUMENT written by author E17
homage formal public ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of allegiance ME
homepage *introductory DOCUMENT on WWW L20
homework LESSONs done at home by schoolchild L19
homily 1 religious DISCOURSE, SERMON LME, 2 moralizing DISCOURSE,
LECTURE L16
honours LIST LIST of successful candidates M20
horae BOOK of hours L19
hornBOOK PAPER containing the alphabet etc. L16
horoscope PREDICTION of a person’s future OE
hortation exhortation M16
hours PRAYERs or offices at certain times ME
household WORD well-known SAYING L16
housekeeping BOOK *BOOK in which housekeeping costs are listed = household
BOOK M19
howler glaring blunder L19
HYMN 1 SONG of PRAISE OE
hymnal HYMN-BOOK L15
hymnary hymnal L19
HYMN-BOOK BOOK of HYMNs OE
hype persuasive TALK, advertising M20
hypothesis 1 proposition L16, 3 assumption E17
I
identity CARD identification CARD E20
ideology system of ideas E20
idioticon DICTIONARY of a dialect M19
idyll 1 short DESCRIPTION in VERSE or prose L16
impeachment †3a ACCUSATION, CHARGE LME, ~ for treason M17
impersonation dramatic or comic representation of a character E19
imploration supplication L16
imprecation 2 PRAYER, entreaty L16, 3 INVOCATION of evil, CURSE L17
imprimatur official LICENCE authorizing printing; official approval, sanc-
tion M17
imprint 2 publisher’s name with details of publication on TITLE page L18
inaugural (address) SPEECH, address or LECTURE marking the beginning
of period of office M19
incantation magical FORMULA chanted or spoken LME
indenture(s) 2 DEED, sealed AGREEMENT LME, 2b apprentice’s CON-
TRACT LME, 2c official voucher, INVENTORY, CERTIFICATE LME
INDEX LIST at end of BOOK L16

indicavit † WRIT of prohibition L16
indiction †2 DECLARATION, PROCLAMATION M16
indictment 1 formal ACCUSATION ME, 1b legal DOCUMENT containing a
written ACCUSATION E16, 3 censure, condemnation in WRITING L19
inducement †3a preamble or INTRODUCTION to a BOOK, only E17, 3b (law)
introductory matter L18
induction †6 introductory STATEMENT, PREFACE M16
indulgence (LETTER of) grant of remission of punishment LME
inedita unpublished WRITINGs L19
INFERENCE CONCLUSION, implication E17
information †3b item of NEWS, ACCOUNT E16–M19, 4 (law) formal
written STATEMENT LME
infotainment broadcast matter that seeks both to inform and to entertain L20
injunction authoritative admonition or ORDER LME
in memoriam POEM, NOTICE in memory of a dead person L19
innuendo parenthical EXPLANATION M16
inquest 1 judicial inquiry ME, †3a QUESTION, query LME–M19, 1c
examination E17
INSCRIPTION 1 descriptive or dedicatory PASSAGE at beginning of BOOK
LME, 3 SENTENCE etc. inscribed on stone, metal M16
insert loose page of advertisements etc. L19
insertion 1 paragraph etc. inserted in TEXT, advertisement in different
issues of newsPAPER M16
insinuation †4b (rhet) SPEECH designed to win over its hearers M16–E17
institutes DIGEST of the elements of a subject M16
INSTRUCTION(s) 2 PRECEPT LME, 4 DIRECTION, ORDER LME
INSTRUCTIONs (printed ADVICE accompanying machines etc.) ME
INSULT insulting REMARK L17
insurance policy DOCUMENT detailing CONTRACT of insurance L19
intercession †1b PETITION L15–M18
interdict 1 authoritative SENTENCE debarring… ME, 2 (law) DECREE for-
bidding sth. E17, 2b court ORDER M18
interior monologue WRITING in which inner thoughts of a person are presented E20
interjection exclamation LME
interlinear GLOSS GLOSS written between lines LME
interlocution 1 dialogue, DISCOURSE M16, †2 REPLY, response L16–L18
interlude 1 short DRAMAtic piece performed between acts ME
intermezzo 1 short light dramatic performances inserted L18
interpellation †2 SUMMONS L16–E18
interpolation insertion M18

interpretation EXPLANATION given, COMMENTARY LME
interrogation 2 QUESTION, enquiry LME
interrogatory 1 QUESTION, (law) formal, written QUESTION… M16
INTERVIEW 1b CONVERSATION between journalist and person… M19, 1c
oral examination for employment E20
intimation 1 formal notifiation or ANNOUNCEMENT LME, 2 SUGGES-
TION, hint M16
INTRODUCTION 4a preliminary EXPLANATION E16, 4b TEXT explaining
elementary principles M16
introit 2 antiphon or PSALM…; first three WORDs of office L15
invective B1 violent verbal attack or denunciation L16
INVENTORY 1 detailed LIST of items LME, 2 LIST, CATALOGUE, detailed
ACCOUNT E16
INVESTIGATION 2 systematic inquiry, careful study L18
investment BOND *single premium life insurance policy
INVITATION 1b spoken or written form in which a person is invited E17
INVITATION CARD *CARD containing written/printed INVITATION E18
INVITATION LIST *LIST of persons to be invited L19
INVITATION of tenders *ANNOUNCEMENT calling for OFFERs
invitatory form of INVITATION used in religious worship L15
INVOCATION 1b invocatory PRAYER, PETITION E19, 2 incarnation, charm,
SPELL LME
invoice 1 LIST of items sent, with STATEMENT of sum due M16
IOU 1 DOCUMENT constituting a formal ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of debt L18
Irish bull 1 EXPRESSION containing a contradiction in terms E17
issue 9 (law) point in QUESTION LME, 9c a matter the DECISION of which
involves important consequences M19
itinerary 2 RECORD of a journey L15, 3 GUIDE–BOOK M16, 4 travel
PLAN M19
J
jeer 2 jibe, TAUNT E17
jeremiad lamentation, doleful tirade L18
jest †2 SATIRE, LAMPOON LME–E17, 3 mocking SPEECH, raillery M16, 4
witticism, JOKE M16
jest BOOK BOOK of amusing stories M18
jeu d’esprit humorous literary trifle E18
jig †2 comic SONG; metrical version of a PSALM L16–L17, †3 comic sketch at end
of PLAY L16
jingle 3b slogan in TV commercial M20

jive 1 empty or pretentious TALK E20
JOKE ANECDOTE, witticism, jest L17
journal †2a itinerary LME–E17, 3 daily RECORD of transactions L15, 6
personal RECORD of events (more detailed than a DIARY) E17, 7 log-
BOOK L17, 8 daily newsPAPER, PERIODICAL E18
journal-BOOK day-BOOK, DIARY E17
journal-LETTER LETTER written as a DIARY M18
judgement 4 divine SENTENCE or DECISION ME, 5 authoritative pro-
nouncement ME, 6 critical OPINION ME, 7b (bibl) divine DECREE or
ORDINANCE LME
judicial † LAW or ORDINANCE LME–E18
jurament 1 OATH L15, 2 (Oxf) logical disputation L19
jurat (law) MEMORANDUM of affidavit L18
jussion ORDER, COMMAND, L18
juvenilia LITERARY WORKs of an author’s youth E17
K
kaffeeklatsch GOSSIP L19
keen Irish funeral SONG M19
key 5c BOOK containing solutions OE
keyNOTE address/SPEECH *SPEECH outlining central principle E20
kinderspiel dramatic piece performed by children E20
king’s SPEECH STATEMENT read by the sovereign at opening of parliament, cf.
queen’s SPEECH L16
knock-for-knock (AGREEMENT, policy) AGREEMENT between insurance com-
panies E20
knowledgement formal ACKNOWLEDGEMENT M17
L
LABEL †3 codicil LME–M17, 9 classifying phrase L19
LAMENT POEM or SONG of grief, elegy, dirge L17
lamentation 2 LAMENT LME
LAMPOON virulent SATIRE M17
lapidary 2 TREATISE on stones LME
last will = will 9/TESTAMENT 3
latitat (law) WRIT summoning a defendant M16
laud 2 PRAISE, high commendation LME
laudation eulogy LME
LAW 1 RULE of conduct OE
LAW-BOOK BOOK containing a CODE of LAWs ME

lay short LYRIC or NARRATIVE POEM ME
leader leading ARTICLE in newsPAPER M19
leading ARTICLE *newsPAPER ARTICLE giving the editorial OPINION =
leader E19
leading QUESTION (law) QUESTION suggesting the ANSWER E19
LEAFLET sheet of PAPER folded, with advertisements etc. L18
lease 1 CONTRACT about property LME
leave 1 PERMISSION (to be absent) L18
lection 2 reading found in a particular COPY M17, EXTRACT from sacred LESSON E17
lectionary BOOK of EXTRACTs to be read L18
LECTURE 2a formal DISCOURSE delivered to students M16, 4 lengthy rep-
rimand M16
LECTURE NOTEs *NOTEs taken by students attending a LECTURE L19
ledger 1c ACCOUNT-BOOK L16
ledger-BOOK RECORD-BOOK, REGISTER, cartulary, BOOK of ACCOUNTs M16
leechBOOK † BOOK of PRESCRIPTIONs OE
LEGEND 1 STORY of the life of a saint ME, †3 STORY, history, ACCOUNT
LME–L17, †4 LIST, RECORD LME–E17, †5 lectionary LME, 6 INSCRIP-
TION, MOTTO L15, 7 written EXPLANATION for illustration, map E20, 8
inauthentic STORY E17
legendary † COLLECTION of LEGENDs E16–L16
legitimation 1 DOCUMENT of authorization LME
lemma 1 axiom L16, 2 ARGUMENT prefixed as a heading E17, 3 WORD or phrase
glossed in a DICTIONARY M20
LESSON †1 (course of) LECTURE(s) ME–E28, 2 PASSAGE of Scripture etc.
ME, 4 portion of BOOK to be studied ME, 5 portion of course of
INSTRUCTION ME
LETTER(s) †3 WRITINGs, written RECORDs ME–L18, 4 written communi-
cation sent by post ME, 4b formal or legal DOCUMENT of this kind
LETTER-CARD folded CARD sent through the post L19
LETTER of ADVICE LETTER notifying the drawing of a BILL L17
LETTER of attorney formal DOCUMENT emplowering another person M15
LETTER of comfort assurance about a debt
LETTER of credit = LETTER of credence, DOCUMENT recommending
bearer to confidence L16
LETTER of credence LETTER of INTRODUCTION or RECOMMENDATION LME
LETTER of credit LETTER issued by bank L16
LETTER of hypothecation/hypothecation CERTIFICATE CERTIFICATE attached
to a BILL of exchange
LETTER of intent DOCUMENT containing DECLARATION of intentions M20

LETTER of INTRODUCTION LETTER given to a person to introduce him L18
LETTER of marque LICENCE to fit out an armed vessel M15
LETTER of protection *official LETTER granting safe conduct LME
LETTER of RECOMMENDATION LETTER or CERTIFICATE recommending a per-
son for employment L15
LETTERs of administration authority to administer an estate L16
LETTERs avocatory ORDER recalling subjects L17?/M18
LETTERs dimissory LETTER or LICENCE from bishop … L16
LETTERs missive LETTER from monarch nominating person to be elected bishop E16
LETTERs patent *open DOCUMENT conferring a patent ME
LETTERs of REQUEST written REQUEST from one government to another (ME)
LETTERs rogatory *DOCUMENTs making REQUEST through foreign court M19
LETTERs testamentary *NOTICE from a court to an executor of a will
LETTER telegram *cheap form of telegram E20
LETTER to the editor *LETTER sent to newsPAPER editor printed without COMMENT
LETTERgram † telegram delivered with ordinary MAIL E20
levari facias (law) WRIT ordering a sheriff… E17
lex fori law of the country (cf. lex loci) E19/L18
lexicon 1 DICTIONARY E17, 1b vocabulary of region or speaker M17, 2
(ling) complete set of meaningful items M20
liaison 3 communication between military forces E19
LIBEL 1 formal DOCUMENT, written STATEMENT ME, 2a (law) DOCUMENT
with plaintiff’s allegations ME, 2b (Sc law) indictment LME, 3 little
BOOK, TREATISE LME, †4 LEAFLET, BILL publicly circulated, 5b false or
defamatory STATEMENT M17
libretto TEXT of an opera M18
LICENCE 2 formal PERMISSION from an authority, permit LME
LICENCE plate number plate of a vehicle (US) E20
lie 1 intentionally false STATEMENT OE; 3 ANECDOTE, TALE (BlE) M20
lied SONG of the German Romantic period M19
life 13 written ACCOUNT of a person’s history, biography ME
life policy life-insurance policy M19
life STORY *NARRATIVE of a person’s life M19
limerick 3 comic five-line stanza L19
LIST 1 CATALOGUE, REGISTER L16
listing 3 entry in a CATALOGUE, telephone directory E20
litany 1 series of supplications etc. ME, 2 repetition of FORMULA LME
LITERATURE 3a body of WRITINGs produced in a particular country or
period E19, 3b body of BOOKs on one subject M19
litigation legal proceedings M17

little MAGAZINE literary MAGAZINE with experimental WRITING E20
LITURGY set of formularies for public worship L16
livre de chevet bedside BOOK E20
livret small BOOK LME
Lloyd’s LIST daily publication with shipping NEWS E19
Lloyd’s REGISTER annual classified LIST of ships E19
locus classicus PASSAGE regarded as the principal authority M19
logBOOK = log BOOK containing a daily RECORD of ship’s voyage (or of
aircraft flights) L17, 2 DOCUMENT with registration details of a motor
vehicle (Br) M20
logomachy contention about WORDs M16
love LETTER LETTER written to express love ME
love-POEM POEM expressing love ME
love-SONG SONG of (romantic) love ME
love STORY STORY concentrating on the affection of lovers E17
lucubrations LITERARY WORK of a pedantic or overelaborate nature E17
lullaby SONG to put child to sleep L16
lunary (medieval BOOK on lunar prognostications etc.) ME
LYRIC POEM expressing writer’s emotions L16, 4 WORDs of a SONG L19
M
macaronics VERSEs in mixed language M17
madrigal 1 short lyrical love POEM L16
MAGAZINE 5 PERIODICAL publication M18, 5b regular TV or radio
broadcast M20
Magna Carta CHARTER of 1215, establishing personal and political liberty L15
maiden SPEECH first SPEECH delivered (by MP)
MAIL LETTERs sent or received M17
MAILgram MESSAGE transmitted electronically and then delivered by ordinary
post (US) M20
mailing LIST LIST of people to whom advertising matter etc. is posted E20
MAIL ORDER ORDER for goods to be sent by post M19
maintenance ORDER court ORDER directing payment M19?
malediction CURSE, SLANDER LME
malison † CURSE, malediction ME
mandamus (law) WRIT, MANDATE by monarch M16
MANDATE 1 COMMAND, ORDER, injunction E16, 2 judicial or legal COM-
MAND E16, 2b papal rescript E17, 4a commission L18
manifest 2 public PROCLAMATION or DECLARATION E17, 3 LIST of

freight or passengers, INVENTORY E18
manifesto printed DECLARATION of policy M17
mantra sacred Hindu TEXT or PASSAGE L18
MANUAL B1 small BOOK of handy use, abridgement, TEXTBOOK LME
manuscript B1 BOOK or DOCUMENT written by hand E17
map representation of the earth’s surface E16, 2 ACCOUNT of a state of
things L16
marching ORDERs DIRECTION for troops, *dismissal M19
marginalia marginal or incidental NOTEs M19
marriage ARTICLEs antenuptial arrangement E18
marriage CERTIFICATE RECORD of a legal marriage M19
marriage licence DOCUMENT giving official PERMISSION to marry L18
marriage settlement legal arrangement securing property E18
marriage SONG = epithalamium L16
martyrology LIST or ACCOUNT of martyrs L17
masque, dramatic entertainment with metrical dialogue E16
MASS-BOOK missal OE
master PLAN *graphic or verbal scheme for the development of a city, etc.
M20
master’s THESIS PAPER written for M.A. degree
matins office appointed in the breviary ME
matricula † LIST or REGISTER of people belonging to a society, CERTIFICATE of
enrolment M16
matriculation †1b CERTIFICATE of matriculation, only M17
matrimonial (ad) *advertisement arranging marriage (in India)
MAXIM 2 proposition expressing a general truth L16
mayday *international radio distress signal E20
mea culpa ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of one’s guilt or responsibility E19
medical CERTIFICATE CERTIFICATE on person’s health M19
medical REGISTER REGISTER of all doctors legally in practice L19
meditation written or spoken DISCOURSE, freq. on religious subject ME
medley literary miscellany or COLLECTION ME
meloDRAMA sensational dramatic piece E19
melo-tragedy operatic tragedy E19
memento PRAYER of the MASS LME
memo = MEMORANDUM M18
MEMOIR(s) 1 NOTE, MEMORANDUM, (official) RECORD M16, 2 (auto-) bio-
graphical RECORD M17, 3 ESSAY or DISSERTATION on a learned subject L17
memorabilia noteworthy SAYINGs L18
MEMORANDUM 1 RECORD of events L15, 1b (law) DOCUMENT summariz-

ing transaction L16, 1d informal diplomatic MESSAGE M17, 1e informal
written communication L19
memorial 4 RECORD, CHRONICLE, LME, †5 NOTE, MEMORANDUM E16–
E19, 6 any of various informal diplomatic PAPERs, 7 STATEMENT of
facts L17, 8 (Sc law) advocate’s brief E18, 8b abstract of particulars of a
DEED E19
memory BOOK scrapBOOK, autograph album E20
menology church calendar with biographies of saints E17
mention official commendatory REFERENCE L19
MENU 2 LIST of dishes M19, 3b computer LIST M20
merry TALE *ANECDOTE, humorous, short STORY E16
MESSAGE 1 brief communication transmitted ME
metaMESSAGE in advertising, STATEMENT relying on implication L20
metaphrase *literal, WORD-for-WORD TRANSLATION E17
method †5b written systematically ordered COLLECTION of RULEs L16–E19, †5c
SUMMARY of the contents of a BOOK E–M17
minstrel show *theatrical entertainment of SONGs, comic turns etc. M19
minstrelsy group of minstrel’s SONGs E19
MINUTES 4a NOTE or MEMORANDUM giving INSTRUCTIONs, SUMMARY of
proceedings of a meeting LME; 4b official MEMORANDUM authorizing
a course of action M16, 4c (Sc law) MEMORANDUM on procedure M19
miracle PLAY medieval DRAMA ME
miscellanea miscellany of LITERARY WORKs L16
miscellany 2 separate ARTICLEs collected in one volume E17, 3 LITERARY
WORK with pieces on various subjects M17
miserere 1a one of the penitential PSALMs ME, 2 PRAYER in which mercy is
sought E17
misREPORT false or incorrect REPORT M16
missal BOOK containing the SERVICE of the MASS ME
missive 1 official or long/serious LETTER E16, 2 (Sc law) LETTER
exchanged by parties to a CONTRACT E16
mittimus †1a (law) WRIT to transfer RECORDs LME–E18, 1b WARRANT commit-
ting person to prison L16, 2 NOTICE to quit L16
mock-heroic imitation in a burlesque manner of heroic diction M17
monastic RULE *regulations for life in a monastery LME
monition 3 official NOTICE LME
monitor †1 official LETTER conveying an admonition E–M16
monitory 1 LETTER with admonition, esp. from bishop or pope LME
monoDRAMA *dramatic piece for one performer L18
monody 2 POEM in which mourner bewails a person’s death M17

monologue soliloquy, long SPEECH or harangue L17
monument 2 written DOCUMENT, RECORD LME
moot †3 PLEA, litigation OE–E17, †4 ARGUMENT, DISCUSSION OE–E17
moral 2b EXPOSITION of the practical LESSON in LITERARY WORK M16
morality (PLAY) 4b kind of DRAMA with personifications of abstract qualities L18
moratorium 1 (law) legal authorization to postpone payment L19
morceau short literary COMPOSITION M18
mortgage 1 a DEED effecting financial transaction LME
motet choral COMPOSITION setting a religious TEXT LME
motion 1b (law) formal application LME, 1c formal proposition put before
a committee etc. M16
MOTTO 1 INSCRIPTION, EXPLANATION of emblem, MAXIM L16, 2 short
quotation or epigram at beginning of BOOK, epigraph E18
Munchausen 1 tall STORY M19
muniment 1 DOCUMENT (TITLE-DEED, CHARTER) LME
music-hall SONG SONG in variety entertainment M19
musical musical comedy M20
muster 5 muster-ROLL, census REPORT M16
muster-BOOK BOOK registering military forces L16
muster ROLL official LIST of soldiers, REGISTER M17
myriologue extemporaneous Greek or Turkish funeral SONG E19
mystery 3 religious ORDINANCE or rite E16
mystery PLAY miracle PLAY M18
mystery STORY detective or crime STORY E20
MYTH 1 traditional STORY involving supernatural M19, 2 untrue popular
STORY M19
mythology 2 mythical STORY, parable E17, 3 (collectively) M17
mythos 1 body of MYTHs M18
N
nancy-TALE folk-TALE popular in W.Africa and the Caribbean E19
narration 1b STORY, ACCOUNT LME, 2a (rhet) part of an ORATION in which
the facts are stated E16, 2b NARRATIVE part in a POEM or PLAY L16
NARRATIVE 1a ACCOUNT of series of events, STORY M16, 2c (Sc law)
part of DEED or DOCUMENT… M16
necrology 1 monastic REGISTER of deaths E18, 1b death-ROLL M19, 2 obituary
NOTICE L18
negation 1 negative STATEMENT, REFUSAL, contradiction, DENIAL LME,
1b (logic) ASSERTION that a proposition is false L16
negotiation(s) DISCUSSION aiming at compromise or settlement M16

NEWS 2 information published or broadcast LME, †3 piece or item of
NEWS L16–M17, 4a the newsPAPERs M18, 4b the ~ television or radio
broadcast E20
newsbrief short item esp. on TV L20
NEWS bulletin short broadcast M20
newscast broadcast on TV or radio M20
newsflash single item of important NEWS L20
newsLETTER informal printed REPORT issued to members L17
newsPAPER daily or weekly printed publication L17
newsreel short TV or cinema PROGRAMME M20
news-sheet simple form of newsPAPER M19
nihil obstat CERTIFICATE that a work has been approved by Roman Catholic
Church, STATEMENT of official approval M20
nisi prius (law) WRIT directing a sheriff… LME
nocturne † each of seven groups of PSALMs ME
nonsense VERSE comic VERSE intended to amuse E19
non sequitur 2 INFERENCE not logically following from the premisses, (such)
response or REMARK M16
notarization notarized DOCUMENT, *notarical CERTIFICATE appended to a DOCU-
MENT M20
NOTE 14 brief RECORD or abstract of facts, brief MEMORANDUM LME,
15a explanatory annotation in a BOOK M16, 16 brief STATEMENT of par-
ticulars, BILL, ACCOUNT L16, 17a short informal LETTER L16, 17b for-
mal diplomatic communication L18, †18 signed receipt or voucher E17–
M18, 19 written PROMISE M17, 19b bankNOTE L18
NOTE-BOOK small BOOK for memoranda L16
notelet short NOTE E19
NOTE of hand promissory NOTE M18
NOTE verbale unsigned diplomatic NOTE, MEMORANDUM M19
NOTICE warning, INSTRUCTION LME; 2a ANNOUNCEMENT to an AGREE-
MENT M18, 2b TEXT on a sign E19, 2c ANNOUNCEMENT read to church
congregation M19, 2d paragraph or ARTICLE in newsPAPER, REVIEW M19
notification information, NOTICE, formal ANNOUNCEMENT LME
NOVEL 3 long fictitious prose NARRATIVE M17
novelette STORY of moderate length L18
novella short NOVEL, long short STORY E20
nursery rhyme simple traditional SONG or STORY for children E19
O
OATH 1 solemn DECLARATION OE; 2 corroboration of STATEMENTs;
profane or blasphemous UTTERANCE, CURSE ME
OATH of allegiance *formal DECLARATION of support in feudal system E17?
obiter dicta judge’s EXPRESSION of OPINION, *incidental REMARK E19
obituary 1 REGISTER of deaths E18, 2 RECORD or announcement of a
death, esp. in a newsPAPER M18
objection 1 counter-ARGUMENT, † ACCUSATION LME
objurgation severe rebuke L15
obligation †1 formal PROMISE ME, 2 (law) binding AGREEMENT LME
obloquy 1 abuse, calumny, SLANDER LME
obrogation modification or repeal of a LAW M17
obsecration 1 entreaty, supplication LME; 1b (rhet) figure of SPEECH in which
assistance is implored E17, 2 intercessory PETITION in Litany L19
observance 1b ORDINANCE; RULE, regulation of a religious ORDER LME
OBSERVATION 5 REMARK, COMMENT M16, 6 MAXIM gathered from
experience M16
obtestation entreaty, solemn APPEAL M16
ode LYRIC POEM L16
OFFER 1 PROPOSAL, INVITATION, bid LME
OFFER DOCUMENT *DOCUMENT with details of takeover bid
offertory anthem sung during the Eucharist LME
office 4 authorized form of divine SERVICE ME, 4b introit ME
office-COPY *authenticated or certified COPY of an offical or legal RECORD
offprint separately printed COPY of an ARTICLE L19
old wives’ TALE old but foolish STORY L16
omnibus (volume) reprinted works by a single author E19
on dit GOSSIP E19
one-liner HEADLINE consisting of one line, witty REMARK, JOKE E20
onomasticon vocabulary or alphabetical LIST of names E18
open LETTER LETTER of protest made public in a newsPAPER etc. L19
opera 1 dramatic musical work; its libretto M17
opera buffa comic opera, with dialogue in recitative E19
operetta (= light opera) short opera on a light theme L18
OPINION 3 formal STATEMENT by expert LME
opinionnaire series of QUESTIONs, questionnaire M20
OPINION poll/ survey assessment of public OPINION M20
oracle ambiguous or obscure response or MESSAGE M16
oral formulaic POEM POEM characterized by FORMULAe handed on in spoken
tradition M20
oral history COLLECTION of tape-recorded historical information L20

ORATION †1 PRAYER or supplication LME, 2 formal SPEECH E16
oratorio semi-dramatic COMPOSITION based on Scripture M17
ORDER 23 authoritative DIRECTION, MANDATE, COMMAND M16, 24b (law)
written DECISION of a court E18, 24e REQUEST for food in restaurant M19
ORDER BOOK BOOK in which ORDERs are entered L18
ORDER form form to be filled in by customer L19
orderly BOOK *regimental or company BOOK in which ORDERs are entered E19
ORDER of the day *PROGRAMME or agenda L17
ORDER-PAPER PAPER on which QUESTIONs for DEBATE in a legislative
assembly are entered; an agenda M20
ordinal *BOOK containing DIRECTIONs of RC SERVICEs; COLLECTION of
forms used for the ordination of Anglican priests and deacons ME
ORDINANCE †3 authoritative DIRECTION ME, 4 DECREE, COMMAND ME
ordinary †1 ORDINANCE, regulation, only ME, 2 (eccl) RULE prescribing,
or BOOK containing, the ORDER of SERVICE L15
ordination †3 ORDINANCE, DECREE, LAW E16–M17
ordonnance (France) ORDINANCE, DECREE, LAW M18
orison †2 SPEECH, ORATION LME–E17
ottava rima stanza of eight lines L18
OUTLINE 3b brief verbal DESCRIPTION, SUMMARY, rough draft, précis M18
overview 2 comprehensive REVIEW, concise STATEMENT or OUTLINE of a
subject, SUMMARY M20
P
pact AGREEMENT, TREATY LME
paction AGREEMENT, COVENANT LME
paean 1 INVOCATION or HYMN, solemn SONG L16, 2 written or spoken
attribution of PRAISE L16
palaver 1 TALK, conference, parley M18, 2a profuse or idle TALK M18, 2b
flattery M18
palindrome phrase that reads the same backwards as forewards E17
palinode recantation (esp. Sc law) of a defamatory STATEMENT L16
PAMPHLET booklet, LEAFLET LME
pandect 1 complete body of LAWs, compedium M16, 2 TREATISE covering the
whole of a subject L16, 3 manuscript covering all the BOOKs of the Bible L19
panegyric 1 public SPEECH or published TEXT in PRAISE of …, eulogy E17
pantomime 3 (performance of) dramatized fairy TALE or nursery STORY M18
PAPER 3 DOCUMENT, pl. NOTEs, LETTERs, 3c pl. DOCUMENTs attesting
the identity, credentials etc., 3d printed set of QUESTIONs in examination
M19, 5 newsPAPER M17, 6 ESSAY, DISSERTATION, ARTICLE read at con-

ference or for journal M17
parable 1 allegory, PROVERB, MAXIM ME, 2 NARRATIVE of imagined
events (esp. NT) LME
paradigm 1 epitome L15, 2 (gram) LIST illustrating inflection L16
paradox 1 STATEMENT or tenet contrary to received OPINION M16
paragram † PLAY on WORDs… L17–M18
paragraph 1a distinct PASSAGE of TEXT L15, 1b ARTICLE or section of a legal
DOCUMENT M16, 3 short ARTICLE in newsPAPER without HEADLINE M18
paralipomena 2 part omitted and appended as a supplement L17
PARAPHRASE 1 EXPRESSION in other WORDs, free rendering M16, †2
COMMENT, GLOSS E17–M18, 3 (Scot) HYMN as a PARAPHRASE of bibli-
cal PASSAGE E18
pardon 1 apology M16, 4a/5 indulgence ME, 4b duly authorized remission
of consequences of crime LME
parlance †1 DEBATE L16
parley †1 SPEECH, TALK, DISCOURSE, DEBATE, ARGUMENT LME
PARODY literary COMPOSITION ridiculing style/author L16
parole 2 WORD of honour L15, 4 passWORD L18
pasquil = pasquinade M16
pasquinade LAMPOON, SATIRE L16
pass 15 DOCUMENT authorizing to pass L16, 16d DOCUMENT or TICKET
authorizing holder to free admission to train, theatre etc. M19
PASSAGE 16 short section of BOOK M16, †16b REMARK, OBSERVATION,
only M17
passBOOK 1 BOOK issued by bank E19, 2 BOOK compiled by trader M19
passional 2 BOOK containing suffering of martyrs M17
passion PLAY miracle PLAY of Passion of Christ L19
passport 2 official DOCUMENT for travel M16, †3b CERTIFICATE of per-
son’s identity, voucher L16
passus section or canto of (medieval) STORY or POEM L16
passWORD selected WORD or phrase securing admission E19
pastiche medley, imitation of other author(s) L19
pastoral 3 pastoral LETTER M19, 4 pl. the pastoral epistles E20, 6 pastoral
POEM or PLAY L16
pastoral LETTER *official LETTER from bishop = pastoral 3
pastourelle medieval LYRIC L19
patent 1 DOCUMENT constituting patent LME, †1b papal LICENCE or
indulgence, only ME, †1c health CERTIFICATE E–M17, 2 LICENCE, PER-
MISSION, TITLE L16
patent ROLL *parchment ROLL LISTing patents L17

patrology TREATISE on or COLLECTION of WRITINGs of the Fathers of the Church E17
patter 2a rapid persuasive TALK L18, 3 WORDs of a SONG L19
patter SONG humorous SONG… M20
pawn TICKET TICKET issued by pawnbroker M19
payROLL LIST of employees receiving regular pay M18
pay slip NOTE showing details of the amount paid
peace TALK(s) CONVERSATION in a conference about ending of hostilities L18
peace TREATY TREATY ending hostilities LME
pedigree 1 genealogical TABLE LME, 1c LIST of achievements, criminal RECORD E20
peerage BOOK containing a LIST of the peers M18
penitential 1 BOOK containing in codified form the canons on CONFESSIONs and
penances LME, 3 pl. penitential PSALMs M17
penny dreadful cheap sensational novelette or comic L19
pensée POEM or prose COMPOSITION, reflection; aphorism L19
pericope short PASSAGE or paragraph of TEXT, esp. portion of Scripture to be read
out M17
PERIODICAL MAGAZINE published at regular intervals, newsPAPER L18
PERMISSION DOCUMENT giving formal CONSENT = permit E18
permit 1 formal PERMISSION E16, 2 DOCUMENT of this, WARRANT,
LICENCE L17
peroration 1 CONCLUSION of SPEECH or written DISCOURSE LME, 2 a
rhetorical PASSAGE L16
persiflage banter, raillery, frivolous TALK M18
personal column section of newsPAPER devoted to private advertisements
or MESSAGEs L19
personal DESCRIPTION *ACCOUNT of a person in a file
personalia personal mementos E20
personal organizer loose-leaf NOTEBOOK including DIARY; in form of
minicomputer L20
PETITION 1 entreaty, supplication, solemn PRAYER ME, 2 formal written
REQUEST signed by many people LME, 4 (law) formal written applica-
tion for a WRIT M18
PETITION of Right parliamentary DECLARATION of 1627, ME17
philippic 1 invective, denunciation L16
phone-BOOK telephone directory listing names of subscribers and num-
bers E20
phone-call *CONVERSATION by telephone E20
phone-in (PROGRAMME) *radio or TV PROGRAMME during which listeners
phone in and are broadcast live M20
phonogram 2 sound recording L19, 3 telegram dictated over phone E20

phrase 2 pithy or telling EXPRESSION M16
phrase-BOOK BOOK for foreign visitors L16
pictorial 1a PERIODICAL with pictures M19, 1b MAGAZINE ARTICLE with
photographs L20
picture BOOK BOOK containing many illustrations M19
pièce à thèse = THESIS PLAY M20
pièce de circonstance literary COMPOSITION arising out of a particular situation M19
pièce d’occasion LITERARY WORK written for a special occasion L19
pièce justificative DOCUMENT serving as proof of an allegation L18
pipe ROLL annual ACCOUNT of sheriff 12–19C
pirated edition reproduction without authority E18
placard †1 WARRANT, LICENCE L15–E18, †1b official ANNOUNCEMENT,
DECREE, EDICT, PROCLAMATION, 2 poster or NOTICE M16
plagiarism 2 plagiarized PASSAGE or work L18
plaint 2 STATEMENT, COMPLAINT ME, 3 (law) STATEMENT of grievance,
ACCUSATION, CHARGE ME
planning PERMISSION formal PERMISSION for a building development
M20
platform public DECLARATION of party policy E19
PLAY COMPOSITION for performance on stage OE
PLAYBILL poster announcing a PLAY, 1b (US) theatre PROGRAMME L17
PLAYBOOK BOOK of games and pastimes L17
PLEA †1 SUIT or action in court, 2a PLEADING, allegation LME, 2b formal
STATEMENT by or on behalf of prisoner LME
PLEADING 3 supplication, earnest entreaty LME, 4 formal STATEMENT in
a civil action (pl.) M16
pledge 3 PROMISE, vow LME, 4 PROMISE of donation E20, 6 a toast L16
plight pledge under risk of forfeiture ME
POEM 1 metrical COMPOSITION L15
poesy †2 POEM LME–M19, †3 MOTTO or short INSCRIPTION LME–L17
poetry BOOK BOOK containing POEMs, esp. for use in schools M19
polemic 1 controversial ARGUMENT or DISCUSSION, aggressive CONTRO-
VERSY M17
police RECORD dossier on criminals E20
policy 1 CONTRACT of insurance, DOCUMENT of this M16, 2 conditional
promissory NOTE E18
poll †5b a census M–L17, 7 survey of public OPINION E20
pontifical 3 office BOOK containing the forms of rites L16
pornography DESCRIPTION of sexual subjects M19
porteous / portas 1a portable breviary LME, 1b MANUAL E16, 2 (Sc law) LIST of
indicted offenders M15 = porteous ROLL L16
portuary = porteous M19
postCARD CARD conveyed by post without envelope L19
poster 2 NOTICE displayed in public place as an ANNOUNCEMENT or
advertisement M19
postil 1 marginal NOTE or COMMENT LME, 2 COMMENTARY, expository DIS-
COURSE or homily on a GOSPEL or Epistle, a BOOK of such homilies L15
postlude written or spoken epilogue, afterWORD E20
postmortem 2 analysis or DISCUSSION after a game etc. E20
postscript(um) 1 paragraph or REMARK added at end of LETTER M16,
2 additional PASSAGE in other TEXTs M17
postulate 1 DEMAND, REQUEST, stimulation L16, 2 postulated proposition
M17
postulation 2 REQUEST, DEMAND, CLAIM LME, 3 assumption M17
posy 1 short MOTTO inscribed within ring etc. LME, †3 ANTHOLOGY of VERSE
M16, †4 poetical COMPOSITION L16–M17
power of attorney (CLAUSE in) a DOCUMENT giving a person legal
authority to act for another L15
praemunire 1 (law) WRIT charging a sheriff… LME
prate chatter, TALK L16
prattle chatter, TALK M16
praxis COLLECTION of examples used for practice E17
PRAYER 1 solemn REQUEST to God ME, 1c FORMULA or form of WORDs
ME, 3 entreaty, REQUEST, APPEAL ME
PRAYER BOOK BOOK of forms of PRAYER L16
preaching 2 MESSAGE or DOCTRINE preached, SERMON LME
preachment (tedious) SERMON, exhortation ME
preamble preliminary STATEMENT, introductory paragraph, section or
CLAUSE LME, 1b (law) introductory paragraph in a STATUTE, DEED
L16, 2 presage, prognostic M16
PRECEPT †1 ORDER, COMMAND LME–E16, 2 general INSTRUCTION,
MAXIM, injunction LME, 3 written ORDER to attend a parliament etc.,
3b an instrument granting possession… (Sc law) E16, 3c ORDER issued
on tax L19, †4 written authorization E16–M18
précis SUMMARY, abstract M18
predication 2 ASSERTION L15
PREDICTION 2 forecast, PROPHECY M16
PREFACE 2 INTRODUCTION to LITERARY WORK LME, 3 introductory part
of SPEECH, preliminary EXPLANATION E16
preliminary preliminary matter in a BOOK (TITLE-page, contents, PREFACE

etc.) L19, = prelims
prelims preliminary matter in a BOOK L19
prelude INTRODUCTION or PREFACE to a LITERARY WORK M16
premise(s) 1 previous STATEMENT or proposition LME; 3 (law) opening
part of a DEED or conveyance LME
premonition advance notification or warning M16
presage 2 PREDICTION L16
prescript 1 ORDINANCE, LAW, COMMAND, DIRECTION, INSTRUCTION M16
PRESCRIPTION 5 doctor’s INSTRUCTION L16
preservation ORDER legal obligation to preserve a building M20
press BOOK volume of press cuttings, 2 BOOK printed at a private press L19
press release official STATEMENT offered to newsPAPER M20
presumption 2 assumption, supposition ME
pretence 3 pretext, excuse LME
pretension 1 ASSERTION, excuse, pretext LME, 3 ASSERTION of a CLAIM
E17, 3b rightful CLAIM, TITLE E18
pretext excuse, pretence E16
price LIST LIST giving current prices L19
primer 1 PRAYER-BOOK LME, 2 elementary TEXTBOOK teaching children
to read LME, 2b small introductory BOOK E17
principles 10 rudiments M16
printout output in printed form M20
privilege 1 right, advantage, immunity ME, 4 grant to an individual…,
franchise LME, 4b ORDINANCE L15
probate 1 (law) verified COPY of a will LME
problem †1 puzzle, riddle LME, †2 QUESTION proposed for DISCUSSION LME
proceedings 4 published RECORD of PAPERs of conference M16
processional 1 BOOK containing litanies, HYMNs etc. L15, 2 processional
HYMN L19
procès-verbal detailed written REPORT of proceedings; MINUTES; authenticated
written STATEMENT M17
PROCLAMATION formal ORDER, royal DECREE LME
procuration 2b formal DOCUMENT conveying authority LME
proem PREFACE or preamble to a BOOK or SPEECH LME
profession 1 DECLARATION or vow made when entering religious ORDER
LME, 4 DECLARATION of belief L15
profile short biographical sketch M18
pro formas pro forma invoice or form E20
prognosis 2 prognostication E18
prognostication 1 PREDICTION, PROPHECY LME, 4 PREDICTION of

weather and events, almanac containing such prognostications E16
programma *written NOTICE, PROCLAMATION or EDICT, public NOTICE M17, 1b
PLAYBILL, prospectus, syllabus L18
PROGRAMME 2 PREFACE or INTRODUCTION, ESSAY M19, 3 descriptive
NOTICE of proceedings, LIST of events E19, 4 broadcast presentation E20
PROGRAMME NOTE *short EXPLANATION in PROGRAMME M20?
prohibition 1 DECREE or ORDER forbidding sth., interdict LME, 2 (law)
ORDER or WRIT from superior court LME
projet PROPOSAL or draft of a TREATY E19
prolegomena critical or discursive INTRODUCTION prefaced, preliminary REMARK
M17
prologue 1 PREFACE or INTRODUCTION, SPEECH or short POEM in a PLAY
ME
promissory NOTE signed DOCUMENT containing written PROMISE LME
promotion 2 advertisement of the merits of a commodity E20
prompt-BOOK/ COPY COPY of PLAY annotated with DIRECTIONs E19
pronouncement formal STATEMENT, DECLARATION, ASSERTION L16
pronunciamento PROCLAMATION, manifesto M19
proof 1b (law) DOCUMENT forming legal evidence LME, 12 trial impres-
sion of TEXT E17
propaganda 3 DOCTRINE, ideas, information systematically disseminated E20
PROPHECY 1 PREDICTION of future events ME
PROPOSAL 2 scheme, PLAN, SUGGESTION M17, 3 OFFER of marriage L17
proposition †1a introductory part of SPEECH, LITERARY WORK ME, 3a
STATEMENT, ASSERTION LME, 4 (constitutional) PROPOSAL, BILL LME
proscription 1 DECREE of condemnation LME, 2 denunciation, authorita-
tive prohibition M17
prospectus printed DOCUMENT giving advance information on forthcoming pub-
lication; brochure or PAMPHLET detailing courses etc. of an educational institu-
tion M18
protest 1 solemn AFFIRMATION of a fact = protestation LME, 2 (law)
written DECLARATION that a BILL has been presented L15, 3a written
STATEMENT of dissent E18, 3b remonstrance, objection M18, 4 written
DECLARATION by master of a ship M18
protestation solemn AFFIRMATION of a fact ME, †2 (law) AFFIRMATION
or DENIAL … LME–L18, 2b (Sc law) stipulation or ASSERTION … LME
protocol 1 original NOTE or minute of a transaction, AGREEMENT etc.
LME, 2 original draft of a diplomatic DOCUMENT L17, 3 formal or official
STATEMENT of a transaction, RECORD of experimental OBSERVATION
L19, 5 official FORMULA at beginning and end of CHARTER, papal bull

etc. E20
PROVERB 1 short pithy SAYING ME, (pl.) didactic poetic BOOK of the OT,
ME, †3 oracular or enigmatic SAYING, parable LME–M19, 4 a PLAY M18
proviso CLAUSE in legal or formal DOCUMENT LME
provocation 4 incitement, stimulus to anger, resentment LME
proxy 2 DOCUMENT empowering a person, LETTER of attorney LME
PSALM 1 sacred SONG, HYMN OE, 2 SONG by King David OE
PSALM BOOK BOOK containing the PSALMs ME
psalter 1 BOOK of PSALMs OE, 3 Irish CHRONICLE in VERSE L17
publication 2b BOOK etc. produced for public sale L16
publicity handout/ LEAFLET *material distributed for advertising L20
public NOTICE *ANNOUNCEMENT displayed in public
puff 8 excessively or falsely enthusiastic advertisement or REVIEW M18
pun PLAY on WORDs M17
Punch-and-Judy show traditional puppet-show L17
pundigrion † pun, quibble L17–E19
punditry expert pronouncements befitting a pundit E20
puppet show dramatic performance with puppets, puppet-PLAY M17
puzzle 2 difficult problem, enigma M17
Q
quare impedit (law) WRIT … L15
quarrel 1 COMPLAINT, disagreement ME, †2 COMPLAINT in LAW, ACCU-
SATION LME–M17, †3 objection L16–E18, 4 altercation, ARGUMENT
L16
queens’s SPEECH *STATEMENT read by sovereign at opening of parliament, cf.
king’s SPEECH
query QUESTION M17
QUESTION 1 inquiry ME, pl. catechism (Sc) L18, 2b PROPOSAL to be
debated M16, 5 judicial interrogation LME
questionnaire formulated series of QUESTIONs … for statistical analysis L19
quibble †1 PLAY on WORDs E17, 2 petty objection L17
quip 1 sarcastic REMARK, witty SAYING, epigram M16, 1b quibble L16
quitclaim (law) formal renunciation of CLAIM ME
quittance 2 DOCUMENT certifying release from a debt ME
quiz set of QUESTIONs, questionnaire, examination, test of knowledge M19
quodlibet scholastic DEBATE, THESIS, exercise LME
quotation 4a quoted PASSAGE or REMARK E17
R
race CARD PROGRAMME of races M19
radio cast radio broadcast E20
radiogram radio telegram E20
radio PLAY *PLAY specially written to be broadcast E20
radio telegraph wireless telegraphy L19
raillery banter M17
rallying-cry slogan E19
rap(ping) piece of music, or the WORDs, recited rapidly and rhythmically
L20
rapport †1 REPORT, TALK, only M16
rapportage reporting of events, mere DESCRIPTION E20
rating 4 assessment of person’s or thing’s performance, skill, status E20
rationale 1 reasoned EXPOSITION of principles, EXPLANATION or STATE-
MENT of reasons M17
rave 2b enthusiastic or laudatory REVIEW E20
reader 5 BOOK containing PASSAGEs for INSTRUCTION, ANTHOLOGY L18
reading 3b EXTRACT from previously printed source; (pl.) selection of
such EXTRACTs M19, 4 the form in which a given PASSAGE appears in
an edition M16
reading-BOOK 1 lectionary OE, 2 BOOK containing PASSAGEs for INSTRUCTION M19
reason 4 STATEMENT used as an ARGUMENT ME, †5 STATEMENT, NAR-
RATIVE, SPEECH, SAYING, OBSERVATION, TALK, DISCOURSE, ACCOUNT
or EXPLANATION ME–M17
reasoning ARGUMENTs involved in arriving at a CONCLUSION or JUDGEMENT LME
reassurance 1 renewed assurance E17, 2 reinsurance E17
rebuke 2 REPROOF, reprimand LME
rebus representation of phrase, TEXT by pictures, symbols etc. E17
rebuttal refutation, contradiction M19
recall 1 SUMMONS to return, REQUEST for return of a faulty product E17
recapitulation summing up LME
receipt 1 = recipe ME, 1c FORMULA of a preparation E17, 3b written
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of payment E17
receiving ORDER ORDER authorizing an official receiver to act L19?
recension 1 survey, REVIEW M17, 2 revision of a TEXT E19
recipe †1 FORMULA for remedy, PRESCRIPTION L16, 3 STATEMENT on
ingredients required E18
recital 1 (law) STATEMENT in DOCUMENT of fact(s) E16, 2 ACCOUNT or
detailed DESCRIPTION, CATALOGUE M16
recitative a PASSAGE in libretto M18
reckoning 1a enumeration, ACCOUNT ME, 2 STATEMENT on sum owed,

BILL LME
réclame advertisement L19
recognition 2 (law) form of inquest in Norman England L15, 3 ACKNOWL-
EDGEMENT for admission of SERVICE etc. L15
recognizance 1 (law) BOND undertaken before a court ME, 2a recognition
or ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of the existence of a person … LME
RECOMMENDATION 1 PROPOSAL LME
reconciliation STATEMENT STATEMENT of ACCOUNT adjusting discrepancies M20
reconvention †1 reciprocal AGREEMENT, only LME, 2 (law) counter-CLAIM LME
RECORD 3b ACCOUNT of the past, DOCUMENT, monument, memorial L16
recording 4 recorded broadcast, performance M20
recount ACCOUNT, NARRATIVE, narration L15
recrimination(s) ACCUSATION, reprimand E17
redaction 2 revision, editing, arrangement L18, 2b the result: edition, adaption,
abridged version E19
redargution †1 REPROOF, reprehension L15–L17, 2 confutation, refutation E16
reddendum (law) reserving CLAUSE in a DEED E17
rede 1 COUNSEL, ADVICE OE, 2 DECISION, resolve, PLAN, scheme OE, 4a STORY,
NARRATIVE LME, †4b SPEECH (Spenser), 5 interpretation, EXPLANATION L19
redondilla (Span) stanza of rhyming VERSE M19
redraft 1 BILL of re-exchange, second draft L17
REFERENCE 5a DIRECTION to a BOOK, PASSAGE for information E17, 6b
written testimonial by referee L19
REFERENCE BOOK BOOK to be consulted for information M19
referendum DECISION by general vote on political QUESTION M19
reflection †4b recollection, remembrance E17–E18, 6 censure, REPROOF;
REMARK or STATEMENT, imputation M17
Reform Act, BILL BILL to amend parliamentary representation, 1832, 1867 M19
refrain recurring phrase or VERSE, at end of stanza LME
REFUSAL 1 DENIAL, rejection L15
refutation disproof, confutation M16
REGISTER 1 written RECORD or COLLECTION of entries LME, 2 official
RECORDs of legal, parliamentary or public nature LME, 3 entry in
REGISTER E16, 4 RECORD-BOOK (of baptisms etc.) M16
registration mark, plate series of LETTERs and numbers on motor vehicle E20
reglement regulation M17
regret(s) EXPRESSION of sorrow M19
regulation 2 RULE prescribed, authoritative DIRECTION E18
rehash rehashed (literary) material M19
rehearsal 1 recounting, repetition, enumeration LME

rejection slip formal NOTICE sent by editor to author E20
rejoinder (law) defendant’s ANSWER to plaintiff’s replication LME, 2
ANSWER (to a REPLY) M16
relation 1 NARRATIVE, ACCOUNT LME, 1b (law) ACCOUNT of COMPLAINT M17
release 2d written authorization for publication M20, 4a DOCUMENT giv-
ing formal discharge from custody L16
release NOTE NOTE authorizing the release of sth. E20
reliquiae literary remains, unpublished or uncollected WRITINGs M17
remains, literary author’s unpublished works M16
REMARK 2b OBSERVATION, NOTICE, COMMENT L17, 2c verbal or written
OBSERVATION L17
remembrance †2a mention, NOTICE LME–M17, 2b commemorative DIS-
COURSE, †memoral INSCRIPTION, only 16, 3 reminder, MEMORANDUM
LME, 4b RECORD of some fact L15
reminder LETTER reminding person, memento M17
reminiscence(s) person’s memories put into literary form E19, 3 EXPRES-
SION suggestive of sth. else M19
remit †1 remission, pardon (Sc) LME–E17, 4 set of INSTRUCTIONs, brief M20
remittitur 1 (law) formal STATEMENT on remission of damages L18
remonstrance †1 APPEAL, REQUEST, only 15, †2 proof, evidence L16–L18
rendering 2a TRANSLATION, interpretation M17, 2b reproduction, depic-
tion M19
rendition 2 TRANSLATION M17
rent-ROLL REGISTER of lands M16
renunciation DOCUMENT expressing giving-up a possession, CLAIM LME
repartee witty REPLY, quick retort M17
repeal 2 annulment, revocation E16
repertory †1 INDEX, CATALOGUE, calendar M16–M18
repetition 3 mention, narration L16
replica 3 reproduction, facsimile M19
replication 2 REPLY (to an ANSWER) LME, 2b (law) plaintiff’s REPLY to
defendant’s PLEA LME, 5a COPY, reproduction L17
réplique REPLY, rejoinder L15
REPLY 1 ANSWER in WORDs or WRITING M16, 2a (Sc law) response to an
ANSWER M16, 2b (law) PLEADING by COUNSEL … M19
REPORT †1d TESTIMONY, commendation L16–E17, 2 ACCOUNT given
after INVESTIGATION LME; 2b ACCOUNT of a BILL in Parliament E17,
2c (law) detailed formal ACCOUNT of a case E17, 2f teacher’s official
STATEMENT on pupil L19
reportage DESCRIPTION of events for the press or broadcasting, piece of

journalistic WRITING L19
reprehension censure, rebuke, reprimand LME
representation 2b formal STATEMENT of facts, reasons, or ARGUMENTs L17
reprieve 1b WARRANT granting the suspension or remission of a SEN-
TENCE E17
reprimand sharp rebuke or censure M17
REPROACH 1 (EXPRESSION of) blame or censure, rebuke, REPROOF ME,
1c (pl.) series of antiphons and responses L19
REPROOF †2 INSULT ME–L16, 3 censure, rebuke, reprehension ME, †4
disproof, refutation E16
repudiation 2 rejection, disavowal M19, 2b (law) REFUSAL to meet with
terms of a CONTRACT E20
requiem 1 special MASS ME, 2 any dirge, solemn chant, memorial E17
requisition 1 DEMAND LME
rescission annulment or repeal of a LAW, DECREE M17
rescript 1 epistle from Pope, papal DECISION, DECREE, EDICT LME, 2 any official
EDICT, DECREE or ANNOUNCEMENT M16
rescription 2 written REPLY M16–M17, 3 promissory NOTE by government, only L18
reservation 5 expressed qualification or exception to an AGREEMENT E17
resignation 1 DOCUMENT stating intention to resign LME
resolution 13 formal EXPRESSION of OPINION by assembly etc., STATE-
MENT, DECISION, VERDICT M16, †14 explanatory ACCOUNT L16–M17
resolve 1 firm intention, resolution, 4 formal resolution of a legislative
body M17
respects 9 polite attentions or MESSAGEs E17
respond 1 (eccl) responsory LME, 1b response to a versicle M16
responsal † 1 REPLY, liturgical respond LME
response 1 ANSWER, REPLY ME, 2 part of LITURGY said or sung by con-
gregation LME
responsion 2 ANSWER, REPLY L15
responsory (eccl) anthem said or sung after a LESSON LME
résumé 1 SUMMARY, epitome E19, 2 curriculum vitae M20
resumption 3 recapitulation, SUMMARY E18
retelling *PARAPHRASE in a different way or different language L19
retort sharp, witty, or angry REPLY, retaliation L16
retortion † sharp REPLY E17–M18
retractations 1 further treatment and corrections to former WRITINGs LME
retraction 1 recantation or withdrawal of a STATEMENT or ACCUSATION LME
retraxit † formal withdrawal of a SUIT L16–E19
retrodiction EXPLANATION or interpretation of past actions L19

retroduction †2 afterWORD or postscript in a BOOK, only L18
returns (census) 4b REPORT giving statistical information M18
revelation(s) disclosure by divine agency, last BOOK of NT, ME
reverdie medieval French SONG M20
reverse DICTIONARY 1 DICTIONARY with entries arranged alphabetically from
the end of words, 2 onomasiological DICTIONARY giving terms for concepts or
definitions
REVIEW ACCOUNT or criticism of a new BOOK etc. M17, 6b PERIODICAL
E18
revision 1b revised version of a TEXT M19, 3 retrospective survey M19
revocation 1 SUMMONS to return LME, †3 recantation, retraction of a
STATEMENT LME–L17
revokement † revocation E–M17
revue series of short satirical sketches L19
rewrite revised TEXT E20
rhapsody 1 epic POEM M16, †2 miscellany M16–M19, 4 effusive UTTER-
ANCE or work M17
rhetorical QUESTION QUESTION implicitly assuming preferred ANSWER M19
rhyme piece of poetry E17
rhyming DICTIONARY DICTIONARY arranging WORDs by terminal sounds L18
riddle QUESTION … conundrum; † ADVICE, conjecture OE
right †1 LAW OE–E17, 5 legal TITLE or CLAIM OE
rigmarole succession of incoherent STATEMENTs M18
risk analysis systematic INVESTIGATION and forecasting of risks M20
rite 5 body of liturgical etc. observances E18
ritual 1 prescribed ORDER of SERVICE M17, 1b BOOK containing details
of ceremonies M17
road-BOOK 1 BOOK describing roads L18, 2 BOOK describing a journey by road,
driver’s logBOOK L19
road sign sign giving information or INSTRUCTION to road-users E20
Robinsonade NOVEL of shipwreck etc. M19
rodomontade arrogant REMARK or SPEECH E17
rogation 1 solemn PRAYERs consisting of the litany of saints LME, 2 LAW LME,
†3 formal REQUEST L16–L17
ROLL 2 DOCUMENT, official RECORD, in rolled form ME, 3a LIST or
CATALOGUE of names, DEEDs ME, 3b official LIST or REGISTER, e.g.
muster-ROLL, school REGISTER LME
roman à clef NOVEL in which actual people appear under fictitious names L19
roman à thèse NOVEL expounding a theory M19
romance 2 medieval vernacular VERSE ME, 3 extravagant fiction L15

roman-fleuve NOVEL featuring a family M20
romaunt 1 romantic NARRATIVE or POEM M16
rondeau POEM of 10 or 13 lines E16
rondel/roundel POEM of 11 lines LME
rondelet *brief rondeau of five or seven lines E16
rosary BOOK containing rosary devotion E16
roster LIST showing rotation of duties E18
rota (LIST of) rotational ORDER of people, roster L17
roundelay short simple SONG with refrain LME
round TABLE DISCUSSION DISCUSSION at conference etc. E19
rubric 1a heading of a chapter, †1c calendar of saints, 1e prescriptive
NOTE introducing examination PAPER ME
rudiments a BOOK on basic knowledge or skills M16
RULE 1 principle, regulation, MAXIM ME, 1b STATEMENT in a formal
GRAMMAR L15, 2 STATEMENT of a general fact ME
ruling 2 authoritative pronouncement, judicial DECISION LME
ruminations meditations, reflections E17
RUMOUR †1a widespread REPORT of a laudatory nature LME, 1b TALK or
REPORT of a person LME, 2a general TALK or hearsay LME, 2b un-
verified STATEMENT LME
rundown 3 SUMMARY, brief ACCOUNT M20
rune 2 incantation, charm L18
S
sacrament 3 OATH, solemn engagement ME, 4a sacred pledge,
COVENANT ME, 5 (Rom. law) OATH L19
safe-conduct 2 DOCUMENT conveying protection LME
saga 1a Old Norse prose NARRATIVE E18, 1b story of heroic achievement
M19, 2 STORY handed down by oral tradition M19
sailing ORDERs INSTRUCTIONs given by the captain… L17
saint’s LEGEND pious STORY of a saint = LEGEND 1 ME
sales TALK persuasive ARGUMENT to promote the sales E20
sally 7 audacious UTTERANCE or literary COMPOSITION, brilliant REMARK,
witticism, piece of banter M18
salutation 1 form of WORDs greeting a person, 1b liturgical FORMULA
LME
salutatory (address) ORATION by a member of graduating class L17
salute 1 greeting, salutation LME
sample †1 STORY serving to bear out some proposition ME–E16
sanction 1 LAW, DECREE LME, 2 solemn OATH E17, 3b CLAUSE of a LAW

or CHARTER M17, 6 official PERMISSION, authoritative ACKNOWL-
EDGEMENT E18, †7b RECOMMENDATION, testimonial L18–E19
sanctology CATALOGUE of saints E19
sanctorale (eccl) part of the breviary and missal L19
sarcasm 1 bitter REMARK, ironic TAUNT M16
sardonicism sardonic REMARK E20
SATIRE 1 LAMPOON E16, 3a satirical COMPOSITION L16
satirism satirical UTTERANCE L16
satisfaction NOTE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of satisfaction M20
savings BOOK BOOK containing RECORD of transactions M20
savings CERTIFICATE interest-bearing DOCUMENT E20
saw †1 SAYING, SPEECH OE, †2 STORY, TALE, only ME, †3 DECREE,
COMMAND ME–L16, 4 pithy SAYING, MAXIM, PROVERB ME
SAYING 2 adage, PROVERB, MAXIM, quotation ME
scandal 2 defamatory TALK, GOSSIP L16, †2b imputation, SLANDER E17–
E19
scandal sheet newsPAPER giving prominence to malicious GOSSIP etc. E20
scandalum magnatum (law) UTTERANCE or publication of a malicious REPORT
against a dignitary E17
scat improvised singing with meaningless syllables E20
scenario 1a sketch or OUTLINE of PLAY, NOVEL L19, 2 DESCRIPTION of
an imagined situation M20
schedule †1 LABEL, short NOTICE LME–L17, 2 appendix to legal DOCU-
MENT LME, †3 royal WRIT or permit E17–M18, 4 timetable, PRO-
GRAMME M19
schema 2 (eccl) draft canon or DECREE M19, 3 draft, synopsis, design L19
scheme †1 figure of SPEECH M16–L17, 3 schematic STATEMENT or analy-
sis, conspectus, OUTLINE, epitome of a BOOK, ARGUMENT; orderly
LIST, timetable M17, †6a hypothesis, theory L17–M19, 6b body of
related DOCTRINEs L17
scholium explanatory NOTE or COMMENT M16
science fiction fiction based on imagined future scientific discoveries etc.
M19
scire facias (law) WRIT directing a sheriff … LME
scoop 7a exclusive , sensational piece of NEWS L19
score 10 LIST, enumeration ME, 12 running ACCOUNT LME, 15 LIST or
total of points M18
scorn †2 derisive UTTERANCE, TAUNT ME
Scrabble game … to form WORDs M20
scrap 2b paragraph etc. cut from a BOOK for COLLECTION L19

scrapBOOK BOOK with newsPAPER cuttings etc. E19
screed 3 tedious piece of WRITING or SPEECH, dull TRACT M18
screenPLAY SCRIPT of a TV or cinema film E20
scribblings rough drafts, jottings E18
scrip †1 brief NOTE L16, 2 DOCUMENT certifying indebtedness (US) L18,
2b (land s.) CERTIFICATE entitling holder to … public land
SCRIPT 1 piece of WRITING LME, 3 (law) original or principal DOCUMENT,
will, codicil, written RECORD M19, 5a author’s manuscript L19, 5b
TEXT of a film etc. M20, 6 examinee’s written ANSWER PAPER(s) E20
scription DOCUMENT, INSCRIPTION LME
Scripture 1 body of sacred WRITINGs, Bible ME, 1b particular PASSAGE of
… LME, †3 INSCRIPTION, MOTTO, LEGEND LME, †4 written RECORD
or COMPOSITION LME
scroll 3a LETTER M16, 3b itemized LIST or schedule M16, 3c draft or COPY
of LETTER (Sc) E18
scrutiny 2 INVESTIGATION, critical inquiry E17
sealed ORDERs written DIRECTIONs on procedure L19
sealed VERDICT VERDICT delivered in the absence of a judge L19
search WARRANT WARRANT authorizing the entering of a building M18
secret 2 PRAYER(s) said by the minister in a low voice LMA
section 1b subdivision of a BOOK, newsPAPER, STATUTE etc. L16
security 9 DOCUMENT held by a creditor L17
SENTENCE 2b DECLARATION of a criminal court ME, 4 OPINION
expressed by person LME, †5 pithy or memorable SAYING, MAXIM,
aphorism LME, 6 a PASSAGE LME, 7 series of WORDs complete in itself
LME
separate 3 offprint = separatum L19
sequel †2b INFERENCE, 5 ensuing part of NARRATIVE, DISCOURSE E16
sequence 1 (eccl.) liturgical chant or HYMN recited or sung after the Alleluia LME
sequentiary (eccl.) BOOK containing sequences E16
serenade piece of music sung by lover at night M17
serial 1 serial or PERIODICAL publication M19, 1b radio or TV PRO-
GRAMME broadcast in episodes E20
SERMON †1 SPEECH, TALK, DISCOURSE ME–L16, 2 DISCOURSE delivered
orally in church LME, 3 admonitory LECTURE, REPROOF, harangue L16
sermonette short SERMON, brief DISCOURSE or digression on moral or religious
matters E19
SERVICE form of LITURGY prescribed OE
SERVICE-BOOK BOOK containing the authorized forms of worship L16
SERVICE CONTRACT 1 CONTRACT of employment M20, 2 business AGREEMENT

SERVICE RECORD RECORD of SERVICE of a soldier E20
sestina unrhymed POEM of six stanzas M19
set piece *work of LITERATURE of conventional or prescribed theme E20
settlement 10 AGREEMENT M17, 11 (law) DEED or instrument L17
sextain = sestina M17
shaggy-dog STORY lengthy tediously detailed STORY M20
shanty sailor’s SONG M19
shilling dreadful cheap and sensational short NOVEL L19 (= † shilling shocker)
shocker unpleasantly sensational NOVEL, thriller E19
shopping LIST LIST of purchases to be made E20
shop TALK DISCUSSION of matters pertaining to one’s trade L19
short short STORY, film etc. E20
shorter NOTICE short REVIEW M20
short LIST/short leet (Sc) LIST of selected names (of candidates) E20
short STORY STORY with fully developed theme
shrift 4 CONFESSION to a priest, admission, revelation ME
sick-LIST LIST of employees absent through sickness M18
side-NOTE NOTE placed at the side of a page L18
sign 4 publicly displayed board or ADVICE giving information or DIREC-
TIONs LME
signature †1 (Sc law) DOCUMENT prepared by a writer M16, 2 signing of
a LETTER or DOCUMENT L16
signification 2 indication of an idea, legal notification LME
significavit (eccl law) form or WRIT ME
similitude †3c parable, allegory LME–L17
simulcast broadcast simultaneously on radio and TV M20
si quis public NOTICE or BILL requesting information L16
sitcom situation comedy M20
sketch 2 brief ACCOUNT, DESCRIPTION , or NARRATIVE, brief TALE,
ESSAY M17, 3 very short PLAY L18
sketchBOOK BOOK containing NARRATIVE or descriptive ESSAYs E19
skit 2 satirical COMMENT or attack E18, 2b short piece of light SATIRE or
burlesque E19
SLANDER 1 malicious STATEMENT ME
slapstick boisterous comedy E20
slip 5e MEMORANDUM summarizing the terms of an insurance E19
slogan 1 war-cry E16, 2 watchword, MOTTO, esp. short memorable phrase
in advertising E18
slur 1 INSULT E17
small ADVERTISEMENT newsPAPER ad printed with lack of display E20

small print part of a DOCUMENT with detailed information M20?
small-TALK light social CONVERSATION, chit-chat M18
sneer contemptuous REMARK E18
soap-box SPEECH *(often political or religious) public SPEECH from soapbox E20
soap opera television or radio serial with melodramatic scenes M20
social column column in newsPAPER reporting on fashionable, wealthy
people M20
social CONTRACT mutual AGREEMENT as the basis of human society M19
solicitation 2 entreaty, PETITION E16
soliloquy 1 literary representation of talking to oneself; monologue ME
solution 1 EXPLANATION, ANSWER, DECISION LME
SONG (short) POEM in rhymed stanzas E19
SONG-BOOK SERVICE-BOOK of the AS church OE
SONG cycle series of related SONGs L19
sonnet POEM of 14 lines M16
sonnet-sequence a set of sonnets with a common theme E20
soothsaying 2 PREDICTION, PROPHECY, divination LME
sophism plausible but fallacious ARGUMENT LME
sorites 1 (logic) series of propositions M16
sorrow SONG LAMENT, esp. expressing sorrows of Am. black people E20
sottise foolish REMARK L17
soundtrack sound element of film or video M20
speaking DISCOURSE, DISCUSSION ME
specification 1 explicit enumeration or STATEMENT L16, 1b DOCUMENT
drawn up by applicant for a patent L18, 1d (pl.) detailed DESCRIPTION
M19
SPEECH 4 TALK, CONVERSATION, DISCOURSE OE, 5a STATEMENT, REMARK
OE, 5b formal address, ORATION; printed COPY of this L16, 6 general
TALK or DISCUSSION, RUMOUR OE, †7 legal CLAIM, PLEA OE–LME
speechlet short SPEECH L19
SPELL †1 TALK, narration, SPEECH, STORY, NARRATIVE, TALE OE, 2 charm,
incantation LME
speller 2 spelling-BOOK M19
spelling-BOOK BOOK designed to teach spelling M17
spiritual religious SONG characteristic of the Blacks in the Southern states
M19
spoof 2b PARODY M20
spoonerism WORD-PLAY by transposition of initial sounds E20
sports REPORT *spoken (often extempore) or written ACCOUNT of sports event
spot (advertisement) item occupying short break between PROGRAMMEs E20

squib 2 sharp scornful or sarcastic REMARK, LAMPOON E16
stage DIRECTION INSTRUCTION in the TEXT of a PLAY for actors E18
stamp postage or insurance stamp, indicating payment L17
stamp act act regulating stamp-duty M18
stamp CATALOGUE REFERENCE BOOK for philatelists
standard 8c DOCUMENT embodying an official STATEMENT of RULE(s)
M19
standing ORDER *1 INSTRUCTION to bank 2 ORDER for regular supply of
a commodity 3 ORDER governing the procedures of a parliament etc. 4
military ORDER retained irrespective of changing conditions M18
state 32a STATEMENT, ACCOUNT, DESCRIPTION of a transaction, legal case etc.
E17, 32c REPORT of numbers in battle E19
stated case (law) SUMMARY of disputed points E19
STATEMENT 2a allegation, DECLARATION L18, 3a formal ACCOUNT set-
ting down facts, ARGUMENT, DEMAND L18, 4 (comm) DOCUMENT set-
ting down the amount to be paid to a tradesman L19
STATEMENT of ACCOUNT DOCUMENT setting out the items of debt and credit M19
STATEMENT of affairs LIST of assets and liabilities E19
STATEMENT of CLAIM (law) PLEADING served by the plaintive … L19?
state PAPER official DOCUMENT concerning government or the nation M18
STATUTE 1 LAW or DECREE made by monarch etc. ME, 1b divine LAW
LME, 1c LAW or RULE of a guild etc. LME, 2 DECREE or enactment, act
of parliament ME
STATUTE BOOK BOOK containing STATUTEs M17
STATUTE-LAW LAW contained in a STATUTE E17
statutory DECLARATION (law) prescribed DECLARATION made under statutory
authority E19
statutory instrument/ORDER (law) government ORDER of subordinate legislation
stemma 1a pedigree M17, 1b diagram representing interrelationships M20
stichomythia dialogue in alternate lines of VERSE M19
sticker adhesive NOTICE L19
stipulation †1b (law) CONTRACT, AGREEMENT, TREATY M17, 2 (Rom.
law) an oral CONTRACT … E17, 3 (marit. law) PROMISE or guarantee
that an undertaking will be honoured M17, 4 stipulated term or condition
of a CONTRACT M18
stock market REPORT *ACCOUNT of financial developments (often in newsPAPER)
L19/E20
stop press late NEWS inserted in a newsPAPER E19
storiette very short STORY L19
STORY 1 true NARRATIVE, historical ACCOUNT or ANECDOTE ME, †2

historical BOOK, BOOK of history ME–M18, 6 NARRATIVE… for enter-
tainment, TALE, ANECDOTE LME, 7 allegation, STATEMENT, ACCOUNT,
piece of GOSSIP E17, 8a lie L17, 9 plot or STORY-line E18, 10 NARRATIVE
or descriptive ARTICLE in newsPAPER L19
STORY-BOOK BOOK containing (children’s) stories E18
STORY-line OUTLINE of principal stages of STORY, plot M20
street ballad *ballad on love and crime published as broadsheets M18
street cries cries of hawkers M19?
studBOOK BOOK giving pedigree of thoroughbred animals E19
study 9b ESSAY, BOOK on specified subject M19
study QUESTION *QUESTION to check students’ comprehension in TEXTBOOK
style †6a written work, literary or oral COMPOSITION ME–L16, †6b INSCRIPTION,
LEGEND E16–L17
style-BOOK 1 (Sc law) BOOK containing styles of DEEDs etc., 2 MANUAL of house
style
submission 1a (law) AGREEMENT to abide by a DECISION, (Sc law) CON-
TRACT LME, †4 admission, CONFESSION, only L16
subpoena (law) WRIT issued by a court … LME
subscript PASSAGE, NOTE at end of DOCUMENT, signature E18
subscription 1 WRITING at end of DOCUMENT LME, 2 signature LME, †4
signed DECLARATION, rescript L16, 5a DECLARATION of assent to ARTI-
CLEs of religion L16, †5b assent, approval L16–M17
subterfuge 1 STATEMENT to avoid blame, evasion, excuse L16
subTEXT †1 TEXT below other TEXT, only E18, 2 underlying theme M20
subtlety subtle ARGUMENT LME
suffrage †1 (intercessory) PRAYERs LME, 1b intercessory PETITIONs by priest
M16, 3 vote in support M16, †4 (EXPRESSION of) approval, CONSENT L16
SUGGESTION 2 theory, PLAN suggested, PROPOSAL LME, 4 (law) infor-
mation given without OATH, entry of a fact on the RECORD L15
SUIT 3a LAWSUIT ME, 6 PETITION, supplication, entreaty LME
sum †3a TREATISE, MANUAL = summa 3, ME-M18, 3b SUMMARY LME-M19
summa 3 TREATISE, MANUAL, COMPENDIUM of knowledge = sum 3a, E18
SUMMARY SUMMARY ACCOUNT, STATEMENT, abridgement E16
summation 4 SUMMARY, (US law) COUNSEL’s closing SPEECH L19
summing-up 2 SUMMARY ACCOUNT, CONCLUSION M16, 2b judge’s
address to jury L18
SUMMONS 1 authoritative call to attend ME, 1b a call by WRIT to bishops
etc. ME, 2 call by authority to appear before a court, WRIT ME, 2b (Sc
law) WRIT … E17, 3 urgent call or COMMAND M16
superscript †1 address on LETTER (Shak.) only L16

superscription superscribed piece of WRITING, signature, † address on LETTER,
heading of DOCUMENT LME
supersedeas WRIT COMMANDing the stay of legal proceedings LME
supersedere (Sc law) judicial ORDER, creditor’s AGREEMENT … M16
supplement 1b part added to BOOK, DOCUMENT, a separate section issued
with newsPAPER E16
supplication 1a humble PETITION or entreaty, † written formal PETITION
LME, 2 humble PRAYER to God LME
survey 2b written STATEMENT embodying inspection E17, 3 comprehen-
sive DISCUSSION, DESCRIPTION M16, 5 poll E20
syllabus 1a concise STATEMENT or TABLE of headings, LIST of contents,
abstract, SUMMARY M17, 1b PROGRAMME of study, requirements for
examination L19, 2 (RC Ch.) SUMMARY STATEMENT of points decided
by papal DECREE L19
syllogism form of reasoning LME
symbol 1a formal STATEMENT or SUMMARY of Christian DOCTRINE, creed
LME, †1b brief STATEMENT, MOTTO, MAXIM L16–M18
symposium 2a COLLECTION of ARTICLEs from conference L18, 2b COL-
LECTION of ESSAYs by various contributors L19
syngraph written CONTRACT, joint STATEMENT M17
synopsis 1 brief or condensed STATEMENT, brief SUMMARY, OUTLINE
E17, parallel edition of GOSPELs E17
syntagma 1 orderly COLLECTION of STATEMENTs, propositions, systematic
TREATISE M17
synthesis 6 complex whole made up of a number of united parts or ele-
ments M19
system 2 comprehensive and methodologically arranged conspectus (in
TITLEs of BOOKs) M17
T
TABLE 15 tabulated STATEMENT, display of information in columns etc. LME
TABLE-BOOK small BOOK for NOTEs and memoranda E16
TABLE of contents = content 1b
TABLE TALK miscellaneous informal CONVERSATION at meals M16
tabloid 2 popular newsPAPER of small size E20
tabula gratulatoria LIST of subscribers in festschrift L20
tail rhyme romance (medieval POEM with stanzas ending in tag or additional
short line)
takeover bid OFFER to gain a controlling interest in business concern M20
TALE †1DISCOURSE, CONVERSATION, TALK OE–L16, 2a STATEMENT OE,

†2b GOSSIP ME–L16, 3 STORY, NARRATIVE, literary COMPOSITION
ME, 4a mere fiction, false or baseless STORY ME
TALK 1b CONVERSATION M16, 1c (pl.) formal DISCUSSIONs or negotiations
between conflicting parties M16, 2b informal LETTER or address M19, 3a
GOSSIP, RUMOUR M16
talkathon abnormally long DISCUSSION M20
TALK-back two-way communication, (AusNZ) phone-in M20
talkee-talkee small TALK, chatter, prattling E19
TALKfest session of lengthy DISCUSSION or CONVERSATION E20
TALK-in 2 live radio or TV DISCUSSION, involving audience participation L20
talking BOOK recorded reading of a BOOK M20
talking-to *sharp reprimand L19?
TALK-out exhaustive DISCUSSION M20
TALK show *chat show on TV in which audience participates M20
tall STORY *STORY difficult to believe E20?
tariff 2 official LIST giving customs duties L16, 3 LIST of prices (of hotel etc.) M18
tattle 1 idle or frivolous TALK, chatter, GOSSIP E16
TAUNT 1 insulting or provoking REMARK or SPEECH, gibe, jeer E16, †3
smart or clever rejoinder, jesting or witty quip M16–E17
tax return DECLARATION of income L19
teaching aid *ADVICE handed out to teachers M20
telegram MESSAGE sent by telegraph M19
teleMESSAGE *MESSAGE sent by telephone or telex and delivered in written form
L20
telephone CONVERSATION *communication through phone E20–M20
telephone directory alphabetical LIST of telephone subscribers E20
telephone poll poll conducted by interviewers over the phone L20?
telePLAY *PLAY specially written or produced for TV M20?
teleSCRIPT *SCRIPT written or adapted for use in TV L20?
telestich short POEM in which successive final LETTERs of lines SPELL WORD(s) M17
television NEWS *regular NEWS REPORT on TV M20
telex 2 telexed MESSAGE L20
tender 1 (law) formal OFFER M16, 3 written OFFER … to supply goods etc.
at a set price M17
tenendas (Sc law) part of a CHARTER L17
tenendum (law) part of a DEED E17
tenor 1b (law) exact COPY of a DOCUMENT, transcript LME
tercet three lines rhyming, as part of a terza rima or sonnet L16
terminology system of terms, nomenclature E19
term PAPER student’s ESSAY or DISSERTATION E20

term-policy insurance policy for a definite term L19
terza rima form of iambic VERSE E19
test 2b OATH or DECLARATION prescribed by Test Acts M17, 3c informal
examination E20
TESTAMENT †1 COVENANT ME, 2a part of Bible ME, 3 (law) formal
DECLARATION of a person’s wishes, will ME, 4 evidence, proof LME, 5
(Sc law) DOCUMENT nominating executor E16
testamur examiner’s CERTIFICATE in university, any CERTIFICATE M19
testatum (law) †1 a WRIT …, 2 witnessing CLAUSE in a DEED E17
testificate † solemn written STATEMENT, CERTIFICATE, testimonial E17–E19
testification TESTIMONY LME
testimonial 1 documentary TESTIMONY, written attestation, affidavit,
CERTIFICATE, official WARRANT LME, 2 formal LETTER testifying to a
person’s qualifications, RECOMMENDATION L16
testimonium LETTER testifying to the piety of a candidate, CERTIFICATE of profi-
ciency from university L17, 2 (law) concluding part of a DOCUMENT M19
TESTIMONY 1 evidence (given in court), STATEMENT given under OATH
or AFFIRMATION ME, 2a The Mosaic LAW, the decalogue LME, 2b (pl.)
PRECEPTs (of God), †3a open ACKNOWLEDGEMENT or profession M16,
†3b protestation, †4 written CERTIFICATE L16–M17
testo WORDs of a SONG, libretto E18
test PAPER PAPER set to test the knowledge of a student M19
TEXT 1c TEXTBOOK L19, 2b main body of BOOK as distinct from NOTEs,
appendices etc. LME, 2c (ling) connected DISCOURSE forming the
object of analysis M20, †3a the Bible LME, 4a short PASSAGE from
Scriptures (subject of SERMON) LME, 4b short authoritative PASSAGE,
MAXIM, PROVERB LME, 4c STATEMENT used as a starting-point for
DISCUSSION E17, 6 WORDs of a POEM set to music L19
TEXTBOOK †1 student’s TEXT of classical work, only M18, 2 BOOK used
as a standard work L18, 3 BOOK containing a selection of Scripture
TEXTs M19
textual criticism *ascertainment of the original form of a TEXT M19
textus receptus TEXT accepted as authoritative M19
thank 3 EXPRESSION of gratitude, appreciative ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OE
thanksgiving EXPRESSION of thanks or gratitude, esp. to God M16
theatre PROGRAMME *NOTICE or LIST of items offered in theatre L19?
theme †2 TEXT of a SERMON, proposition to be discussed LME–E17, 3
written exercise, school ESSAY (US) M16
theorem 1 general proposition or STATEMENT M16
theory 3b system of STATEMENTs explaining sth. M17

thesaurus 1 DICTIONARY, encyclopedia L16, 1b COLLECTION of WORDs
arranged according to sense, DICTIONARY of synonyms M19
THESIS 2 proposition (as a premise in an ARGUMENT), STATEMENT,
ASSERTION, tenet L16, 3 DISSERTATION (for university degree) M17
THESIS-NOVEL = roman à thèse
THESIS-PLAY = pièce à thèse
threat 3 DECLARATION of hostile action ME
threnody SONG of lamentation, dirge M17
thriller exciting PLAY, film or NOVEL L19
TICKET †1a short written DOCUMENT, MEMORANDUM, NOTE E16, 1d
official documentary notification of an offence M20, 2 CERTIFICATE,
WARRANT, LICENCE, permit E16, 2b pay-WARRANT, CERTIFICATE of
discharge L16, 3 NOTICE posted in public place, LABEL attached to an
object M16, †4a ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of indebtedness, debit
ACCOUNT, BILL L16–L18, 5 printed CARD for entrance etc., 7 LIST of
candidates for election, election platform
TICKET of leave DOCUMENT giving leave (esp. AusE, at expiry of SENTENCE) M18
tiding 1 announcement of an event, (pl.) NEWS, REPORTs, information LOE
time sheet PAPER recording names and working hours L19
timetable printed TABLE for railway and schools E19
tip piece of useful information, forecast, piece of ADVICE M19
tirade strong vehement SPEECH, denunciation E19, 2 PASSAGE of a POEM E19
TITLE †1 INSCRIPTION, placard giving written information OE–M17, 2
descriptive heading of sections in a BOOK ME, 2b LABEL on spine of
BOOK L19, 2c a BOOK, MAGAZINE (in publishing) L19, 4 entitlement,
CLAIM ME, 6 (eccl.) CERTIFICATE of presentment to a benefice LME, 9
caption, subTITLE E20
TITLE-CATALOGUE library CATALOGUE arranged alphabetically according to chief
WORD of TITLE M19
TITLE-DEED dcument constituting evidence of ownership L18
TITLE-page page bearing the TITLE of a BOOK M17
tittle-tattle TALK, chatter, idle TALK, petty GOSSIP E16
toast 6 call to company to drink in honour of person, institution etc. M18
tome 2 BOOK, volume L16
tongue-twister sequence of WORDs difficult to articulate quickly L19
topics 1 (rhet) work containing set of RULEs, MAXIMs L15
TRACT 1 TREATISE, DISSERTATION, tractate OE, 2 short PAMPHLET for
distribution or propaganda E19
tractate TREATISE L15
trade CARD tradesman’s CARD E20

trade journal journal with information for particular trades M19
trademark device, WORD or combination of WORDs secured by legal regis-
tration M19
traduction †2 TRANSLATION M16–E19, 4 SLANDER, calumny M17
traffic sign roadside sign conveying information, warning E20
tragedy †1a serious medieval POEM LME–L16, 1b serious VERSE PLAY
LME, 2 genre of DRAMA in elevated style LME
tragicomedy LITERARY WORK combining tragedy and comedy L16
trailer 7 piece of advance publicity incl. brief excerpt E20
transactions 5 published REPORTs of DISCUSSIONs of a learned society M17
transcript 1 written or printed COPY ME, 2 imitation, reproduction E17
transcription 2 transcript, COPY M17, †3 (Rom. law) transfer of a debt
L17–L19
TRANSLATION 2 version in a different language ME, 2 (law) transfer of
property LME
transumption †1 transcription, COPY, quotation LME–E18
transversion TRANSLATION in VERSE L18
travelogue film or illustrated LECTURE about places E20
travesty 1 derisive imitation of serious LITERARY WORK L17
TREATISE 1 (literary) work, BOOK LME, †1b spoken or written NARRATIVE
LME–E17, †1c DESCRIPTION of sth. L16–L17, †2a negotiation, DISCUS-
SION LME–M17, †2b TREATY LME–L16
treatment 4 DISCUSSION or arrangement of terms, negotiation E19
TREATY 2 DISCUSSION of terms, negotiation LME, 3a AGREEMENT, CON-
TRACT LME, 3b formally concluded and ratified COMPACT between
states, DOCUMENT of this LME, †4 entreaty, REQUEST LME–M17
trial 7 test of a person’s qualifications, examination L17
trifle 4 facetious LITERARY WORK, bagatelle L16
trilogy †1 SPEECH or WRITING in three parts, only M17, 2 series of three
related LITERARY WORKs E19
triolet POEM of eight lines M17
tristich three-line POEM E19
trope 2 (eccl.) phrase etc. introduced as a choral embellishment M19
troper BOOK containing tropes, sequentiary LOE
truce AGREEMENT or TREATY effecting armistice ME
truism 1 self-evident or indisputable truth E18, 2 truistic STATEMENT E19
truth †3 FORMULA of belief, creed ME–L17, 6 true STATEMENT, REPORT,
ACCOUNT LME
twaddle 1 senseless, silly or dull TALK or WRITING L18
twit good-humoured censure or REPROACH, TAUNT E16

typescript typewritten DOCUMENT E19
U
ukase 1 DECREE or ORDINANCE by tsarist government E18, any PROCLA-
MATION or DECREE, arbitrary COMMAND E19
ultimatum 1 final terms presented by one party M18
unseen unseen PASSAGE for TRANSLATION L19
update REPORT or ACCOUNT containing the latest information M20
UTTERANCE 3 spoken STATEMENT LME, 3b uninterrupted chain of
WORDs (ling.) M20
V
vade-mecum small BOOK, handBOOK, GUIDE BOOK E17
valediction 2 STATEMENT, address made at leave-taking M17
valedictory (address) 1 ORATION or farewell address L18
valentine (CARD) CARD with VERSEs sent on Valentine’s day E19
varia lectio variant reading in TEXT M17
variant 2 alternative reading in TEXT M19
variorum (edition) 1a edition containing NOTEs of various commentators and/or
variant readings E18
vaudeville 1 satirical or topical SONG M18, 2 light stage PLAY E19
vaunt 1 boastful, vainglorious SPEECH LME, 2 boastful ASSERTION, brag L16
venire facias 1a judicial WRIT … to summon a jury LME
verbal 2 verbal STATEMENT, damaging admission M20, 3 (pl.) INSULTs, abuse,
invective L20, 4 (pl.) WORDs of a SONG, dialogue of a film L20
VERDICT 1 (law) DECISION of a jury ME, 2 JUDGEMENT, CONCLUSION
LME
verification 1 formal ASSERTION of truth E16, 4 ratification L18
VERSE 2 stanza ME, 3 metrical COMPOSITION, poetry ME, 5 (eccl.) =
versicle 1, OE, †6 CLAUSE, SENTENCE, ARTICLE of the Creed OE–M16,
7b any short numbered section of the Bible M16
versicle 1 short SENTENCE said or sung antiphonally in a litany ME, 2 a little
VERSE = VERSE 6, ME
versicule/versiculus short VERSE or POEM L15
version 4b piece of TRANSLATION, esp. as a scholastic exercise LME, 5
partial, incomplete ACCOUNT, REPORT L18, 6 particular edition or draft
of a work M19
vers libre unrhymed VERSE E20
vespers 2 sixth daytime canonical office, evenSONG L15
veto prohibition, legislative enactment E17

video (film) 4 film recorded on videotape M20
videogram pre-recorded video recording, esp. of a commercial film M20
vidimus 1a COPY of a DOCUMENT bearing an attestation LME
vigils 1b noctural SERVICE LME, 1c PRAYERs said or sung, esp. for the dead L15
vignette 4 brief descriptive ACCOUNT, ANECDOTE or ESSAY, character
sketch, evocative episode in a PLAY L19
villanelle 2 pastoral or LYRIC POEM L19
visa endorsement on a passport M19
visiting-CARD small CARD bearing visitor’s name L18
visitors’ BOOK BOOK in which visitors write their names and COMMENTs
M19
viva (voce) oral examination M19
vocabulary 1 glossary M16
volkslied 1 German folkSONG M19, 2 national anthem (SAf) L19
volume 1 LITERARY WORK preserved in the form of a scroll LME, 2
BOOK, tome LME, 3 part of a series E16
vote 1b piece of PAPER to RECORD vote, †6 vow M16–E18, †7 PRAYER,
intercession E–M17
vouch † ASSERTION, formal attestation of fact E17
voucher 6 DOCUMENT which can be exchanged for goods … M20
vow 1 solemn PROMISE ME, 3a (pl.) PROMISEs made by monks, nuns
LME, 3b solemn PROMISE of fidelity M16, †4 PRAYER, supplication
LME, 5 solemn AFFIRMATION of faith or allegiance L16
W
wager †1 solemn pledge, only ME, 5 (law) form of trial E16
waiver 1 DOCUMENT attesting waiving of CLAIM E17
want ad (US) classified advertisement
war-cry phrase shouted by fighters, party slogan M18
warning 3a cautionary ADVICE OE, 5a advance NOTICE ME, 6 NOTICE of
termination of business connection LME, †8 notification of a fact or
occurrence LME–E17, 9 SUMMONS LME
WARRANT 4 authorization, sanction ME, †6 assurance given, guarantee
LME–E19, 8 DOCUMENT authorizing action LME, 9 WRIT or ORDER …
LME, 10 DOCUMENT authorizing payment LME, †11 voucher, CERTIFI-
CATE LME–L16, 13 receipt E19
warranty 1 (law) COVENANT annexed to a conveyance of real estate ME,
1b manufacturer’s written PROMISE LME, 1c ASSERTION that STATE-
MENTs are true (in insurance CONTRACT) E19, 2 guarantee, assurance

(Sc) M16, 4 formal sanction L16
wassail 1 salutation, toast ME
watchWORD †1 short phrase used as a passWORD LME–M17, †2 cautionary
WORD or SPEECH L15–M18, 4b phrase embodying guiding principle M18
weather forecast broadcast or printed analysis of weather and likely
developments L19
wedding-CARD ANNOUNCEMENT of wedding M19
wedding-LIST LIST of acceptable wedding presents L20
wedlock †1 marriage vow LOE–E17
weird † 5a DECREE (of a god) LME–E16, 5b PREDICTION, PROPHECY L18
western 3 film or NOVEL on American West E20
white PAPER Br government REPORT L17
whodunnit STORY, PLAY about detection of a crime M20
who’s who LIST or directory with facts about notable people E20
will 7 ORDER, injunction OE, 9 = TESTAMENT 3 OE
wisdom 3 wise DISCOURSE or teaching (Bibl. Solomon, Ecclesiasticus),
wise SAYINGs, PRECEPTs, STATEMENT, MAXIM ME
wisecrack clever, pithy REMARK E20
witticism wittily amusing REMARK, clever JOKE L17
wittings information, NEWS, NOTICE, warning LME
WORD 1 REMARK, SPEECH OE, 2 UTTERANCE, STATEMENT, COMMENT
OE, †2b pithy SAYING, MAXIM, PROVERB LME, 2c watchWORD, pass-
WORD M16, 3 NEWS, information, intelligence OE, 4 COMMAND,
ORDER, REQUEST OE, 5 PROMISE, ASSERTION, assurance LME, 6 (pl.)
LYRICs of a SONG, an actor’s lines LME, 7 contentious TALK, ARGU-
MENT LME, 8 (eccl.) divine communication, MESSAGE, revelation,
PROCLAMATION OE
WORD-BOOK vocabulary, glossary, DICTIONARY E18
WORD-INDEX alphabetical LIST of WORDs in a corpus M20
wording 2 talking, UTTERANCE E17, 4 INSCRIPTION E20
WORD-LIST *glossary, INDEX
WORDPLAY witty use of WORDs, pun M19
WORD-salad unintelligible mixture of WORDs and phrases M20
work 11 literary COMPOSITION ME
work-BOOK BOOK containing a RECORD of daily duties E20
work-CARD kind of identity DOCUMENT issued by employer M20
working COPY BOOK or DOCUMENT annotated L19
working hypothesis assumption used as a basis for action L19?
work sheet PAPER listing exercises for a student to work through E20
work study assessment of methods M20

WRIT †1 written work, BOOK, LETTER OE, 2 formal DOCUMENT, (law)
written COMMAND or ORDER ME, 3 written RECORD ME
write-off cancellation from an ACCOUNT E20
write-up written ACCOUNT in commendation of a person L19
WRITING on the wall evidence of approaching disaster E18
WRITING 6 written information ME, 7a written COMPOSITION ME, 7b writ-
ten DOCUMENT, LETTER, DEED, CONTRACT LME, 8 INSCRIPTION ME
WRIT of assistance *WRIT issued by a court of equity L17–E18?
WRIT of consultation *WRIT by which a cause is returned to the court from which
it came
WRIT of election *WRIT to ORDER election
WRIT of error *WRIT to procure reversal of judgment
WRIT of inquiry WRIT to summon a jury E19
WRIT of privilege *WRIT to deliver privileged person from custody M18
WRIT of prohibition *WRIT issued by superior tribunal …
WRIT of protection *judicial WRIT issued to sb. required to attend court …
WRIT of SUMMONS WRIT starting action in the High Court
X
xerocopy photocopy M20
Y
yarn 2 rambling STORY E19, 2b chat, TALK M19
yearBOOK 1 BOOK of RECORDs of cases L16, 2 annual publication by a
society etc. E18
yellow pages classified section of, or supplement to, telephone directory E20
2.7 Analysis
The status of the text types listed above varies a great deal. Many, such as
the 101 items marked ‘law’, belong to the special language of the legal pro-
fession, and terms used in ecclesiastical or poetical contexts can have simi-
larly restricted insider uses.
I have made an attempt to categorize the items listed by way of the
generic word used in the SOED definition (capitalized in my list). The fre-
quency of such uses can be seen from my ranking below; the word is fol-
lowed by a figure, 1–5, which indicates the frequency in the Cobuild Corpus
Analysis 89
and which is taken over from the Cobuild Dictionary entry. It will be obvi-
ous that the two frequencies – unsurprisingly – are not the same.
The frequencies indicated in Cobuild do not fully agree with the defining
vocabulary of ALD (1995) and Longman, DCE (1995), either. Of the 218
items, Cobuild gives the following frequency values (to which the figures
are added in parentheses of words which are part of both the ALD and DCE
defining lexis): 5: N=24 (22), 4: N=42 (29), 3: N=44 (17), 2: 46 (6) and 1:
46 (0). The general conclusion is obvious (and not controversial): Text type
designations are mostly not part of the core vocabulary, but it may be useful
to name those which have high priority in all three dictionaries:
Cobuild 5: account, answer, book, charge, decision, demand, law, letter,
list, news, offer, paper, plan, play, programme, question, record, rule, serv-
ice, story, talk, word.
Cobuild 4: advice, agreement, article, bill, card, contract, copy, defence,
discussion, document, guide, magazine, mass, message, note, notice, opin-
ion, order, promise, proposal, reply, request, sentence, song, speech, suit,
table, ticket, title.
The weight of such counts is admittedly weakened by the fact that it is
not quite clear how reliably text type meanings can be separated from other
senses, and how consistently this was attempted in the dictionaries used.
For instance, writ is used quite often in definitions of law terms, but is
rare as a word in common usage.
Of all 218 defining terms sampled I have here listed in descending order
all used in 166 definitions (law 5) to report 5 (30 definitions): 166 law 5,
124 statement 4, 117 document 4, 93 letter 5, 92 list 5, 89 writ 1, 71 word 5,
67 speech 4, story 5, 66 poem 3, text 3, 64 account 5, 63 song 4, 61 order 4,
60 record 5, 55 play 5, script 3, 54 talk 5, 48 note 4, 43 agreement 4,
announcement 3, 42 (news)paper 5, 39 notice 4, 38 collection 4, narrative 2,
writing 4, 37 declaration 3, 36 decree 2, 35 bill 4, passage 3, verse 2, 32
composition 1, summary 2, 31 certificate 2, 30 remark 3, report 5.
The basis for all these calculations are the individual sememes, since
defining words (as well as dates in Table A and B) occur separately in indi-
vidual definitions. The total figure of sememes comes to 2651 which means
for 1990 lexemes that words referring to text types do so at a polysemy rate
of 1.33, that is (if 2 senses relating to text types were the upper limit) that
every fourth item has two senses in the field.
Years giving first occurrences are avoided in the SOED of 1989; the indi-
cations ‘early’/‘mid’/‘late’ nth century which I have taken over into my list
have been counted automatically in order to test whether the increase in
designations of text types agrees with the general growth of English lexis,
or whether particular peaks can be correlated with the expansion of written

functions of English in particular registers. The results are as follows:
%
100 OE 68 2.6 %
LOE 3 = 71 2.7
90
ME 237 = 308 11.6
80 LME 450 = 758 28.6
70 E16 81 = 839 31.6

M16 189 = 1028 38.8
60 L16 202 = 1230 46.4
E17 149 = 1379 52.0
50 M17 166 = 1545 58.3
L17 198 = 1743 65.7
40 E18 71 = 1814 68.4
M18 85 = 1899 71.6
30 L18 102 = 2001 75.5
E19 104 = 2105 79.4
20 M19 185 = 2290 86.4
L19 145 = 2435 91.5
10 E20 109 = 2544 96.0
M20 101 = 2645 99.8
0 L20 6 = 2651 100.0
L17
M18
LME
E16
M16
L16
E17
M17
E18
L18
E19
M19
L19
E20
M20
L20
OE
ME
Figure 7. The increase of text types from OE to 2000
Interpretation: Losses are much less spectacular; in contrast to the general

vocabulary in which cultural change and fashions account for extensive
obsolescence, the stability of written registers and their categories means
very low numbers of lost items.
Disregarding the substantial obsolescence of OE terms (not covered by
the OED), only 4 (5% of the total) were lost by 1500, a figure rising to 22
by 1600 (1.8%), 86 by 1700 (4.9%), 140 by 1800 (7.0%) and 169 by 1900
(6.9%).
How does all this compare, then, with the growth of the entire lexis?
Calculating my figures according to the medieval periods OE, ME, LME,
and then by centuries and comparing them with Finkenstaedt’s figures
based on the (old) SOED (1973: 30) yields the following graph:
A list of Old English text types 91
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
%
OE ME LME 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000
Figure 8. The growth of English lexis ( , from Finkenstaedt and Wolff 1973: 13)
compared with that of designations of text types ( )
Only two periods remarkably differ in the two counts: the 15th century/LME
shows an extreme rise in the number of text types – obviously illustrating
the functional expansion of English – as against a more moderate lexical
growth. By contrast, the 19th century, with its extreme increase of technical
terms in the sciences, has a steep rise in lexis – but the need for new text
types had obviously become more saturated.
2.8 A list of Old English text types
Although the Anglo-Saxon period was not particularly noteworthy for a so-
ciety excelling in written communication and for the development of a great
number of text types necessitated by the use of OE in many well-defined
functions, the number of words designating textual categories is surprisingly
large. This is mainly because of the existence of (near-)synonyms for which

chronologic and dialectal alternatives, and the penchant for poetic variation
(in the form of new compounds) are mainly responsible. Moreover, we can-
not be sure whether all the terms listed below are really designations of text
types, or rather designate actions accompanying speech acts. Termino-
logical vagueness is another complicating factor (cf. Görlach 1995a). In
consequence, my list, which is mainly based on Roberts and Kay (1995),
needs more thorough analysis to determine which of the items really belong
to the semantic field of text types and which do not. The spellings here used
are standardized according to Clark Hall. The 66 words surviving into
ModE (=10%) are in bold.
A Æ B bismerl¢o_
ambiht ‡ bann bismerspr‡c
andcwiss ‡bebod b¢aluspell bismerung
andetla ‡b‰c bebod bismerword
andetnes ‡bod bebodr‡den b£spell
andettung ‡fengebed becl%sung b£spellb‰c
andsæc ‡fenl¢o_ bed b£word
andswaru ‡fenlof bedr‡den b£wyrde
andwyrde ‡fenr‡ding bedu bl¢tsingb‰c
¡nr‡dnes ‡fensang befr£nung bl¢tsing sealm
anspel æfterfylgednes begang bl¢tsung
antefn æftersang beh‡s b‰c
antefnere æfterspr‡c beh¡t b‰criht
¡r‡dnes ‡rcwide bel¡dung bod
¡rung ‡rendb‰c b¢n bodl¡c
¡weor_nes ‡rende benn bodscipe
¡rweor_ung ‡rendgewrit b¢odfers bodung
¡setnes ‡rendspr‡c b¢ot borgwedd
¡_ ‡rendung b¢otword br%dbl¢tsung
¡_geh¡t ‡riht bet%nung br%dl¢o_
¡_stæf ‡sce beweddung br%dsang
¡_swaru ‡scung ? bewerenes burhriht
¡_wedd ‡swic b£cwide byrgelsl¢o_
¡writ ‡swicnes b£geng(e) byrgelssang
¡wyrgednes ‡swicung bisen byrg(en)l¢o_
¡wyrigung æt%wnes bismer byrgensang
C c%_nes folclagu fr‰forb‰c

canon cy__u ? folcl¡r fr‰forword
canonb‰c folcr‡den frumgewrit
cantic D folcriht frumgifu
canticsang dægr¢dsang f‰rb‰c frumr‡d
capitol dægsang forbod frumspellung
cargealdor diht foreb£cnung ? frumspr‡c
carte dolgilp forebod frumtalu
c‡g dolscipe forebodung fulloc
c¢as d‰m forecwide fulwihth¡d
c¢ast d‰mb‰c foregidd fyrdl¢o_
c£d dryhtl¢o_ foremearcung fyrngidd
c£dung dwild forer£m fyrnsægen
c£gednes dwolscipe foresaga ?
c£gnes foresægdnes G
c£gung E foresetnes galdor
ciricb‰c ealdgesegen forespr‡c galdorcwide
ciricsang ealdspell foreweard galdorl¢o_
clamm ealdspr‡c forew£tegung galdorsang
cn¡wel‡cing edcwide foreword galdorword
cn¡wl‡c edspellung ? forewyrd geanb‰c
cn¡wnes edwit form‡l gegncwide
cn¢atung edwitspr‡c forsacennes g¡rscipe
collecta endebyrdnes for_spell gesc¢ad
cor eftspellung fraco_ geteohhung
cranic egesung fraco_word giedd
cræftb‰c elnung fr¡sung gieddung
cr¢da endesp‡c frægning gielp
curs eorlriht fregen gielpcwide
cursung epistol fr¢od‰m gielpspr‡c
cwed ¢_elriht fr¢ols gielpword
cwedr‡den fr¢olsb‰c giftl¢o_
cwedr‡dnes F fr¢oriht giwung
cwidb‰c fals frignes gl¢sing
cwide fæstnung frignung gnornword
cyned‰m f¢ging fri_¡_ god(ge)spr‡ce
cyneriht fela£delspr‡ce fri§gewrit godspel
cyrografum ? fers fri_lagu ? godspellb‰c
c%_ednes flit fri_m¡l godspelltraht
c%_ing folccwide fri§ow‡r gramword
gra_ul hospword l¢asbr¢den mæssung

gr¢ting hundredseten l¢asbr¢dnes mæ_elcwide
gri_ husc l¢asgewitnes ? mæ_elword
gri§lagu huscword l¢asl£cettung m‡_ung
g¥_l¢o_ hyld¡_ l¢as‰lecung meld
g¥_spell hyspnes l¢asspell met
hyspung l¢astyhtung metgung
H I l¢asung m¢ting
h¡lsung inc£gung l¢asungspell miscenning
h¡lsunggebed insetnes l¢odriht misl¡r
handb‰c intrahtnung l¢ofspell misr‡d
handgewrit inwitr¥n l¢o_ morgenspell
h¡t inwitspell l¢o_cwide morgenspr‡c
h‡s istoria ? l¢o_gidding m‰tung
h¢afodcwide l¢o_sang munucbeh¡t
h¢ahtr¢ow L leo_ur¥n munucregol
hearmcwide l¡csang l¢o_weorc munuc_¢aw
hearmedw£t l¡d l¢o_w£se murnung
hearml¢o_ l¡dung l£c m¥_h‡l
hearmspr‡c lahgewrit ? l£cettung mynd
hearpsang lahriht l£se myndgung
h¢l ? landb‰c loc mynsterb‰c
heoruword landlagu lof
herenes l¡r lofsang N
hereword l¡rb‰c lofsealm n‡ming
herung l¡rbysn lofung namb‰c
hierwing l¡rcwide lyge n¢adh‡s
hierwnes l¡rspell lygespell n¢atriht
hildel¢o_ l¡_spell lygeword n£ed_rafung
hildespell la_ung nihtsang
h£wspr‡c l‡denb‰c M nihtsangb‰c ?
h£wung l‡n m¡l noctern
hl¢o_orcwide l¢af manung ? n%dbebod
hl£sa l¢afa m‡glagu n%driht
hlot l¢afe m‡re IV
hocor l¢afnes m‡rsung O
h‰l l¢afnesword mæsse ofersm¢aung
hosp leahtorcwide mæsseb‰c offerenda
hospcwide leahtrung mæssecr¢da offring sang
hospspr‡c l¢as II mæssesang oftalu
‰leccung regol scrift spr‡ce

‰lehtung regollagu scriftb‰c spyrung
oll reps scriftspr‡c stafas
‰lyhtword repsung scyrting st‡r
onb¢n r¢sele sealm st¡l
onbryrdnes respons sealmcwide st¢ore
oncn¡wennes riht sealml¢o_ st¢orspr‡c
ongec£gung rihtanswaru sealmlof sundorgifu
onsæc rihtgesetednes sealmsang sundormæsse
onsongb‰c ? rihtgesetnes sealmtraht sundorriht
onwrig(en)nes rihting segen sundorspr‡c
orgelword rihtl‡cung segnung sweotolung
rihtlagu seht synder‡
P rihtracu sehtnes
passion rihtregol set(ed)nes T
pistol rihtsmeagung s¢_nes talu
pistolb‰c rihtspell s¢_ung t‡cing
pistolr‡ding rihtung sibcwide t‡cning
pr£msang r£mb‰c sicettung tæl
prologa sidung t‡l
S sigel¢o_ t‡ling
R sacu sino_b‰c t‡lnes
racu saga sino_d‰m t¢ona
r¡d sagu slit t¢oncwide
r‡d saltere s‰cn t¢onr‡den
r‡de samnungcwide s‰m t¢onword
r‡deb‰c ? sand sorgl¢o_ teosuspr‡c
r‡dels sang sorgword t£dung
r‡den sangb‰c s‰_ tihtle
r‡dengewrit s¡rcwide s‰_cwide t£_
r‡dge_eaht s¡rs¢ofung s‰§gidd t‰clypung
r‡ding s¡rspell s‰_sagu torncwide
r‡dingb‰c s¡rstæf s‰_spell tornword
r‡dnes s‡l¢o_ s‰_spr‡c t‰spr‡c
r‡d_eahtung scandword s‰_word t‰writennes
r‡swung scendung spell traht
rec sc£rnes spellb‰c trahta_
recenes scopl¢o_ spellcwide trahtb‰c
reccing scortnes spellung traht(n)ung
recednes scrif spr‡c tr¢ow_
tropere U w£tegung wordsnoterung

tr¥wa undernsang w£tegungb‰c wordsomnung
trymnes unge_eaht witnes woruldbebod
tw£spr‡c unne witword woruldd‰m
tyhting unseht wi_cwedennes woruldgewuna
tyngnes uns‰_ wi_ercorennes wosa
unword wi_ercwedolnes w‰_
wi_ercwedung w‰_song
_ W wi_ercwide wr¢gung
_afung w¡nung wi_ercwidennes writ
_egnlagu warnung wi_erm¡l writr‡den
_egnriht wærword wi_ersacung wr‰ht
_¢nung wealword wi_ersæc wr‰htl¡c
_¢nungb‰c weargolnes ? wi_ertalu wr‰htstæf
_¢ode wearn wi_ertihtle wulderword
_¢odnes w¢aspell woffung wyrgnes
_¢odscipe wedd w‰pl¢o_ wyrgung
_¢owing weddung wordbebod
_inge wedl¡c wordb¢ot(ung)
_ingr‡den w¢n word(ge)b¢ot Y
_ingung w¢na word(ge)cwide yfelsacung
_oht weor_ung wordger%ne yfelsæc
_ohtung w£gl¢o_ wordgydd yfelsung
_rafung w£glung wordl¡c ymbeaht
_r‡lriht wilbod wordla_u ymbespr‡c
_r¢a willa wordloca ymen
_r¢agung willspell wordlof ? ymenb‰c
_r¢apung wilsumnes wordlung ymensang
_r¢atung w£sb‰c wordmittung ymnere
_urhlocung w£se wordpr¢dicung yrfeb‰c
_urhtogennes w£tegd‰m wordriht yrfegewrit
The 669 OE terms here listed are quite impressive for an older Germanic
language, since they make up a third of the ModE supply. However, as
stated above, many of the terms have a dubious claim to the category ‘text
type’ and many are ‘superfluous’ compounds coined adhoc for reasons of
metre and especially alliteration. Where the relation to texts is clear, seman-
tic vagueness is often apparent; some of this may be a consequence of gaps
in the transmission of OE – but lexical losses are possibly less drastic in this
field than in others, since the terms are largely designations within a written
tradition. The apparent vagueness is more likely to be a consequence of a
different cultural background, in which written communication, and there-
fore precision, played a much more restricted role than in modern societies.
No comprehensive study has been undertaken of how far the text types are
not only defined by function, but also by specific linguistic characteristics
(cf. my provisional description in ch. 4.1). The analysis of recipes (ch. 4)
indicates that some are well-defined – even though not all features necessar-
ily continue into modern usage.
Another striking feature of the list is the small number of text type desig-
nations surviving into ModE. There are some 66 of these (= 10%), and a
few of these are doubtful, because some are reborrowings (regol – rule)
rather than continuations. It is also obvious that Latinate terms (many of
which had a very marginal status in OE lexis) like canon, cantic, creda,
curs etc. had a much better chance of survival since they were supported by
French and Latin in ME.
3 Text types and the linguistic history of modern
English 9
3.1 Introductory
Different periods have contributed quite differently to the structural devel-

opment of the English language on its individual levels (cf. 2.1 above).
Scholars wishing to investigate inflectional morphology will turn to Old
English and to the ‘decay’ of the system in the twelfth century (in texts like
the Peterborough Chronicle); if they are after vocabulary, they may well turn
to the periods of substantial lexical expansion in order to illustrate calques
from Old English, or consider various reactions to borrowing or the nativiza-
tion of foreign prefixes and suffixes in word-formation in Renaissance
English.
As far as syntax is concerned, EModE was of course the formative
period for the development of present-day English: in consequence, the
chapter on syntax turned out to be the longest in my Introduction to Early
Modern English (1991b). Obviously, it was time for an elaboration of syn-
tactical structures in the 16th century: the motivating forces for these devel-
opments are:
1) necessary repair work to make up for losses in the inflectional system,

2) the emulation of Latin syntax on sentence and text level, and
3) the expansion of the functions of written texts, their developing written
traditions in individual fields (such as law, religion, science etc.).
These three causes led to an increasing differentiation into various styles

from which a writer or speaker could select according to situation; cf. my
diagram of the functional distribution of major languages in the history of
the English speech community (fig. 1 above):
9
This chapter was first printed in the proceedings of the Anglistentag Marburg 1990 (Görlach 1991d);
parts were included in my New Studies (Görlach 1995b: 141–78). The text as here printed is more or less
that read out at the Anglistentag; for helpful suggestions regarding contents and style I am grateful to my
colleagues R. Gläser, M. Markus and, in particular, H. Bonheim. Swales (1990) reviews ‘genre’ in liter-
ary and linguistic thinking, pointing out that few linguists (Hymes, Saville-Troike, Halliday, Couture)
used the term and why it has generally been neglected. (Cf. now Diller 2001).
100 Text types and the linguistic history of modern English
One might, with due caution, compare the development of English with that
of an individual speaker’s competence: it expands from more or less mono-
stylistic stages to those of more sophisticated degrees of communicative
competence; that is, the ability to react to a given situation with the appro-
priate expression increases.
It is evident that historical linguists attempting to describe socio-stylistic
conditions and how they correlate with linguistic variation are up against a
great number of problems. But these should not hinder us from grasping the
nettle. I am convinced that many of the important developments of English
(and of the other European languages, especially in their standard forms)
took place in the field of text syntax and the emergence of text types; thus
any kind of historical linguistics that fails to take account of this field can-
not explain why English developed the way it did.
What we obviously need is a fresh look at how varieties of a language
can be defined on a formal level and what functions they serve. My Figure 9
can help to illustrate what I wish to say: it is important to define each of the
categories (boxes) and enumerate and define its members; but it is also vital
to say which elements from which box can be combined, e.g. to state that a
lyrical poem in English can be in dialect, but political comment in a news-
paper can not, or, rather, it cannot now, although it could in 19th-century
Scotland (cf. ch. 9).
In particular, a linguistic (symbolic-functional, sociolinguistic or dia-
chronic) analysis of text types appears to be overdue. With an increased
focus on the social aspects of language, and with interest in units larger than
the sentence, we must look at what determines the author’s choice – not only
stylistically, but also to find out why he sticks to a specific form obviously
expected by his readers. We must, then, describe what the patterns are which
the writer has internalized, as a consequence of his listening or reading
experience. These are forms that fulfil more or less conventional functions in
a society: it can be expected that writers and readers know what an obituary,
a cooking recipe or a nursery rhyme is, and what their linguistic features
are, but they are also able to detect deviations from the expected pattern,
including playful or other intentional modifications.
Survey based on Halliday et al. (1964); Crystal / Davy (1969); Gregory / Carroll (1978); O’Donnell / Todd (1980); Quirk et al. (1985).
VARIETIES
A “DIALECTS” B “REGISTERS”
according to users according to uses
acquis. & regional social period medium subject m. text type, status, mode, attitude
functional dialect dialect language (mode) province, genre (tenor, modality
status field style)
ENL (non-) St class-, age-, spoken, techn./ recipe, speaker: aim, speaker:
ESD E. national sea-, generation- written common letter, listener purpose, listener
ESL standard group- specific (form?: topic toast, relation, amuse, mood,
letter,
EFL restrictions, liter./ teleph., ESP epic, role, convince, comment, Correlation
pidgin. profess. written drama, law, formality teach, slander, on various
creole jargon, OE, ME, speech, proverb order, sympathy, linguistic
ESP Victorian sermon) narrate irony, awe... levels:
Yorks d., cant. archaic, spoken, med., derog., restrictive

AmW, slang. conserv., written anat., colloq., euphem., labels in
Scots?, techn. dated, chem., polite, facet., dictionaries
IndE, U ≠ non-U now rare, ling., formal, pompous,
RP obsolesc. hist., informal, taboo
neolog., law, Ø
histor., Biblical
Biblical
✕✕ ✕✕ ✕✕ — — — — ✕ ✕ ✕ pronouncation
✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ syntax
✕✕ ✕ ✕ — ✕ — ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ pragmatics
The choice of A is predetermined for each speaker (within a certain range – but other varieties, such as a second dialect, can of course be learnt); in B, one
variety of each category must be selected in accordance with situational appropriateness. A + B make up the individual realization: recursing (preferred)
Introductory
choices make up the ideolect.
Figure 9. Classification of registers and the position of text types

101
3.2 The concept of text types
3.2.1 Survey of existing research
The concept of text types is a fairly recent addition to the instrumentarium

of synchronic and historical linguistics. True, certain categories of texts
have always been used in their everyday meaning, for instance by compilers
of anthologies. However, even in our times, terms such as ‘letter’, ‘hymn’,
‘obituary’ or ‘joke’ have normally not been analysed with sufficient precision
or with a view to comprehensiveness. In consequence we have never got
close to understanding which or how many text types there are in a particu-
lar culture nor with what distinctive features they can be delimited from
each other (cf. ch. 2). Only literary genres have, for obvious reasons, found
a greater amount of attention. They have not only been defined as to their syn-
chronic (or time-less) properties (definitions of the type of “a sonnet is a poem
of 14 lines of 10–11 syllables rhyming abba abba cdc cdc or ababcdcdefefgg,
with variants”), but their changes over time have also been carefully docu-
mented. However, literary genres make up only a very small part of textual
conventions, and the functions of literary texts are normally quite different
from the instrumental ones of most other types (cf. Suerbaum 1971, who
tries to bridge the gap between linguistics and literature). Also note that the
standard books used for my survey of varieties in Figure 9 (Halliday et al.
1964; Crystal and Davy 1969; Gregory and Carroll 1978; O’Donnell and
Todd 1980 and Quirk et al. 1985) make no explicit mention of the category
of text type 10.
However, the field is beginning to receive due attention: German lin-
guists of the 1970s came to be fascinated with the concept, and this tradition
continues to the present day. It is no surprise that in English studies it has
been particularly scholars from German-speaking countries, such as Fries
and Markus, who have investigated the field for many years, a terra that
remains incognita for most linguists in Anglo-Saxon universities. Whereas
the most comprehensive survey of methods of historical linguistics, the
two-volume Sprachgeschichte (Besch et al. 1984–85) has a chapter on
Textsorten for every single period in the history of the German language
(chapters 84, 92, 101, 112, 125, 146 – more or less retained in the recent sec-
10
The definition of text types in Fachsprachen (cf. Gläser 1990) is easier than the fuzzy categories
used in everyday speech; also, many of the designations of these are standardised – Gläser (p.c.) has
counted 130 of these (in German). However, since there are obvious connections between the two cate-
gorizations, any discussion of text types should include both.
The concept of text types 103
ond edition), this structural feature has not been repeated in the individual
volumes of the Cambridge History of the English Language (Hogg 1992–
2001).
Another classification of historical text types based on German condi-
tions is that of Reichmann and Wegera (1988). They group Early German
texts in nine sections (texts with socially binding force; legitimation; docu-
mentation, education; edification; entertainment; information; instruction;
agitation), and enumerate characteristics of each, including prominent lin-
guistic features and a list of individual types. However, their attempt is less
than convincing, for they place undue weight on psychological features
such as attitudes, intentions, and responses.
In the same tradition, although more directed towards a classification of
features of text linguistics than to (EModE) text types proper are my
attempts at listing selected factors which determine the structure of a sen-
tence and the entire text, namely (cf. section 6.1.2. in Görlach 1991b: 96):
1. the subject matter;

2. the degree to which rhetorical conventions have been adopted;
3. whether the text was meant for publication and whether it was origi-
nally a written text at all;
4. the function of a text (e.g. instructions, a public address or a procla-
mation);
5. formal differences (metrical, rhymed, prose);
6. differences between various literary genres such as lyrical poetry, epic
poetry, the drama, expository prose, and the related question of stylistic
levels;
7. differences between an original text and a translation;
8. the influence of certain stylistic traditions (types of rhetorical elements
and structures employed; the use of archaisms and quotations etc.).
Such functions have obvious consequences for the micro- and macro-struc-
ture of a text. Some of these possible correlations are tentatively formulated
as follows (1991b: 131–2):
1. Medium: was the text meant to be read or to be delivered? Does, there-

fore, written or oral (oratorical) style predominate?
2. Dependence on certain traditions (e.g. on Cicero or on Tacitus in expos-
itory prose).
3. Intended level of style (grand, medium, low).
4. Predominance of logical argumentation or association.
5. Relevance of symmetry and rhythm; length and complexity of con-

stituents on different levels.
6. Relevance of purely ornamental form and predominance of specific
rhetorical figures.
7. Predominance of parataxis or hypotaxis.
8. Explicitness of relations between constituents of the sentence and beyond
(in particular, choice of prepositions, conjunctions, tense and mood).
9. Transfer of Latin syntactical patterns.
10. Delimitations of the sentence as a syntactical unit, and means of inte-
grating sentences into higher units (paragraph).
11. Typographical lay-out (titles, marginalia, sizes and forms of typefaces
used, paragraphs, numberings, drawings and other forms of illustration,
and punctuation).
12. Consistency in points 1–11 or specific variations, and naturalness of
expression.
In addition to all these more traditional approaches the second major

impulse has come from corpus linguistics. Scholars have long been dissatis-
fied with the way the best-known corpora are compiled, and with the
information that Francis/Kucera provide about their selection principles (cf.
Görlach 1988 and Lee 2001). Some scholars have argued that the ‘estab-
lished’ categories and their proportional representation should be retained
for easier comparison; but others have insisted that we need a less impres-
sionistic basis to achieve a truly representative corpus.
The most promising linguistic approach to the problem is probably
Biber’s (1988); he takes over the contextually defined features of the LOB
Corpus, complementing them by similar categories, such as personal and
business letters and applying the system to his own ARCHER corpus. These
genres are then tested for 67 features in order to establish a new categoriza-
tion in eight text types (Biber 1995: 324–44, cf. Diller 2001: 13–4). Biber’s
grid (after a necessary expansion of the 67 features used and after a great
deal of modification of the 23 genres and their subtypes) promises to provide
an excellent tool for complementing other approaches to text typology and
to compare historical and geographic varieties of the same language.
His approach is therefore likely to be of great help to those scholars who
have rightly argued that not even a well selected corpus which is representa-
tive of one variety can provide a perfect match for another speech commu-
nity separated by time or space. Work done for the Helsinki Corpus of his-
torical stages of English and for the London-based International Corpus of
English has shown the inadequacy of categories derived from present-day
The concept of text types 105
BrE, and tentative suggestions have been offered to remedy the situation
(cf. Meurman-Solin 1989 and Schmied, 1989 respectively). One of the basic
questions is what text types there are in an individual community – and
which of these are sometimes/normally/always in English, a topic for which
it will be useful to return to Figure 1 above and to ch. 10 below.
3.2.2 Definition
A text type is a specific linguistic pattern in which formal/structural charac-

teristics have been conventionalized in a specific culture for certain well-
defined and standardized uses of language so that a speaker/hearer or writer/
reader can judge:
a) the correct use of linguistic features obligatory or expected in a specific

text type (including the choice of the appropriate language and register);
b) the adequate use of the formula with regard to topic, situation, addressee,
medium, register, etc.;
c) the identification of intentionally or inadvertently mixed types, or their
misuse;
d) the designation of the text type (speakers not only know what features
characterize a telegram but also know the name).
All this is apparently part of the speakers’ individual communicative com-

petence; the lack of knowledge of textual conventions can carry the same
degree of stigmatization as the incorrect use of syntax or pronunciation.
Since the use of a certain text type in a given situation is a matter of
deliberate choice, the category must be part of the “varieties according to
uses” branch in Halliday’s classic distinction (cf. figure 9 above, comple-
mented by the column ‘text types’).
It is obvious that a particular kind of text can be included in the text type
column only if there is an established convention. If there is none, the text
can be categorized satisfactorily according to its specific selection of variants
from each of the ‘uses’ categories. If a text type has a conventional form
and application, it follows that the compatibility with variants of both users
and uses categories is restricted: an obituary, according to the OED, is “a
notice or announcement of a death or deaths, especially in a newspaper;
usually comprising a brief biography of the deceased” (1738). This definition
quite expectedly provides the category (announcement) and its specifications
(of a death) and its locale (a newspaper). What the OED does not say, but is
well understood by competent users of English, is that obituary prose not
only requires standard language, of a formal/literary/ religious type, but that

there is also a certain typography and layout, and a conventional space reserved
on a specific page – it is no coincidence that the emergence of this text type
developed with the rise of the newspaper.
To sum up: a definition of a text type must specify what variation is part
of the definition or at least compatible with its correct use, making explicit
the writer’s knowledge and reader’s expectation of the conventions.
As with other categories of varieties according to uses there are problems
of delimitation of text types, in particular the following:
a) Features of text types are necessary to define a specific category, but are
themselves not text types: ‘religious language’ – whatever that means –
comes into the definition of ‘sermon’, ‘church hymn’, ‘prayer’ etc. (as
‘voiced-ness’ comes into the definition of a class of phonemes), but fea-
tures are not -emes in either application.
b) Text types can be ‘bound’ or ‘free’, as morphemes can: a ‘dedication’
always forms part of a larger unit, a book, and is therefore similar to a
prefix in morphology; compare the status of a headline, a footnote, or
even a reply as part of a conversation.
c) Conglomerate forms allow the incorporation of smaller types (within a
convention regulating the compilation).11 Apparently we will have to dis-
tinguish minimal text types from composite ones – as we distinguish
morphemes from higher-level lexical items on various ranks. Figure 10
attempts to illustrate the problem of, for instance, an individual poem in
the works of an author.
Note that the conglomerate ‘newspaper’ is different from the types of
books listed in fig. 10: it has no introductory section and end-pieces, but
the ‘collection’ is nevertheless made up of an orderly variety of types,
often allocated to individual pages (leader, comment, sports report,
weather forecast, classifieds, death notices etc.).
d) As realizations of text types, individual texts conform with the emic type
to a greater or lesser degree, according to the writer’s awareness of the
conventions and his linguistic/stylistic competence.12
11 As will become clear from the analysis of hymn books in ch. 6 orderly structure in complex text
types is a matter of degree; John Wesley was the first to insist on the well-planned structure of his hymn-
book (cf. note 30).
12
The alternative method of analysis might be based on prototypes; however, such classifications
restrict the comparability of synchronically determined types, and can disguise the regularities of their
historical development.
letters
book type poetical epistolary collection of letter cookery statute conventional

works novel letters writer book book collections
– title page & table of contents & dedication & preface – similar
(optional)
t1c1d1p1 t2c2d2p2 t3c3d3p3 t4c4d4p4 t5c5d5p5 t6c6d6p6 frames
collection of: n poems n letters in n letters n specimen n recipes n laws or

edited by succession, edited by letters collected or precedents
author or with frame author or composed written by compiled by
editor editor by author author authorized text type
editor proper
coherence topic, genre, alternating writer, author, exhaustive- exhaustive- (diver-
established audience writer: addressees, purpose, ness, range, ness, gences)
by: addressee time range style, structure of
relationship, (classi- structure indiv. entry
causal & fication) of indiv.
temporal recipes
– endnotes & bibliography/references & indexes & advertisements/ blurb – frame 2

(optional)
e1b1i1a1 e2b2i2a2 e3b3i3a3 e4b4i4a4 e5b5i5a5 e6b6i6a6 (similar)
field / literary literary biography, textbook textbook technical

function education, education, historical education guidance professional specific
pleasure pleasure education reference
The concept of text types
Figure 10. Text types: the part–whole relationship

107
e) Vagueness on the conceptual level is a natural phenomenon before a text

type becomes formally and functionally established. There can also be
mergers of text types (as phonemes can be merged) through neutraliza-
tion of formerly distinctive features; then too, expansions can lead to the
establishment of new types (compare the proliferation of senses over the
centuries in polysemous words).
f) Geographic as well as chronological distinctions can be significant, at
least in the emergence of national types. It is therefore worth looking at
the formal characteristics of a text type in other cultures, e.g. obituaries
or cooking recipes in Scottish, Indian or New Guinean contexts (cf. ch.
4.4), whether the language used is standard English or not.
g) Equivalences of text types across linguistic and cultural boundaries may
or may not exist. The problem is similar to that of equivalence in lexical
meaning: gaps can be filled (and often are) by borrowing, that is, by
introducing a new text type from another culture. Often the formal char-
acteristics of the source language are carried over (compare the calque).
h) It is to be expected that certain text types exhibit greater formal homo-
geneity, and historically a more consistent development towards struc-
tural rigidity than others do. Dozens of text types used in the legal pro-
fessions are well-defined in function and form because the system
depends to a great degree on formalized distinctions. Contrast a type
such as the joke whose dictionary definitions (‘a humorous anecdote’, ‘a
funny story’ and cf. ch. 8) are notoriously vague or misleading ; a joke
exists in so many shapes that a definition based on purely formal fea-
tures is bound to fail. This is true even for subcategories of this type – as
Pocheptsov’s collection of “linguistically based jokes” (1990 and ch. 8
below) beautifully illustrates. And yet, the joke is a text type that anyone
will easily identify, even though not all will find all jokes funny.
Moreover, the text type appears to have been formally as fuzzy as it is
now, and it is in all cultures and languages that I know of.
Exemplification: the dedicatory epistle 109
3.3 Exemplification: the dedicatory epistle
3.3.1 Reasons for the choice of the particular type
Of some two thousand text types that have a name and are apparently rec-
ognized by both writers and readers as well-defined according to form and
function the dedication appears to be a particularly rewarding topic to illus-
trate the development of a ‘bound’ category in the definition of fig. 10
above. This is so because:
1. the type has a checkered history with obvious peaks in the Elizabethan
and Augustan eras;
2. its specimens are very sensitive indicators of socio-historical linguistic
developments, in particular the author:publisher:reader relationship and
the dominating influence of patronage;
3. its intricate relationship with
a) neighbouring categories such as the preface, “to the reader”, or intro-
duction;
b) the letter from which it historically derives but from which it becomes
formally detached as a consequence of the new function;
c) other forms of laudatory texts like gravestone inscriptions, congratu-
lations, etc.;
4. a dedication can be expected to be written with great care and to illustrate
rhetorical conventions more conspicuously and often more ostentatiously
than other parts of the book;
5. international traditions permit not only translatability from one nation to
another, but also make possible dedications in various languages within
one nation, such as those found in bilingual books;
6. dedications are related to the contents of the book they introduce on the
one hand, but also to period conventions independent of the specific use
in an individual book on the other.
A dedication is a constitutive section of a book; it comes at the beginning, to

precede the contents page (normally) and is differentiated from a preface,
foreword, and the like by the fact that there is an addressee, whether a
powerful or wealthy person willing to support the publication, or the gentle
reader who is addressed in a form of captatio benevolentiae, or (bordering
on the modern acknowledgement) person(s) that have contributed to the
happy completion of the book, of the type “To my wife, without whom
not.”
Since the dedication can be expected to reflect period style13 much better
than other parts of the book and the connection with the main bulk of the
work can be tested in contents, style, and other respects, the category
‘dedication’ can also serve to test how stable a concept (and the text type
reflecting it) is, and what distinctive features in an individual period delimit
it from similar text types.
3.3.2 The corpus
Changing social, literary and linguistic conventions are best documented by

representative selections and by some kind of quantification. Whereas the
first involves us in a great deal of subjective evaluation, an exhaustive
quantificational analysis of all books published in Britain after, say, 1500, as
to how many of them contain various forms of dedications and what their
linguistic properties are, is obviously impossible. Moreover, such a compre-
hensive investigation could not be justified in a pilot study intended to find
out how significant the development of the concept and form of the text type
has been. I have therefore restricted myself to the analysis of two collections:
1. Gebert (1933) presents 119 dedications and prefaces from between 1557,
Tottel’s Miscellany, and 1623, the First Folio. In her introduction, she
provides an overview of the tradition, pointing out the distinctive fea-
tures determining the two related text types mentioned in the title.
However, all her texts come from literary works, they are quoted without
the necessary bibliographical context, and there is no indication of how
representative the selection can be taken to be. It is likely, however, that
the author was guided in her compilation by the literary interest of the
pieces included.
2. English Linguistics (= EL, Alston 1967–72)

The collection of 365 volumes of writings on linguistic problems covers
the years 1496 to 1800; it was compiled to document the development of
13 It is interesting to look at the dedications in the modern books used for this chapter: Bennett has “To
J. Where my heart lies, let my brain lie also” (1970: v), Gebert “To my father” (1933: v), Miller “To the
memory of Hyder Edward Rollins” (1959: v), and Williams “To the fellowship of librarians whose learn-
ing, patience and kindness made the book possible, whose rare lapses made the pursuit exciting” (1962: v).
Only Williams has traces of the old pattern surviving in that he mentions the ‘virtues’ of the dedicatees.
Exemplification: the dedicatory epistle 111
works such as grammars, dictionaries, rhetorical handbooks and other

reflections on linguistic matters. Since the series consists of facsimiles
made from complete copies of the originals, the volumes contain the full
evidence on dedications and other introductory material in their natural
context (cf. facs. 1–9); relations with the book proper can be analysed at
leisure.
The fact that the collection was made for a different purpose means
that the evidence is not biassed in the way that Gebert’s is likely to be.
However, the selection is of minimal size compared with the tens of
thousands of books published in the period, so it cannot claim to be rep-
resentative in any way. Moreover, the thematic focus on rather uncom-
mon types of books – as dictionaries, grammars and schoolbooks are –
could mean that the evidence found in these books is text-type specific
rather than exhibiting general tendencies or even universal features.
Figures 11 and 12 illustrate the coverage of the two collections and the
proportion of volumes containing dedications in Alston’s collection:
1520 40 60 80 1600 20 1640
Figure 11. Numbers of books included in Gebert (1933 = x) and EL 1520 –1640
1500 20 40 60 80 1600 20 1640

3/0 9/7 8/3 20/14 26/16 15/10 24/9
1640 60 80 1700 20 40 60 1780

44/14 36/6 24/12 25/11 22/9 23/7 42/19
Figure 12. Numbers included in EL; absence of dedication is shown by empty box
3.4 Interpretation: factors conditioning the form of dedications
3.4.1 Cultural history
It is necessary to look at the extralinguistic factors that led to the insertion

of dedications and determined their form before attempting to analyse the
linguistic reflexes. The emergence of the text type is clearly related to
patronage (cf. Bennett 1970: 23–39, Miller 1959: 94–136, Williams 1962):
many authors depended on money handed out by the powerful and affluent
and hoped to achieve this by flattering dedications. The form emerged in the
16th century – medieval works had dedications in more indirect form
embedded in the text if they contained an equivalent at all. A second major
factor, and one surviving into an age in which the classical form of patron-
age is no longer existent, is that of saying thanks for various kinds of help,
encouragement and friendly services (often placed in the modern section of
‘Acknowledgements’). A full investigation of the extralinguistic factors
determining the linguistic features of dedications, or at least correlatable
with them, is a task of forbidding dimensions and complexity, and therefore
clearly beyond the scope of this chapter. I would therefore like to restrict
myself here to pointing out a few ways in which a more extensive study
could proceed:
1. Williams’s (1962) list of dedications in STC volumes permits the scholar

to compare specimens written by the same author and those dedicated to
the same patron, a comparison that promises to be enlightening for cul-
tural, literary and also linguistic aspects, in particular the use of fashion-
able clichés and their spread within certain periods.
2. A detailed comparison of dedications with other introductory material
and with the main body of text might be made, and the findings correlated
with expectancies of period style.
3. Deviations from the expected pattern should be interpreted as conse-
quences of the writer’s intentions and the dedicatee’s character.
There is a long list of authors referring to the customary nature of dedications

and reflecting on the reasons for these. It will be sufficient to mention a
few: Margaret Ascham adduces the three major reasons for dedications
which, she claims, come together, when inscribing her late husband’s book
to Sir W. Cecill:
To the honorable Sir William Cecill Knight, principall Secretarie to the

Quenes most excellent Maiestie, sondry and reasonable be the causes why
Interpretation: factors conditioning the form of dedications 113
learned men have vsed to offer and dedicate such workes as they put abrode,
to some such personage as they thinke fittest, either in respect of abilitie of
defense, or skill for iugement, or priuate regard of kindenesse and dutie.
Euery one of those considerations, Syr, moue me of right to offer this my
late husbands M. Aschams worke vnto you. (EL 20, 1570).
Hannay (1622, in Gebert 1933: 252) refers to the ‘worth’ of a dedicatee and
private respect for her or him, again combining both causes to justify his
praise.
No statistics are available on the annual proportion of volumes with ded-
ications to those without them (their overall frequency could be calculated
on the basis of Williams, except that he includes the text type of ‘com-
mendatory verses’). The analysis of my corpus of English Linguistics
reprints, small and otherwise limited as it is, shows that there was never any
period when dedications were found in all volumes (cf. fig. 12). It will
therefore be useful to look at the evidence regarding omissions:
3.4.2 Absence of dedications
Since the dedication is quite narrowly defined by the purpose it is to serve,

we cannot expect to find it in every single book. The following books tend
not to contain a dedication:
1. Obviously – anonymous works or ‘surreptious copies’ as many of

Shakespeare’s plays are in their first recorded form.
2. Works considered not fit for patronage, being either too modest pro-
ductions, or of trivial content (plays, schoolbooks etc.), or unorthodox in
point of politics or religion: Gebert (1933: 21) refers to the damage done
to Essex who had “suffered more than once because he had been unwit-
tingly chosen as a dedicatee to tracts considered treasonable”.
3. Works written by authors not in need of patronage such as James VI. They
might of course dedicate their work not to a patron, but to a friend or rela-
tive (as Francis Bacon dedicated his Essays in 1597 to his brother), to the
universities – or to the readers, thus conflating dedication and preface.
Williams (1960: xi) complements my provisional findings, mentioning as

types of books that normally had no dedication in them “news pamphlets,
corantos and broadside ballads”, being minor publications which could not
be expected to bring any honour to patrons have no dedications. This means
that the occurrence of the bound text type ‘dedication’ is not only interesting
in itself, it also serves to characterize the higher level of text type, namely
the type of book it is found in. Thus ‘respectability’ plays a part in the
absence from dramatic works, but it cannot be held responsible for the lack
of dedications in early sermons or sermon collections, where dedications
become common only in the 17th century.
Although no reliable statistics can be based on such slender evidence it
is obvious that in the EL collection the periods from 1560 to 1620 and from
1680 to 1720 show the highest frequency of dedications. Moreover, the
length of dedications is more extensive than in other periods: from 1740 on,
up to half of the total are reduced to a dedication on the title page or a few
words on a page specially reserved for the purpose.
3.4.3 Critical views of dedications
It can be argued that not to include a dedication is the sharpest form of criti-
cism of the tradition. However, as we have seen, not all omissions can be
ascribed to this reason; the authors’ intentions are unambiguous only if they
formulate them in print. Writers that looked at fashions with a critical eye
were quick to notice the negative effects that dedications had on the confi-
dence of the writer and the quality of the product.
It is no surprise that Francis Bacon, who so vigorously objected to other
fashions of his time, also spoke out against dedications: “Neither is the
modern dedication of books and writings, as to patrons, to be commended”
(Advancement of Learning (1605), I.III). It is sad to see that his own dedi-
cation is particularly – and needlessly – sycophantic (printed in Gebert
1933: 157–60).
Dr Johnson, too, as we would expect, objected to the custom (which had
passed its peak by his time): “Nothing has so much degraded literature from
its natural rank, as the practice of indecent and promiscuous dedication”
(Rambler 136, 1751).
An ironic form of rejection is to flaunt the conventions and dedicate the
book not to a rich and powerful patron but to the gentle reader or even a fic-
titious person: Dekker dedicated his News for Gravesend to “Syr Nicholas
Nemo, alias Nobody” (Miller 1959: 135), Scoloker in 1604 dedicated his
Daiphantus “To the mightie, learned, and Ancient Potentate Quisquis …
Aliquis wisheth … Or to the Reader” (Gebert 1933: 154). For 1797, at a time
when the traditional long dedication was almost dead, H. Croft quotes
Young’s Sixth Satire “On Women” as a kind of anti-dedication.
Linguistic features characteristic of dedications 115
I sought a patroness, but sought in vain.

Apollo whisper’d in my ear “ - - - “.
“I know her not”. “Your reason’s somewhat odd:
“Who knows his patron, now”? replied the God.
“Men write, to me and to the world unknown;
Then steal great names, to shield them from the Town.
Should she refuse to patronise your lays;
In vengeance, write a volume in her praise:
Nor think it hard so great a length to run;
When such the theme, ‘twill easily be done
(A Letter from Germany 1797, EL 101).
Very critical remarks on the language of dedications are also found in

authors such as Carew, Halliday, Woodhouse and Heywood, all from the
period between 1590 and 1620 (see Miller 1959: 263, n. 45).
3.5 Linguistic features characteristic of dedications 14
3.5.1 Introduction
It is a sensible assumption that dedications are commonly more carefully

written, with more attention to style and rhetorical rules than is evident in
the main text. This is also true of other introductory matter such as prefaces.
An extreme case is found in Batman’s edition of Bartholomew where he
introduces the plain ME text by a preface in ‘best’ Renaissance style (com-
pare the two prefaces in Görlach 1991: 30). This assumption of greater elab-
oration has never been tested; we should also see how often the dedication
is in any way related to the main text, or is rather a set piece, possibly
copied from another book, or written by a different author. Whatever the
individual situation, it can be assumed that the more conspicuous linguistic
and rhetorical components are used more frequently in dedications than
they are elsewhere, a list of features that varies in accordance with period
style, but would potentially include the following features (selected from
Biber 1988):
14
The number of possible features is very large; every different new approach will render new terms.
My colleague H. Bonheim was kind enough to suggest a great number of features relating to syntax, dic-
tion, rhetoric, speech acts and attitudes on the basis of a literary scholar’s introspection. However, the
data base did not yield evidence of significant recurring patterns that would have permitted a list of
obligatory and predictable linguistic features.
tense and aspect

adverbials
personal pronouns
nominalization
relative pronouns
passives
As far as the Renaissance is concerned, at least the following factors should

be added (on various linguistic levels):
language mixture (macaronic texts)

use of quotations and exempla
Latinization in syntax and lexis
frequency of participial and gerundial constructions
sentence length and complexity
and, as regards the text type dedication,
forms of address
opening and closing formulas
adjectives and nouns of eulogy
adjectives and norms expressing the author’s humility
However, my analysis of dozens of the longer dedications quickly showed

that it is impossible to work with quantificational methods. This is for two
reasons:
1. dedications, even those covering several pages, are normally too short to
provide sufficient data on an individual linguistic feature;
2. authors are too intent on being individual, personal or witty (even where
they conform with the pattern) so that they leave little that is comparable
from one dedication to another.
I will therefore have to pick out individual dedications that contain specific
features in a conspicuous way. Although this method may seem to be
unduly subjective, I cannot think of any better for my purpose, the data
being what they are.
Linguistic features characteristic of dedications 117
3.5.2 Individual features
3.5.2.1 Heading
In the earliest texts various headings were used for what are obviously dedi-
cations (Proheme 1531/EL 246, Preface etc.), but the term epistle dedica-
tory takes over in the mid-16th century. This designation stresses the histor-
ical connection with the letter (cf. 3.5.2.2). When the term dedication
becomes dominant around 1680, the letter form had long been abandoned;
the new designation permits the use of very brief texts (which could have
never been called an ‘epistle’).
Note that the section addressed to (but not normally dedicated to) the
Reader is commonly called Preface, Foreword, Introduction, Induction,
etc., but titles such as “The Epystle to the Reader” are occasionally found.
3.5.2.2 Opening formulas
The dedication is clearly marked by the address “To so-and-so” which can
tail off into something like:
N.N. wisheth all health and prosperitie (Hart 1569, EL 209)
N.N. wisheth health of body, wealth of minde, rewarde of vertue, advaunce-
ment of honour, and good successe in godly affaires (Gosson 1579, in
Gebert 1933: 48)
N.N. wisheth increase of all health, worship and learning, with the immor-
tall glorie of the graces adorning the same (Wilmot 1591, in Gebert
1933: 77)
N.N. all happie and prosperous successe, which may either augment your
glorie, or increase your wealth, or purchase your eternitie (R.G. 1609,
in Gebert 1933: 171)
The full forms clearly show the historical source of the convention in the
‘normal’ Latin letter which opens with such a formula; they disappear in the
17th century when ‘dedication’ becomes the common term.
3.5.2.3 Evaluative adjectives and abstract nouns
The function of the dedication obviously demands a list of the praiseworthy

characteristics of the patrons’ virtues and memorable achievements on the
one hand, and of the humble qualities of the author on the other. The quality
of his writing is often shown by the stereotypical repetition of laudable char-
acteristics at the one extreme and by skilful variation on the other. Here are
a few of the most frequent words used: amiable, (best) beloved, benevolent,
(most) excellent, honourable, illustrious, noble, potent, prosperous, virtu-
ous, worthy; fame, generosity, goodness, judgment, nobility, virtue, wisdom.
W. Duncan (The Elements of Logick, 1748, EL 203) has: Merit.. Affability,
Complacency of Manners… an extensive Humanity and Benevolence… The
author states that his “little talent humbly beseeches, as a humble servant, to
have his trifles, slender presents, small fruits accepted.” Such sentiments
can develop into sickening sycophancy, as in Lane (EL 334, 1695):
I could not free myself from the just Imputation of the foulest Ingratitude, if
I did not lay hold of this Opportunity to make my humble Acknowledgments
of your Lordship’s manifold Favours as publick as my Book…
J. White (EL 135, 1761) after addressing the Earl of Bute as “another
Maecenas” even finds that the patron’s character “far exceeds all the
expression that I am master of, to describe or represent it in any suitable
degree.” Sometimes writers disclaim what they are doing, as McCurtin (EL
351, 1728) does after sycophantic eulogies:
To proceed in the ordinary style of dedications in making your panegyric, I

am persuaded would offend you…”
A variant form sees the relation to the patron characterized by duty, obliga-
tion, or veneration which can be expressed in highly emotional terms as in
Tuite’s (EL 41, 1726) “a Heart over-flowing with Duty and inviolable
Attachment to His Most Sacred Majesty.”
3.5.2.4 Rhetorical embellishment
Style appears to be in very close correlation with period conventions, and

thereby with the style of the book proper. While 16th-century dedications
exhibit all the expected paraphernalia from classical ‘authorities’, quota-
tions, and every conceivable figure or trope, such features are rarer after
1620.
Conclusion 119
3.5.2.5 Sentence types
The length and complexity of sentences appears to be greater than in the

books proper; rhetorical questions and exclamations occur much more
frequently. This is in agreement with other uses of rhetoric. The use of
parentheses appears to be especially common, the author qualifying his
statements by even more cautious hedges.
3.5.2.6 The closing formula
The closing formula is the only part that survives intact from the letter
form. The authors sign as the “humble servant”, possibly modified as “in
humble duty”, as “your most faithful, obedient, obliged and humble servant”
or even “your Sovereign Majesty’s inviolably devoted subject and most
obliged servant”. If the wishes for the patron have not been expressed in the
address, they may be now, asking God’s help (in early dedications) for the
patron’s “long life and perfect felicity” (EL 246, 1531).
3.6 Conclusion
My provisional analysis has shown that the dedication is a rather unstable

text type – synchronically at any given period, and even more conspicuously
so if we look at its development in the history of the English language.
The present study was intended to investigate the stability of the text
type ‘dedication’ over an extended period. The result is that there is less
continuity or teleological development than might have been expected. It is
likely that the findings would have been much more homogeneous if a
shorter period had been investigated, say the total of dedications in a five-
year period, 1590 –1594; the rapid change of fashionable styles in the late 16th
century would lead one to expect intertextual dependence (vulgo cribbing)
and a quick obsolescence of fashionable patterns partially owing to their
overuse. But then, such a procedure would have meant to admit defeat – to
concede that the concept and/or its expression exhibits little stability
through time except for the fact that a book is dedicated by an author to a
person, and the sole linguistic feature of a text is that it is placed at the
beginning of a book and begins with the word “to”.
Even though modern dedications had to be omitted because of the
amount of material that would have had to be sifted, it appears to be safe to
say that the long type of epistle dedicatory was definitely dead by 1800, and
that its modern successors, very short dedications (cf. Piozzi in 1794, EL
113), are even more unpredictable, apart from the fact that we expect them
to be very brief, ranging from two to about twenty words. The dedication
illustrates a text type that, although well-known and much used, was so
much dependent on specific extra-linguistic factors on the one hand, and
relations to the main body of the text (being a bound category) on the other
that no stability or unidirectional development of the form can be identified.
The statement made by Bennett (1970: 29) from a literary or more general
point of view is, then, true also for linguistic analysis:
Men were certainly led by ‘sundry and very different respects’ when they
came to write their dedications, and we shall certainly be wrong if we
attempt to schematize their efforts too tidily.
My investigation was restricted to three hundred years of books printed in

England (with a few Scottish and Irish authors thrown in). It would be
worthwhile to look at the evidence from America and the Commonwealth.
The more extended type of dedication was possibly a thing of the past by
the time national conventions emerged in the colonies, but the picture might
also be influenced by local conventions of patronage, gratitude or a general
penchant for the florid: it has long been surmised that ESL texts from, say,
India exhibit various degrees of dependence on and independence from
British or international models (cf. 10.4), and that these differences are
accounted for by the nature of the input of colonial English combined with
local expectations of stylistic decorum. The dedication might well be one of
the text types that rewards attention. A diachronic investigation is only com-
plete – and this one is decidedly not – where the diatopic evidence and its
historical interpretation is added to the diachronic.
I end with a different note: there are various ways of interpreting texts,
and the literary and linguistic methods do not exhaust the possibilities.
However, it would be very good to see a common endeavour by both literary
scholars and linguists to interpret texts in a larger framework of Textwissen-
schaften. I am somewhat doubtful (but it is not for me to judge) whether
dedications are a good starting point for such an aim – but there are a further
two thousand text types left unanalysed that might be tried next.
4 Text types and language history:
The cooking recipe 15
The topic chosen for this chapter would be much better dealt with in an
entire book. The amount of material and the complexity of the subject
would justify it. However, having to restrict myself to a few pages, I intend
to deal with text types briefly under the following three headings:
1. The place of the concept of text types in linguistic variation.

2. The semantic (semasiological) analysis of designations of text types –
the aim is to establish a set of distinctive features to help correlate cate-
gories of form and function.
3. The second part will be devoted to a comparatively easy topic, the cook-
ing recipe. Its content and function are well defined, so we can assume
identity of the type over the centuries – an identity that is much harder to
prove in many other types of text. I will try to identify form and function
as determinants of the standardization of this text type and contrast sta-
bility and sociohistorical change.
4.1 Introduction
As my summary in 3.2.1 has shown, the concept of text types is a fairly recent
addition to the instrumentarium of synchronic and historical linguistics.
As I have argued above, I take it that writers (or speakers) correlate a
certain form and function with an entity known as ‘telegram’, ‘address of
welcome’, ‘recipe’ or ‘limerick’, and that readers (or listeners) have certain
expectations regarding an appropriate use of such form/function correlates.
My hypothesis is, then, that the distinctive features defining text types can
be made explicit by a semasiological analysis of designations. Since every
text type would be made up of a cluster of such features, in classic compo-
nential analysis, regarding form and function, an inventory of distinctive
features could even serve to test which combinations of features are not
recorded.
15
This study was first presented at the Helsinki ICEHL conference in 1990 and printed, in slightly
abridged form, in the proceedings (Görlach 1992b). A comparison of the national traditions of the text
type in Western Europe is an urgent desideratum; for German cf. Glaser (1996) and Gloning (2002).
122
Text types and language history: The cooking recipe
Figure 13. OE text types and their designations (Görlach 1992b: 744)
Introduction 123
As a modest start in this direction I have collected some 2,000 established

English terms (ch. 2 above), some of them polysemous, that is, referring to
more than one text type. No thorough analysis for OE text types has ever
been attempted; my fig. 13 opposite can therefore only be regarded as a pro-
visional step applied to a restricted field (cf. the comprehensive list of puta-
tive OE text types in 2.8 above). The problems arising with this limited set
can be expected in later periods, too, although the scarcity of sociolinguistic
information makes the OE set of words particularly patchy and vague.
Note extensive synonymity, especially in poetical style, which could
mean that none of the lexical items involved is likely to be a technical term
(figure 13).
Not even where we have a context that relates to an unambiguous situa-
tion can we be certain of the terminological character of the word: Does
sorhleo§, recorded only twice in the Dream of the Rood (2) and Beowulf
(2460, in collocation with galan refer to a ritual form of mourning for the
dead? Do compounds such as so§giedd, hearmcwide, lofsang refer to
well-defined text types, or are they instances of free compounds determined
by metrical needs and the principle of variation?
On the other hand, some well-defined types have no names. For instance,
the form of a medical or cooking recipe exists, but we have no OE words
for the concept – a lexical gap that is filled only when Romance receipt was
borrowed. (There is a word læceboc ‘book of prescriptions’.)
4.2 The cooking recipe
4.2.1 Preliminary
The recipe offers itself as a test case for an investigation into the emergence
of conventional forms and their relation to sociohistorical change because it
represents a category
a) that is well-defined as far as function is concerned – the instruction on

how to prepare a dish;
b) whose basic function has remained stable over the centuries – however
much ingredients, utensils and the people involved in the process may
have changed;
c) that has had an age-old name designating the particular text type (recipe,
receipt);
124 Text types and language history: The cooking recipe
d) that used to be collected in books of certain types – typical titles are

Book of Carving, of Household Management, Dietary of Health, The
Good Housewife’s Closet of Provision (The Accomplished Cook, The Art
and Mystery of Cookery, etc.); from these the proper Cookery book,
restricted to a collection of recipes, developed rather late, mixed types
surviving well into our times;
e) that has had similar types coexisting with it (the medical recipe) so that
the history of contact/diversification can be followed up;
f) a text type that has had a vernacular tradition in Britain for a very long
time, but also permits cross-cultural and interlinguistic comparisons, e.g.
through translations, and adaptations to new English-speaking commu-
nities overseas, ranging from colonial America to ESL in India and
Pidgin in Papua New Guinea (4.4.3 and 4).
The purpose of this investigation is, then, to find the functional and linguistic
features that make up the text type ‘cooking recipe’, and to document its
sociohistorical development. The following considerations can, tentatively,
be assumed to be of relevance.
Features relating to text type:
A Well-definedness on macro- and microlevel

1. Is the text found, together with others of its kind, in a collection exclu-
sively meant as a collection of recipes, and possibly called so explicitly,
(a) or is at least a section of the book devoted to recipes? (b) What is the
order of entries (grouped according to subject matter? alphabetically?)
2. analysis of terms: when did the expressions book of/ art of/ system of
cookery occur in book titles (and what alternatives were used?) Analysis
of the words receipt and recipe.
B Social
3. Language used
4. readers addressed (normally on the title page, in blurbs/flaps, fore-
words), especially the noble/genteel/court vs. ‘middling’, family con-
texts, and the professional vs. amateur/housewife;
C Linguistic
5. Analysis of eight main features, and their development through time
(and correlation with the type of user):
a) form of the heading

b) full sentences or telegram style
c) use of imperative or other verbal forms (Haegeman 1987)
d) use of possessive pronouns with ingredients and implements
e) deletion of objects
f) temporal sequence, and possible adverbs used
g) complexity of sentences
h) marked use of loanwords and of genteel diction
D Technical
6. Specification (especially weights, measures, aspects: types of instru-
ments/ovens used, temperatures and times)
7. standardization of arrangement (e.g. subsections ‘title’, ‘ingredients’,
‘procedure’, ‘how to serve up’).
Correlation: How does the fact that the contents of a book are restricted to
cooking recipes determine the standardization of the form of the individual
item?
As regards social changes, the following can be expected to have had an

impact on the linguistic structure:
ME: 1. dominance of French language recipes (the sparse English

recipes being in close-to-oral style, memorandum form
[incomplete], imprecise and variable in form [including
some rhymed recipes]);
c1500: 2. orality largely displaced by written traditions: establishment
of text conventions and their popularization in the 15th/16th
centuries; housewives addressed rather than exclusively
cooks;
c1700: 3. social distinctions make themselves felt more strongly in the
18th century;
c1800: 4. social class differences become even more apparent in the
19th century (low vs. genteel);
1660–: 5. from Rationalism onwards, an increasing number of books
have the term system in their title which could suggest more
coherent, systematic and exhaustive treatment of the matter
(and possibly exclusion of everything that is not a cooking
recipe).
How much the pattern of a cooking recipe has become general knowledge is
illustrated by playful misuses. Alexander Scott used the text type in his
“Recipe: To Mak a Ballant”:
To mak a ballant:
tak onie image sclents frae the dark o your mind,
sieve it through twal years’ skill
i the fewest words can haud it
(meantime steeran in your hert’s bluid),
spice wi wit, saut wi passion,
bile i the hettest fire your love can kindle,
and serve at the scaud of your strangmaist stanza
(the haill process aa to be dune at aince)
Syne rin like hell afore the result explodes!
4.2.2 Old English
As in the German tradition, no OE cookery recipe appears to be extant.

However, if we accept that the formal identity of medical and cooking
‘receipts’ in ME and EModE reflects the historical development, then OE
medical recipes can serve to illustrate the type. Plinius, the great doctor,
advises the following proceeding to cure baldness:
Text 1: OE medical recipe
Gif man calu sie, Plinius se micla læce seg_ _isne læcedom.
Genim deade beon; gebærne to ahsan; and linsæd eac; do ele to on _æt.
Seo_e swi_e lange ofer gledum.
Aseoh _onne and awringe; and nime welies leaf, gecnuwige, geote on _one
ele. Wylle eft hwile on gledum.
Aseoh; _onne smire mid æfter ba_e.
‘If a man is bald, Plinius, the great doctor, gives the following recipe: Take
dead bees, burn them to ashes, and also linseed, do oil on that. Boil for quite
a long time on glowing coals. Then strain and wring; and take a willow leaf,
pound it, pour the oil on. Boil again for some time on glowing coals. Strain;
then smear with after bath.’
The structure of the recipe, with translations, is as follows:
Genim (‘take’) N (dead bees);

gebærne (‘burn’) Ø them to ashes;
and also linseed;
do (‘put’) oil on that;
seo§e (‘boil’) Ø long over glowing coals;
aseoh (‘strain’) Ø then and awringe (‘wring’) Ø
and nime (‘take’) N (willow leaves);
gecnuwige ‘pound’ Ø (‘them’);
geote (‘pour’) Ø ‘on the oil’;
wylle Ø (‘let boil’) again for a while on gleeds (glowing coals);
aseoh Ø (‘strain’);
then smire (‘smear’, ‘anoint’) with Ø after bath.
Twelve imperatives (sg.) appear in chronological sequence twice supported

by _onne (‘then’). Note that transitive verbs (‘burn to ashes’, ‘boil’, ‘strain’,
‘wring’, ‘pound’) have no object if this is to be understood from the con-
text; only if a new object is introduced is this named – but there is not a sin-
gle anaphoric pronoun! The result is significant in that it fulfils our expecta-
tions as to the form of an instruction – but the regularity of the three criteria
mentioned is much greater than in many ME – or 19th-century texts.
4.2.3 Middle English
4.2.3.1 Form
The recipe came too late to be fully affected by the dominance of rhymed
form in the12th–14th centuries – possibly it was also a text for which rhyme
was not considered appropriate.
Thus, only two surviving MSS have rhymed recipes in them:
1. Sloane 1986 (following a section “Boke on Nurture”, Text 2)

2. Pepys 1047 (late 15th century, Hodgett 1972) (medical and cooking
recipes, only four of these rhymed).
Text 2: ME, 15th century (from MS Sloane 468, Hieatt and Butler 1985: 88)
To make a mawmene. Tak figges and resynes and wasch hem in ale and
braye hem wel in a mortere, and do _erto wyn, and braye _e flesch of hennes
or capounes and do _erto. and do good almound melk in a pot, and do _erto
_yn thynges, and stere wel togedere and make it for to se_e. and coloure it
with blod of a goot or of a pygg and lok it be sothe and grounde and
streyned, and put _erto poudere of gyngere and of galyngale and clowes and
greyn de parys, and sesen it with sugre and salt it, and do it fro _e feere.
‘To make a malmeny. Take figs and raisins and wash them in ale and pound
them well in a mortar and add wine, and pound the flesh of hens or capons,
and add. And put good almond milk in a pot, and add your things, and stir
well together and let it boil. And colour it with the blood of a goat or of a pig
and look it is cooked and ground and strained, and add powder of ginger and
sedge and clove and grain of Paris, and season it with sugar and salt it, and
remove it from the fire.’
Text 3: ME rhymed (from MS Pepys 1047, ca. 1480, Hodgett 1972: 32)
ffor frytures
With egges and flowr a batour thow make
Put barme therto I vndertake
Collour hit with saferon or thow more do
Take poudur of pepur and cast therto
Kerve appyls evyn A thorte cast _eryn
ffry ham in swete grece no more I myn
Cast sugur therto yf thow be gynne.
‘For fritters. With eggs and flour make a batter/ Add yeast, I advise/ Colour
it with saffron before you proceed/ Take powder of pepper and add/ Slice
apples evenly. Throw in unleavened bread/ Fry them in sweet fat no more, I
remind you/ Add sugar [over them] when you begin.’
The rhymed versions exhibit all kinds of patchwork, which proves that they
were ad-hoc versifications, and did not constitute a proper tradition – they
represent last reflexes of an earlier fashion. Collections of recipes (if they
were not written in commonplace books or in the margins of manuscripts)
normally came in collections containing advice on household management.
They were especially close in form to, and often found mixed with, recipes
for drugs (but also advice on making ink, etc.).
4.2.3.2 Linguistic features: forms of verbs
The Latin recipes collected by Apicius in the 3rd century exhibit variation
in the verb forms used: all are finite (no imperatives are used), but the
forms, all 2nd ps. sg., are most frequently in the future tense, often in the
present indicative, and sometimes in the present subjunctive. Dependent
clauses show a variety of forms, including the future perfect.
The Anglo-Norman recipes that form the immediate sources of the ME
tradition have plural imperatives (in -ez) throughout.
No distinction between sg. and pl. imperatives is made in the late 14th
and the 15th centuries. Although the imperative is almost invariable in the
texts, minority forms with shall do occur, such as hou me schal make, hou
_e schalt maken or schul/schullyn be V-yd, or what is possibly best inter-
preted as subjunctive:
Nou grey_e we x.
It appears, then, that the English tradition was modelled on Norman con-
ventions and became stable quite early on; modifications of the pattern are
likely to be intentional deviations (to produce a more informal atmosphere
etc.) – cf. use of thy/your hare (below).
4.2.3.3 Possessive pronouns
The corpus (Hieatt and Butler 1985) is not extensive enough to permit one
to base sociolinguistic conclusions on this feature – they are much better
drawn from other characteristics (including content). However, there is an
obvious cline involving formality, social status of author/addressee – and
diachronic developments:
a) absence of a pronoun in the context: “take a hare and put it in a pot”

(80+%)
b) use of the singular: “take thy hare and put it/him in thy pot”.
c) use of the plural: “take your hare and put it/him in your pot”.
b) and c) are minority forms, neither having more than 10–20 % frequency
in any individual text. Whereas in early texts, degree of formality can be
expressed by use of Ø / your vs. thy, the sg. form tends to be replaced more
or less mechanically by your from 1500 onwards, so that your possibly
becomes an indicator of informal, close-to-oral, reader-friendly style vs. use

of zero. The later history of this feature seems to indicate that your became
old-fashioned (or socially stigmatized) in the 18th century.
4.2.3.4 Objects
More than 90% of the transitive verbs are accompanied by an object,

whether a full noun or it/him/hem; zero is quite uncommon, and restricted to
an object placed between two verbs, or to the verbs serve, messe, dresse at
the end of recipes. However, the ‘modern’ pattern (as shown in the OE text
above) is found in isolated cases.
4.2.3.5 Complex sentences
There is rarely any degree of complexity beyond temporal clauses.
4.2.3.6 Quantifications
Normally, no quantities are mentioned in the recipes; it is left to the experi-

enced cook to decide how much to take of specific ingredients, as is indi-
cated by phrases like: an(d) salt a quantyte / hony, nowt to moche, _at it be
nowt to swete / take ynow of powder of canel, a good quantyte / and a lytil
of Rys. However, quantities are explicitly mentioned in: “a potelle, a
pounde, ii galouns”, or the proportion in: “_e .ii. dele schalle ben wyne, and
_e ii. Sugre or hony”.
Lack of explicitness and absence of proper quantifications are obviously
the rule; this makes Hieatt’s (1985: 8–9) statement appear universally correct:
The earliest English recipes, then, are terse, leaving a great deal to the
cook’s basic knowledge, but nevertheless precise and discriminating in their
directions for seasoning and colouring. As these recipes were passed down
through succeeding generations, however, there was a tendency to spell out
procedures at greater and greater length and to add or vary ingredients.
The development after 1500 131
4.3 The development after 1500
4.3.1 Developments shared with other text types
The cooking recipe shares the development of other text types in the follow-
ing respects:
1. Recipes tend to be collected in books devoted to the purpose of cooking,

or household management. The number of such books increases dramati-
cally after 1700 (Oxford 1913, Quayle 1978, and cf. fig. 14).
2. Authors often copy from existing collections so that their compilations
tend to be ‘improvements’ of earlier cookery books. Such improvements
involve the number of recipes, explicitness of instruction, detail of mar-
ginal matter, and pragmatic criteria such as better arrangement etc.
3. The establishment of written traditions means for most cookery books a
consolidation of the central elements of the recipe form.
4. The identity of form with the medical recipe continues intermittently, as
does the combination of the two types, right into the 18th century – an
indication that the systematic character of so-named cookery books so
often stressed on title pages is not always carried through in the text.
Figure 14. Numerical increase of cookery books 1500–1900 (from Görlach 1992: 750)
4.3.2 Features of recipes
No quantificational analysis of features of recipes contained in the several

hundred cookery books has been made to date; it is not even certain
whether the linguistic features tentatively listed above are diagnostic for the
specific type of cookery book, and for the development over time. Rather
than lose myself in huge amounts of data, I will contrast the beginnings of
the tradition as outlined above with the features of recipes in two represen-
tative works of the 19th-century, the books by Mrs Beeton and by
Francatelli, the one written for the genteel bourgeoisie and the other for the
working-classes.
4.3.3 Isabella Beeton, The Book of Household Management
Mrs Beeton’s book, originally published in monthly supplements to The

Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine, is not only the most famous Victorian
cookery book, it is also the most typical product of the time. However, there
are divergences from what we might expect: one is that cookery is only one,
if the most important, topic of the book: Recipes – more than 1350 of them
– make up pp. 55–904, which is just over three quarters of a book of 1112
pages (plus 38 pages of prefatory matter).
Mrs Beeton’s advice is clearly directed not at a professional cook, but at
the middle class mistress, who has a housekeeper, a cook, a kitchen maid
and a scullery maid and possibly many other servants at her disposal. Mrs
Beeton, born into a large Southern English family in 1836, married the pub-
lisher Sam Beeton when she was twenty. She compiled the huge work
within four years and died at the age of 28, after giving birth to her fourth
child. Whereas the systematic planning of her book must have greatly
helped her to arrange the huge masses of material, her way of writing is a
clear indicator of her upwardly mobile Victorian aspirations: Her presenta-
tion, and in consequence the individual recipe, can be illustrated by facs. 13
and texts 4 and 5:
Text 4: General advice (Beeton 1861: 55)
It will be seen, by reference to the following Recipes, that an entirely origi-

nal and most intelligible system has been pursued in explaining the prepara-
tion of each dish. We would recommend the young housekeeper, cook, or
whoever may be engaged in the important task of “getting ready” the dinner,
or other meal, to follow precisely the order in which the recipes are given.
Thus, let them first place on their table all the INGREDIENTS necessary;
then the modus operandi, or MODE of preparation, will be easily managed.
By a careful reading, too, of the recipes, there will not be the slightest diffi-
culty in arranging a repast for any number of persons, and an accurate notion
will be gained of the TIME the cooking of each dish will occupy, of the peri-
ods at which it is SEASONABLE, as also of its AVERAGE COST.
Text 5: Roast Saddle of Mutton (Beeton 1861: 348)
Ingredients : Saddle of mutton; a little salt.

Mode. – To insure this joint being tender, let it hang for ten days or a fort-
night, if the weather permits. Cut off the tail and flaps, and trim away every
part that has not indisputable pretensions to be eaten, and have the skin
taken off and skewered on again. Put it down to a bright, clear fire, and,
when the joint has been cooking for an hour, remove the skin and dredge it
with flour. It should not be placed too near the fire, as the fat should not be
in the slightest degree burnt. Keep constantly basting, both before and after
the skin is removed; sprinkle some salt over the joint. Make a little gravy in
the dripping pan; pour it over the meat, which send to table with a tureen of
made gravy and red-currant jelly.
Time. – A saddle of mutton weighing 10 lbs., 2 1/2 hours; 14 lbs., 3 1/4 hours.
When liked underdone, allow rather less time.
Average cost, 10d. per lb.
Sufficient. – A moderate-sized saddle of 10 lbs. for 7 or 8 persons.
Seasonable all the year; not so good when lamb is in full season.
Her style is obviously characterized by:
1. explicitness, which leaves nothing to chance (Text 4): quantity of ingre-

dients, types of implements used, preparation and cooking, with detailed
advice to sequence of actions, and with illustrations in the text;
2. genteel diction in which the longer, more Latinate and more respectable
word is often preferred to the modest everyday expression (Text 5/4
indisputable pretensions);
3. a quasi-scientific approach in which botanical, geographical, historical
and etymological information is lavishly supplied with a view to educat-
ing the reader.
An analysis of the linguistic features provides the following results:
1. Title: name of dish only (as is usual from the 19th century).
2. Some telegraphese, which can result in cramped diction (Text 5/13
“when liked underdone”).
3. Imperatives, but some use of should not be V- ed; may be V-ed; also note
let and have constructions (have the skin taken off, T 5/4).
4. No possessive pronouns; address of the third person is found (p. 394 the
inexperienced cook… she should bear in mind).
5. Objects (nouns or pronouns) are more frequently expressed than omit-
ted; no general rule is apparent.
6. Temporal sequence is often quite complex, as is sentence structure in
general. Note constructions like “to which add…,” or “into which
pour…” (cf. which send T 5/10) and the great frequency of semicolons.
7. Mrs Beeton strives for genteel diction, as in: T 5/4 (quoted above) or p.
99: “the natural green of the fish (turtle!) is preferred by every epicure
and true connoisseur.”
497: “a chestnut force meat … is, by many persons, much esteemed as
an accompaniment to this favourite dish.”
501: “for a sudden tilt of the dish may eventuate in the placing a quantity
of the gravy in the lap of the right or left-hand supporter of the host.”
504: “this dish bodes a great deal of happiness.”
4.3.4 Charles E. Francatelli, A Plain Cookery Book
Francatelli (1805–76) rose to the position of maître d’hôtel to Queen

Victoria, chef de cuisine at the Reform Club and manager of the
Freemason’s Tavern (DNB – there is no entry for Mrs Beeton). He wrote
various cookery books (such as The Modern Cook 1845) – but his Plain
Cookery Book for the Working Classes (1852) is unique. There is no indica-
tion why Francatelli ‘stooped’ so to speak to the social classes diametrically
opposed to the court. We can only guess that he intended to provide some
practical guidance to those who severely needed such advice.
In contrast to his other books and to Mrs Beeton his language shows
obvious accommodation to the class of the expected readers; the most strik-
ing feature is probably the extreme variation in form, as if he were inten-
tionally flouting the conventions firmly entrenched in the culinary hand-
book of the time. His style can best be illustrated by facs. 12 and the
following recipe:
Text 6: No. 13. Bacon and Cabbage Soup (Francatelli 1852: 18)
When it happens that you have a dinner consisting of bacon and cabbages,
you invariably throw away the liquor in which they have been boiled, or, at
the best, give it to the pigs, if you possess any; this is wrong, for it is easy to
turn it to a better account for your own use, by paying attention to the fol-
lowing instructions, viz.: – Put your piece of bacon on to boil in a pot with
two gallons (more or less, according to the number you have to provide for)
of water, when it has boiled up, and has been well skimmed, add the cab-
bages, kale, greens, or sprouts, whichever may be used, well washed and
split down, and also some parsnips and carrots; season with pepper, but no
salt, as the bacon will season the soup sufficiently; and when the whole has
boiled together very gently for about two hours, take up the bacon sur-
rounded with the cabbage, parsnips, and carrots, leaving a small portion of
the vegetables in the soup, and pour this into a large bowl containing slices
of bread; eat the soup first, and make it a rule that those who eat most soup
are entitled to the largest share of bacon.
An application of the eight diagnostic criteria to a greater number of

Francatelli’s texts yields the following results:
1. Titles vary between how to (cook, prepare, make) and the name of the
dish;
2. Full sentences; semicolons frequent.
3. Imperatives predominate, but passives are frequent (sth. must, should,
may be V-ed).
4. Your is only rarely used with ingredients and implements and there are a
few addresses to the reader (patronizing?): “You do not require that I
should tell you that when you have no oven you can easily roast your
potatoes by …” (p. 71).
5. Objects are normally expressed; it/them/this is normal, or the full noun is
often repeated – possibly in an attempt at explicitness thought appropri-
ate for inexperienced readers.
6. Temporal structure is made explicit by sequence of sentences, indication
of time needed and occasional now, then; or first … next … then.
7. Some sentences are more complex than the context would lead one to
expect – possibly a carry-over from his normal style and manner of
thinking.
8. Although Francatelli talks down to his readers, he is not free of inkhor-
nisms (p. 91 mucilaginous).
The arrangement of his information varies much more than in Mrs Beeton –
it may be that Francatelli regarded this looseness and the informal style as
appropriate for his intended readers (compare “Ingredients, …” / “Put,
prepare, pick etc.” and Ø at beginning of recipes).
A comparison of Beeton and Francatelli, both published in the heyday of
the Victorian period, shows that there is period style as well as individual
features which can be correlated with the class of the expected readers as –
possibly – with the authors’ idiolects.
However, there is less in general features that can be interpreted as part
of a more regular historical development: the frequency of object pronouns
is higher and of systematic arrangement there is less, at least in Francatelli,
than would be expected.
4.3.5 Anon., Good Things Made, Said and Done (241887)
This is a remarkable book for its combination of recipes, advertising and

proverbial wisdom (cf. facs. 14, 23). Whereas the instruction for the cook is
quite traditional, the text is interspersed with many references to Goodall’s
products claimed to improve the dishes, and typographically offset by the
use of italics and caps: the book was possibly distributed free of charge by
the producer-cum-publisher to potential customers. The four borders of each
page also provide gratis advice and encouragement in form of maxims and
proverbs.
On the data base here analysed it is impossible to say whether the general
structural development of the recipe is more regular, and whether features
not agreeing with this pattern are deliberate deviations. Moreover, similar
investigations of other text types are necessary before we can form hypothe-
ses on how period style and zeitgeist affected different text types in similar
ways.
4.4 Cross-cultural comparisons
4.4.1 The text type exported
A comparison of recipes from English-speaking communities outside

England can be expected to show continuities of tradition as well as local or
national innovation. Let us put the hypothesis to a test with specimens from
Scotland, India and Papua New Guinea. (To date, it is uncertain which text
Cross-cultural comparisons 137
types have an indigenous ESL/ESD tradition in which countries; I will

therefore analyse three cookery books that I happen to have available).
4.4.2 Scotland: Mrs McLintock’s Receipts for Cookery and Pastry-Work.

Glasgow (1736)
The work is the first cookery book written by a Scotswoman for a Scottish
audience and published in Scotland. Although it has been praised for its
Scottish character, there appears to be nothing ‘dialectal’ in the book apart
from a few lexical items. Whether this is because no local traditions of
cooking recipes with distinctive linguistic traits ever evolved in Scotland, or
because the cookery book was taken over wholesale from England in the
18th century seems impossible to say.
McLintock’s work can therefore stand for a common 18th-century
British cookery book; specific features are owing to the period rather than
the region. Consider the following recipe:
Text 7: XCVIII. To make Geil of Rasps (raspberry jelly)
Break them with the Back of a Spoon, wring them through a clean Cloth, to
every Mutchkin (3/4 pints) of the Juice of Rasps, take half a Mutchkin of the
Juice of red Rizers (redcurrants) to make it geil, and to every Mutchkin of
Juice 1 lib. of Sugar, clarifie it with the White of an Egg, boil it up to Sugar
again, put in your Juice, set it on a clear Fire, skim it well, boil it half a
Quarter of an Hour, and put it into your Geil-glasses.
An analysis of a greater number of items shows the following features:
1. Title: normally To make (to pot, pickle, dress…); How to make, and
For/ Ø (A) Sauce, Ø Syrop of… are rare.
2. Imperatives are used exclusively; there are no passives or modal verbs.
3. Your is frequent (1–2 tokens per recipe, but some have 3–6), espe-
cially with utensils (your pot).
4. Objects are always expressed.
5. then is normal to highlight consecutive actions.
6.–7. Sentence structure and lexis is simple; the text is apparently adapted
to less educated readers.
4.4.3 Indian examples (cf. ch. 10)
The pattern of the British cookery book was of course also transported to
the former colonies: whereas the ingredients, and partly the details of their
preparation, differ from British conditions, the structure of the recipe is very
similar. Consider the following item from Reejhsinghani (1989: 7):
Text 8: Chuare (dry dates) ka kheer (sweet milk)
6 dry dates or chuaras. 1/2 litre milk. 3 tblsps. sugar. 25 grams each of
almonds, pistachios, charoli and walnuts. 1 tsp. ground cardamon seeds.
Soak dates in water for half an hour. Drain and stone and grind to a paste
with almonds, walnuts and charoli. Pound the pistachios coarsely. Heat milk
and sugar together, when the sugar dissolves add the chuara paste and keep
on stirring until the mixture turns thick and cream coloured. Serve hot gar-
nished with pistachios. This kheer is not only very delicious, but it is full of
energy and is given to women who have recently conceived or to anemic
people.
On the basis of a larger sample from two modern Indian cookery books
written in English, the following remarks are in order:
a) The English cookery book is a minority affair in India. Although the

two paperbacks mentioned have gone through several editions within a
few years, and the use of English for this text type is likely to be sup-
ported by prestige considerations, the number of comparable books in
Hindi is likely to be much greater (and in Punjabi, Bengali, Urdu, Tamil
etc.).
b) Recurring conventions which look quite un-English:
b1) ‘partitive’ of is normally omitted. Although this is a general feature of
telegram style, it would not happen in BrE (2 cups milk, 125 grams
potatoes, or, in combination with typical abbreviations, 4 tblsps ground
sugar; 1/2 tsp. essence of Kewda).
b2) As in many other Indian texts, the use of the articles is unpredictable.
b3) The use of loanwords is marked – not surprisingly with items that have
no English names (cf. the glossary prefixed to the book).
b4) A few collocational oddities: mix nicely, pound N coarsely, p. 72 liq-
uidizer (mixi) and compounds: fingerchips, p. 73 double-boiler,
egg-beater, deep fry/shallow fry.
Cross-cultural comparisons 139
4.4.4 Hailans Kuk Buk (Becker-Tietze 1978, Tok Pisin, Papua New Guinea)
Whereas the Punjabi cookery book was undoubtedly written by Indians and
for Indians, the character of the Tok Pisin book is less clear. It looks like an
educational attempt by white Americans – whether missionaries or Peace
Corps workers – to supply Highland people with culinary instruction, as can
be illustrated by the following text:
Text 9: Mit na kumu sup (meat and vegetable soup)
Putim sampela gris … long sospen na hatim. Kisim hap mit bilong bul-
makau no pik, no ating bun i gat liklik mit i stap yet. Kukim long gris inap i
kamap braun. Nau yu ken putim liklik sol no kawawar no galik samting long
dispela sospen wantaim wara na boilim. Orait bihain putim kango
(warakres) no sampela arapela kumu na kukim wantaim arapela samting yu
putim pinis long sospen. Kukim inap long kumu i tan pinis na yu ken kaikai.
Sapos yu no gat mit, orait yu ken wokim dispela sup long kumu tasol, em tu
i gutpela.
‘Put some fat … in the pan and heat it. Take a portion of beef or pork, or
possibly bones with a little meat remaining. Fry it in the fat until brown.
Now you can put salt or ginger root or some garlic in the pan together with
water and boil it. Well, afterwards put kango [water cress] or some other edi-
ble greens and cook together with what other thing you’ve put in the pan.
Cook until the greens are done and you can eat them. If you have no meat,
then you can do the soup with vegetables only; this is also good.’
The text type may well have seemed (or still seems) strange to the potential
readers. The structural similarity of the text with American norms may
therefore be owing to close translation. (Note that the very title of the book
would sound more idiomatic if expressed in something like Buk bilong Kuk
bilong Hailans).
Note transference of titles, use of imperatives (omission of objects does
not apply), address of reader (yu). A native structural element is orait (from
‘all right’, roughly equivalent to then, well).
My remarks imply that the structure of the recipes supplied a model for a
domain hitherto not connected with written or printed texts in Tok Pisin. If
there has never been a written tradition for the field in a specific culture,
then a foreign pattern is likely to be taken over once a need for it is felt.
4.5 Conclusions
Although the texts analysed may well be insufficient for generalizations as

regards quantity or quality, it appears likely that the text type ‘cooking
recipe’ has seen less development than many other types have. For one
thing, this is certainly because the factual variation in what is to be done has
not changed so much over the centuries, at least not before the age of deep-
freezes and microwaves. But there has also been less standardization then
might have been expected, which still leaves a great deal of variation to a
writer of a textbook, whether the deviance from a more common pattern is
intentional or not. Period style has of course affected the form of the recipe
(and still does), but the centuries have added only few permanent features.
This is particularly obvious with regard to individual linguistic characteris-
tics: the imperative has always been dominant for verbs, but never exclu-
sive; the object pronouns (it, them) have always been missing to a certain
extent, and although the latter feature has sometimes been regarded as the
hallmark of the recipe, it has never had universal currency. Finally, although
there have been correlations between the social history and stylistic fea-
tures, it is difficult to say whether the evidence from recipes is more conclu-
sive than that gathered from other text types.
5 A linguistic history of advertising 16
5.1 Introduction
5.1.1 General remarks
My intention in this chapter is to explore the stages by which the modern

commercial advertisement has developed, concentrating on the time before
1900 and on specimens in which texts predominate rather than illustrations;
the fascinating interrelations between the two, so fruitful for semiotic analy-
sis, are therefore excluded. I will rather focus on the formation period when
the advertisement developed into a well-defined text type and then take a
closer look at the salient linguistic and rhetorical features on various levels
which are characteristic of the genre, set off from particular traits of period
style which act across individual text types. My analysis is related as closely
as possible to the cultural and sociolinguistic background of the respective
era.
The modern period of English has created a large number of new types
of communication; this is an obvious consequence of new media, of the
increase and international differentiation of written or printed texts and of
the effects of a growing (social and geographical) mobility of people and
the numerical expansion of the messages transmitted. In the course of
events, some text types have entirely disappeared, their functions and
names having been superseded by modern developments and thereby
become historical, as has recently happened to the telegram. On the other
hand, the emergence of new text types is a much more frequent phenomenon
and it is also in many ways more remarkable (cf. fig. 4 above).
One of the most striking instances of the emergence of new text types is
the rise of the modern newspaper. This can be seen as a conglomerate
supertype as well as a cluster of more or less clearly distinct individual text
types which have come to form a symbiotic ecosystem. Each individual
type tends to acquire a definite position in the larger whole and to have
formed, over the last three centuries, specific conventions shared by writers/
16
A drastically shortened form of this paper was first presented at the Santiago ICEHL conference in
2000 and published in the proceedings (= Görlach 2002a). For interesting comparisons with the early
history of German advertising see Bendel (1998).
142 A linguistic history of advertising
compilers and readers. Instances of such individual bound types are the
leader, political comment, news report, weather forecast, letter to the editor,
astrological prognostication, birth and death notices, obituary, cartoon,
crossword puzzle, classified, and of course the commercial advertisement
(cf. Ungerer 2000). Research into what defines a text type functionally and
with which linguistic features the type is correlated (and why) and how the
form and concept have changed over time, have been among the most
rewarding fields of recent linguistic investigation, a quest that is only begin-
ning to provide a comprehensive view of the discipline in its synchronic and
diachronic, national and international perspectives, especially when we con-
trast the rich tradition of research into literary genres already available.
5.1.2 Text types and their names
When a conventional link becomes established between a textual function

and a certain form, this combination will normally be given a name desig-
nating the genre. Therefore, legal forms of written documents like a law,
bill, last will, etc. have well-defined conventions attached to them, and
though in non-technical speech text types may be less well-defined, they are
normally describable with a set of features which can be extracted from the
semantic contrasts of their signifiés (ch. 1 above).
As with most other lexical items, forms and contents can change over
time. Thus, types can split (a cooking recipe now being named differently
from a medical prescription), new meanings can become distinct by clip-
ping (as a dedicatory letter developed into a dedication), and new types can
be designated by an older term which has been specialized in the process.
The latter change has obviously affected the advertisement. The word, bor-
rowed from French in the 15th century, clearly relates to an action intended
to draw someone’s attention, which by metonymic extension then came to
designate the object that serves this purpose, i.e. a ‘notice’. Accordingly,
many 18th-century books have advertisements right at the beginning, a text
type which in modern diction we prefer to call a preface, foreword or intro-
duction. What these obviously share with the modern meaning of the term
‘advertisement’ is the address to the reader phrased in a way that raises and
keeps his attention, a shared element that also serves to explain how it was
possible for the modern content to evolve.
Introduction 143
5.1.3 Methodology
Among the great wealth of literature on the topic of advertising, only a few
books are relevant for linguistic investigations, many works dealing exclu-
sively with commercial aspects, others presenting an incoherent amalgam
of various themes without providing a systematic or comprehensive
account. I found the following books most enlightening: Elliott’s History of
English Advertising (1962), Sampson’s History of Advertising from the
Earliest Times (1874 – and, largely based on this slightly rambling account,
Turner’s Shocking History of Advertising of 1965). The only consistently
linguistic interpretation in book form (which is, however, largely based on
20th-century material) is Leech’s English in Advertising (1966); more
recently, Gieszinger’s (2001) monograph has broken new ground, especially
with regard to statistical analysis of the changing patterns in The Times.
A historical linguist will for his diachronic analysis, then, have to piece
various bits together and attempt to correlate
1. evidence from social and cultural history, such as:

a) the topics advertised,
b) the audience addressed,
c) the place of advertisements (for instance in newspapers, posters,
hoardings – and modern radio and television advertisements),
d) the legal/financial/commercial conditions of advertising,
e) the expectations of readers,
f) the strategies employed by advertisers to reach an intended audience,
and
g) the role of non-verbal constituents of the advertisement, especially
illustrations, and
2. the properly linguistic components selected for the purpose, such as
a) spelling and typography,
b) vocabulary (including collocations and meaning),
c) syntax (especially the use of block language),
d) style (text type, formality, intelligibility, expressiveness), and
e) traditions, intertextuality, quotations and allusions.
Occasionally, the advertiser will concede the inadequacy of linguistic

description. In 1857, an advertisement for “Dr Torrens’ Herbal Pills” started
with the words: “No language can convey an adequate idea of the immedi-
ate and almost miraculous change produced by making use of these Pills in
the diseased, debilitated, and shattered nervous system.” The advertiser has
to use language, however, and employs greatly exaggerated diction in paint-

ing the horror of the diseases and glorying the effects of the medicine, end-
ing with: “Well may this preparation be called The Medical Wonder of the
Nineteenth Century” (Oxford, John Johnson collections).
Although for advertising informal style might be expected, the use of
dialect is very rare. I have found a single example in a printed text advertising
valentines (from Chater’s Tyneside Comic Alminack, Newcastle-on-Tyne,
1870):
ADVICE GRATIS! BY AN IRISH POET

Biddy, mavourneen, if it’s buying you’re afther
A Valentine, got it from CHATER;
The pictures are neat and the wording so sweet,
The cheapness proves him no CHATER.
5.1.4 Periods in the history of advertising 17
Starting from the first advertisements in the Mercuries of ca. 1625, the fre-
quency and commercial importance of the genre greatly increased by 1700;
topics like lost horses and patent medicines appearing from 1650 onwards.
The appropriate style did not take long to develop. In the Mercurius
Politicus of 20 Dec. 1660 we find an advertisement in which the medicine
in question is already praised as the “most excellent and approved denti-
frice” (Elliott 1962: 18).
Also, critical statements on excesses were soon provoked. Addison’s
essay in the Tatler (14 Sept. 1710) summarized the first fifty years of inten-
sive advertising (for which, in the final phase, those published in Defoe’s
Review (facs. 17, 1705–11) can be compared). It seems appropriate to divide
the topic into four periods, of which the second and third will be dealt with
below:
17 All period boundaries in historical disciplines are open to objections. The one here suggested has no
particular claim to originality or validity, and may well have to be refined by future research. I have
found 1700 a useful borderline because the date includes Defoe’s data in the second, major phase of full-
fledged texts, because it fits with the publication of the first regular newspapers from 1702 on and
because it agrees with the division I have accepted in my other books. Gieszinger (2001: 8), summarizing
the existing literature, found a general consensus about 1890 (and 1920) being “turning points” in the
history of advertising. She claims for her own study that 1788, 1825, 1860, 1896, 1917, 1937, 1956, 1980
and 1997 “reflect significant historical and economic changes which may have influenced advertising
strategies” (2001: 19–20), but the correctness of this assumption is not tested in a pilot study.
Introduction 145
1. The beginnings of advertising to 1700,

2. the first heyday of the discipline to 1830,
3. the expansion phase to 1890,
4. the period in which newspaper specimens coexisted with radio and, later,
film and television advertisements, and in which the function of the rele-
vant texts changed dramatically.
The second phase in the 18th century is characterized by a limited reader-

ship, an important mediating function of coffee houses, fashionable and
expensive articles offered, and a notable restraint in typographical means.
Although typical exaggerations of puffing (as it was called) are obvious,
these are still part of typographically inconspicuous texts largely relying on
lengthy exposition, with only the excessive praise of the (allegedly) unique
quality of the product diverging from ‘normal’ descriptive texts.
Typical themes include the praise of commodities like coffee, tea,
tobacco; cloths; medicines; transport (horse-coaches), books (often dis-
guised in the form of reviews), amusements, jobs, matrimonial affairs and
commercial lotteries. Then as now the selection of goods offered depended
on the expected readership. It is no surprise that in Defoe’s Review (1705–11,
my main source for the first text corpus) advertisements for books and
patent medicines predominate; the types of advertisements in later 18th-
century newspapers (typically assembled on the front pages) diverge con-
siderably as far as topics and diction are concerned.18 However, what these
have in common with their predecessors of eighty years before is the total
absence of graphic designs which makes the texts indistinguishable from
other text types, such as newstexts and official announcements on front
pages – where advertisements were then commonly found.
Apart from all the more or less universal features provided by the psy-
chology of selling, period style is obviously an important characteristic.
Elliott (1962: 58–9) comments on 19th-century tendencies:
No one can read the advertisements of this period without marvelling at the
cumbrous Latin compounds, the grotesqueries of ‘Greek’ with which the
advertiser sought to impress his public. Teeth were stopped with ‘mineral
18 I have here used the pages reproduced in Morison (1932). They comprise a large proportion of
announcements of plays and concerts (under “public amusements”), and otherwise provide a mixture
praising inter alia money on bond, a sauce for cold meats, spring cloaks, beaver hat wardrobe, patent
bedsteads, silver pens – and anti-scorbutic medicine (thus The Star and Evening Advertiser no. 1, May 3,
1788).
marmoratum’ or ‘mineral succedaneum’; raincoats were ‘siphonias’; hair

cream was an ‘aromatic regenerator’; hair dye was an ‘atrapilatory’. There
were ‘pulmonic wafers’ for the chest; there were Aethereal Oleine, Elmes’
Arcanum, Winn’s Anticardium, Olden’s Eukeirogenion, and Rypophagon
Soap. Some critics feared (as many have feared since) that the English lan-
guage would never recover from the abuses of the advertiser.
The third period treated in my paper starts in the 1830s and ends with the
competition of modern media in the 1890s. The beginning of the phase is best
defined extralinguistically by technological developments, an expanding
readership and a greatly increased circulation of newspapers in the 1830s
(though distribution was still hampered by the Stamp Act, repealed in 1855).
Perhaps the most striking Victorian innovation is the creative combination of
fanciful and often ingenious illustrations combined with (initially) still exten-
sive texts, which, however, tend to become shorter (cf. facs. 22) – to be taken
in in a hurry – as time goes on and becomes more precious. As it happens,
later texts (such as those from The Newspaper of 1844, facs. 18) can be very
traditional in typography and diction – apparently exhibiting a ‘cultural lag’,
the readers of the paper coming from agricultural circles in the provinces.
This developed into the stage where the product name, or the producer,
was the only text left, as illustrated by Pears’ soap from 1870 onwards
(compare facs. 24 with Punch’s remake) . This is, of course, the stage where
the linguist withdraws and the psychologist takes over. Rhymes had been
popular for advertisements from the early 19th century. These can range
from provincial doggerel to the patriotic ‘Buy British’ advertisement for
Bryant’s matches (facs. 22). Another innovation was tried for Eno’s Fruit
Salts which used extensive quotations mainly from literary sources:
Three quarters of his space would be taken up by high-flown quotations of

man’s unconquerable mind … The underlying thesis… was the sin of allow-
ing the human intellect to be harnessed to a sluggish gut … Now and again
the compiler would throw in an uplifting poem which had taken his fancy…
(Elliott 1962: 59)
– Is this a possible source of Indian advertising using Shakespeare, Keats

and Sir Walter Scott for very worldly commodities – which would mean
that the practice is not an Indian innovation, but an instance of ‘colonial lag’
(cf. Görlach 1991e and 10.6 below)?
Introduction 147
The emergence of the advertisement is, then, closely bound up with the
early history of the newspaper (less closely with journals and books in
which advertisements tend to be found from the 19th century onwards; cf.
the endpapers facs. 23). How close the connection is can be seen by looking
at antecedents and competitors of the advertisement. The early forms of
drawing a customer’s attention can be said to exist in the form of street
cries, conventionalized jingles for sales in streets and markets, which how-
ever contain little of the expository information of the advertisement. This
is also absent from the trade-cards which tend to contain little description,
but include a pictorial element (cf. facs. 16). This combination makes it fun-
damentally different from 18th-century advertisements – but, coincidentally,
brings it very close to the modern concept of a usually eye-catching device
accompanied by little text, a combination which can be taken in in a mini-
mum of time. By contrast, early newspaper advertisements are characterized
by their similarity to the other texts printed on the same page. The implication
is that, whatever its distinctive linguistic features, advertisements are pre-
dominantly expository, and the information handed out to the reader is prin-
cipally of the same character as that found in news reports or death notices.
Whether there is a sly psychological trick behind all this, persuasion hiding
as information, is difficult to determine.
5.1.5 The evidence provided by playful distortions 19
That the concept was established at an early time is also obvious from mis-
uses of the genre. At the same time when advertisements in Defoe’s Journal
provide the first large body of examples, a description in the Tatler (1709)
uses the advertisement to parody the stylistic overuse of evaluative adjec-
tives. The irony is apparent only if the incongruity of text type and linguis-
tic form is recognized. In a different way, a poem by Woty satirized the
genre of the advertisement by the use of rhymed verse. The principle is
turned round in a 19th-century advertisement which employs the form of a
public notice (facs. 21) as a poster, using the typography of official
announcements and largely also the text-type specific diction in order to
19 It is well known that modern advertese is often and easily imitated; cf. Leech: “The fact that people
are able to parody advertisements shows that they have some operational knowledge of advertising
English” (1966: 6) – but it is interesting to see how early such parodies evolved. By contrast, later
instances of playfulness as exhibited in Punch appear to tell us less about the original being parodied.
capture the readers’ attention. However, to advertise with the help of a non-
serious text is clearly a modern development (5.4.5 below).20
5.1.6 Contemporary criticism
As with other forms of persuasive strategies, misuses were bound to arise –

Plato, we remember, wanted to ban poets and rhetoricians from the repub-
lic. It is significant that the first criticism came almost immediately after the
start of the modern advertisement, in the Mercuries, which from 1622
were printing advertisements, not only of books and freaks, but of lost
horses and the earliest patent medicines (Turner 1965: 16)
Medicines, in particular, provided a source of complaints from the public

(and even of legislation). Defoe, in his Journal of the Plague Year, pointed
out the huge number of quack medicines produced to provide cures of the
1665 pestilence and advertised in characteristic descriptions such as:
INFALLIBLE preventive Pills against the Plague.

NEVER-FAILING Preservatives against the Infection.
SOVEREIGN Cordials against the Corruption of the Air.
EXACT Regulations for the Conduct of the Body, in case of an Infection.
Antipestilential Pills.
IMCOMPARABLE Drink against the Plague, never found out before.
An UNIVERSAL Remedy for the Plague.
The ONLY-TRUE Plague-Water.
The Royal Antidote against all kinds of Infection. (Defoe 1722/1928: 36)
(Note in particular the descriptive adjectives used – formally not all superla-
tives, but semantically equivalent to them).
The situation was ironically commented on by Addison in the Tatler of
September 14, 1710. He included an advertisement for spirit of lavender
written in a Ciceronian manner – apparently no appropriate genre-specific
style had been found for the text type. Finally, Addison also pointed to modest
innovations in typographic (not linguistic) style to attract the reader’s attention:
20
This finding is confirmed by Gieszinger on the basis of The Times; she devotes a long chapter to
“Language play” (2001: 155–98); whereas rhetorical figures occur quite frequently in early advertising,
jokes/puns are used from 1900 onwards only, peaking in the most recent decades (see her graph, 2001: 171).
Introduction 149
Asterisks and Hands were formerly in great Use for this Purpose. Of late
Years the N.B. has been much in Fashion; as also were Cuts and Figures, the
invention of which we must ascribe to the Author of Spring Trusses [cf. facs.
17q]. I must not here omit the blind Italian character, which being scarcely
legible always fixes and detains the eye and gives the curious reader some-
thing like the satisfaction of prying in a secret.
(quoted from Turner 1965: 26–7)
Some sixty years later, when advertising had become a huge industry,
Johnson, in the Idler of 1759, complained more strongly about negative
aspects of advertising:
Advertisements are now so numerous that they are very negligently perused,
and it is therefore become necessary to gain attention by magnificence of
promises, and by eloquence sometimes sublime and sometimes pathetic.
Promise, large promise is the Soul of an Advertisement.
(quoted from Turner 1965: 29)
With all his criticism, Johnson stated (ironically?) that “The trade of adver-
tising is now so near to perfection that it is not easy to propose any
improvement” – but he was careful to warn against excesses, especially
since advertisements stood side by side with international news on the front
page – often without any typographical distinction. Such criticism did not
of course stop the practice. We are therefore not surprised to find, another
eighty years later, complaints of a very similar kind: a contributor to the
Athenaeum, July 17, 1839, wrote:
There can be little doubt that the stupidest cluster of trashy papers, the most
insignificant articles, may by dint of eternal paragraph be forced into sale. It
could not otherwise happen that Day and Martin, Rowland, Colburn and
Bentley, Eady, Warren and those after their kind could lavish so much
money in the praises of their oils, their books, their pills and their polish if
there did not exist a class of human beings who are greedy of belief. It is the
duty of an independent journal to protect as far as possible the credulous,
confiding and unwary from the wily arts of the insidious advertiser.
(quoted from Turner 1965: 54 and Elliott 1962: 54)
5.1.7 The development of a new text type
Since the term ‘advertisement’ was as vague, or polysemic, as it was in the

18th century, the genre of the commercial advertisement published to praise,
and thereby increase sales of, a particular product had to be formed by the
development of characteristic typographical features in combination with a
specific diction. Since the linguistic characteristics will be analysed below,
it will here be useful to name the other constituent features that became
more or less obligatory:
1. The place of the text in a journal or on the front page of a newspaper,

usually headed ‘advertisement(s)’ in order to distinguish it from other
text types surrounding it.
2. The name of the product mentioned first, often highlighted by the use of
capitals, italics or bold typeface.
3. a) A description of the commodity in glowing terms (for adjectives see
5.2.2 below) involving superlatives or semantically equivalent terms;
b) in the case of medicines, the enumeration of the ills, often described in
great detail and in the most dismal terms possible, and the assurance
that the cure offered is infallible.
4. Authorities quoted, commonly in the form of ‘recommended by the emi-
nent doctor X’, but independent testimonials written by grateful clients
soon came to be appended (introduced by “This is to certify”).
5. Place where sold (later: how to be obtained) in what quantities for what
price.
6. Warnings against cheap, spurious, fraudulent counterfeits and imitations.
Note that there was then no legal objection against comparing products with
those offered by competitors – denigrating alternative medicines was com-
mon practice.
In most cases, these advertisements were endlessly repeated, without any
change of wording, but a few (such as those by the Kirleus widow, and the
oculist Read in Defoe’s Review) show a great deal of variation and diachronic
intertextual connections. Sampson (1874: 395–7) traced the successive ad-
vertisements of Mr Patence, “Dentist and Dancing Master” which appeared
between 1771 and 1775 in the Gazetteer and the Morning Post, each con-
taining more incredible accounts of his achievements, ending with the dictum
“Envy may snarl, but superior Abilities assists (sic!) the Afflicted.”
We are not sufficiently informed about the authors of these texts to prop-
erly interpret their linguistic relevance. Many must have been composed by
Linguistic analysis: The 18th century 151
the people offering their products and services, but others were certainly
written, or at least revised and polished, by hack writers in quest of a quick
buck. Sampson (1874: 394) draws attention to an advertisement in the
General Advertiser for June 21, 1749, praising the healing effects of snuff
“which was supposed to cure lunacy.” Making fun of the advertiser’s total
incompetence in formulating his message in intelligible English, Sampson
aptly comments: “Certainly it has an effect on the ideas with regard to the
construction of sentences.”
5.2 Linguistic analysis: The 18th century
5.2.1 The rhetorical background
Although the importance of rhetoric has continually decreased from the

Renaissance onwards, we have to realize that the discipline still had a very
strong hold on 18th-century concepts of stylistic appropriateness and lan-
guage use, the stress shifting from a mechanical categorization of figures
back to the more comprehensive system of rhetoric as defined by writers in
antiquity. If the orator’s objective was to convince, persuade and delight,
advertising is one of the written genres typically affected by such concerns:
it had fewer of the thematic restrictions inherent in political or even reli-
gious persuasion, so that the motive could be put across more directly.
However, the system of rhetoric has not been used in the analysis of adver-
tising, then or in recent research – modern scholars might in fact prefer to
use a model based on pragmatic approaches or aspects of semiotics (in par-
ticular, where visual representation has a special relevance).
The rhetorical refinement also differs from one advertisement to the next.
However, it is obvious that a text like the Review’s of 6 March 1705 was
possible only in a time dominated by rhetorical strategies. The conspicuous
features are the following:
1. the use of superlatives and strongly positive adjectives: golden, wonder-

ful, great, successful, cf. all manner, all; and corresponding negatives in
the pains it heals: violent, most raging;
2. the use of learned words which are employed without any factual need:
odiferous ‘smelly’, cephalick ‘head’, Arcanum ‘mystery’, Encomium and
Panacea ‘praise’;
3) praeteritio, i.e. (claimed) failure to praise the article: wants no such

Encomiums and the reason given (Concentration on Matter rather than
words, on Things rather than Expressions).
In other cases (11 Sept. 1705) the paragraph structure is closely modelled on
legal texts, with sections indicated typographically. The use of whereas a
Proposal has been made … These are to give Notice … All those Gentlemen
… are Desir’d.
To apply semiotic categories to the analysis of advertisements is obvi-
ously less relevant in early periods when illustrations were primitive or
mostly altogether missing, but it is not entirely fruitful for more recent
examples, either.21
5.2.2 Adjectives
We expect to find some continuity in the use of adjectives in positive and

especially superlative form which serve to stress the excellence of the prod-
ucts and create trust in the advertiser. The following are among the most
frequent in the advertisements in Defoe’s Review: The famous, noble medi-
cine praised is of course excellent and most perfect, but certainly incompa-
rable/unparalleled and above all effectual and possibly absolutely infallible.
21 Basing a categorization on the thoughts of Peirce, Morris and Eco (1972), we can distinguish between
three types of signs (cf. Hermerén 1999: 72):
A symbol as a result of traditional association is in a largely arbitrary relationship with a class of
referents, conventionalized in a specific speech or culture community. These relations are acquired
together with other parts of the linguistic system and are consequently considered to be natural.
An icon is highly motivated since it expresses a natural resemblance between the sign and its refer-
ent; a traffic sign, thus, becomes iconic by the addition of a visual emblem (such as a stylized locomo-
tive at level crossings). It is obvious that iconicity is a matter of degree.
An index is related to its referent by way of causality or contiguity. Therefore, the use of smoke signals
for communication is an instance of symbol, whereas smoke indicative of a burning house is an index.
In advertising all kinds of mixtures of the three categories are found, especially where we have to do
with visual quotations, specimens of intertextuality, and various types of non-serious, playful, eye-catching
devices. The general development has gone from the absence of visual representations (or primitive
iconic and symbolic forms) to an increasing intentional breach of conventions, in both linguistic and visual
expression; cf. Eco (1972: 267–8) who summarizes the rule that an advertisement draws greater attention
the more it offends against communicative norms (and thus conflicts with rhetorical expectations).
However, since the interplay of text, typography, layout, locale and illustration is highly complex
and applies to other forms of advertising more narrowly than to my early corpus, it is only occasionally
used in the following analysis: my texts contrast with forms used in posters (which have, for obvious
reasons, little text and more graphic designs, from the 19th century onwards) and in modern advertisements
(cf. specimens reproduced in Hermerén 1999 and in Vestergaard and Schrøder 1985).
Linguistic analysis: the 18th century 153
Its application is easy, the taste pleasant/pleasing and sometimes charming,

delightful, pretty, surprising and wonderful. It is recommended/approv’d by
eminent, experienced, famous doctors.
Apart from the laudatory character of these adjectives, the fact that the
superlative most excellent is sometimes used, and other adverbs are also
employed as intensifiers highlights their appeal even more strongly. Other
adjectives are employed more selectively; they include capable, clear, con-
venient, diverting, durable, easy, exalted, expeditious, exquisite, fine, free,
good, grateful, harmless, new(est), proper, pure, rational, real, safe, skilful,
sovereign, successful, sure and useful. Moreover, positive qualities are of
course highlighted by negative adjectives used for contrast, or in the ills the
advertised product is promised to cure.
5.2.3 Syntax and word formation
The involved syntax in many of these texts is perhaps the most astonishing
feature. Rather than praising the product in short sentences, the authors take
particular care to develop their argument in carefully constructed long sen-
tences often including a number of adverbial clauses and rhetorical figures
like antithesis. Two characteristics appear to be particularly close to legal
conventions – possibly features chosen to increase credibility:
1. the introductory formula Whereas … is sometimes used (though not

frequently);
2. the enumeration (for instance of the diseases that can be cured) is
structurally close to legal extensional definitions.
The absence of any unusual word formations coined ad hoc and with the
aim to capture the reader’s attention is truly noteworthy.
5.2.4 Other formulaic expressions
The repetition of formulas draws our attention to conventions of the period

style which may have become obsolete. One of the most notable is the
opening formula by which the producer or salesman “begs leave to offer/to
inform or to acquaint (his subscribers)/to solicit the attention”, or “respect-
fully assures the Ladies”, or “most respectfully intreats the public to
observe.” He sometimes “very respectfully informs the Nobility and
Gentry”,22 thus explicitly mentioning the potential readership. To heighten

the appeal, it is often stated that cures come about as if it were by miracle:
“by a charm”, “by enchantment”, “by immediate Divine Assistance”, “by
God’s Blessing” or generally “to admiration”. Warnings of cheap imitations
and forgeries, especially for medicines handed on from one generation to
the next, and of course claimed to be as harmless as they are effectual, range
from neutral/legalistic formulations to fanciful allegations of competitors.
In the case of initial Whereas … it is not quite obvious whether the formula
is a legitimate for the text type, or whether its use is a kind of mimicry,
employed to give the text a quasi-legal or official veneer, and thereby
authority.23
5.2.5 Summary
Apart from excesses in the patent-medicine trade the linguistic characteris-

tics of advertisements were surprisingly modest. The formal tone and ele-
vated style of most advertisements was obviously directed at informing and
convincing readers rather than coaxing and persuading them. This agrees
with the inconspicuous presentation which was not intended to catch the
readers’ eye – potential customers must have been prepared or made desirous
to have the information beforehand. The style and presentation thus clearly
reflect the type of leisurely (often coffee-house) browsers, different from
the wider Victorian or modern audiences. In addition, the Stamp Act, valid
between 1712 and 1855 (charges were reduced in 1836) further restricted
the currency of newspapers, and with it, the readership of advertisements.
The situation is summarized by Turner:
(In the 18th century) the advertisements in all these publications were
directed only at a limited circle: the frequenters of coffee-houses, where the
newspapers were read. There was little or no advertising of household
goods. The advertiser was content to offer the wealthy their coffee, their tea,
their turtles, their books and wines and wigs … (Turner 1965: 24)
22
The practice continues into the 19th century when “Burbidge and Healy beg respectfully to inform
the Horticultural world” (The Newspaper 1844).
23
The OED (whereas 3) does not relate the use to any specific text types, but the rank-shifting func-
tion as a noun (whereas 4) at least supports the assumption of legal origin.
The 19th century 155
5.3 The 19th century
When changing over to early 19th-century advertisements, we are struck by

a further increase in Latinate semi-learned diction in both product names
and in the claimed qualities and applications. In The Newspaper (1844,
facs. 18), directed at an audience of (gentleman) farmers, the advertised
products can be “curvilinear” for “Orchidaceous Houses”, and “Epiphyte-
houses” are offered to gardeners. Rowland’s Kalydor (whatever the mean-
ing of the name, possibly meant as ‘beautiful gift’), a “Royally Patronised
and universally adopted Specific, is a balmy, odiferous, creamy Liquid,
composed chiefly of extracts from the most rare Flowers and Herbs from an
Eastern clime (made from an) amalgamation of costly exotic materials”.
The carefully planned rhetoric of the advertisement aims at persuading
through a combination of authority, elitism, rareness and exoticism, pushing
to the background even the more genre-specific praise that it is “the mildest
and most efficacious preparation ever known”. Since the majority can’t be
wrong, Rowland’s Macassar Oil is supported by “a reputation unparallelled
… still on increase in public estimation”. Warnings against “fraudulent
counterfeits” (thus Rowland’s phrase) include expressions like “in lieu of
the unsightly rubbish made by slopsellers” or “the cupidity of unprincipled
Shopkeepers, who vend the most spurious trash”, a denigrating tradition
kept up all through the 19th century. Compare the caution formulated in
another mid-19th-century text “Beware of the rubbishy, so-called magnetic
socks that are sometimes stocked by chemists on account of their low
price.” As far as evaluative adjectives are concerned, advertisers apparently
used whatever possibility of further stylistic exaggeration was left, employ-
ing words like brilliant, efficacious, infinitely surpassing, superior excel-
lence and unrivalled (The Newspaper 1844).
The most conspicuous features of the period style of advertising contin-
ued right through the Victorian period – although the data become divided
between advertisements that employ illustrations and those which do not.
An additional innovation is that advertisements came to be inserted, often in
remarkable numbers, as front and end pieces in books. Thus, the end papers
of Anon., Good Things of 1887 24 are typical representatives of advertising
24
The cookery book (4.3.5), apparently handed out free of charge by the producers of Yorkshire
Relish, baking powder, egg powder, custard powder, but also plate powder and lavender water (Goodall,
Backhouse and Co. of Leeds) is a collection of disguised advertisements, comprising a series of one
hundred recipes all containing advice on how to use one of the Goodall products for successful dishes.
(Even the producer’s name Goodall sounds like an advertising trick!)
directed at popular audiences (cf. facs. 23). The multilingual lexis used is
most conspicuous where simple contents are explained to simple readers.
The advertisement for Yorkshire Relish employs the words “viands palat-
able”, “piquancy”, “au naturel”, “concocting” – very much in the style of
Mrs Beeton (cf. ch. 4). Innovations include a more eye-catching variation of
typefaces, a clearer lay-out broken up into short sections, and a further vul-
garization of medical half-knowledge eclipsed in irresponsible captions like
“Do not let your child die!” and “Do not untimely die” and “None now need
to despair of life … The most extreme cases need not despair” (facs. 23).
Another 19th-century feature is the use of literary devices. This could be
in the form of advertisements cast in verse form, varying from trite doggerel
rhymes made by a local poetaster to verses commissioned from respectable
poets: British matches are advertised in a jingoistic ‘Buy British’ rhymed
advertisement (Hindley and Hindley 1972: 7.11, facs. 22), whereas a more
modest shopkeeper poet from Stranton attempted to have many of his arti-
cles mentioned in doggerel verse (Wood 1967: 206); alternatively, adver-
tisements could be accompanied by half-philosophical reflections bolstered
up by quotations from eminent writers. Thus Eno dug up a passage from the
17th-century essayist Sir William Temple on health and long living to intro-
duce the value of good food (and Eno’s Fruit Salt’s part in this). Even more
ambitious is the same firm’s “Contemplation”, supported by an illustration
of a cliché philosopher and various quotations of poetry including a scrap
from Milton, but innovating in the form of mock advice to “would-be sui-
cides” to “always avoid Eno’s Fruit Salt”. Finally, in an age of globaliza-
tion, it is interesting to see that Eno, in 1887, provided “Directions in
Sixteen Languages, How to Prevent Disease” (for illustrations see Hindley
and Hindley 1972).
5.4 Changes in advertising style
5.4.1 Sociolinguistic changes
The major determinant in advertisements and their relation to the potential

buyers of the products is the change of readership. In the 18th century, only
a small section of English society was able to read, had the leisure to do so
extensively and the money to afford expensive periodicals, and these facts
clearly determined the range of commodities advertised, and the style used.
Good prose style being largely defined by the English used in Addison’s,
Steele’s, Defoe’s and Swifts’s essays, it is no surprise that advertisements
Changes in advertising style 157
share many typical features with these. Advertising had to sound

respectable to have an effect on the educated readership. That they were
manipulated is also true. Tucker comments:
All the familiar tricks of the men simply out to sell are there – exaggeration,
pseudo-science, vulgarity, careless structure: some of it funny, some
pompous, some stupid. But a modern reader misses the puns, the clever
twists to familiar word-patterns, the alliteration, rhyme or juggling with
spelling, the adaptation to the language of various kinds of reader that
enliven the good modern advertisement. (Tucker 1967: 83)
Changes in advertising style are conspicuous around 1830. Again, the

change is not unexpected. Cheaper paper and printing created a much larger
reading public (although still somewhat delayed by taxation) – and readers
were also more mobile. Newspapers bought in the new WW Smith’s book-
shops and read while waiting for the train or travelling on it were consumed
in a way quite different from how The Spectator or The Rambler were read
a hundred years earlier. Since the message of the advertisement has to be
taken up in a hurry, or at a glance, the new reading style must affect the
presentation in the direction of more illustration and less text. However, the
change is not as straightforward as might be expected: for one thing, more
rural or provincial audiences might still prefer the more ‘informative’ style
of advertising, as illustrated by the texts printed in The Newspaper of 1844
(facs. 18). On the other hand, Victorian advertisements, and newspaper texts
in general, are still much more verbose than most modern ones. In many
cases the advertiser’s strategy was now divided into two steps: first attract
attention, and when you have gained it, use it to pass on detailed informa-
tion: This explains typographical excesses as collected in Hindley, such as
the advertisement for electric warming presented in the form of a sole
(1972: 7.2).
5.4.2 Contrasts with coexisting styles
Diachronic developments exclusively based on differences exhibited in

individual text types tend to be distorted, unless they are contrasted with
other texts of the same period: the stylistic range, which makes the choice
of a particular diction a deliberate selection from coexisting styles and
thereby illustrates the distance of advertese from other prose texts, is at least
as distinctive – however difficult it may be to reconstruct the necessary
communicative competence in the period language which includes a recon-

struction of the impact on readers affected by the connotations of advertese.
Although, then, 18th-century advertising language may strike us as unusu-
ally formal, the criterion should be, how informal it is in comparison to
expository texts.
5.4.3 Changes in lexis
The adjective has long been seen as the most distinctive element in advertis-
ing style. This is partly because many adjectives are evaluative, and partly
because they are gradable: good involves the advertisement writer’s evalua-
tion, best adds comparison and a particular emotional appeal. Leech com-
piled a hitlist of adjectives used in advertisements of the 1960s (a list which
may well be historical by now, but I do not know of any more recent study,
possibly even contrastive to Leech’s).25 The ranking he found is as follows:
1 new 11 crisp
2 good/ better/ best 12 fine
3 free 13 big
4 fresh 14 great
5 delicious 15 real
full
6 { sure 16 { easy
bright
clean
8 { wonderful 18 { extra
safe
10 special 20 rich
(Leech 1966: 152)
Counting the frequency of these adjectives is, however, only half the story:
the classes of nouns with which they collocate is at least as distinctive. For
instance, the fact that good is almost exclusively used with food may come
as a surprise. Less astonishing is the fact that negatives are avoided (bad,
dreadful), and that ‘gradation’ is also achieved by the use of intensifying
adjectives, replacing good by more expressive items.
25
Gieszinger has a section on adjectives offering useful information (such as statistics on [implicit]
superlatives, 2001: 133), but her count of individual adjectives (table on p.321) is not conclusive for this
point.
Changes in advertising style 159
A comparison with the adjectives used in the 18th century brings out signif-
icant contrasts. Many modern words were then not used at all (delicious,
special, crisp, bright, extra), others were less frequent than they are now
(new, good, free, fresh etc.). This could partly be because of the different
products offered, but appears to be much rather indicative of a more
‘respectable’ style employed in advertising. By contrast, the advertisements
I analysed from the 19th century (concentrating on The Newspaper of 1844
which had practically no illustrations, thus reflecting 18th-century conven-
tions) had a very low incidence of evaluative adjectives, with the exception
of patent medicines. Instead, there was much verbosity and Latinate expres-
sion, again not unexpected in 19th-century prose.
5.4.4 Changes in syntax
Tendencies in syntax have gone from carefully constructed long sentences

in the 18th century to more loosely built, but still long ones in the 19th,
(ultimately) to short and often insufficiently connected ones in PDE. In
Leech’s convincing descriptive formula, styles have gone from discursive to
disjunctive. The change is also noticeable in other genres, but most clearly
seen in advertising. The text type now supplies many instances of ‘block
language’, that is, incomplete syntactical patterns – if it is not downright
asyntactical. These changes go together with other features which are also
found in Biber’s analysis of personal letters: the earlier formal, impersonal,
involved, ceremonious styles which combine Latinate expressions, high fre-
quencies of passives and explicitly formulated statements have come to be
replaced by forms reflecting more direct and often more personal address.
Since the change is largely a 20th-century one, we might assume it has to do
with advertising in other media, and in fact we can see advertisements in
newspapers coming closer to the elliptical syntax traditionally used for
posters and hoardings from early times onwards. However, the new conven-
tions in newspaper advertising seem much better explained by a change in
life-style, in communication patterns and a breakdown of social classes and
certain educational expectations.
On the other hand, very verbose styles of advertising can survive, even
in popular tabloids of recent years where we might possibly least expect it –
as modern specimens in The People serve to illustrate.
5.4.5 Changes in seriousness
Many early advertisements are boring reading: they lack the visual attraction
we now connect with the genre, but also the experimental use of deviant
word-formations and (largely) the punning and other forms of word-play
which are among the most conspicuous features in modern advertese. This
change started in the 19th century when various eye-catching devices were
tried – as the rebus from 1820 (facs. 20). However, the technique is largely a
more recent development – it became frequent after 1950, and it reached its
peak from the 1970s onwards. Many of the linguistic means employed in
such diction would in former times have been categorized by the prospective
customers as a parody, and certainly have not helped to create the trust in
the product that is necessary for them to take the decision to buy. The forms
that such word-play can take are infinite; they range from slips of the
tongue to rhyme and alliteration, misunderstanding of polysemous words
and homonyms, mis-spellings, distorted quotations and other forms of inter-
textuality: there is no end of modern specimens. The first examples I
remember from the 1950s – excepting the flat phrase “My goodness, my
Guinness!” – include one for Newcastle Pale Ale (seen in 1959)
Thirsty days has dry September,
October too, and dull November. NPA
I enclose two more recent advertisements employing linguistic sophistication

(facs. 24, the Present Perfect, and Happy Ballantine’s Day – which was
later refined including the additional pun on the darling Ballantine).
Hermerén quotes from the 1990s the advertisement for Dillon’s Bookshop
“Foiled again? Try Dillons” – and many of us will remember verbal playful-
ness from the London underground from the 1970s onwards.26
All this illustrates changes of attitude that seem to make Leech’s charac-
terization of advertese somewhat dated – although the statement is only
thirty years old. He still claimed in 1966:
1. An advertisement is of necessity honest in declaring its purpose. The
mention of the brand-name is usually sufficient to identify an advertise-
ment for what it is, and, in addition, regulations at least partially safeguard
the public against camouflaged advertising.
26
It seems remarkable that the change in style has become international. Over the last ten years, pun-
ning (normally disliked in my native German) has become acceptable in German advertising, especially
if the text contains English elements, as in Dämmershoppen for late shopping hours (cf. Görlach 1994a).
A text type exported 161
2. The advertiser has to buy his way to the public’s attention; budgeting
economy of means against results, in terms of sales returns, is an espe-
cially important consideration for him.
3. Whereas other forms of persuasion can expect to meet with interested
responses varying from active support to active hostility, the average
person’s attitude to advertising is bored tolerance, mixed with varying
degrees of good or ill-humour.
4. Advertising uses a predominantly concrete language, matching its con-
crete purpose. Propagandists in other fields tend to deal in abstractions.
5. Elsewhere appeals are often made to moral and ethical principles; adver-
tising largely confines itself to basic human drives such as gain, emula-
tion, protectiveness, and the physical appetites. (Leech 1966: 26)
To my mind, such uses are connected with new typographical styles for
advertising in the 20th century – and the tedium caused by excessive praises
of common products. However, we may be misled by the fact that our judg-
ment is based on intellectual, largely middle-class attitudes. The change just
sketched appears to have happened only to some layers of society while the
old type persists in others. Many advertisements in more popular papers
have surprisingly long texts to them, are mainly expository and certainly
not witty. The persuasion of the allegedly objective, very detailed informa-
tion contained in them is obviously seen as the best means of success, and it
comes as a surprise that the long texts are aimed at people who are not
expected to read much.
5.5 A text type exported
As my discussion in ch. 10 and the accompanying texts make clear, advertis-

ing was exported into English-using communities as a feature of newpapers
and radio/ television, be it that the English impact modified existing traditions
or created a new genre – as it appears to have done in the very creative
advertising in Tok Pisin and Bislama (see facs. 27). Advertising as a compara-
tively informal genre also permits codeswitching to an extent not expected
in more ‘serious’ text types. Two specimens from The Manila Bulletin of 19
and 29 April, 1988 can serve to illustrate the practice (see facs. 26).
Advertising can here be claimed to trigger language change, making mixed
utterances acceptable, a development that may spread to other registers.
5.6 Conclusion
It can be argued that advertising has remained a stable rhetorical exercise

aimed at raising the sales of specific products by convincing or persuading
the prospective customers to buy the items offered. In fact, there are, with all
the cultural changes of the past three hundred years, also recurring linguistic
patterns (praise of the product, warning not to buy cheap imitations, etc.).
However, changing reading habits and the impact of modern media – which
have largely shifted advertising to the aural or non-linguistic visual means
of persuasion – and stylistic shifts from serious exposition to witty (and
often frivolous) expression have drastically changed the role and style of
advertising in the modern world. This makes the topic an unlimited field of
scholarly analysis – and fun.
6 The church hymn 27
6.1 Introduction
When discussing text types, the church hymn is an obvious choice and this
for various reasons:
1. It combines features which distinguish it from other types in the religious

domain (metre, rhyme, singability, largely fixed form, predictable occa-
sions for use, etc.) and shares some features with other text types outside
‘religion’ (such as the folk song). In particular, the relationship with
(religious, devotional) poetry is complex.
2. It allows us to analyse traditions of the entire genre, or contrasts specimens
of individual churches/denominations; the 18th century was particularly
complex, with Anabaptists, Anglicans, Calvinists, Lutherans, Methodists,
Moravians, Presbyterians, Quakers and Roman Catholics holding different
dogmatic tenets. Adaptations of existing texts include specific accommo-
dations for individual communities – resulting in a unique combination
of a stable core text and permitted changes in length, sequence, and
wording.
3. It makes it possible to compare – in the case of hymns based on biblical
translations – the ‘source’ and its versified paraphrase (cf. 6.3 below).
4. The analysis of foreign models (esp. Latin and German Lutheran) shows
their impact on the English tradition, or individual hymn writers, or trans-
lations of specific hymns; for instance, John Wesley was a particularly
active translator.
5. It presents an ‘open’ text; even most hymn writers foresaw, and often
encouraged, revisers to truncate, rearrange, and rephrase hymns accord-
ing to local needs. Such histories of individual hymns throw much light
on the attitudes of various religious communities and changing tastes (cf.
Arnold 1991: 133–80 and my discussion below).
27 Chapters 6 and 7 were written for the present book in 2002 in order to widen the base of text types
characterized in more detail than just by definitions. Again, it would be fruitful to attempt a full compar-
ison of various national developments of hymn writing and usage, especially considering the interde-
pendence of individual traditions.
164 The church hymn
6. A comparison of contrasting idiolects of hymn writers throughout their

writings permits us to determine, e.g. Charles Wesley’s (or the Wesleys’)
language use in hymns, letters and treatises/reflexions.
7. The existence of a comprehensive literature devoted to the subject, peak-
ing in the two recent volumes by Arnold (1991, 1995) allows us to sum-
marize the evidence and adapt it to the methods of this book.
6.2 The historical foundations of the text type
Although building on medieval predecessors, church hymns made a deci-

sive breakthrough only with the Reformation – which took very different
developments in individual European countries. In England, one tradition
was started by Coverdale, who brought out England’s first hymn-book, the
Goostly Psalmes and Spiritual Songes in 1531 (Arnold 1991: 5), and
Thomas Sternhold and John Hopkins’s The Whole Booke of Psalmes,
Collected into English Metre (1562), which, with royal support, became so
popular that it determined the later tradition at least until Tate and Brady’s A
New Version of the Psalms of David in 1696 came out. Arnold summarizes
the developments as follows:
In essence the hymn was at first just the flowering out of the metrical Psalm
into a form which embraces other Biblical texts, providing the stimulus for
writers to expand their metrical territory to other passages of scripture (…)
once the hymn began to be tolerated, however timidly and restrictively, it
soon caught on remarkably as a widespread and widely divergent liturgical
form. (Arnold 1991: 8–9)
The vogue was supported by devotional poetry, in particular George

Herbert’s, Richard Crashaw’s and Henry Vaughan’s. However, hymns
were invariably used for private devotion rather than public worship. Church
opinion after the Reformation [sc. in England] was so markedly against
hymn-singing that when Myles Coverdale published his Psalm-book in 1531
Henry VIII prohibited its sale mainly because of the number of hymns at the
end. (Arnold 1991: 11)
Even dissenters were against congregational singing, as the Quaker George

Fox was. All this was in stark contrast to Germany where for Luther hymns
were a central part of public worship. The situation in Britain changed with
The historical foundations of the text type 165
Watts’s Hymns and Spiritual Songs in 1707; of the three volumes only the
hymns in the first part
are based on particular scriptures, those in Part Two are ‘Hymns of meer
Human Composure (…)’. Thus begins in England a prolific century of
hymns which convey a writer’s own vision of God and Christian experience,
a vision meant to be shared with a congregation and sung to music.
(Arnold 1991: 18) 28
The real breakthrough for public hymnody came, however, with the rise of
Methodism after 1728:
religion tended to become less liturgically procedural and more spontaneously

public in nature, less concerned with doctrine and social responsibility and
more with spirituality and individual salvation. (Arnold 1991: 19)
The importance of public singing is illustrated by the fact that
Charles Wesley wrote nearly 9,000 hymns, his brother John edited hundreds,
and the two brothers produced over 50 volumes of hymns in 50 years.
(Arnold 1991: 19)
Opposition to such “new-fangled notions, and enthusiastic conceit”

(Gentleman’s Magazine, 1750: 503, quoted by Arnold 1991: 21) was, how-
ever, widespread. These could not stop the trend, so that
hymns were probably the most widely known and memorized verbal struc-
tures of the 18th century; yet, paradoxically, they also remained highly con-
troversial as liturgical phenomena. (Arnold 1991: 27)
The attitude of the Church of England remained reserved; they “regarded

hymnody as technically illegal, for the rubrics did not provide for the intro-
duction of hymns into the services appointed in the Book of Common
Prayer” (Encyclopædia Britannica 1965: 989). Also, when hymns and the
development of hymnody peaked in English in the 18th century,
28 Watts’s activities coincide with the beginning of Hanoverian rule in Britain, but I have not found
any hint to a possible connection of the two facts. On the other hand, the new trend was supported by
organs becoming common in the late 17th century (Arnold 1991: 25).
166 The church hymn
Scotland stood aloof, remaining loyal to the psalter of 1650. The only
Scottish concession was in the Paraphrases (1745, 1781); among these were
versions of New Testament passages which were largely drawn from the
work of Watts and Doddridge (Encyclopædia Britannica 1965: 989)
Since an independent Scottish tradition was then not even established in

English, it would have been inconceivable to have had such an expansion
for Scots (cf. ch. 9).
As to the linguistic and stylistic evaluation of hymns, judgment also
drastically changed with the progress of time. It may be useful to quote
selected criticism from a secular source, the text written in the heyday of
early Victorian attitudes, from an earlier edition of the Encyclopædia
Britannica (s.v. hymn):
A few (hymns) written by Mason, who died in 1694, more justly deserve the
name. They are often quaint and harsh in diction, but compact with thought,
and luminous with imagery. The hymns we have from Addison’s pen are
marked by elegance and refinement, and devoutness of feeling, though his
muse stands in the outer court of the temple. Tried by the test of popularity –
here a true criterion of excellence – one of the highest places must be
assigned to those of Watts. He is our most voluminous writer, and though his
effusions are occasionally deformed by conceits and false ornament, they
are often lofty, impassioned, and felicitous in expression, while, above all, the
living spirit of devotion breathes in every line. More simple and spontaneous
are the hymns of Doddridge, with the same sacred warmth and glow. The
numerous hymns of Charles Wesley are distinguished by the predominance
of the subjective and emotional elements. Everywhere they are stamped with
a fervid individuality, which verges at times upon vagueness and mysticism
of the Moravian type. The hymns of Toplady, the great antagonist of the
Wesleyan theology, are often charged with dogmatic statement to a degree
of prosaic stiffness and austerity; but some of them, in their simple energy
and fulness, and a kindling ardour which reminds us of Wesley, have
obtained general currency. One of the most popular collections is that known
as the Olney Hymns, the joint production of Cowper and John Newton.
Newton’s hymns are sound, vigorous, and sensible presentations of Christian
truth, penetrated and vivified by deep Christian experience; while those of
Cowper, by their tenderness and truth, their touching personal allusions,
solemn saintliness, and sweet imagery, have made their way to the universal
Christian heart. (Encyclopædia Britannica 1856: 189)
The hymn as a text type 167
6.3 The hymn as a text type
Hymns were obviously determined by metre, singability and, in the case of

texts based on the psalter or sections of the New Testament, by their source.
The fact that these latter were in a dogmatic framework and served ‘enthusi-
astic’ emotions resulted in a specific diction that was – as the biblical trans-
lations after 1525 were – largely free of rhetorical polish. In the Renaissance
translators of the Bible had to defend their style as unadorned with the argu-
ment that God’s word should be true and not beautiful. 17th-century criti-
cism of copiousness of speech (including the use of metaphor) was largely
directed against sermons. This tradition, combined with the new ideal of
perspicuity, and the populist framework especially of Methodists and other
dissenters, explains a style that was both easy and intellectually and emo-
tionally catching. This intention is brought out most clearly in the introduc-
tion to Watts’s Hymns:
The Metaphors are generally sunk to the Level of vulgar Capacities. I have
aimed at ease of Numbers and Smoothness of Sound, and endeavour’d to
make the Sense plain and obvious. If the Verse appears so gentle and flow-
ing as to incur the Censure of Feebleness, I may honestly affirm, that some-
times it cost me Labour to make it so. Some of the Beauties of Poesy are
neglected, and some wilfully defac’d: I have thrown out the Lines that were
too sonorous, and have given an Allay to the Verse, lest a more exalted Turn
of Thought or Language should darken or disturb the Devotion of the weak-
est Souls. ( 2 1709: viii–ix)
Believers had, however, to be firmly grounded in biblical diction.29 For

modern readers and listeners, “the glories of the lamb”, the “gospel-
armour”, the “seven seals” or “the covenant of redeeming love” are strange
or incomprehensible expressions. However, for 18th-century members of
the evangelical revival such terms were both literary and everyday speech.
Consider expressions characterizing evangelical diction and found in ser-
mons, letters, and hymns, such as wretches and (vile/st) worms of earth;
people were sin-sick backsliders, believers, mourners, penitents, prisoners
and professors; God was adorable, awful and sovereign. Clay referring to
mankind was found in combinations like breathless clay, senseless clay,
29 For insightful interpretations (badly needed for 20th-century readers) of some of the key terms of
the 18th century see Tucker 1972.
168 The church hymn
house of clay and tenement of clay, and words/meanings that today need
explicit interpretation include compounds like watchnight and lovefeast,
specific meanings of covenant, enthusiast and justification, and foreign
terms like superannuated and supernumerary, elenchos and plerophory.
Two features are especially noteworthy: the distinction by authors and
audiences between hymns and poems, and the looseness of the internal
structure of individual hymns as well as their place in the organization of
entire hymnbooks.30 In a way, the two are connected:
A poem is a unified artifact which aims at moving, intact, through history into
posterity; a hymn is a unique composition which aims at moving, in whatever
form and however complete or incomplete, into use by congregations or by
whoever can make it (or any part of it) useful. Put simply, the aim, often,
seems to be to make a sufficient number of individual stanzas powerful,
sharp, and unified so that something can be used from the collection of stan-
zas. Of decidedly secondary importance is to knit all these stanzas naturally,
coherently, and tightly into the larger fabric of the whole hymn. Of decidedly
tertiary importance is any need to guard textual purity; hymns, particularly
the most popular ones, instantly became public, rather than literary, property.
And even though it seems that John Wesley tried to guard against this in his
book of 1780, it is noteworthy (and ironic) that he had already remodelled
many of his brother’s hymns; noteworthy too is that his concern (given the
flurry of doctrinal controversies between Methodism and other sects)
undoubtedly had more to do with the fear of doctrinal changes in his (and his
brother’s) hymns rather than with anything else. (Arnold 1995: 153–4)
Individual stanzas in a hymn do not normally cohere as they would be

expected to do in a long poem:
… hymnal stanzas seem for the most part to be quite self contained. Surely
anyone who has spent any time with hymns must notice that there is rarely a
pressing (or even coherent) progression or development, a fluent linkage of
stanzas; and even though many hymns present a narrative or story from
powerful and memorable Biblical episodes, there is rarely narrative develop-
ment, continuity and consistency of voice (let alone a sense of drama), nor is
there the sense of organic unity or progressive narrative power that would
30 John Wesley in 1780 may again have been the first to stress the well-planned structure of his book
when he claimed that all “is done in a regular order. The Hymns are not carelessly jumbled together, but
carefully ranged under proper heads, according to the experience of real christians. So that this book is
in effect a little body of experimental and practical divinity.”
make these poem-line structures more like good poems. As pointed out at the
outset of this Chapter, hymns look like poems. But many hymns read more
like a collection of stanzas – though individually quite powerful stanzas –
than a unified artistic entity. Significantly, this kind of problems does not
seem to exist in eighteenth-century songs: the narratives and stories in popu-
lar songs – even though very well-known and often reiterated – often
develop quite compelling and are suspenseful and dramatic.
(Arnold 1995: 150)
This explains the practice of many hymn writers who foresaw that their
texts would need to be adapted to individual uses and therefore marked
stanzas for possible omission, thereby acknowledging the loose structure of
their composition:
Watts put many of his stanzas in “crotchets” (square brackets) and gave
advance permission in his preface for some or all of these to be left out: “In
all the longer Hymns, and in some of the shorter, there are several Stanzas
included in Crotchets thus [ ]; which Stanzas may be left out in singing,
without disturbing the Sense. Those Parts are also included in such
Crotchets, which contain Words too poetical for meaner Understandings, or
too particular for whole Congregations to sing.
In poetic or literary terms this is as fascinating as it is alarming: parts of
the composition may be left out “without disturbing the Sense”. Essentially
then, the whole is not necessarily meant to be a unified artifact; nor is it
meant to appeal to an unlimited audience; nor are the truly “poetical” parts
meant to be irrevocably integrated into the fabric of each or any of the com-
positions. Equally remarkable is that this permissory note indicates that
Watts knew the longer hymns would almost certainly have to be truncated –
this is why there are crotchets in “all the longer Hymns”. In other words, if
there are any objections or reservations, be they poetical, logistical, or pro-
cedural, between the hymn and the congregation using it, a compiler or min-
ister is invited to feel free to take the wheat and let the chaff be still so that
the congregation may indeed sing unto the Lord a new song.
(Arnold 1995: 40, 135)
Since hymns were considered more or less common property later authors
felt entitled to amend them. Watts himself foresaw and encouraged the
practice:
However, where any unpleasing Word is found, he that leads the Worship may
substitute a better; for (blessed be GOD) we are not confined to the Words of
any Man in our public Solemnities. (quoted from Arnold 1995: 38–9)
170 The church hymn
Charles Wesley thought differently:
Evidently believing in the soaring poetic and doctrinal value of the hymns in
his volume, Wesley then does something totally different from any other
hymn-writer by asserting the need to maintain the purity of his texts. Other
writers invite changes, if they are seen as necessary, or even preferred. Not
Wesley, however: his texts are pristine and he desires that they remain
untouchable, or at least that readers retain access to the pure state of the
texts. Acknowledging that many gentlemen “have done my Brother and me
… the honour to reprint many of our Hymns”, he welcomes this, “provided
they print them just as they are” (vi). However, he makes an unusual
request: “But I desire they would not attempt to mend them: for really they
are not able. None of them is able to mend either the sense, or the verse”.
Again, this seems a rather sweeping dismissal of the skills and sensitivities
(not to mention the needs) of other writers and particularly users. Wesley
offers only two options: he wants people “ … either to let them stand just as
they are … or to add the true reading in the margin, or at the bottom of the
page; that we may no longer be accountable either for the nonsense or for
the doggerel of other men”. These texts are, it would seem, pure in terms of
poetry and doctrine; any amendments are only to be seen as mistakes.
(quoted from Arnold 1995: 56)
Changes were also admitted or even invited if the hymn came too close to
the poetic diction of secular writers31; Watts stated:
Another apparent inconsistency occurs with regard to the issue of the poetic
value of the hymns. Assuring readers that his “whole Design was to aid the
Devotion of Christians”, Watts admits that his main endeavour has been to
“make the Sense plain and obvious”; but in order to do this it was necessary
that “Some of the Beauties of Poesy are neglected, and some wilfully
defaced”, and, “I have been forced to lay aside many HYMNS after they
were finished, and utterly exclude them from this Volume, because of the
bolder Figures of Speech that crouded themselves into the Verse … which I
could not easily restrain” (x). Yet, with particular reference to the hymns “of
meer Human Composure”, Watts proposes that “If there be any Poems in the
Book that are capable of giving Delight to the Persons of a more refined
Taste and polite Education, perhaps they may be found” here (xii). Why?
Watts recounts: “I confess myself to have been too often tempted away from
31
The Oxford Anthology of English Literature (Kermode and Hollander, 1973) is consistent in not
including any hymns by Watts, the Wesleys etc. – but 18th-century collections freely did.
the more spiritual Designs I proposed, by some gay and flowery Expression
that gratified the Fancy; the bright Images too often prevailed above the Fire
of divine Affection, and the Light exceeded the Heat …”
(1709: xii, quoted from Arnold 1995: 39)
The situation also encouraged ideological changes. Arnold provides rich

evidence of the practice, finding that “blatant propagation of Calvinist doc-
trine is probably most famous in the hymns of Augustus Montague Toplady,
the ‘strenuous champion of Calvinist theology’ (…) he makes no mistake
about the essential correctness and truth of the Calvinist position when he
alleges that these hymns can really only be sung fully and properly by the
elect” (Arnold 1991: 168).
All this makes editing hymns a nightmare. The situation is almost as
complex as with ME romances, in which many texts exist in so divergent
versions that it is impossible to even guess at the original text and recon-
struct how and why the individual poem was adapted in lexis, rhyme and
metre, in length and sociolinguistic or ideological background. However,
whereas we can put such medieval variation down to the vagaries of oral/
memorial transmission, the drastic changes as exhibited by hymns are
unique in a period as late as the 18th century. Arnold (1991: 133–63) has
made a detailed study of this, and he aptly entitles his chapter 5 “A poet torn
to pieces: the problem of the real hymnal text” (133). He summarizes in his
later book:
Underlying most editorial strategies, traditional and recent, is the broad con-
cept of authorial intent, this in turn providing the rationale for the principle
of establishing a proper “text” (be it called “copy-text” or whatever). But the
importance of establishing a “copy-text” or any sort of authoritative or proper
version seems in many cases not to have been an objective – or even an issue
of much importance – to the hymn-writers, compilers, or subsequent “edi-
tors”; and since several hymn-writers, unlike poets, seem to have gladly
watched their hymns continually reappear in Protean unpredictability (Wesley,
Cowper, Steele, Needham, etc.), the question of authorial intent and the
definitive status of the “text” become problematic indeed. Perhaps the editor,
scholar, student, or just plain user of hymns needs to consider an alternative
conception of “text”. This might be expressed thus: traditional editorial
concepts see the text as an established and intended aesthetic artefact (albeit
with variants) or an intentionally fixed ontology. Such a conception seems
less efficacious and relevant with hymns than a concept of the text as a phe-
nomenological matrix which provides – often with “intent” – the conditions
for the functionality, and possibilities for the variability, of itself as a dynamic
textual and contextual process. (Arnold 1995: 138–9)
172 The church hymn
One of his most composite specimens is Charles Wesley’s famous “Lo! He

comes with Clouds descending”. Madan’s edition of 1760 has established
itself as the canonical text – but he mixed two different Wesley hymns, adding
two stanzas from Cennick (Arnold 1991: 139–42). In Arnold’s reconstruction
normal typeface is Wesley’s text (#39, with stanza 5 from #38), italics indi-
cate Cennick’s verses, and caps are Madan’s replacements or additions:
1 Lo! He comes with Clouds descending,

Once for favour’d Sinners slain!
Thousand thousand Saints attending,
Swell the Triumph of his Train:
Hallelujah!
HALLELUJAH! AMEN!
2 Every Eye shall now behold Him,

Rob’d in dreadful Majesty;
Those who set at nought and sold Him,
Pierc’d, and nail’d Him to the Tree,
Deeply wailing,
Shall the true Messiah see.
3 Ev’ry Island, Sea, and Mountain,

Heav’n and Earth shall flee away;
All who hate Him, must, CONFOUNDED,
Hear the Trump proclaim the Day:
Come to Judgment!
COME TO JUDGMENT! COME AWAY!
4 Now Redemption long expected,

See! in solemn Pomp appear!
All his SAINTS, BY MAN REJECTED,
Now shall meet Him in the Air!
Hallelujah!
SEE THE DAY OF GOD APPEAR!
5 Answer thine own Bride and Spirit,

Hasten, Lord, the gen’ral Doom!
The New Heav’n and Earth t’inherit,
Take Thy pining Exiles Home:
All Creation
Travails! groans! and bids Thee come!
Conclusion 173
6 Yea! Amen! Let all adore Thee,

High on Thine eternal Throne!
Saviour take the Pow’r and Glory;
Claim the Kingdom for thine own!
O come quickly!
Hallelujah! Come, Lord, come!
(quoted from Arnold 1991: 140–1)
6.4 Conclusion
The special attraction of the church hymn as a text type, apart form its inter-
relations with ecclesiastical history, musicology and the development and
diversification of popular devotion (including very specific national or de-
nominational differences) appears to lie in the degree of ‘openness’ of texts
which made it possible to adapt to the needs of individual denominations,
dioceses or even parishes, thus raising the difficult problem of identity of
hymns sometimes changed almost beyond recognition.
7 Lexical entries
7.1 Introduction
Lexical entries are unique in the field of text types in many respects. They
have not developed a particular name (in contrast to the first part of the unit,
for which headword or lemma can be used) – ‘entry’ means many things
outside the text field, and these other senses are clearly dominant.
Secondly, as a part of lists of various kinds, entries in dictionaries, the-
sauruses, encyclopedias, catalogues, directories, gazetteers, and so forth
have little in common apart from their position being determined by, say,
most commonly being arranged in alphabetical order and characterized by
reduced syntax. Even in the group of dictionaries/encyclopedias, divergent
purposes determine great variation in the structure of individual entries. A
first glance will inform us whether the inspected book or section containing
the word list
a) is mono-, bi- or multilingual;

b) is arranged in alphabetical order or according to content (as in the-
sauruses);
c) mixes lexical and encyclopedic information or not;
d) restricts the number of headwords because of
d1) the needs of the users (beginners, tourists, etc.);
d2) systematic principles (including only native or only foreign words;
neologisms or archaisms; slang or colloquialisms; ModE or one of the
historical periods (such as OE, ME, EModE); being restricted to the
words of a particular work (the Bible, Beowulf) or an individual author
(Chaucer, Shakespeare); BrE, AmE or other national varieties; Scots or
specific dialects; technical jargon of individual trades or scholarly dis-
ciplines such as physics, economics or theology, etc.;
e) has information restricted to the locus (concordances); spelling or pro-
nunciation; morphology; syntactical characteristics and collocations;
meaning; etymology; synonyms and antonyms;
f) is prescriptive-educational or descriptive, synchronic or historical;
g) comprises mixtures and inconsistencies and whether these are con-
nected with the place and time of publication.
176 Lexical entries
7.2 Entries in monolingual dictionaries of modern English
In order to cencentrate on one specific subtype, I will here look at recent

monolingual dictionaries of English. Entries are here characterized by a
consistent pattern giving information on linguistic categories in a fixed
sequence; advice on how to extract relevant information is provided in a
user’s guide at the beginning of the book. If we take the most frequent type
of a concise/learner’s/desk dictionary published in Britain by firms such as
Chambers, Collins, Longman or OUP and including some 40,000 to 80,000
items, readers will expect to be informed about spelling, pronunciation, part
of speech, morphology (e.g. plural formation, past tense), number of senses
with semantic fields, usage labels and regional restrictions and definitions,
possibly some encyclopedic information (accompanied by drawings or
other illustrations in some works), etymologies, and, facultatively, dates,
derivatives (if embedding these is the preferred option), synonyms and
antonyms with cross-references (often in small CAPS) and illustrative quo-
tations from a corpus or made up for the purpose, and detailed advice on
usage problems.
The text structure – in so far as we can speak of such a thing – is evident
only in the predetermined and consistently followed arrangement of infor-
mation in all entries. Constitutents are normally isolated symbols and
labels, often in abbreviated form, making use of distinctions in typography
and layout in order to provide as much reader-friendliness as is compatible
with space restrictions. Portions which come close to sentence structure are
found in definitions, but texts are characterized by ellipsis: there are usually
no finite verbs in what corresponds to main sentences and relative or adver-
bial clauses in full texts.
The method of semantic definition by genus and species (‘a hut is a
small house’) has to be complemented by encyclopedic information in
fields like biology or chemistry, and it is here that we tend to find ‘full’ texts
in form of historical scientific or geographical description, or even anec-
dotal accounts. Since the problem of such definitions is universal, there has
not been any consistent line of development in the history of English lexi-
cography (cf. Starnes and Noyes 1946). It is useful to compare 18th-century
practice with modern conventions. The first ‘modern’ monolingual diction-
ary in Britain was Johnson’s of 1755 (cf. Sledd and Kolb 1955); he
attempted ‘semantic’ definitions for the common vocabulary based on a cor-
pus of the ‘best’ authors chosen to establish a lexical standard for English.
However, Johnson often quoted verbatim from encyclopedias (such as
Chambers’) where no literary sources were available and where genus-
Entries in monolingual dictionaries of modern English 177
species definitions would not have provided sufficiently clear information.

A comparison with the COD shows, however, that the decision on whether
to include factual data or not can vary from item to item, as is evident from
the entries antelope and antimony (whereas for horse the definitions are
strikingly similar):32
A’NTELOPE
n.s. [The etymology is uncertain]. A goat with curled or wreathed horns.
The antelope, and wolf both fierce and fell. Fairy Queen. (Johnson)
1 a deerlike ruminant of the family Bovidae, mainly found in Africa, typ-
ically tall, slender, graceful and swift-moving with smooth hair and
upward-pointing horns, e.g. gazelles, gnus, kudus, and impala. 2 leather
made from the skin of these. (COD)
A’NTIMONY
n.s. [The stibium of the ancients, by the Greeks called σíµµı. The reason
of its modern denomination is referred to Basil Valentine, a German
monk; who, as the tradition relates, having thrown some of it to the hogs,
observed, that, after it had purged them heartily, they immediately fat-
tened; and therefore, he imagined, his fellow monks would be the better
for a like dose. The experiment, however, succeeded so ill, that they all
died of it; and the medicine was thenceforward called antimoine; anti-
monk.]
Antimony is a mineral substance, of a metalline nature, having all the
seeming characters of a real metal, except malleability; and may be called
a semimetal, being a fossile glebe of some undetermined metal, combined
with a sulphurous and stony substance. Mines of all metals afford it; but
chiefly those of silver and lead; that in gold mines is reckoned best. It
has also its own mines in Hungary, Germany, and France. It is found in
clods or stones of several sizes, bearing a near resemblance to black lead,
only being lighter and harder. Its texture is full of little shining veins or
32 Stylistic changes between the longer articles of the 1771 and 1986 editions of the Encyclopædia
Britannica (which represent a different but related text type) are more notable; Gläser summarizes the
findings of her comparison as follows:
The articles under analysis of the 1986 issue reflect an overt paradigm shift in a number of subject
areas of science and technology in terms of the allocation of subdisciplines, and changes in the conceptual
systems and their terminology. In contrast to the first edition, modern encyclopedia articles are no longer
independent treatises covering up to 80 pages. Long subject articles of the Macropedia are introduced by
a summarizing list of contents. Metacommunicative strategies are hardly ever used. The personal pronouns
I, we and you are avoided. Figures of speech are used sparingly and serve the intelligibility and clarity
of the article. On the whole, the articles of the 1986 version are in accordance with the guidelines for an
“encyclopedia style” pertaining to other present-day encyclopedias. (1992: 171)
178 Lexical entries
threads, like needles; brittle as glass. Sometimes veins of a red or golden

colour are intermixed, which is called male antimony; that without them
being denominated female antimony. It fuses in the fire, though with
some difficulty; and dissolves more easily in water. When dug out of the
earth, it is put into large crucibles, fused by a violent fire, and then
poured into cones, which make the crude antimony of the shops. Of these
cones the top is the purest part, and the base the foulest. It destroys and
dissipates all metals fused with it, except gold; and is therefore useful in
refining. It is a common ingredient in speculums, or burning concaves;
serving to give them a finer polish. It makes a part in bell metal; and ren-
ders the sound more clear. It is mingled with tin, to make it more hard,
white, and sound; and with lead, in the casting of printers letters, to render
them more smooth and firm. It is a general help in the melting of metals,
and especially in casting of cannon balls. In pharmacy it is used under
various forms, and with various intentions, chiefly as an emetick. It had
no place in medicine before the fourteenth century; and was generally
neglected, till Paracelsus brought it into esteem, in the beginning of the
sixteenth century; but much mischief was done by it, till the proper
methods of preparing it were, after a long course of experiments, dis-
covered. (Johnson)
chem. a brittle silvery-white metallic element used esp. in alloys with
lead (symbol Sb.) (COD)
HORSE
1a. neighing quadruped, used in war, and draught and carriage.
(Johnson)
1a. a solid-hoofed plant-eating quadruped, Equus caballus, with flowing
mane and tail, used for riding and to carry and pull loads. (COD)
Often early entries are very ‘narrative’ in style and content, providing for
the modern reader easily accessible informative (and often amusing) data
on cultural history and traditions, as in ‘definitions’ of electricity. Consider
the stories told about the elen/elk in Cotgrave:
ELLEND. Th’Elke; a most fearefull, melancholike, strong, swift, short-

neckt, and sharp-houued, wild beast; much troubled with the falling sick-
nesse, and (by reason of the extraordinarie length of his vpper lip) euer
going backward as he grazeth; (some report, that his forelegs are ioyntlesse,
and his flesh good venison; but Vigenere (vpon Cæsar) denies th’one, and
Gesner dislikes th’other. (1611, quoted from Görlach 1991b: 153)
Entries in monolingual dictionaries of modern English 179
Compare the echo of such beliefs even in a late and educated lexicographer
like Johnson:
ELK. The elk is a large and stately animal of the stag kind. (…) The upper
lip of the elk is large. The articulations of its legs are close, and the liga-
ments hard, so that its joints are less pliable than those of other animals (…)
Elks live in herds and are very timorous. The hoof of the left hinder foot
only, has been famous for the cure of epilepsies; but it is probable, that the
hoof of any other animal will do as well. (1755; Hill’s Mat. Med.)
However, the style of entries, in so far as we can speak of style in most

highly formalized items, is generally factual, informative and unadorned.
Subjective statements are normally avoided, although there are a few cases
such as the oft-quoted ironic asides by Johnson:
LEXICOGRAPHER. (…) a harmless drudge (…)

OATS. A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in
Scotland supports the people.
PENSION. (…) In England it is generally understood to mean pay given to a
state hireling for treason to his country.
PENSIONER. 2. A slave of state hired by a stipend to obey his master.
From the 17th century onwards, dictionaries developed a special kind of

lexis in both headwords and defining vocabulary. Early lexicographers, in
their desire to offer more entries than preceding or competing dictionaries
added not only words from marginal lexis like cant, dialect or terms of art,
but also coined new items by ‘anglicizing’ words culled from Latin diction-
aries, items which had no apparent currency whatsoever. Secondly, defini-
tions especially of simple words (which did not seem to need any explana-
tion and were in fact not included in 17th-century hard-word lists) often
became more difficult than the headword. Johnson’s NETWORK is a
famous example; he defines the meaning as “Anything reticulated or decus-
sated, at equal distances, with interstices between the intersections.” A
reader, who might in despair look up the difficult words of the definition,
will find the following information: “RETICULATED. Made of network;
formed with interstitial vacuities.”
Systematic reflexion on the nature of lexical definitions have come to
cope with Johnson’s problem. Recent dictionaries (especially learner’s dic-
tionaries) have restricted the defining vocabulary, which is often listed in an
appendix. This has made entries not only more reader-friendly, but also con-
tributed to introduce more stylistic and methodological homogeneity.
180 Lexical entries
Various attempts have also been made to do away with abbreviations and
block language, which means that the texts used in entries make more use
of full sentences than in the earlier tradition.
The lexical entry as a bound category is extremely dependent on the type
of book it is found in, determined by the compiler’s intentions, the expected
audience, established traditions, and the like. Cultural changes, especially in
the reader’s expectations of readily available and easy-to-find information
have modified the structure of entries but, with functional stability, not
caused radical changes – which have started only quite recently with the
rise of the electronic media.
8 Linguistic aspects of jokes
8.1 Approaching the topic 33
Being funny is arguably one of the oldest functions that language can serve;
anecdotes, riddles, conundrums and similar forms belong to the oldest text
types recorded for many cultures. In consequence, there is a wide range of
topics that could be treated in a chapter devoted to humour and jokes. I
might consider, but will here exclude, a discussion of anthropological
aspects (“man, the laughing animal”), philosophical considerations (such as
the arguments developed in Bergson’s Le Rire of 1905) and psychological
issues (as treated in Freud’s influential analysis of jokes in relation to the
subconscious, 1905). I will also exclude any analysis of what makes situa-
tions comical, funny, hilarious, and any treatment of irony and comic relief.
My concern is, then, the connections between language and humour – in
particular where the relationship between the two is conventionalized in the
form of national or international text types (cf. Marfurt 1977). Note that not
all text types have equivalents across cultures (so that not all designations
can be translated); the fact that national differences play some part in the
topic is suggested by the loanwords that have spread from individual lan-
guages. Whereas French exported aperçu, bonmot and esprit, English gave
a new understanding to the internationalism humour which was then bor-
rowed all over the world, and the Germans are responsible for widespread
Schadenfreude.34 It is also worth noting that constituents of jokes can occur
33 The topic has neither been treated in a systematic nor in a funny way, and my intention here is not to
remedy the situation: to be too thorough about the topic may well reduce the fun. I am doubtful whether
I can improve on Alexander (1997) which, with all its limitations, seems to be the most comprehensive
treatment so far. Readers of his book will, however, be quick to realize that my focus is quite different.
Other books which seem to offer relevant arguments and illustrative specimens are, in fact, of no great
use for my topic. This is particularly so for Redfern’s Puns (1984), Culler’s On Puns (1988) and the two
volumes devoted to Learning English Humour (1981–82): all are devoted to various aspects of humour
as a cultural phenomenon and its attestations in many text types rather than dealing specifically with the
joke as I do in my article. If there is any duplication of arguments, there is a consolation: the jokes which
serve to illustrate the linguistic analysis may well be the better part of the effort.
34
For some general aspects of the topic contrasting German and English humour cf. Gelfert (1998). It
is also worthy of note that the German word for ‘joke’, Witz was borrowed into many languages, esp. in
Eastern Europe. Specimens of jokes cited below are marked if borrowed from other sources, as follows:
A=Alexander 1997; Ga=Görlach 1992a; Gb=Görlach 1994; Gc=Görlach 1997; Gd=Görlach 1998a;
J=Anon. 1985; P=Pocheptsov 31990; R=Ross 1998.
outside the fixed text type. Thus, punning is frequent in advertising and
some journalistic genres (but is stigmatized in others). Since the joke in its
present conventionalized form is a fairly recent development, early uses of
funny material tend to occur in other (if related) text types.
Before approaching our topic, a historical note is therefore in order. It is
remarkable how recent the text type ‘joke’ is. Before the 19th century we
find all kinds of witty remarks, word-plays and funny blunders, but they are
not cast in the conventional form as printed in modern Sunday papers or
told at cocktail parties.35 Thus, there are collections of ‘merry tales’ in the
16th century. One such story is based on the divergence between English
and Scottish pronunciation and the consequent misunderstanding of a
boar(‘s) head as a bare head (see Görlach 1991b: 21). Another makes fun of
inkhorn terms, with a student asking a cobbler to have semicircles put on
his subpeditals (see Görlach 1991b: 161).
By the 18th century, there had still not been much progress towards the
modern type of joke; the form that we might wish to call a ‘comic tale’
(Schwank) predominated. A typically anonymous and undated unassuming
booklet might promise on its title page:
Excellent JESTS, Smart WAGGERIES,

Keen REPARTEES, Humorous QUIBBLES,
Pleasant STORIES, Comical ADVENTURES,
Funny JOKES, Irish BULLS, and
BON MOTS, Entertaining HUMBUGS,
To which are added,

A choice Collection of Conundrums; entirely new and beautiful Rebusses
and Riddles; biting Epigrams, droll Epitaphs, merry Songs, amorous
Pastorals, comic Tales, Fables etc. etc.
(From Brown’s Compleat Jester, 1760)
35 Various words on quib-/quid- come into the picture in the 16th century. Their characteristic seems to
be that they all have to do with verbal playfulness, without being well defined as to form and applica-
tion. The OED has two quotations which combine various playful text types (if they are such) under
quibbles sb. and joke:
quibble ‘a play upon words, a pun’
1611 L. Barry Raw Alley III.i “We old men have our crotchets, our conundrums, Our figaries, quirks
and quibbles, as well as youth”
joke ‘witticism, jest(ing), raillery’
1683 Dr Edw. Hooker, Pref. Ep. to Pordage’s Myst. Div. 15 “Jocs, or witticisms, Railleries and
Drollieries, Quirks and Quillets”
All these do not seem to refer to well-defined text types, and indeed the OED quotations do not permit
us to say when the modern term ‘joke’ became established. The competitor jest, which initially desig-
nated ‘notable deed or action’, did not become fixed to a humorous text type, either.
Approaching the topic 183
It is worth noting the clever variation of descriptive adjectives with the dif-
ferent genres of humorous forms.
Looking even further back in the history of English, there is nothing that
comes close to the nature of the joke or even the pun in OE – the story of
Gregory meeting English boys in Rome and remarking they were rightly
called Angli because they looked like angels was told in Latin and was not
meant to be funny. However, it is not only the absence of verbal wittiness in
Anglo-Saxon times that is remarkable, but that the form did not evolve until
much later – OE riddles come closest to the modern type, especially since
one category of the modern joke takes this form.36 Centuries later, Chaucer –
who is not excessively given to word-play37 – can serve as one of the earliest
instances of the phenomenon; he apparently saw no incongruity with
decorum when he played on words twice within a few lines in his Troilus
and Criseyde:
(1) Calchas by his calculations (…)

predicted “that Troye sholde des-troyed be” (lines 71–77)
By the way, the second pun is impossible to translate into Latin, Spanish,
Italian, French or German, to name only a few languages.
One of the great punsters of all time is of course Shakespeare whose
verbal play has created enormous problems for translators. One of the best
known puns is Hamlet’s repartee to Polonius
(2) Po.: I did enact Julius Caesar. I was killed i’ the Capitol; Brutus killed me.
Ha.: It was a brute part of him to kill so capital a calf there.
From the same time we get Sir John Harington, the inventor of the Water-
loo. Since a loo was called a jakes in Elizabethan times, he appropriately
named the book in which his invention was described
(3) The Metamorphosis of Ajax (For an interpretation and an anecdote based on the
pun see Görlach 1991b: 19)
36
In the discussion below elements of jokes, such as puns and other forms of word play should be dis-
tinguished from the independent text type; these elements form the necessary material from which jokes
are built, but are by themselves prototypes at best.
37 For instance of Chaucer’s punning see Shoaf (1988); it is strange that the author misses the double
pun here quoted although it would seem to be more appropriate for Shoaf’s arguments than the speci-
mens he adduces.
However, the instability of EModE spelling makes it impossible to decide

whether a critical pun was intended by Mulcaster who found in 1582 (for
the full text see Görlach 1991b: 184):
(4) Our state is a Moanarchie
The pun (in earlier periods called clinch or quibble, and equivalent to
paronomasia in handbooks of rhetoric) consists of a playful distortion,
reanalysis or semantic reinterpretation; it is one of the oldest and most typical
elements of jokes. In English, its respectability appears to have somewhat
suffered since Shakespeare who made free use of it – and not just in informal
contexts or where bawdy was concerned (cf. Redfern’s summary of 18th-
century attitudes, 1984: 52–5).
This decline is illustrated by the following warning in an anonymous
book on Vulgarities of Speech Corrected of 1826; it was directed at punsters
who were felt to be a nuisance in polite society:
The affectation of wit is most frequently displayed in continual efforts at pun-

ning. This unfortunate propensity (… is the bane of all good conversation.
… a punster resembles one who, in reading, sees the characters, and letters
of which a word is composed, but knows not what it signifies. Punning,
therefore, breaks the chain of ideas; for it is necessary to commence another
conversation on a new subject. In fine, the punster is lost to society and con-
versation, he is occupied in spying out some word as it passes, on which he
may employ his talent; instead of which he might, by a different course, pro-
duce profit and pleasure ….
Perhaps, it would be going too far to say, with Dr. Johnson, “that the
man, who makes a pun would pick your pocket, but I think that the desire of
being distinguished as a punster is pardonable in those only who indulge it
with great sobriety, and who pun perfectly, and ingeniously – a condition
which professed punsters seldom or never fulfill. The play upon words,
which is termed punning, appears indeed to be a decided mark of a weak,
silly, and frivolous mind”.
In the course of the past twenty years or so, the pun has become a hallmark
of text types like headlines and advertisements – where it is still efficient
enough to catch the reader’s eye – but has become less frequent in
respectable literature. Also, puns seem to have very different status in indi-
vidual cultures, e.g. they produce affected groans in many German readers
and listeners.38
At any rate, I felt freer to use the pattern myself when writing English – and
in the case of Rejoycings found the pun had been tried before; compare the
following:
(5) various translations of Joyce combined as Rejoycings,

(6) a foreword to a translation of Wilhelm Busch as Buschy Tales,
(7) punning in German advertising as the topic of a short article named
Continental pun-dits (pun + on-dits = pundits) (Gb).
(8) “creative miscommunication: “descriptive typo-logy” (on typos which happen
to be unintentionally funny, cf. Gd and 14 below).
Let me add another of my modest attempts which is based on spelling;

it seems to sum up neatly the problems of policies toward Third World
countries:
(9) Development aid: alms-giving or arms-giving?
The great variety of text types which are humorous, funny, and witty, or at
least meant to be, includes a great number of genres outside the joke: a rid-
dle asking for an answer often in a misleading way – well-known since
classical antiquity and OE literature – shares some elements with the joke,
but is clearly distinct in form, and so are forms like the anecdote, or the
bonmot. Does an equivoque qualify, “a text constructed around an ambigu-
ity when parts of a text are omitted”, as a joke? Richards (2000: 137) quotes
the following text painted on two shutters, with the left one blown open by
the wind so that the text cannot be read (1903):
(10)
NO I
MRS. MAR SHALL
FRENCH LA UNDRESS
SPECIMENS IN THIS WINDOW
ALL ORDERS PUNCTUALLY
EXECUTED CLOSE AT SIX P.M.
38 It would be worth testing whether widespread bilingualism is a factor encouraging verbal playful-
ness. This is claimed for Mauritius by Miles (1998), who claims that bilingual competence has stimu-
lated the production of bilingual (E/F) puns and increased their acceptability as an expression of linguis-
tic wit:
Depending on one’s view of the dictum ‘punning is the lowest form of humor’ Frenglish word play
is either a weakness of or an artform for Mauritian journalists. Nothing more collapses the linguistic
boundaries between English and French than words which are themselves bilingual composites.
The equivoque had a brief return to currency in the middle of the 19th cen-
tury, notably in the context of deception, but apart from this text type only
few of the 1,100 entries in Richards’ Encyclopedia of Ephemera (2000) – all
conveniently listed on the fly-papers – provided additions to my earlier list.
Most of the items are subclasses defined by specific uses (in compound
form) or designate objects (which may have a text on them) rather than
qualifying as text types. Also, collections of humorous stories (for America
cf. Blair and McDavid 1983) normally do not consist of jokes, although
such forms may be embedded in longer texts to enhance the fun.
In sum, anyone who wants to deal with jokes in the proper sense has to
rely on modern specimens, however much raw material he may find in earlier
periods.
What I propose to do is to provide a short typology of text types which
are similar to jokes, and then delimit my topic to those jokes which rely on
language for their effectiveness. The stemma provided in fig. 15 can be
followed as I work my way downwards.
HUMOROUS
FORMS
+ –
INTENTIONAL
+ –
TYPOS
JOKES MALAPROP
+ – FOLK ETYM
CONTAMIN
INVOLVING
SAME LANG. RIDDLES
+ – ANECDOTES
WITHOUT ILLUS. TRANSL.
– DIALECT
+ JOKES
CONTENT
– CARTOONS
+
MEANING MISQUOTES
+ – SPEECH DEFECTS
SEMIC FACTUAL
+ – INCONGRUITIES
HOMONYMY CONNOT.
+ – STYLE
HOMONYMY POLYSEMY
Figure 15. A possible classification of jokes based on feature analysis
Although Alexander’s attempt at a componential analysis is not entirely con-

vincing it can provide a useful comparison. He offers the following criteria:
1. Intention on part of speaker or writer (inten)

2. Consciousness on part of speaker or writer (cons)
3. Malevolent (–) or benevolent (+) intent (volen)
4. Purpose to amuse people (amus)
5. General light-heartedness (light)
6. Witty
Applying these to 16 text types, Alexander arrives at the following table:
modes 1 inten 2 cons 3 volen 4 amus 5 light 6 witty
jokes + + ± + 0 +
gag + + ± + 0
epigram + + ± + 0 +
crack + + – + + +
pun ± ± 0 + + ±
spoonerism – – 0 – 0 +
howler – – 0 – 0 +
misprint – – 0 – 0 +
irony ± ± – + – ?
satire + + – + 0 ?
lampoon + + – + 0 ?
caricature + + – + 0 ?
parody + + ± + + ?
impersonation + + ± + + ?
sarcasm + + – ?
sardonic + + 0 +
Figure 16. Criteria in ascertaining types of humour (from Alexander 1997: 10 39)
39 The list is not complete. It could easily be extended by adding anecdote, badinage, banter, bon mot,
buffoonery, burlesque, cartoon, conundrum, crank, farce, Irish bull, jape, jeer, jest, jibe, mock, persiflage,
quibble, quip, quirk, repartee, scoff, skit, taunt, travesty, waggery, wisecrack and witticism, all somehow
related to text types in the semantic field of humour. We should, however, keep apart forms like palin-
dromes where the fun lies in the mechanical reversion, whatever sense the new reading makes, cf.:
(11) A dog! A panic in a pagoda.
(12) Do good deeds live on? No, evil’s deeds do, o God!
(13) Sums are not set as a test on Erasmus.
A joke can, then, be defined as an independent form, memorized rather than

created ad hoc, often containing a conventional opening and stock characters,
which leads the listener/reader astray in order to surprise him with a totally
unexpected solution in the punch-line – a type that has been explained by
the ‘incongruity theory’ (Ross 1998: 7). There are various components that
can form part of the joke, such as puns, spoonerisms, misquotes etc. Since
the joke is told to achieve an effect, one of its distinctive features is that it is
intentional, meant to amuse (and often to make fun of) another person.
8.2 Types of jokes
8.2.1 Situational and pragmatic features
Many jokes exclusively depend on the situation and on extra- and paralin-
guistic features; one of these factors is itself made the topic of the joke:
(14) A group of madmen had oft-told jokes numbered in order to save time and
avoid repetition. ‘17’ – roaring laughter. ‘25’ – chuckle. When John takes
over and says ‘32’ there is dead silence. “Is the joke no good?” – “Oh yes,
it’s excellent. It’s the way you tell it.”
Other specimens have parole features added for ornament and intended to
enhance the funniness which would also work without this extra. This is the
case with most ‘dialect’ jokes which largely depend on non-linguistic
national stereotypes and have non-functional dialect pronunciation added –
which does not make the joke ‘linguistic’ (cf. Anon., Punch, n.d.).
8.2.2 Unintentional blunders
Slips of the tongue (or of the hand in typing) can be funny, but they form
only the raw material for jokes. They are frequently based on a single letter
or sound added, omitted or replaced, as in the case of the typo (which I
detected in one of my books and was able to correct) about the
(15) Great Bowel Shift (Gd)
Many authors have exploited the potential humour blended with social criti-
cism evident in malapropisms. Such misuses give away speakers’ lack of
Types of jokes 189
education through distorted Latinisms which prove too much to be ade-

quately handled. Compare the following exchange:
(16) A: “My daughter has married a veterinarian.”

B: “How dreadful! A man with one leg?”
A different type of inadvertent wit is illustrated by:
(17) What is the difference between ignorance and apathy? – I don’t know and I
don’t care. (A)
8.2.3 Jokes involving more than one language or dialect
Whereas most jokes are monolingual, a few rely on misunderstandings

effected by the use of more than one language. This can be in the form of
mistranslations as in the well-known howlers:
(18) Translate: Mors certa, hora incerta – ‘Sure as death the clock is wrong.’
(Ga)
There is also the funny story of the German girl student, about to be exam-
ined by a professor who attempted to calm her down:
(19) “I hope you were not too nervous to sleep properly last night.” – “I was not
nervous at all. I went to bed with a criminal Roman” (in German a
Kriminalroman is a ‘detective novel’). (Gc)
Finally, there is a long list of jokes based on dialect differences (Görlach

1997) – funny misunderstandings which occur because pronunciation, syn-
tax or lexis of speaker and addressee are not quite the same. The first exam-
ple is based on the merger in broad Tyneside English of the vowels in curse
and course, both pronounced [ç:], whereas walk is [wa:k] in the same
dialect:
(20) The patient who had his knee repaired by the doctor was asked “will you now
be able to walk?” [ç:] – Patient: “[wç:k]?? I can hardly [wa:k]!”
One of the funnier jokes constructed around the BrE: AmE divergence is the
following:
(21) An American travelling on British Rail and dozing away in his compartment
had the shock of his life when he heard a voice from above: “This is your
guard speaking.” He thought he was having a metaphysical experience. (Gc)
There is no better way to illustrate to students the most salient features of

Black English, viz. the pronunciation of [§] as [d] word-initially, and the
absence of the copula, than in the following joke:
(22) The governor of Alabama had died. He went up to the gate of heaven and
knocked at the door. “Who dere?” was the response from inside. – “All
right. I’ll try the other place” was the governor’s spontaneous reply. (Gc)
8.2.4 Jokes combined with illustrations
Many jokes are accompanied by drawings, which most often have a sup-
portive function only – as dialect enunciation has in most ‘dialect jokes’.
However, in a few jokes the combination is functional because the match of
the two is incongruous, as it is in
(23) What do you expect?

It’s a one-star hotel.
Figure 17. Combination of verbal play and illustration

Types of jokes 191
Finally, the gestures of two people show that they have learnt their lesson,
that is to communicate without words in
(24)
Figure 18. Joke involving non-verbal communication
8.2.5 Formulas
Formulas are constitutive for jokes in many ways. First, there are introduc-
tory phrases that tune the listener or reader in, preparing him for the coming
joke (“Did you hear the one about …?” “What is the difference between
…?”).
Formulas are also functional where they are distorted in a funny way –
the joke being in the listener’s disappointed expectation as in the advertise-
ment for Newcastle Pale Ale of the late 1950s:
(25) Thirsty days has dry September,

October too, and dull November.
8.2.6 Jokes based on spelling
The fun is here in the contrast between different writing systems, as in my

own example invented for Görlach (1997: 33), an example that, hopefully,
Lewis Carroll would have excused:
(26) 10der Alice in 1derland h8ed 2 4nic8.

Disregard of word boundaries produces:
(27) The pen is

mightier than
the penis (R)
The use of caps with decreasing size and arranged in short lines disregard-
ing word boundaries produced the joke suggesting a vision test at an oph-
thalmologist (England, 1960s):
(28) T | OOM | UCHS | EXMAK | ESYOUS | HORTSI | GHTED
Or jokes can exploit the irregularities of English spelling.This, combined

with broad Australian pronunciation, created a fashion after the publication
in Sydney in 1965 of a book, which has the principle illustrated in the name
of the pseudonymous author and the book’s title:
(29) Afferbeck Lauder, Let Stalk Strine

‘[in] alphabetical order, Let’s talk Australian.’
8.2.6 Jokes based on names
Allusions, ironic or slighting mispronunciations or deliberate semantic mis-

interpretations of names form a category by itself; there is an infinite number
of examples to document various patterns through history from antiquity
onward.
A specimen of sarcastic self-irony is found in Donne’s letter to his wife;
on being dismissed from the service of his father-in-law he wrote:
(30) John Donne, Anne Donne, Un-done
However, it is much more common to make fun of other people by using

distorted forms of their names. One such case is connected with the scandal
of O’Casey, Bishop of Galway in the early 1990s, who had kept his lover
and teenage son secret. His name formed the basis of the following riddle:
(31) “What is the name for a condom in IrE?”

“Just in Casey.”
Types of jokes 193
8.2.7 Jokes based on pronunciations
Some jokes depend on phonetic similarity causing misunderstandings.

Gelfert (1998: 93) quotes the following:
(32) In a London underground: “Is this Wembley?” – “No; Thursday.” – “So am I.”
However, the most common type connected with mispronunciations are

malapropisms and those making fun of uneducated or ‘refayned’ speech –
or of speech defects, as testified by the numerous jokes on stutterers, such
as the limerick:
(33) There was an old man of Calcutta

Who had an unfortunate stutter;
At tea time he said:
“Give me b-b-b-bread,
And some b-b-b-b-b-b-butter.” (A)
A common pattern (which also works with letters, or with words) is the
exchange of sounds, especially initial phonemes. It is of course the principle
of the spoonerism, as in:
(34) “I went to college on a boiled icicle”
8.2.8 Jokes based on syntactical ambiguities
There are a few problem areas in English syntax which can lead to misunder-
standings, or, what amounts to the same thing, can be used as the basis for
jokes.
Here is a minor one based on the ambiguous part-of-speech classifica-
tion of -ing words. The historical version, dating from around 1381(?) is
phrased as follows:
(35) ‘Sire, sire, the peasants are revolting’!

Richard: ‘I don’t need you to tell me that.’
A major source for such blunders is an ambiguous sentence structure which

makes prepositional phrases depend on the wrong constituent. Consider the
following specimen (which would normally be disambiguated by commas

or pauses):
(36) “There’s a man outside with a wooden leg called Smith.”

– “What’s the name of the other leg?” (P)
The slightly unusual word-order easily gives the joke away as concocted;
the following is based on the same principle, but works much better:
(37) “The police in London are looking for a man with a deaf-aid.”
– “Why don’t they use glasses?” (J)
Compare:
(38) Man in a bar: “I just got a bottle of gin for my mother-in-law.” – “Sounds
like a good swap.” (R)
(39) Man in a clothes shop: “Can I try on that blue suit in the window?”
Manager: “No, Sir, you’ll have to use the changing-room like everyone
else.” (J)
Another type of an ambiguous construction is illustrated by:
(40) “Did you know that the natives like potatoes as much as missionaries?” –
“Yes, but the missionaries are more nutritious.” (A)
Misinterpretation of the role of constituents (in spoken English) results in

the miscommunication of:
(41) “Do you sell cat’s meat?”

– “Only if they are accompanied by human beings.” (J)
The joke appears to be common with a number of variants; compare:
(42) “Do you serve frog’s legs?” – “We serve anyone who’s able to pay.” (R)
A similar pattern, here the formal merger and consequent confusion about
the indirect and direct object, underlies:
Types of jokes 195
(43) “Do you serve Scotsmen?”

– “Yes”, replied the barman.
– “All right. Two pints for me, and two Scotsmen for my crocodile.” (J)
Misinterpretation of on (as an adverb or a preposition) and following myself

leads to:
(44) In the post-office, an old lady buys a stamp for an envelope and asks: “Must
I put this on myself?” – “No, please stick it on the envelope.”
Also, an apposition may be misinterpreted as an enumeration, as in the

gravestone inscription:
(45) JOHN TAYLOR,

an honest man,
and a loving husband,
which produced the following reaction:
“Poor John! Just imagine being buried together with two total strangers.”
Finally, the reversal of sentence elements (often involving changes of parts

of speech) is often used, especially in conundrums starting with “What is
the difference between X and Y?” The pattern works with compounds, too,
as is shown by the slogan
(46) The welfare state has become the farewell state. (A)
Misinterpretation of all verbs as relating to the last-named object results in

the ambiguity of:
(47) Wanted a smart woman who can wash, iron and milk cows.
Ambiguity in verbal rection can be another factor. Consider the two inter-
pretations of please:
(48) “No use bothering me, John. I shall marry whom I please.”
– “All right. You please me well enough.” (P)
Ambiguity as to the reference of that or it is a frequent basis for funny mis-

understandings:
49. “Why are you late for school?” – “I had to take the bull to the cow.” –
“Couldn’t your father have done that?” – Yes, but not as well as the bull.”
50. “Did you hear about the girl who got engaged and then found her fiancé had
a wooden leg? She broke it off, of course.” (J)
Ambiguity of passive and active found, and the resulting difference in the
syntactical function of drunk is the basis for the funny misinterpretation of
the following headline:
51. Policeman found drunk in shop window (R)
Finally, the phonological merger of is and has does not normally create mis-
understandings about the active or passive interpretation of a sentence. It
does, however, in:
52. First cannibal: “Am I late for supper?”

Second cannibal: “Yes, everybody’s eaten.” (A)
8.2.10 Jokes based on word-formation
Two types come to mind. One is the wrong analysis or interpretation of

acronyms, or of words which aren’t even acronyms. Witty explanation of
the names of airlines has become a favourite playground for wits and
halfwits. The most famous and ingenious example is:
53. ALITALIA = ‘Always late in take-off, always late in arrival.’
Compare the sick joke concocted after the space-shuttle disaster:
54. “What does NASA stand for?” – “Need another seven astronauts.” (R)
Wrong word-analysis is related to folk-etymology. A somewhat poor one is

the following:
55. “What language do they speak in Cuba?” – “Cubic.” (J)

Types of jokes 197
Compare another:
56. Adultery is what adults do
– where the etymology of adult is entirely different from the one underlying
adultery.
8.2.11 Jokes based on meaning
The classic form of misunderstanding is based on semantic ambiguity. The

recipe is to select a word which has at least two meanings, construct a frame
around them which very strongly suggests one of these – and then disclose,
with the listener totally unprepared, that the other is intended.
Consider the two jokes of the “waiter, …” type:
57. “Waiter! There are some coins in my soup!” – “Well, you said you wanted
some change in your meals.” (J)
58. “Waiter! There is a button in my lettuce!” – That must be from the salad
dressing.” (J)
Another joke is based on the ambiguity of bear:
59. “What shall I do? I’m engaged to a man who cannot bear children.” – “Well,
you mustn’t expect too much of a husband.” (P)
Frequently such jokes are found in the form of questions (and are often
based on spoken forms):
60. Teacher: “In 1940, what were the Poles doing in Russia?”
Pupil: “Holding up the telegraph wires.” (J)
61. A woman went into a newsagent’s and asked: “Do you keep stationery?” –
“No madam, I usually go home for my lunch.” (J)
62. Teacher: “What is the meaning of the word ‘matrimony’?” – Pupil: “Father
says it isn’t a word, it’s a sentence.”
One complex misunderstanding is the result of a phonetic blunder and a

homonymic clash. The joke is especially elegant since it involves a
diachronic element, the word flight having become dominant or even exclu-
sive in its aeronautic sense for younger speakers:
63. Some young Sunday school pupils were asked to draw the Flight into Egypt.
A girl drew a picture of an aeroplane with three people in the back, all with
haloes, and a man in front without one.
“Who is the one without the halo?” the teacher asked. – “Oh,” said the
girl, “that is Pontius, the pilot.” (P)
All the above examples were based on homonymic relations, the two mean-
ings in conflict having no component in common. However, the pattern
works as well with polysemic pairs whose meanings overlap:
64. “My wife is an angel.” – “Mine’s still alive.”
Finally, a nice interplay of polysemy and synonymy is illustrated by the old

anecdote:
65. When Mrs Webster found Noah playing around with the kitchen-maid she
exclaimed: “I am surprised!”
– “My dear, as the wife of a lexicographer you should know that you are
astonished. It is I who am surprised.” (P)
Pragmatics can radically change the meaning of an expression especially in

the case of oaths, attestations and exclamations as self-contained utterances.
Consider the following:
66. Three boys keep on bragging about the importance of their relations. A: “My
uncle is a medical specialist. When we go out together people lower their
heads and say ‘How do you do, Doctor Brown.” — B: “That is nothing. My
father is a parson. People doff their hats and say, ‘Good morning,
Reverend’.” — C: “How does all this compare with my aunt? When we
have a walk, people turn round exclaiming ‘Almighty God!’.”
Conclusion 199
8.3 Conclusion
Rhetoric according to Cicero, Quintilian and Horace, should both teach and
amuse. I hope I have achieved the latter in my presentation. What about the
educational potential of my topic?
Doing linguistics can be a dry topic for both teachers and students,
whether the focus is on graphemics or phonetics, on syntax or semantics, on
regional variation or translation studies. All of these can be approached
through the material I have offered – there is even a sprinkling of language
history and the development of text types in the menu. I have refrained from
adding technical analyses to my specimens, a task I will gladly leave to my
colleagues. As material for discussing translational possibilities it may be
worthwhile to go through my specimens and find out which are possible to
render into the readers’ mother tongues, and if they are not, look for the rea-
son in the structural differences of source and target language.
In the context of text types, jokes are very difficult to define since (as is
obvious from the items cited) they come in so many forms and their effec-
tiveness depends on many different factors, including a large number of sit-
uational, pragmatic and psychological variables. A more narrowly defined
subtype, such as the ‘linguistic’ joke here treated, promised to be an appro-
priate starting-point for a more comprehensive description of the text type;
however, the genre appears to be very hard to describe and categorize –
even if we restrict ourselves to one tradition and do not attempt to include
national differences – or the export of text types (as treated in the subse-
quent chapters).
9 Text types and the history of Scots
9.1 Introduction 40
Scots was (almost) a fully-fledged national language in the 16th century, but
since then its distribution and range of functions have continuously
declined; attempts at recovering its former status have never aimed at
restoring the full range of uses. Therefore the retention of informal and
regional uses predominantly in speech, and the successful preservation or
reintroduction of mainly literary genres has given Scots typical features of a
Halbsprache, in Kloss’s (1968) terms. Its form and present-day functions
are therefore best explained historically, text type by text type. This paper
treats formal texts (administrative, scholarly, grammatical, religious and a
few spoken forms), comparing these with the wider range of informal uses
(private letters, journalism, advertisements and humour) and devoting spe-
cial attention to various literary genres. The final section compares the situ-
ation of Scots with that of other semi-languages in Europe and attempts a
cautious prediction on the future of Scots.
9.1.1 Definitions
Text types, and the distinctive features characterizing them, differ from cul-
ture to culture (but can be borrowed, as words or syntactic patterns can).
Relating to specific functions in individual cultures as they do, they cannot
be expected to be identical internationally nor can it be assumed that the use
of a specific language to render a text type is constant over time – compare
the decrease of French and Latin in the history of English, which resulted in
the imitation (or borrowing) of text types into English (cf. ch.1).
If we wish to continue the comparison with phonology and morphology,
we find that text types can be free (a sonnet) or bound (a dedication); they
can combine to form larger units (in a newspaper or a book); ‘allotexts’ can
develop into independent types (a letter into various types of letters but also
into a dedication), and so forth (cf. above).
40
The chapter is a revised form of the article published in JEL (= Görlach 1997b); a shorter version
was presented at the ICEHL Conference at Edinburgh in 1994. For various aspects of this chapter my
recent textbook (Görlach 2002b) can be compared.
The concept is of obvious relevance to the study of bilingualism (individual

and societal) and is particularly useful in explaining how diglossia functions
– whether in the narrower view à la Ferguson, or in the wider understanding
(involving different languages) à la Fishman. Fig. 1, illustrating the
predominant uses of three languages (plus the English standard: dialect
dichotomy), although not detailing specific text types, may serve to intro-
duce the problem.
Text type is, then, defined by textual functions (cf. 3.2.2), although in a
more restricted sense than ‘register’ and ‘style’ are used with reference to
Scots in Romaine (1982) and Devitt (1989). My approach also differs from
that applied by Biber and Finegan in various publications (cf. Biber 1988,
Biber and Finegan 1989): while they also start from broadly situational cat-
egories, the linguistic variants of selected variables are drawn into the defi-
nition at an earlier stage to confirm (or refute) initial hypotheses.
The obvious expansion of the English standard language at first affected
the formal and written registers, and it was to the detriment of French and
Latin.41 In other words, text types as defined in French legal language were
translated into English, and (mainly) scholarly genres from Latin into
English – if the genres were continued as independent types (and not given
up as no longer needed,42 or merged with neighbouring types). New types
would, unsurprisingly, be in English from the very start (e.g. the telegram,
but also the novel).
The histories of European minority languages show the opposite devel-
opment, viz. a reduction of functions. This is attested for Scottish and Irish
Gaelic, and for the final stages of Manx and Cornish. Survival may be in
informal registers, mainly spoken, but it can also happen in very formal
written types, as in the fields of religion and law. Welsh is (or was until
recently) strengthened by its use in the chapels; Latin or other classical lan-
guages have been dead for a long time but survive in the mass, epitaphs or
certain documents. Written evidence from such limited sources is therefore
not a reliable testimony for other functions. For instance, there do not seem
to be any epitaphs in Caribbean Creole, and very few in Scots from times
41 The inventory of text types in use in the English and Scottish communities can be expected to be
largely identical, being based on language functions in a shared West European culture; flyting is one
item that comes to mind as specifically Scottish – but the type (also conventionalized as a literary genre)
is now archaic/historical.
42
Specific types of medieval medical treatises, for instance, were made redundant by scientific progress;
recent political changes in Eastern Europe ended text types like (German) Aktionsprogramm, Dorfent-
wicklungsplan or Ergebenheitsadresse.
Introduction 203
when this was still the common means of communication; the use of French
on gravestones in the Channel Islands and of German in Alsace ceased
without the spoken forms being lost (however much reduced they may be).
In the case of Low German, Catalan, Occitan or Scots there is the addi-
tional complication that formerly independent languages may come to be
felt as dialects of the bigger, more prestigious neighbouring standard lan-
guage (cf. Görlach 1985b). We are here involved in a ‘vicious’ circle – the
more functions are given up, the less useful the receding language is felt to
be, which in due course not only reduces its functions, but impoverishes as
regards its linguistic potential. Moreover, the increasing uses of the related
standard language are likely to lead to convergence with it, which is a mis-
leading term for what is, in our context, dialect erosion. Whereas Gaelic
remains undoubtedly Gaelic however much influenced by English, Scots
can die an unperceived death by becoming more English all the time, until
only pronunciation (accent) differences are left, and therefore not enough
distinctiveness to constitute a proper dialect, let alone a language, whether
by abstand or by attitude.
This also means that in a continuum between Scots and English, the
dividing line is uncertain and largely subjective as is the decision (even if it
is the author’s) on whether a specific spoken or written text should be clas-
sified as the one or the other. This is a very common situation in some soci-
eties in Continental Europe – and in Jamaica, where St E and Creole now
form a continuum (cf. Görlach 1991c). The age-old question whether broad
Glaswegian is Scots has to do with this dilution (but also, of course, with
social stigma); whether Galt or Grassic Gibbon wrote in Scots (as most
readers justly claim) or in English (as could be argued by Englishmen read-
ing their texts with English pronunciation) is a question that permits of
more than one answer.43 Since ‘density’ and ‘intelligibility’ are concepts that
do not allow strict quantification, the ‘Scottishness’ of such texts cannot be
measured in any objective way.
43
Cf. Tulloch’s statement on Gibbon’s literary language; after analysing the elements used, he concludes:
The language which results from the mixture of all these elements is very hard to classify.
Nevertheless, while it is a literary creation suitable to the purposes of one particular book and
not suitable for use in other kinds of narrative, it is in every real sense a Scots narrative voice.
(1985: 173–4)
9.1.2 Historical aspects of the range of Scots
My survey will confirm what is widely known, viz. the retreat of Scots from
most of its functions over the centuries, and, connected with this develop-
ment, a general dilution of the Scots-ness of the texts. However, the trend
was not identical for individual types as regards speed and thoroughness,
and it will become clear what features it depended on and what factors
made at least a partial reversal possible. As a minority ‘L(ow)’ language in
diglossia, the history of Scots is of course not unique, but parallelled by
other languages in a widely shared European framework.
It is a widespread error to believe that Scots would necessarily have
developed into a fully-fledged national language if it had not been for the
Union of the Crowns in 1603. While this certainly removed most of the
institutional support for the standardization and implementation of Scots, it
has to be admitted that such moves were halfhearted at best even when the
political conditions for the establishment of Scots existed. If there had been
any consensus on the desirability of, and need for, a national language
clearly differentiated from English, there would have been opportunities to
translate the Bible into Scots and have it printed, to stop the anglicization of
book printing in 16th-century Edinburgh, to introduce the teaching of Scots
into the schools and to spread James VI’s well-meant Basilicon Doron in its
Scots manuscript form as a pattern set by the monarch, and not have it
printed in an anglicized form by Waldegrave at Edinburgh in 1599 (cf. the
parallel prints of the 1595 and 1603 versions in Görlach 1991b: 310 –2).
There was, as Devitt’s (1989) thorough research confirms, not a single
genre which was deliberately Scots in a puristic way, as Gavin Douglas had
demanded in 1515 when he promised in his introduction to the Aeneid:
“Kepand na sudron bot our awyn langage” (cf. the excerpt in Görlach
1991b: 263). Rather, anglicization was proceeding in all written genres in
the 16th century – and it may have reached a point well before 1603 at
which a return to a national language clearly distinct from English would
have been difficult to implement.
9.2 Formal texts
9.2.1 Introduction
The number of factors determining the use or non-use of Scots in individual

centuries (and the linguistic density of the Scots employed) is quite consid-
Formal texts 205
erable. In what follows, I will employ a grid defined by the factors formal
vs. informal vs. literary and written vs. spoken. The position of ‘literary’ in
this categorization is awkward, but is here preferred in order to avoid a
three-dimensional model in which the contrast ‘literary’ vs. ‘expository’
would be a third dimension.
‘Formality’ obviously has to do with the concepts of ‘standard written
language’ and ‘high prestige’ and it presupposes a stylistic choice. It is a
characteristic of languages like Scots that they employ (predominantly or
exclusively) another ‘high’ language for formal purposes, English in the
case under discussion. This fact also means that the ousting of French and
Latin from their formal functions differed in the histories of Scots and
English. There was no Scottish Mulcaster to ask, in the 1580s, “why not all in
Scots?” – whatever attempts there were to establish a homogeneous written
standard for Scots in independent 16th-century Scotland, they never reached
the stage where a prescriptive norm, codified in grammars and dictionaries
and discussed by the leading grammarians of the nation, came to exist.
Rather, the syntax and style of texts in 16th-century formal Scots dithered
between independent solutions and borrowings from English – however
Scotticized in spelling and morphology they might be.
Romaine (1982) is of surprisingly limited use in the arguments here dis-
cussed. The notion of text type is of little interest to her, and ‘style’ is only
mentioned because it is linked, in a distorted fashion, with Labov’s methods.
By contrast, Devitt (1989), for all her interest in scholarly abstraction, saw
the need for a functional differentiation of texts at least into broad types:
religious treatises, official correspondence, private records, personal corre-
spondence and public records are not watertight categories, nor are the types
in any way comprehensive. It can, however, be convincingly argued that
they are diagnostic for the anglicization process happening in the period and
provide enough contrasts to show that standardization is not a monolithic
process, but that its speed depends on social and stylistic/text type variables.
9.2.2 Administrative texts
Whatever use there was for Scots in the 16th century in types like laws and
proclamations originating from the Edinburgh court and in records of the
burghs, it quickly ceased in the 17th century – Devitt rightly terminated her
research at 1660, after which time there was not much distinctive language
left to record. The close link of these texts with an independent adminis-
tration, national prestige and formality is so obvious that the factors need no
further justification – the proportion of Scots vs. English features is all the
more telling. It is significant that there appear to have been no great regional
differences in this domain, although Scots (or rather a greater proportion of
Scots features in a text that was basically English)44 appears to have lasted a
little longer in the Northeast.
Two texts remind us that the loss of Scots was quite slow after the Union
of the Crowns, retention apparently being supported by traditions of local
pride – and the formulaic character of many of the texts.45 The Statutes of
Iona (1609, pr. 1616) and the Regulations of Dundonald School (ca. 1640,
both texts printed in Görlach 1991b: 384–5, 387–9) might have been
expected to be in the ‘new’ English administrative language, and so the
great number of Scots features found is quite astonishing.
9.2.3 Scholarly prose
The range of text types in scholarly Scots in the 16th century is impressive,
although Latin seems to have had an even stronger hold on Scotland than it
had on England. Was this a consequence of the more uncertain status of the
Scottish national language? If Londoners were uneasy about what form of
scientific English to employ in the late 16th century, doubts must have been
incomparably greater in Edinburgh. It is not certain whether the new
English texts (and which) served as a pattern for Scots writers: texts like
Skeyne’s treatise against the pestilence (1586, excerpt in Görlach 1991b:
365–7) look like independent solutions not guided by English models. This
impression is strengthened by the author’s complaint that it would have
been much easier for him to write in Latin rather than look for solutions in
the vernacular:
And howbeit it become me rather (quha hes bestouit all my Zouthe in the
Sculis) to had vrytin the samin in Latine, Zit vnderstanding sic interpryses
44 It seems impossible to determine from what time on, and in which text types/registers, the deliberate
use of Scots is in fact relexified English, that is a basic English structure with Scots items or features put
in appropriate slots.
45
Devitt (1989: 55) shows that national public records score very high for the five Scots variables she
investigated: the text type is least affected by anglicization among genres of non-literary prose.
However, the use of ane (for a/an), -it (for -ed) and quh- (for wh-) may have been felt as markers of a
specific style, and they do not tell us much about the ‘denseness’ of Scots on other levels, such as the
vocabulary.
Formal texts 207
had bene nothing profitable to the commoun and wulgar people, thocht
expedient and neidfull to express the sam in sic langage as the vnlernit may
be als weil satisfyit as Masteris of Clargie. (quoted in Görlach 1991b: 365)
Many scholarly texts were of course translated from Latin or at least mod-
elled on such sources. It is one of the problems with Romaine’s (1982) data
base for academic Scots that she uses a straightforward translation from
Latin in her analysis of 16th-century relativizers. How far can we assume
that this allows statements on Scots usage? That is, how far can we postulate
a total carryover of Latin grammar in the field of scholarly prose, whether
translated or ‘original’? Was Latinized grammar a regular stylistic feature of
the relevant text types?
9.2.4 Grammar books and metalinguistic reflexion
It is illustrative of the same phenomenon that grammar books describing or

prescribing English were in Latin or in English. However, the tradition did
not start until the very late 16th century – when the heyday of Scots was
over. Therefore, we have no grammar of Scots dating from the 17th, 18th or
19th centuries; in fact we hardly have a modern grammar of the language.
What we do have is Scotsmen describing English – often to make their
compatriots aware of deviances, vulgo errors – and such a text may be in
diluted Scots, or scotticized English, as Alexander Hume’s was in 1617.46
The status of Scots being what it is today, we would expect English as the
medium for a Grammar of Present-Day Scots, even if occasional attempts
have been made (such as Allan 1995; of course not a full grammar) to
expand the uses of Scots into these registers.
There is also a tradition, revived in the Scottish Renaissance, of writing
comparatively short texts on Scots in Scots. The classic specimen is possi-
bly Douglas Young’s “Thochts anent Lallans prose” (1947) – however, S.
Goodsir Smith’s reply “In defence of ‘Lallans’” (1948) was written in
English, which must have been felt to be the more forceful medium (the two
texts are printed in Görlach 2002b: 262–5). Many other authors joined in,
and the convention of Scots reflections on the uses and the future of the
auld leid printed in The Scotsman continued well into the 1980s, culminat-
46
The fact that the work was edited for the Early English Text Society (EETS, 5) is probably no
coincidence.
ing by the way in an anthology which I stimulated (McClure 1981). Most of

the best writers of this journalistic tradition are dead now: a generation of
authors who had Scots as a mother tongue and believed in a future of a stan-
dardized Scots as a written medium for more than just poetry and cartoons
is no longer with us, and if their arguments proposed in the 1940s to 1980s
sounded slightly artificial and unrealistic at the time, they do so much more
today. Scots has beautifully shown its capacity for this type of scholarly
text, but no language planning can be successful if not accepted by those on
whose behalf it is (allegedly) undertaken.47
9.2.5 The language of religion
The picture is also bleak as far as the language of religion is concerned. As

has frequently been stated, the absence of a printed Scots translation of the
Bible in 16th-century Scotland greatly contributed to the popular misunder-
standing that (spoken) Scots was a low-prestige dialect of written standard
English as represented in the Bible – often the only book in Scottish house-
holds. In its written form, English supplied a complete register of religious
language long before other domains were affected.48 This applies to biblical
prose, printed church hymns (cf. ch.6) and smaller forms like gravestone
inscriptions. Whenever such texts were read out or sung it is likely that
speakers substituted their native forms of Scots, identifying English words
with their Scots equivalents wherever possible.49 However, we do not seem
to have any unambiguous evidence for this inherently plausible assumption.
47
Contrast Billy Kay’s more realistic procedure, who used in The Mither Tongue (1986, 21993) a highly
diluted Scots, or rather English with a thin Scots veneer. It remains to be seen whether language planning
for N Ireland which includes a standardization of Ulster Scots (‘Ullans’) will be successful (cf. Görlach
2000).
48 Devitt (1989: 55) found that religious treatises of before 1660 showed by far the greatest degree of
anglicization among the five genres of non-literary prose she compared, and that the sharp rise in the
number of English features happened very early, between 1540 and 1560. Although her analysis is based
on only five variables, anglicization is likely to have affected all levels in this domain, including lexis.
49 Note that such ‘scotticization’ of the printed Bible affects pronunciation (and marginally morphology)
only, but does not restitute a full Scots register in syntax and lexis. It therefore comes close to the Scotsness
of Nisbet’s adaptation, which was not a new translation but a minimal accommodation of the 14th-century
English source. If this New Testament had formed the basis of the vernacular Scottish tradition, it would
have carried into Scots almost the same amount of anglicization of the religious language that the English
Bibles did. (Compare for the limited effect on Low German, Bugenhagen’s ‘translation’ of Luther’s High
German version.)
Formal texts 209
The status of written English appears to have been so unchallenged that to

attempt a translation of the Bible, or to use Scots in the ritual, was felt to be
as incongruous as the idea of a Bible in Jamaican Creole is today. No sur-
prise, then, that the history of biblical translation is patchy and marginal for
the Scots tradition (cf. Tulloch 1989) – the strangest detail being that the
first New Testament in Scots was translated in Canada, and the book of
Genesis in Australia.50 Generally speaking, translations were made when the
texts could serve only nostalgic or literary functions, and not help – as
Renaissance versions in various European vernaculars had done – to con-
tribute to a respectable norm and homogenization.51 Luther’s (admittedly
often overrated) contribution to Standard German is perhaps the best
instance of this kind of impact. By contrast, modern Scots versions, like
Lorimer’s excellent rendering (1983), came much too late: Scots is no
longer the language of the heart for most Scotsmen, as it arguably would
have been in the 18th century when it could have served as an anti-model to
intellectual English, nor is religion central enough in modern society to be
very influential – whether in morals or linguistic norms.52
With these remarks in mind, it is difficult to interpret uses of Scots in
religious texts when we find them occasionally. For instance, I have never
seen a gravestone inscribed in Scots, but the two quoted by ‘Old Mortality’
(1875: 174 and 80) sound authentic enough. What made the relatives of the
deceased use Scots, one wonders? Is the satire in the first text sufficient
explanation for the choice of the language? In the absence of any sociohis-
torical context for these few specimens, it is probably wiser not to speculate.
Here lye the banes of Thomas Tyre,

Wha lang had budg’d thro’ slush and mire,
In carrying bundles and sic like,
His task performing wi’ sma’ fyke;
To deal in snuff Tam aye was free,
And served his friends for little fee.
50
By remarkable coincidence, the authors, W.W. Smith and H.P. Cameron, followed the extraterritorial
pattern of M. Nisbet, whose translation was made during his exile on the Continent, ca. 1520. For a recent
survey of Scots texts written in Australia see Tulloch (1997).
51 Lorimer is claimed (according to Tulloch 1989: 75) to have hoped that his translation might help
revitalize the Scots language – one wonders on what sociolinguistic basis this expectation was formed.
52 My views differ greatly from those of McClure, who finds: “as the tradition of a close verbal knowl-
edge of parts of the Bible [is not yet extinct] in Scotland, Lorimer’s work could be the perfect means of
acclimatizing a fair-sized section of the populace to Scots in written form” (1995a: 61).
His life obscure was naething new,

Yet we must own his faults were few;
Although at Yule he sip’d a drap,
And in the church whiles took a nap,
True to his word in every case,
Tam scorned to cheat for lucre base.
Now he is gone to test the fare
Which none but honest men will share.
Died January 2, 1795. Aged 72.
(West Hillside, Ayrshire, Old Mortality 1875: 174)
Man, tak hed to me, In my youth grene,

How thou sal be That I was clene
Chwan thou art ded, Of body as ye are;
Drye as a trei, Bot for my eyen
Vermes sal eat ye; Now twa holes bene
Thy great bovte Of me is sene
Sal be lyk ledd. But banes bare.
Ye time hath bene,
(Howff, Dundee, n.d., Old Mortality 1875: 80)
The slim corpus of Scottish religious literature (mainly poems) is, then, the
only written text type recorded for formal post-16th-century texts. As far as
spoken Scots is concerned, we would expect some accommodation to local
pronunciation in gospel readings, and denser Scots in some sermons, but
with religious terminology largely dependent on English, such local fea-
tures did not make up any greater deviance than might possibly be found in
19th-century Yorkshire or Devon churches (mainly Nonconformist).
9.2.6 Formal speech
A great deal of uncertainty prevails regarding the types of formal speech in

secular registers. The few indications of spoken Scots come from secondary
sources. Sir Walter Scott’s description of educated Scots is well known,
with his accompanying qualification that this type of language was going
out of use in Edinburgh society in the second half of the 18th century. (Cf.
the passage from Chronicles of the Canongate quoted in Tulloch 1980: 172;
much later this situation was the basis of the reconstruction in McLellan’s
Informal language 211
The Flouers o Edinburgh, 1947.) It appears that Scottish lexis – apart from
the ScE foreignisms relating to Scotland-specific features in education, the
law and other domains – would have gone out of use in Scottish formal
speech quite early on, but markedly Scots pronunciations were certainly
avoided from the mid-18th century onwards in formal educated urban
speech.
9.3 Informal language
9.3.1 Introduction
It is obvious that informal, intimate usage is, and always has been, a strong-
hold of Scots. Muir’s (1936: 21) persuasively simple formula for post-18th-
century Scotland, viz. that it is a nation which “feels in one language and
thinks in another”, reduces a complex setup to a largely complementary distri-
bution of the two languages, that is, to the classical diglossic situation. We
should therefore expect Scots to survive much better in informal contexts –
the difficulty being that for historical periods we depend on written sources
and that written uses are largely coextensive with formal ones. Informality
can be signalled by register misuse, but to detect this involves us in an inter-
pretation of the author’s (ironic, facetious, playful) intentions which we
may not be able to reconstruct without being caught in a vicious circle.
9.3.2 Private letters
It may come as a surprise that the corpus of private letters in Scots is as

small as it is.53 The first specimen after 170054 is Burns’s only example of
the type; it was written to his good friend William Nicol, and the playful
character of the exercise is apparent. This is also evident from the specific
features used for the jeu d’esprit.
53 Note, however, that Ferguson states that the H variety is common for private letters – a fact sup-
ported by the continuance of French in such uses well into the 15th century, although ME was available
to English correspondents.
54
Devitt (1989: 54–70) found that personal correspondence between 1520 and 1659 was the least angli-
cized genre among non-literary prose, with the exception of national public records. It remains unclear
how far her findings, based on five variables, reflect the Scotsness of her texts on other levels. Note that
individual cases of anglicization occur very early, as in Knox’s letters and in compromise forms in James
VI’s letters to Elizabeth (cf. Görlach 1991b: 350–4).
The rarity of private letters in Scots is clear evidence that sociolinguistic

conventions did not permit the use of Scots in this text type – for whatever
reasons. This makes it certain that Scott violated sociolinguistic norms when
he had Jeanie write letters home in braid Scots in The Heart of Midlothian
(1818). If you wrote anything, including private letters, you would do so in
English (though possibly not Standard English), Scots being reserved to oral
communication. It took me some persuasion, in 1980, to make J. K. Annand
write a private letter in Scots (discussing his translation of Max und Moritz
as Dod and Davie, see Görlach 2002b: 286) – even to an active writer and
proponent of Scots like him it must have seemed a breach of a convention –
and with how many people would he have discussed the matter in spoken
Scots?
9.3.3 Journalism
9.3.3.1 The situation in the 19th century
By contrast, the range of texts in newspapers is quite wide; so it will be

necessary to subdivide the evidence and the interpretation. It should be
remembered, however, that one of the most prolific journalists writing in
Scots, W. Alexander, was also the great Northeastern Scots novelist, who
provided the most convincing 19th-century illustration of the potentials of
Scots in his Johnny Gibb (1871). The fact that the expected readers are not
trained to either read or write dialect spelling provides the greatest obstacle
to the use of Scots (or English dialects) in newspapers and similar publica-
tions. The least sociolinguistic requirement is that dialect is so widespread in
oral use that reading aloud will bring the spoken dialect to life. This argument
applies to Yorkshire almanacs in broad dialect (current until the 1920s) as it
does to experiments in Scots journalism – and to dialect in novels like F.H.
Burnett’s That Lass o’Lowrie’s (1877) as well as Johnny Gibb. Journalistic
uses also imply that the writer has a local community with a largely homo-
geneous variety in mind when he uses its often dense dialect (as Alexander
did in the case of the Northeast); otherwise he might use a diluted variety,
relying for effect on high-frequency general items and phonetic spellings
including eye-dialect.
9.3.3.2 News reports
Donaldson (1986, 1989) has attached great weight to 19th-century journalistic

texts in Scots, which was produced after the foundation of many smaller
newspapers in Scottish provincial towns. His argument is, however, biased
because he fails to give any ratio comparing the frequency of journalistic
texts in Scots and English. It is quite clear that Scots was the exception even
in the heyday of such uses, when spoken Scots must still have been common
in the speech communities addressed – and that there were only a few
authors joining in what must have been felt to be a linguistic experiment
(soon in fact to be dropped).
This does not mean that the language used by these journalists is uncon-
vincing – quite the contrary. Readers who take the trouble to plough
through the texts, less tractable today than they were for native speakers in
the 19th century, will be surprised how convincingly Scots works for topics
like international politics and the Crimean War. However, it is somewhat
difficult to judge the experiment a hundred years later – its appeal is cer-
tainly much more intellectual today than it was when the texts were first
produced.
However, the erosion of Scots, especially in its lexis, means that such
texts are no longer a sensible proposition today, if they are to be produced
for and expected to be read by a reasonable proportion of the Lowland
Scots population.55
9.3.3.3 Gossip columns, cartoons etc.
The situation is quite different for less formal shorter texts. The Broons has
always been one of the most popular sections of Scottish weekend papers. It
is easy to point to the linguistic reasons for its success: the texts accompa-
nying the cartoons are very short, witty, highly conversational and com-
posed in a middle-of-the-road, easy-to-understand Scots, lexically enriched
by overt scotticisms and stereotypes. The same is true of chatty columns,
anecdotes, jokes and similar texts, based on (or being close to) spoken col-
loquial and somewhat diluted Scots. It is all the more remarkable that the
55
The small corpus of expository prose in the Lallans magazine does not refute my argument. The
texts must be classified as – still – experimental, written for a small (diminishing?) audience, and the
very fact that leaders or book reviews in Scots strike nearly all Scotsmen as odd confirms my point.
frequency of such texts has receded in Scottish newspapers, colloquial/

slangy English having largely taken their place.56 That this text type in par-
ticular should be represented by non-standard forms is no surprise: when-
ever Jamaican Creole, German dialect and many other ‘L’ varieties appear
in newspapers, they are also predominantly found in such uses.
9.3.4 Cooking recipes
If the frequency and range of Scots are restricted in modern newspapers,

they are even more so in other informal texts. Macleod, who edited the ear-
liest Scottish cookery book, Mrs. McLintock’s Receipts for Cookery and
Pastry-Work (Glasgow 1736), speaks out for the Scots character of the text.
In fact, it is composed in English sprinkled with 57 a few Scottish heteronyms,
especially as far as measures and a few dishes and plant names are concerned
(cf. 4.4.2 above). It is difficult to interpret the situation in the absence of
earlier texts – was an English tradition taken over to replace an earlier
French one? Or was there an intermediate Scots tradition between the 15th
and 18th century, which was unwritten/unprinted, or whose rare texts did
not survive? Although the everyday context might lead one to expect a
much more Scots-dominated tradition, there are in fact no traces of it extant.
9.3.5 Advertisements
Since the success of commercial advertising depends on its appeal to the

potential buyer, a modicum of Scots might well be expected. In fact, it is
almost completely absent from printed advertisements – but this absence is
largely parallelled in German or English dialect. For Scots, this could possibly
be explained by the fact that modern newspaper advertising started in the
18th century (cf. 5.1.7), but acquired its informal style only in the 19th, that
is, too late for Scots to be used. Accordingly, facs. 25, an advertisement that
comes from a booklet devoted to Scots funny stories, is the most English
part of the publication. Where advertising does employ a few snippets of
56
For jokes cf. 3.6. below. A special type of cartoon not tried until recently is a translation of Asterix
(Allan, in progress).
57
The statement is much more appropriate for McLintock’s text than for Burns’s poetry, though Burns
self-critically used this expression with relation to his own poetical language.
Scots, the use is justified by a breach of the convention, which draws

attention to the piece in question. (Note that by contrast in some local radio
commercials dense Scots accents – and occasional lexical items – prevail.)
In personal advertisements, the degree of formality plays the decisive role –
Scots is possible in announcements of births, marriages and birthdays
(though very rare even in these contexts), but thought inappropriate for
deaths. Again, the situation is parallel to the restricted uses of German
dialect for such functions.
9.3.6 Humour
Jokes are essentially a spoken medium; collections of jokes serve a memo-

rizing function for those who wish to retell them – rather than read them
silently. This dependence on speech means that various peculiarities can be
reflected, more or less adequately, in transliteration; more frequently, it is
left to the teller to supply social, regional or idiosyncratic features.
Comparatively few early jokes survive (although elements of jokes, like
punning, may be found in Shakespeare etc.) Two early instances in which
Scots forms part of the humour are told in English – the 16th-century story
of the Scotsman who wanted a bare head from a London joiner (text in
Görlach 1991b: 21),58 and Sir Walter Scott’s story about the shot fired to kill
dukes and fools (both discussed above in ch. 8). Another story playing with
Scots pronunciations ends with the author not being amused at all:
There is a good story told of a Scotch countryman who went to a draper’s to

buy some cloth. On taking the article in his hands and examining it, he says
interrogatively to the shopkeeper, “Oo?” The shopkeeper answers, “Ou ah
oo.” The countryman then asks again “A ae oo?” “Ou ah,” says the draper,
“A ae oo”. And yet this is English or thought to be so. 59
58 The text appears to be the first in a long tradition of English writers imitating Scots, mostly for
humoristic reasons, ranging from Shakespeare to many items in Punch. By contrast, Banim’s use of
Scots (in descriptions of the Battle on the Boyne!) is an instance of a slavish imitation of Scott. For other
authors (like Dickens, Stoker etc.) it is just an easily available anti-language (whether humorously
intended or not), though not always well-handled.
59
C. Milton (p.c.) recalls this conversation (as an illustration of an exchange entirely in vowel sounds)
as: “Oo? Aye, Aa oo? Aye aa oo. Aa ae oo? Aye, aa ae oo…” (Wool? Yes. All wool? Yes, all wool. All
one wool? Yes, all one wool…).
On the whole, jokes printed in Scots seem to be rare. This would not surprise
us if the Scots left the telling of anti-Scots jokes to the English, but there is
no tradition of anti-English jokes using Scots, nor any vital tradition in
other fields, either. There is, however, a strong tradition of ‘humorous’
Scots based on local dialect. Perhaps the best known is that of Glaswegian,
which largely relies on a combination of racy idiomatic expressions, linguistic
and other stereotypes – and phonetic spelling (Mackie 1979). Jocular texts,
sometimes collected pieces from weekend editions of popular papers, have
been successful in other areas as well (e.g. in Aberdeen, Hardie 1986). By
contrast, humorous Scots on the stage, for pantomime, comedy shows and
cabaret, has a much longer and more vital tradition (Baxter, Connolly, etc.).
9.4 Literary texts
9.4.1 Introduction
Literature stands apart in many ways. Textual traditions, genre-specific con-

ventions, linguistic experiments and possibly disregard of easy intelligibility,
employment of archaic or ‘plastic’ forms of the language – all lead us to
expect that successes and failures of a language are not necessarily the same
when literary texts are compared with other types. These conclusions are
most evident when one looks at texts written in dead languages, but the pos-
sibilities and dangers are obvious in other languages, too – not least in those
coming to be disused by the speech community, but provided with a great
literary tradition. MacDiarmid’s slogan “Back to Dunbar” neatly sums up
the problem for Scots. However, in contrast to Ireland, where an artificial
gaelicized language had to be created by Lady Gregory and Synge, the Scots
had a non-English, Germanic tradition to fall back on, and could rely on its
prestige, when they took up the hint of the Irish Renaissance.
9.4.2 Narrative prose
The limitations of prose have been sketched above with regard to newspaper
writing – although in literary texts readers may be willing to allow the
author a greater degree of freedom in his stylistic and linguistic decisions.
However, longer texts in a variety not one’s own, or only marginally known
(as dialect texts or those in Scots and Low German are) require a great
degree of patience on the part of the readers. It is no wonder, then, that
Literary texts 217
Scots literary prose is found mainly in two forms: short stories and dialogue
in novels (which is normally interrupted by expository prose in English).60
Even with Scots still dominant in much of 19th-century Scotland, only three
major short stories were written, and Alexander’s Johnny Gibb (1871) is the
only specimen of a high-quality novel written in Scots throughout – not a
big haul for a semi-national literature. By contrast, various compromises
were tried out, mainly very ‘thin’ Scots, whose distinctiveness lies not in
their very few non-English words, but rather in rhythm and expression.
Writers of such prose are Galt and Gibbon. There remains the question of
how diluted a speech form can be and still deserve the name of a distinct
language. Similar reservations are often voiced with regard to Glaswegian
texts in phonetic spelling, which has been very popular from the 1970s
onwards (Leonard, Kelman, etc.).
In narrative prose, and in drama in particular, the author is confronted
with the problem of ‘realistic’ language: whether the form of Scots employed
is sociolinguistically plausible61 is not necessarily a criterion of its success.
McLellan’s characters in The Flouers (1947) speak a mixture of Lanarkshire
dialect and Plastic quite unlike 18th-century Edinburgh Scots; Barrie’s
Kirriemuir people speak the same kind of unadulterated Angus dialect
regardless of age and social class (cf. McClure 1995a: 88–9). Even more
artificial is W.P. Milne’s ‘pure’ Buchan, used to portray early 18th-century
speakers, “the historical setting [being] a patent excuse for the presence of
this reconstructed dialect” (McClure 1995a: 95). It could be argued that set-
ting their stories in the distant past added the concept of a ‘purer’ nostalgic
form of dialect found as early as Gavin Douglas – and underlying the recon-
structed homogeneous ideal of traditional dialectology. In contrast to this is
Galt’s practice and his documentation of the contemporary decline of Scots:
The use of Scots … adds to the social realism of the novel: the changing status
of the language is reflected with fair accuracy …. The gradual displacement of
Scots by English … is seen in action in The Entail: in the early stages of the
book Scots is almost the invariable medium for the characters’ conversations,
but by the end the Leddy is the only important character who is still speaking
it consistently. (McClure 1995a: 142)
60
Ogston’s compromise is that, in his White Stone Country (1986) and Dry Stone Days (1988), he pro-
duced a series of stories which can be read one by one rather than writing full-length novels.
61
Cf. the related convention of a Scots-speaking narrator, a device which Milne “stretched far beyond
the limits of credibility […] almost subject[ed] to […] a reductio ad absurdum” (McClure 1995a: 97).
9.4.3 Lyrical poems
Although the ‘dilution’ of Scots is a problem for lyrical poets too (as a com-
parison of Fergusson and Burns will easily show),62 the short form and the
even greater willingness of readers to expect the use of unusual language
give the poet more leeway than the prose writer. Compared to other text
types, poetry is certainly the great forte of Scots – the last stronghold, many
observers might claim. However, comparison with eminently successful
neo-Latin poems will be enough to point out the danger.63
In a genre marked by originality and unconventional use of language it is
not surprising that the range and varieties of Scots used by individual poets
are immense:
[…] each poet – practically each poem – has employed a language which is
in some respects sui generis. Goodsir Smith’s neo-aureate diction, Douglas
Young’s mediaeval and Germanic exuberance, the mixed spice of Aberdeen-
shire dialect and voguish slang in the vocabulary of Alexander Scott, the
deceptively colloquial ring of Robert Garioch: the linguistic differences are
far greater than could be found among contemporary English-writing poets
of comparable stature. If spoken Scots is a group of dialects, it is not much
of an exaggeration to say that written Scots is a group of idiolects.
(McClure 1995a: 24)
McClure goes on to point out that with all the eminent quality of 20th-century
Scots poets, “much of the work of the Scots Renaissance school is decidedly
obscure, and largely unknown for that reason.” By contrast, there has been a
long tradition of popular poetry, including ballads and nursery rhymes, in a
kind of general Scots, and some poets associated with the Scottish Literary
Renaissance (William Soutar in particular) have preferred to use this as a
model for their poems when writing for children.
62 McClure (1995a: 161–70) has demonstrated that there is a great deal of inconsistency in Ramsay’s
1721 poems, which can be considered to have formed a model for some of the 18th-century ‘revival’.
Ramsay divided his collection into seven genres (serious, comick, satyrick, pastoral, lyrick, epistolary
and epigrammatical) – but the pastoral section “is the only one which approaches linguistic and stylistic
homogeneity” (1995a: 162). McClure takes great pains in classifying the language used as ‘English’,
‘Anglicised Scots’, ‘Thin Scots’ and ‘Full Scots’ – which serves to show even more clearly that Ramsay
apparently made no attempt to correlate Scotsness with genre – as might well have been expected.
63
McClure (1995a: 182) confirms that “many contemporary Scots writers have opted for a frankly arti-
ficial language, […] and by this means have achieved brilliant effects.” This results in the seeming para-
dox that “although spoken Scots has never been weaker, Scots literature has never since the eighteenth
century been stronger”.
Literary texts 219
The alternative solution, using local dialect as the poetical medium, is both
more limiting and, in a way, more successful. Charles Murray’s north-eastern
poems were sneered at as provincial by MacDiarmid, but they had a firm
place in the hearts of local audiences, who detected their language in the
texts, and it is significant that much of the poetry written in present-day
Scots still comes from the Northeast.
9.4.4 Drama
Plays, if intended to be produced, depend on intelligible language. They

also rely, if intended to be realistic, on the use of a language which at least
sounds plausible for the situation. Both restrictions limit the use of Scots in
drama – even if productions are meant exclusively for Scotland – but what
writer would be willing to limit himself to a dwindling audience?
Two solutions have been tried: the playwright may either set the plot in a
historical period when Scots was still common, and its use therefore sounds
plausible in the author’s mouthpieces. McLellan, without claiming to have
reconstructed authentic 18th-century Scots, produced a convincing dramati-
zation of language conflict during the period of the enlightenment in his The
Flouers o Edinburgh in 1947. As far as denseness is concerned, there will
have to be a compromise between the more purist author and the audience
who will have to understand the dialogue at first hearing (unless we assume
that they come prepared by reading the text in advance). Differences
between dramatists’ originals, actual production and, in particular, the pub-
lished texts show interesting attempts at making texts more immediately
intelligible, usually by reducing the Scots element, especially in lexis (Lenz
1996).64 The alternative is to use a non-standard language from urban
settings, frequently Glasgow; the topics are here limited to social conflict or
genre scenes from particular social classes – intelligibility again being the
problem, and dilution again the solution.
64
Unsurprisingly, such accommodation is usual when Scots classics are dramatised for nation-wide
television, with the result that “English critics [complain about] the ‘incomprehensible’ dialect while
Scots ones complain that the language of the original has been unnecessarily Anglicised” (McClure
1995a: 14).
9.4.5 Translation
Translating a literary text is a creative act sui generis. The original text is
there to be judged, and the translator can decide at leisure whether his inter-
ests and linguistic competence are compatible with the job and whether the
potentials of the target language match that of the original. Frequency of
translation, rather than being a pest (as Dr Johnson held), can expand the
ranges of a language enormously. This was well-known to Britons in the
16th century who argued that both English and Scots (cf. statements by
Mulcaster, Lyndsay and Gavin Douglas) had to be employed by the best
writers if the vernaculars were ever to equal the expressiveness and elegance
of Latin.
It is a striking feature of present-day Scots that translation dominates
literary activity as much as it seems to do (cf. Corbett 1999, France and
Glen 1989). Shakespeare and Homer, the Carmina Burana and German
folksong, Busch (cf. Görlach 1986, 1990), Molière and Rimbaud have been
tried, as have been (with even greater relevance for the national literature,
one is tempted to say) Gaelic poets of the 20th century.
9.5 Conclusion
Devitt (1989) rightly stressed the fact that the progress of anglicization (or,
the continuance of Scots) has to be looked at genre by genre, and register by
register. Her analysis shows for the time before 1660 that factors like ‘liter-
ariness’, ‘formality’ and ‘topic/field’ are involved in the writers’ decisions
and the readers’ expectations in various combinations, and while the general
trend may be similar for all genres, there are huge differences in the speed
and thoroughness of the impact of English.
My analysis, mainly based on texts produced after 1700, has a different
focus. I have asked whether authors deliberately opted for Scots when writ-
ing a text, and not how much of a sprinkling of Scots features was left in
spite of the ongoing anglicization. However, authors’ decisions apparently
came to depend even more on text type as time went on – because there were
more programmatic considerations involved. And although the categories
on which I have based my classification of text types (literariness, formality
and field, as above) continue to be decisive, they do not allow us to predict
the choice of Scots, nor the density of the Scots used. This rather depends
on textual traditions as well as political and aesthetic preferences of a very
personal and often experimental kind – there is no social convention left for
Conclusion 221
any regular and predictable use of Scots, with the possible exception of
informal spoken Scots as used by close-knit speech communities like
Glasgow suburbs or Buchan fishing communities.
Can Scots (and other semilanguages in a similar position, such as Low
German or Occitan) be saved? Social and political conditions being what
they are, there is little public support for considering them (national) lan-
guages rather than dialects – not even (after devolution!) from the Scottish
National Party. Recognition as a minority language in the European Charter
in 1999 has meant some official support in Northern Ireland, but has had
very little effect in Scotland. Scots has lost ground in almost all the text
types here considered, and where it has survived, it has often done so in
much diluted forms that, at least in their written representations, have too
little abstand from English to be immediately recognized as realizations of
an independent language rather than of an English dialect. This process is at
the heart of the history of the Scots language, from the 15th-century Makars
through Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Galt to Gibbon (not to mention writers
like Thomson, Carlyle and Muir who opted for English in the first place).
When fitting the development of individual text types into a more gen-
eral scheme, the parallels with languages in a similar situation become even
more apparent. In Görlach (1991c) I sketched a ‘life cycle of diglossia’
which I can now complement with the arguments put forward in this paper:
mono-lingualism Jamaican Scots Low German primary speakers

in L1 Pidgin/Creole
(1) mixture; high beginning semi-English of Missingsch = emergence

percentage of decreolization in Scottish upper mixed from Low of a continuum,
bilinguals 19C class in 18C and High G. 18- colloquial uses
19C of mesolect
and/or
(2) stable H sys- Standard Standard Scottish High G. on Low eradication of L
tem after language Caribbean English English (mainly G. sub-stratum, by schools
shift; high propor- (accent) defined by accent) esp. close to
tion of mono- written G.
lingual H speakers
(3) increase of few literary uses; restricted to neo-Low G. as a

prestige of L, but also cf. literature (Lallans) second dialect; secondary
revival, standardi- Devonish (1986) and scholarly radio, newspaper speakers
zation of L minor- investigation and language-
ity dialect society Low G.
H-variety, international St E international (Br) High G.

prestige, norm St E
Figure 19. The ‘life cycle’ of diglossia (based on Görlach 1991c: 81)
Before returning to the prospects of Scots, I think it may be helpful to recall

the closest parallel to be found among European minority languages, Low
German (= LG). Some 10,000,000 people in Northern Germany (Stellmacher
1987) are said to have at least passive competence in a language that is about
as far away from Standard German as Scots is from English, and shares
many sociolinguistic characteristics, being:
– mainly spoken,
– mostly used in rural communities of the northern half of the territory,
– the ‘L’ variety and widely considered a dialect and not a language.
However, there are enormous differences in status. LG has never had a lit-
erary compromise language as Scots has (rather, LG was widely used, in
‘pure’ form, in 19th-century verse (Groth) and prose (Reuter) – literature
that never became part of the German national literature). In the 20th century
LG has received widespread institutional support in West Germany – the
eastern groups of speakers having been expelled from East Prussia and
Pomerania after 1945, and the Communist regime in the GDR not being in
favour of dialect in general.
LG was, and is, widely used on radio (sermons, narrative prose, radio
plays – and experimentally also in news broadcasts), by the church and
occasionally in local parliaments (there was a discussion in the national par-
liament, the Bundestag, in 1993 in which some MPs spoke in LG on LG). It
is not used as a medium in schools – but taught to adults in extramural edu-
cation. Many LG books are still being published, but newspapers have
weekend columns at best – most speakers of LG are not used to reading
their mother tongue and do not particularly enjoy the practice. Has all this
support stabilized LG? It is certainly true that the prestige connected with
these public uses, and the variety of its functions, may have convinced some
speakers that it would be a pity to give it up. However, no new ground has
been covered as far as written text types are concerned. Even radio LG is
disliked by many, who do not recognize their local speech and find the stan-
dardized form of LG artificial and too formal – in obvious contrast to the
public’s evaluation of ‘natural’ LG.
The fact that dialect speakers do not accept the standardized variety and
may reject the idea of a norm is recorded from many places. Irish speakers
in the Gaeltachts find that middle-class Dublin L2 Gaelic is not ‘their’ lan-
guage – it makes their native dialect sound corrupt and low (Hindley 1990);
the range of Provençal and Gascogne dialects makes Standard Occitan look
like a philological construct, and speakers of Scots dialects find Lallans and
Conclusion 223
Plastic strange. If Scots is informal, spoken, local, and serves intimate

speaker networks, then a supraregional, formal and correct norm would rob
it of its most treasured qualities. Apparently not all Scotsmen – as far as
they speak Scots – see Muir’s (1936) intellectual complaint as justified,
being quite happy with a functioning diglossia (as Swiss Germans com-
monly are).
If there is a lesson to be learnt for Scots, it certainly is that greater toler-
ance of spoken dialects – as long as native speakers see a reason in using
them – would be very helpful. However, an expansion of Scots into various
written (or even formal spoken) registers is not likely to be acceptable for
most dialect speakers, and less so for standard speakers.
It follows that corpus planning is an academic exercise unless accom-
panied by status planning. Linguistic nationalism, as evident to our surprise
from many Eastern European regions, can do the job, so that lexicographers,
grammarians and translators only have to start work to meet the demand.
However, under present conditions it is not good enough to expand the range
of Scots to text types in which its use is new or has been neglected for ages.
Mulcaster’s “Why not all in English?” was asked in 1582 (cf. Görlach
1991b: 227) against the background of a vernacular shared by all English-
men, who had a strong desire to acquire educated London English, which
was felt to be the correct and prestigious form, and at a time when growing
national pride was beginning to express itself in the active use of English in
literature, philosophy, and the sciences. None of these conditions is met by
present-day Scots and Scottish society. I was possibly mistaken when I asked
J. K. Annand in 1980 to translate the Mulcaster passage (in McClure 1981):
“The state of Scots” is a fine text and theoretically a convincing argument –
but the two sociohistorical setups are simply not the same. I am all for an
experimental expansion of the function of Scots, but such texts being in print
does not change the situation. Kloss’s (1978) statement that a fully-fledged
language needs expository prose is correct, but it does not follow that the
existence of a few pieces of expository prose read by the subscribers of the
Lallans magazine raises the status of Scots from that of a Halbsprache to
that of a fully independent, comprehensive, prestigious national language.
Linguistic devolution has not yet taken place, and today even enthusiastic
supporters of Scots are beginning to doubt whether it ever will. The success,
or failure, of written Scots in Northern Ireland (Görlach 2000) is certain to
have an impact for the greater Scots-using area, but all indications lead us to
suspect that the creation of a formal, written standard Scots (Ullans) will
not be a success in Ulster – and, by implication, in Scotland.
10 Text types and Indian English
10.1 Introduction 65
The spread of English around the world, especially in the course of the last
two hundred years, has had a great variety of political, economic and cultural
consequences. Among these, the study of what has become of the English
language in the process of its geographical expansion is a topic that has
grown into an independent and flowering subdiscipline of sociolinguistics
(cf. ch. 1). In the course of its history, the focus of linguistic description has
taken various questionable turns; this means that there is still a great deal
left to do for scholars interested in historical sociolinguistics.
First, there was a phase in which varieties which have only recently come
to be accepted as ‘New Englishes’ were looked down upon as barbarous
corruptions in the mouths of less educated speakers; the linguist’s job, it was
argued, was to put things right by remedial education (and this task might
not even include a proper description of the deviant variety).
Second, such deviances were of interest only if they could be neatly clas-
sified according to linguistic levels – spelling, pronunciation, morphology,
syntax, and lexis. (Such descriptions could, then, in turn be misunderstood
as prescriptive and be used as corrective tools for those who felt a need for
them.)
However, linguists did not sufficiently understand how the non-European
functions which the exported language was given, for example in India,
made more thorough forms of adaptation necessary: the deviances, striking
as they might appear in the areas of non-BrE pronunciation and syntax,
were in fact more fundamental in the fields of pragmatics and stylistics (cf.
Kachru 1983).
It has to be realized that a second language is by definition restricted to a
limited set of intranational functions; not having any sizeable number of
native speakers in the speech community, it cannot be expected to exhibit
the full range of styles, domains and text types – and norms tend to be
65
The present paper is partly based on my discussion of text types, with illustrative specimens, in
Görlach (1995d). The writings of B.B. Kachru and the collection of IndE texts gathered and interpreted
by the late R.R. Mehrotra were also very stimulating; the latter also kindly allowed me to use two of the
texts in his collection, and supplied me with two copies of cookery books and a few issues of regional
newspapers. A shorter version of this paper was first presented at the Anglistentag 1993.
borrowed from outside. There are, in particular, four interrelated reasons for
this which should form part of any hypothesis put forward to account for
the evidence:
1. The limited input of English under colonial administration (predominantly

written, and concentrating on texts like the Bible in the Authorized
Version; administrative/legal texts; literature ranging from Shakespeare
and Milton to the Romantic poets and 19th-century novelists: the classical
canon of English grammar schools and universities).
2. The restricted uses of English in South Asian daily life, not employed
where native textual traditions existed which were fully adequate for the
functions envisaged.
3. Native concepts of stylistic decorum with regard to text types (as defined
in the Indian spectrum) and conventionalized in the tradition of indigenous
languages, say Hindi, Urdu or Tamil. Certain features which strike a British
or American speaker of English as strange may well be consequences of
stylistic or pragmatic carry-overs from native traditions (‘loan style’).
4. The creation of new ESL text types which have no equivalent in BrE or
AmE, but are conventional and normal in the native culture (e.g. the
Indian type of matrimonial advertisements).
A checklist of sociolinguistic and structural questions may therefore help to

focus the investigation (ch. 2.1 above).
Not all text types can, then, be expected to be characteristic of the new
uses and linguistic structures of transported English. Since no comprehensive
study of the topic has ever been undertaken for IndE, or any other ESL variety
(and therefore certainly has not been treated in a contrastive way, either),66
my survey must be very provisional.
Also, it is not at all easy to define in a scholarly way which text types in
New Englishes are particularly deviant, for what reasons and in what linguis-
tic features.67 Labru (1984: 54–5) appears to be mistaken when he restricts
66 Note the approach in Platt et al. (1984) which – stressing the features shared by ESL varieties –
might have been extended to include text types (but has not been so far).
67 Kachru (1982: 364) points to the transplantation of English rhetorical styles into a South Asian context,
and the importance of native ideas of propriety and stylistic embellishment, adding that “the reaction of
native English speakers to such ‘deviant’ communicative styles and rhetorical devices has not been one
of understanding, as exemplified by the use of attitudinally marked terms such as Latinity, phrase-
mongering, polite diction, moralistic tone, or bookishness.” He discusses matrimonial advertisements,
announcements of death, personal letters, legal and administrative language, and forms of South Asian
literature as exemplifying the nativization of English in Indian contexts.
Introduction 227
his argument to ‘registers’ which have no equivalent in British culture; he

claims that:
Not all the registers of Indian English are distant from their counterparts in
English English. Some of India’s institutions such as law, administration,
academies, the national press and the parliament, etc., are modeled on British
institutions. Indian English is not, therefore, too markedly ‘Indian’ in the
registers pertaining to these subjects, the following being the least deviant
registers of Indian English:
1. the legal-political-constitutional registers;
2. the academic register, particularly science and technology;
3. officialese;
4. journalese. (Labru 1984: ix)
(Note that he partly contradicts his own hypothesis which is explicitly based
on the deviance of journalese in IndE.)
I will here concentrate on text types that promise to yield material for
discussion and interpretation treated in sections 10.2 to 10.10 below, viz.: 68
10.2 Newspaper reports and leaders

10.3 book announcements and reviews
10.4 dedications, forewords and endpieces in scholarly books
10.5 scholarly expository prose
10.6 advertisements of various types
10.7 death notices and obituaries
10.8 letters and essays
10.9 cooking recipes
10.10 literature: poems and prose
Each of the sections will be preceded by a short exposition explaining the

sociohistorical conditions for the text type in a South Asian context, fol-
lowed by an interpretation of the specimens chosen. It should be stated in
advance that the twofold selection – that of specific text types, and of indi-
vidual specimens – brings with it the danger of putting together a linguistic
68
Some types promise to yield sufficient evidence, but are not easily available. Labru notes that “Indian
officialese would surely reward the researcher with a rich linguistic haul”, but “files and official corre-
spondence are difficult to obtain” (1984: ix). The collection assembled by Mehrotra (1998) contains text
types like welcome addresses (the term is itself an Indianism), obituaries, market trends, sports reports,
health bulletins, question box, astrological forecasts, invitations, public notices, telegrams, and opening
sentences in letters. Many of these types can be collected only by a scholar resident in the country.
chamber of horrors (a problem also inherent in larger projects like the text
volumes of the VEAW series, e.g. Todd 1982). Such a biased selection is not
my intention, but readers should be warned at the outset that not all the
specimens of the text types in question are as ‘densely Indian’ as the ones
here interpreted.
Recent advances in corpus linguistics suggest that it will in future be
possible to correlate salient linguistic features with sociolinguistic and sty-
listic categories much better than before and, in due course, to replace
impressionistic statements based on hunches by hard facts based on statisti-
cal frequencies.69
10.2 Newspaper reports and leaders
The English-medium press was firmly established in 19th-century India,

and has remained the most influential print medium to date, even if some
newspapers in Bengali, Tamil and Hindi have a considerable circulation.70
Metropolitan papers like The Times of India exhibit, in their news
reports and leaders, little that deviates from IntE (apart from the fact that
they include local topics and words referring to these). However, the more
provincial papers are marked by more conspicuous non-standard features. It
is difficult to say how much of this is just owing to writers’ deficiencies in
grammar, lexis or appropriate style, and whether metropolitan papers
exhibit less of this as a result of expatriates’ assistance in editing.
Labru, who made a recent investigation of Indian newspaper English
(1984, based on 1967 data), explicitly (although lacking linguistic precision)
argues for analysing this type of English:
The average langue of Indian English that this study postulates is that of
regional English dailies in India. Unlike the national dailies, the regional
69 However, the promising research by Biber and Finegan (cf. 1989 and 1992) has not been applied to
regional/national varieties of English, let alone to the ENL/ESL contrast, so far; the analysis of IndE has
not progressed to a point that would enable one to assess how useful computer assistance will be for
questions treated in this chapter (cf. Shastri 1988). Overall, it seems wise not to expect too much: the grid
used to classify individual texts and to structure such corpora is not very specific, and social categories,
especially those of ESL users in non-native contexts, tend to be neglected in projects like the Inter-
national Corpus of English (cf. the critical assessment by Schmied 1990).
70
According to recent data, the circulation of English-medium papers is (in thousands) Indian Express
1,060, Times of India 500, The Hindu 426 etc. as against Ananda BP 391 (Bengali), Daily Thanti 322
(Tamil), Navbharat Times 258 (Hindi).
Newspaper reports and leaders 229
dailies in India are not too elegant or highbrow. Nor are the regional dailies
examples of poor English. They are what Indian English generally is in writ-
ing – functional and middlebrow. The choice of a corpus of newspaper
English (journalese) is by no means an attempt to denigrate it. Newspapers
account for the largest English readership in India and, moreover, are easy to
lay hands on. (Labru 1984: ix)
My first excerpt comes from such a provincial paper, The Deccan Chronicle
of 23rd October, 1985. The author’s (Di Yes) English is characterized by
a) grammatical deviations (lack of concord, wrong prepositions, and a

totally garbled final sentence (which carries a particular emphasis) and
b) overuse of his favourite clichés (call it …, what meets the eye) and
strange metaphors (ripples, snowball).
Murder of an intrepid editor

The cold-blooded murder of Pingle Dasaratharam, the 29-year-old intrepid editor
of Telugu fortnightly, Encounter, at Vijayawada on Sunday night, has caused a
great deal of consternation among various sections of people.
The murder has come particularly in circumstances which lends itself to all
kinds of guesses and suspicions, for one thing that the powers that have been
planning action.
Encounter Editor was unsparing to any one that mattered in public life with
no holds barred on language to drive his point. Call it exposure or key-hole
journalism, the fortnightly attracted sizeable readership for the spicy, juicy, or
call it sweet and sour stuff. The more orthodox would call the writing foul and
vulgar, the unorthodox might call it bold and forthright, and those affected natu-
rally say it is rubbish, while the authorities unhesitatingly dub it as yellow.
Whatever the tone and content of the journal be, the heinous murder of the
Editor while going in a rickshaw by two unidentified assailants ought to cause
more than ripples in the Government. It is not enough to say that investigations
are in progress. The circumstances demand a sense of urgency because of the
grave misgivings.
Was he killed or got killed and by whom? Was it due to any private feud or
for his professional activities? […] Whatever the motivations, the Chief
Minister has done well in abandoning the proposal, which had threatened to
snowball.
But the elation that should have caused by his statement has been marred by
the gruesome murder of the Encounter Editor, which is bound to have an
adverse impact on the profession. You can not treat it as a “good riddance” of an
yellow journalist. Any laxity to bring to book the culprit or culprits would mean
more than what meets the eye. Afterall there have been intolerant politicians, in
and out of power, whose attitude had often been like “end if you cannot mend”.
Could the Encounter Editor’s doing away was one such?
Occasionally, the author’s craving for the more erudite expression has ren-
dered his text completely unintelligible. There is a strange contrast between
two passives (was killed – got killed) and overformal subjunctive be. As far
as lexis is concerned, there is the (not unexpected) stylistic uncertainty. The
writer wavers between a preference for the unusual word (consternation?,
unsparing) and highly colloquial diction (call it sweet and sour stuff).
An editorial from Hyderabad (The Skyline, June 23 1978, facs. 30)
exhibits a similar array of grammatical deviances (lack of concord, irregular
article use, did … had) and stylistic infelicities as well as local words (auto-
rickshaws). The impression of provinciality is enhanced by shaky typeset-
ting and peculiar word-divisions (thro-ugh, ricks-haws).
10.3 Book announcements and reviews (cf. Görlach 1991c)
India is among the leading publishing nations; the share that English-lan-
guage books have of the total production is disproportionate considering the
fact that only 3% of the population are said to speak English (which sug-
gests that the number of readers may be even smaller). Most of these books
are made for local consumption, but there are also quite a few export firms
supplying Indian books abroad.
The 141 short descriptions of books offered by IBD Exports in their cata-
logue of 1989 were obviously made locally and not proofread or stylistically
revised by expatriate native speakers of English. Their writers carried over
much of the florid diction in which the books are written, condensing this
element in the process (facs. 33). While such texts may well be effective in
their combination of features designed to inform and please, the mixture
strikes a native speaker of English as slightly odd. Note also the frequency
of typos (which are the typesetters’ fault) and grammatical mistakes such as
lack of concord etc. (for which the typesetters are probably not responsible).
(a) LADAKH The weather-scarred moonscope of Ladakh leaves an indeli-

ble impression on all those who visit it. Ladakh dominantly Tibetan.
Long isolated from the outside world has become a prime destination in
India. N.N.’s stunning photography vividly captures many aspects of this
enchanting and mysterious area.
(b) HIMALAYAN IMAGES The book deals with the distinctive history,
myth and floklore as well as the severity and splendour of the enternal
Dedications, forewords and endpieces in scholarly books 231
snows, turbulence and tranquility of the rivers through its colourful and
breath-taking photographs.
(c) SIDDHARTHA A novel of great pellucid beauty … subtle distillation of
wisdom, stylistic grace and symmetry of form.
(d) THE TAJ AND FATEHPUR SIKRI Taj – the ethereal monument to
love, conceived by Shahjahan in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaj
Mahal. The Taj has never failed to inspite writes arstists and layman
down through the centuries. Fatehpur Sikri – The resplendant imperial
capital of Mughal emperor, Akbar the Great. The two represent a
remarkable testimony to the grandeur of Mughal India.
(e) DISCOVERY OF KAPILVASTU Many important places related to the
Buddhism got lost into oblivion along with the extinction of the Buddhism
from India, the country of its birth. Perhaps the most important of these
was Kapilvastu, the capital of Sudodhana, the father of Gautama.
Such style is not restricted to blurbs and other forms of advertising; com-
pare the scholarly style in section 10.5.
10.4 Dedications, forewords and endpieces in scholarly books
The long tradition of scholarly writing in Indian languages tends to prefer

the select and sonorous expression rather than the technically precise.
Whereas such styles in EModE scientific writing were criticised by Francis
Bacon, curbed by the Royal Society and finally overcome in Victorian
England, they live on to a certain extent in IndE, supported by traditions in
the indigenous literary languages.
From the collections of the Indian Institute Library, Oxford, I have
selected books written by South Asian authors and published by Indian
firms. Some stylistic revision by BrE native-speaker editors cannot be ex-
cluded in any of these texts, but what deviant features remain must certainly
be illustrative of local styles and grammar. Not all the texts I looked at
exhibit the striking features documented in my selection: more recent texts
appear to show them less frequently. Nevertheless, the excerpts serve to illus-
trate tendencies which are, to a greater or lesser degree, found in many types
of IndE texts (cf. newspaper reports, which exhibit a similar stylistic cline).
a) (Dedication) Dedicated/with profound respect and admiration/to/Shivaji

the Great/the illustrious founder of/the original Maratha State/in grateful
recognition/of his manifold services to our country/as the national hero
of unequalled merit/and versatile genius. (R.V. Nadkarni, M.A., The Rise

and Fall of the Maratha Empire. Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1966)
b) To revert to Prof. NN, I owe him another debt: he graciously put on the
mantle of (X), the ‘Control’ in our test contributed the idea of ‘linguistic
logistics’ in language planning. I wish, also, to record my sincere and
warm appreciation of the patient and ungrudging effort put into the read-
ing of the corpus by my British flatmates […]. In doing this work and a
lot more the British Council was my mainstay. […] (Labru 1984: xi)
c) (Introductory passage) The word culture is one of the characters that has
suffered the most ups-and-downs in all languages, in a universal mas-
querade of misunderstanding. Clarity is, therefore, essential so far as the
connotation of the term ‘culture’ is concerned. In this connection attention
may be drawn to the content of culture as decided by the members of the
Indian Congress for Cultural Freedom […] 1951 (M.L. Vidyarthi,
Cultural History of India. New Delhi: Meerut, 41977).
d) (From a foreword) This period of Maratha history is, indeed, writ in tears
and sorrows and suffering […] But the national mind is best irrigated by
tears, and suffering is a necessary prelude to rebirth. (A.C. Banerjee,
M.A., Peshwa Madhar Rao I. Calcutta: Mukherjee, 1943)
e) (From the end of a foreword): […] I crave the indulgence of my learned
readers for the various shortcomings of the book. I tried my best and
have put in all efforts to make it perfect. I fervently hope that the readers
would find this humble work useful and interesting. (Dr M.A. Nayeem,
External Relations of the Bijapur Kingdom. Hyderabad: Bright, 1974)
10.5 Scholarly expository prose
Scholarly prose has for a long time been a special stronghold of Indian writ-
ing in English. However, native traditions of what is considered appropriate
for this style combine with different argument structures and metaphorical
expressions to produce texts which do not fully agree with western expecta-
tions. Consider Kandiah’s (1981) text and the critical diction of V.P. Rao in
his paper “The craftsmanship of R.K. Narayan” (in Mohan 1978: 56–64):
… Narayan truly evokes memories of the great Russian master, Chekhov.

They are to me a marvellous re-affirmation of Narayan’s (at) oneness with
man; an orchestration of the merely human, inevitably rooted in the actual
(58)
Scholarly expository prose 233
… Muni in the story has had his halcyon days and is yet to die – we are going
to witness him caught in that infernal suspension when living ends without
death. Further there is the casual motorist; it is going to be a chance motorist
that sets up ripples in the stagnant pond of Muni’s life (59)
… The last sentence breaks through the crust of the preceding lines even as
their humanity does through their sub-human living (60)
… The non-existent daughter thus adds a new dimension to Muni’s poverty;
he is not only poor in money and material possessions, he is also utterly
poor – in progeny. This sort of freckles Muni’s character, this old man, and
he is insinuated fully into our sympathy. (61)
Dasgupta in The Otherness of English (1993) employs a style that reflects

the otherness that it describes. Style and argument are thus in harmony, in a
distinctively non-western kind – as in the unexpected analogy used to
explain the functions of English in India:
It may help if this relationship is clarified by means of an analogy. Consider

the way a society employs metallurgy. The society as such is a life-pattern
involving the days and nights of many individuals of various ages and sexes,
etc. The practice of metallurgy, by a few adult males dedicated to that hard
profession, involves a taming of the solar heat of high noon in the form of a
furnace. This unvarying high noon is a stable adjunct, at a stable distance
differentiating its technicality from the cyclical and multiple ordinariness of
the social life that employs this adjunct. Likewise, English the technical
adjunct remains at a stable distance from, but faithfully serves, the general
social life that employs it.
The analogy does not appear to go very far. People stay away from the
temperatures of a blast furnace, and keep the furnace at a safe distance from
their homes, in order to protect their homes from a heat that would render
them uninhabitable. Even if we postulate a corresponding fear of English as
too ‘hot’ for our comfort, perhaps by invoking the McLuhan imagery of hot
and cool, we have failed to explain what could possibly make this a stable
distancing factor, for everyone knows that fears can disappear.(1993: 202–3)
10.6 Advertisements of various types
The development of a peculiar style of IndE advertising is closely con-

nected (as it is elsewhere) with the history of the English press (cf. ch.5),
thus having in India a tradition of well over a hundred years. The various
kinds of advertising provide an excellent basis for a study of cultural and lin-
guistic accommodation, as a consequence of a great number of factors all of

which can be adapted to readers’ expectations to achieve the greatest appeal:
1. the language chosen (English, indigenous, mixed);
2. the style used (literary, playful, technical – giving varying weight to
information or aesthetic appeal);
3. typefaces employed, lay-out and illustrations (if printed) or voice qual-
ity, accent, rhythm etc. (if spoken); 71
4. the correlation of the above features with the subclasses of advertise-
ment, and the locale and audience, as enumerated in the model essay
(from Chishty 1982: 174 and facs. 31):
They may be private individuals who fill the advertisement columns with
run-on classifieds, offering to sell houses, cars, dogs or household effects;
they may be employers seeking staff or eligible bachelors seeking brides; or
manufacturers of goods advertising on a regional or national scale.
For my discussion, I would like to select the following subcategories: texts

a) advertising goods (sarees, flats), b) offering services (self-praise of bank,
etc.), c) film advertisements and d) matrimonials.
a) The advertisement for sarees (facs. 28a) shows an unusual clash of reg-
ister: it is not only strange to find Keats quoted in this context (in other
places Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth or Scott are used in similar func-
tions), but also to see a highly poetical line juxtaposed to the technical
tradename of Co-optex Polyester. The fusion of the romantic and technical
continues in the miss-a-heart-beat passage, and ends in the bathos of the
smart conquerors.
By contrast, the building advertisement facs. 28a is characterised by
grammatical and stylistic errors: missing articles, pleonastic expressions
and strange collocations frequently suggest the intended meaning rather
than express it clearly. However, it is likely that readers of this text will
blame its unintelligibility on their own lack of competence rather than the
writer’s faulty grammar. Note the Indianism shifting in for ‘moving in’.
b) The metaphors used to express the bank’s “Seventy years of dedicated

service” (facs. 28b) (pilgrims, flag) and the allegedly progressive policies of
71
My analysis is restricted to a few specimens from newspapers; it thus excludes other forms of writ-
ten texts as displayed on posters and hoardings; written texts as shown and read out on television; and
spoken texts on radio.
Advertisements of various types 235
the firm, couched in formal or quasi-poetic diction (heretofore; tread the

path, remove the tears of the down-trodden) impress Europeans as sadly out
of tune, and certainly not conducive to inspiring trust in the bank. However,
the social history of banking in South Asia will easily explain the difference
in the style used.
The cultural unity of South Asia is indicated by a Pakistani bank adver-
tising its services in a similar tone (facs. 28b) – the owners, of course,
pledging themselves to the cause of Islam. The use of the quotation from
Scott’s Marmion for a Pakistani advertisement in The Muslim (Lahore,
April 2, 1989) in favour of the export-import traders matches the saree
advertisement above (facs. 28b, from Görlach 1995d: 204).
c) Film advertisements (see facs. 34) add a more modern component – and
since most of the foreign films are imported from the U.S., also the linguistic
component of AmE. The contrast with other advertisements neatly illustrates
that in the modern world English additions of new text types will be made
in the variety that supplies the commodity. Whereas societies in former
British colonies normally still accept St BrE as the norm for written formal
uses, the language of pop songs, films, videos and some types of popular
novels has increasingly become American world-wide. This development
occurs imperceptibly, the ESL users, correctly from their point of view,
interpreting the coincidence of stylistic (informal) and regional (American)
varieties as – in their world – exclusively a matter of style and register.
d) Matrimonial advertisements, as has frequently been pointed out, repre-

sent an obvious case of a text type to which the English language was newly
applied in an Indian context (see further texts in facs. 32). All the text-spe-
cific determinants are, then, likely to have been carried over from indige-
nous languages.
NON-KOUSIKA groom qualified and well placed for a Vadama B.Sc. girl
now employed in Reserve Bank, Bombay age 22 years good looking
medium complexion height 155 cms Ayilyam star fourth padam. Only
daughter father in New York decent marriage. Box …
BROTHER Doctor, settled America, coming India November, invites pro-
posals from Punjabi Arora Engineer, Medico for his beautiful, fair, convent
educated, Honours Graduate, Secretarial qualified sister, 22, 160, eligible
immigration, employed Delhi, drawing twelve thousands annually. Box …
NON-SINGHAL match for 20 years, 160 cms., slim, fair, beautiful, B.Sc.
passed girl. Graceful marriage. Dowry greedy need not write. Box ….
MAIR RAJPUT Babbar family, residing Amritsar desire decent highly

educated and well placed match for most beautiful (white and milky), B.A.,
Teachress, having angelic features, height 162 cms., aged 23 years. No bars.
Correspond Box …
WANTED CHARMING, CONVENT EDUCATED MATCH FOR HAND-
SOME AGARWAL BOY, 25 YEARS, 172CMS., CHEMICAL ENGINEER,
OFFICER IN STATE BANK. ONLY FAMILY OF STATUS NEED COR-
RESPOND BOX …
An analysis of the first 200 advertisements under “Brides” in The

Hindustan Times Weekly for Sunday, September 7, 1980 illustrates the quali-
ties expected of ‘grooms’: the texts start with WANTED or a MATCH FOR
or a description of the girl desired, for (followed by a description of the man
and his family) and advice on how to get in touch. The adjectives qualifying
the bride are most telling: beautiful is clearly the preferred choice (78
times), followed by fair (-complexion/ed, 54 times), slim (50 times), homely
(i.e. ‘home-oriented’, 45 times) and smart (21 times); education (convent-
educated, 22 times, graduate, 33 times, post-graduate 11, educated 8) is
frequently mentioned.
By contrast, there are only 2–4 mentions of accomplished, attractive,
qualified, sharp-featured, talented, virgin, well versed, white complexioned
and a single occurrence each of cultured, foreign-qualified, good-featured,
graceful, handsome, healthy, innocent, intelligent, lucky, professional, simple,
sweet, sweet-natured and white and milky – the last being a variant of the (still)
relatively frequent wheatish (complexion/ed), itself a specification of fair.
The description of grooms concentrates on their jobs and incomes, and
on their caste (possibly “caste no bar”); many grooms are handsome (but
not nearly as often as brides are beautiful), far fewer are fair or smart and
only one convent-educated. Some (Sikhs) are clean-shaven. Families are
affluent, business, cultured, God-fearing, middle educated, (old and very)
respectable, sophisticated, wealthy, well-connected, well-placed or well-set-
tled (somewhat strangely, brides can be B.Sc. passed, convented, or merited,
boys can be salaried and families five star status). Horoscopes and bio-data
which are often claimed to be traditional features of the text type are very
rarely mentioned.
A diachronic analysis of the text type promises to yield interesting
insights: is there a gradual disappearance of the request for bio-data? Are
the advertisements becoming more similar for both sexes? Is the number of
non-BrE items decreasing – or is it increasing? Moreover, is there a notable
difference between metropolis and province, north and south?
Obituaries 237
10.7 Obituaries
Death and the rituals connected with it are among the most culture-specific
phenomena the world over, and are most characteristically affected in culture-
contact, whether the impact is owing to religion (e.g. Christian faith and
rites imported through missionaries), language and medium (e.g. written
English becoming used for rites established in a non-European religion
formerly expressed in an indigenous language, whether current or dead) or
to other social influences, or various fusions of these factors. Even if all
cultures agree in reserving a highly formal, and often fossilized, style for
the occasion, there may be quite conspicuous differences between what is
considered appropriate (including silence!), and conventional culture-bound
text formulas may diverge quite notably. In what way is a death communi-
cated to friends and relatives, and what is the (linguistically) appropriate
reaction to the sad news?
The newspaper obituary from The Indian Nation (9 Oct. 1979, here
taken from Mehrotra 1998: 53–4) mingles (non-Christian) religious aspects
with a political résumé of J.P.’s achievements, using metaphors that appear
to be particularly culture-bound:
a) A MONUMENTAL MAN
So, at last, Destiny has robbed us of J.P., our most precious possession. His
death is not a tragedy but a calamity for the nation. An institution, not an indi-
vidual, has passed away in the sad demise of J.P. In the welter of confusion
prevailing in the country where shall we go now to seek advice? We are
undone, orphaned and dwarfed.
Disgusted as he was with our ways, he has left us for ever. Months back
he was about to leave us and join the company of immortals but on our
prayer and supplication he agreed to stay with us for some time to guide our
destiny. And with his demise, which came in sleep, the only lamp that was
flickering in the all-pervading darkness to protect freedom and democracy
and to show the right path to the people is extinguished now.
Public memory is proverbially short to take a comprehensive view of his
six-decade long selfless service to the nation. Only the last chapter, the heroic
struggle against the misrule of the Congress Party which crowned with suc-
cess and later ended on a bitter note, is remembered and highlighted. But did
he not take a leading part in the battle for independence? Long before many of
us were born he had become a legendary figure for his courage and fortitude.
The part he played in the Quit India movement will be remembered with
gratitude for all time to come. Socialism which later became the creed of all
political parties likewise owes no small debt to J.P.
He had drunk deep at the fountain of Marxism but had also come in close
contact with Mahatma Gandhi. Combining the two with his analytical mind he
had formed his own ideology, the ideology of people’s power. He succeeded
in toppling the government but that was not an end in itself. The end was the
development of the people’s power. That still remains to be done. There is
none to fill the void as J.P. was a monumental man. But his words and deeds
are there to inspire and elevate us. The best tribute to J.P. is to fulfil the task
he has left unfinished. May his soul rest in peace and may God give us
strength to bear this loss. (The Indian Nation, October 9, 1979)
b) UTHALA
OUR DEAR SARITA EXPIRED ON 5-9-80. Uthala will take place at 5
P.M. ON 8-9-80 AT F-6, ASHOK VIHAR (PHASE 1), DELHI-52./N.N.,
ADVOCATE, (HUSBAND)/ N.N., A.C.P., (FATHER)/N.N., ADVOCATE,
(FATHER-IN-LAW).
c) KIRYA
With profound grief we inform the sudden and untimely demise of our
beloved SANJAY on 4th Sept. 1980. The Kirya Ceremony will take place on
Sunday the 7th Sept. 1980 between 3 to 5 P.M. at G-5/1-2. Malviya Nagar,
New Delhi-17./N.N. (Father)/N.N. (G. Father)/ N.N. and N.N. (Uncles)/
N.N. (G. Father Mat.)
d) OBITUARY
WE REGRET TO INFORM ABOUT THE SAD DEMISE OF OUR J.N.
SHARMA ON 4TH SEPTEMBER, 80. HAVAN and SHANTIPATH WILL
BE PERFORMED ON SUNDAY THE 7TH SEPTEMBER, 1980 AT B-56,
SOUTH EXTENSION H, NEW DELHI, BETWEEN 5 TO 6 P.M./N.N.
FATHER/N.N. MOTHER/N.N. BROTHER/N.N. BROTHER/N.N. SIS-
TER/N.N. SON-IN-LAW/N.N. SISTER/N.N. SON-IN-LAW/and ALL
RELATIVES.
The three short obituaries sound somewhat archaic in their use of expire and
demise (but there is no instance here of the formula “went to his heavenly
abode”); uthala, kirya, and havan and shantipath ceremonies mentioned
provide clues as to the religious denominations involved, but there is noth-
ing particular in the structure of the notices.
Letters and essays 239
10.8 Letters and essays
Letters and essays provide two essential advantages for an analysis of the
degree of indigenization of a second language:
1. They represent the text type in which users are most likely to be actively
involved: whereas a newspaper article or a poem is only read, or a news
broadcast only listened to, a letter (less so, an essay) is both written and
read by an ESL user whose competence may be limited; also, the texts
concerned are often culturally and situationally highly bound.
2. Manuals of letter-writing and composition permit one to compare the
(printed) input, which normally presents a prescriptive model, and the
learners’ output. (Since no extensive corpora are available, I will here
analyse the models only; it would be ideal to have at one’s disposal, for
example, a set of essays written on a specific topic by a class of univer-
sity students).
Chishty et al. provide advice on good style in various types of text. The
guidebook on English composition was published in Lahore in 1982.
Although meant for Urdu-speaking students, the difference between Urdu
and the native Hindi of northern Indians is small and the difference in the
degree of competence in English negligible, so that the textbook may here
represent the type for a pan-South-Asian tradition. As regards letters they
offer the following two as specimens for official complaints:
a) A letter on uncleanliness of your area (Chishty 1982: 83–4)
To The Chief Health Officer, Ramagar, Lahore,

Lahore Municipal Corporation, Lahore 8th August 1982
Sir, I want to bring to your kind notice a very serious practice which is
indulged in by the sweepers of our area. Ours is a small street but it is
always littered with rubbish and there are huge collections of foul smelling
garbage. Everybody is out to deposit the rubbish and refuse here because it
is a back street and escapes the notice of the Corporation functionaries. The
state of affairs prevalent in our street is not only a nuisance and an irritant
but also a great health hazard. These dumps serve as ideal breeding places
for flies, mosquitoes and other harmful germs. To top it all the atmosphere is
being polluted constantly. In the circumstances if an epidemic breaks out in
the not too distant future that will be only natural. For some inexplicable
reason the lane has never been swept by the Corporation sweepers and the
heaps of rubbish are removed by the Corporation only off and on. Some res-
idents have engaged private sweepers, but the task, which is Herculean in
proportions, is beyond them.
It is requested that rubbish bins may be constructed for the use of the res-
idents and the Corporation sweepers may be instructed to sweep our street
regularly. Yours faithfully, Anwar Anjum.
b) A letter pleading the elimination of tongas (Chishty 1982: 85–6)
To The Mayor,
Lahore Municipal Corporation, Lahore.
Sir, I really feel elated that the city fathers have decided to eliminate tongas
from Lahore under a phased programme spread over five years. It is a news
for which people have been waiting for years. The number of tongas, rehras
and carts plying on the roads of this great city lawfully and unlawfully is
really awe-inspiring: twelve thousand! Then why complain of traffic con-
gestions and deplorable sanitary conditions!
The filth and refuse deposited by horses and bullocks on the road is quite
nasty, it emits obnoxious smell and presents an ugly look. This refuse gener-
ally remains lying on roads for days because the Corporation cannot hire a
horde of sweepers to remove it. When it dries up it flies up in the air, spoils
the clothes of pedestrians and cyclists, their faces and eyes are also not
immune from it.
These animal-driven vehicles donot abide by traffic rules. Traffic cops
are helpless before them. You will often see that a car or a bus is about to
pass a rehra, but cannot succeed. The rehra driver suddenly raises his arm
and begins to turn about. The tonga driver is no better. If he is ahead of you,
the honking will have no effect on him; he will move only at leisurely pace.
At the crossings he pays no attention to the traffic lights and passes on mer-
rily even though the red light is blazing in his face.
I feel that a period of five years for their total elimination is too long;
they can be got rid of in a much shorter time. Man is a devious creature by
nature. The tonga owners are also very cunning people. They are incorrigi-
ble, too. They will certainly hit out ways in the next five years to defeat the
pious intentions of city fathers. They should be given no quarter and be
made to stop their trade in a much shorter period. But before that the drivers
of tongas and rehras must be provided with alternative means of livelihood,
otherwise the whole exercise will boomerang.
Yours sincerely, Mohammad Mohsin.
For more personal concerns the style proposed becomes even more uneven;
this does not come as a surprise, the colloquial register being largely missing
in traditional written IndE (unless the gap is filled by new models, as is the
case with film advertisements (cf. fig. 24). I here quote a specimen letter
from Lal (n.d.: 45–8):72
c) Letter to a pen friend New Delhi, Date …
My dear Manohar, Your letters of the 15th, 16th and 18th are before me and
Oh, you beat me. I mean you have overwhelmed me with your charm, man-
ners and gallantry of heart. Above all you like my snaps too. It is a great
pleasure to me. Thanks a lot.
And you are so over burdened with work could I come help you with
some of it – without (trust me) a word of folly between us. What I will not
give. O Manohar, to be near you – a source of incessant delight. Then isn’t
friendship really a beloved state and a beloved theme on which many a poet
has thrown his web of enchanting lyricism – or songwriter ridden far into its
melodious depths. The quote one.
“A wholly platonic friendship.

You said I had proved to you
Could bend a man and a woman
The whole season through.
With never a thought of fitting
Though both were in their youth.
We touched on a thousand subjects

The moon and the worlds above.
And our talk was tincture science
And everything else save love
And yet there was not a word of folly
Spoken between us two.
For here was only a pleasant friendship
To bind us and nothing more.”
So said Ella, naughty Ella Wilcox, but surely she knew what she was talking
about.
72
This guide book was the most popular (and inexpensive) on display in a bookshop in Rawalpindi in
1989. Its price makes it accessible to all who are eager for guidance on style, and the fact that it was
imported from India underlines the cultural connections that still exist between India and Pakistan.
Schoolbooks, letter-writing manuals and newspapers can be taken to be the most influential sources for
‘lowbrow’ IndE.
So we are pals. Are not we? Now that our pen friendship is here – it is for us
to cross its uncharted seas and many delightful surprises await us, if only we
follow our guiding influence of the compass that points to safe always. You
Grand Manohar, by and by I will impress on you that I appreciate fine things
in life and nature.
Yesterday there was a stir in the heart of the city. Some famous wrestlers
of Bangalore visited the place prior to their show. They were doing some
shopping. It seems there was the unusual crowd following these man-moun-
tains, though many of the gentler sex were scared of them. Then there was a
wrestling show in the evening. It drew a huge crowd even a considerable num-
ber of the fair sex were there to see those man-mountains tearing each other,
ripping open their sockets, and breaking joints – ooo – could they be sadistics?
I have never liked a wrestling bout. It unnerves me. What do you say?
Instead I went to a movie – I saw Sister Carrie. It was taken from the
book by Theodore Driesser. It was a bit naughty, yet so touching and so
humane. It is the story of a man well placed in society honoured by all –
who gives up his family, his status, everything for a young girl who has sud-
denly came into his life. This he calls love and the state of affairs only ruins
him. He dies as a forsaken man. Could and all love be like this “Manohar or
it is only a thwarted love.” If love is beautiful, inspiring and revitalising how
could this happen?
This week is a hard one for me. Have many pending cases that need
immediate attention, I have been trying to write and finish this letter since
8.10 a.m., here in the office. The other colleagues are busy elsewhere. If the
T.M. should tell me to do a fresh case I will have to get up with a mind
curse, perhaps on my lips.
So dear Manohar, do write soon to me. You letters are cups of brimming
wine in which my soul gets immersed from time to time and to be deprived
of them, would be to be denied the thing I cherish most on this earth. From
now on I will be writing to you regularly.
I will not prolong this letter for it may be getting stale. So I will stop it
wishing you all the best, you in my thoughts and your sweet name on my
lips. Yours ever loving Jane.
Essay-writing is another skill much appreciated around the world. Chishty

et al. find that students in Lahore “mostly fight shy of writing an essay. In
fact, they find the whole business utterly irksome” (1982: 141). Their ideas
about “dispelling doubts and allaying ill-founded fears” are very traditional,
explaining many of the resulting peculiarities. They explicitly advise:
A habit of reading good literature is a great aid in writing. It must be culti-

vated, for its educational gain is immeasurable. Ideas regained from fast
reading lend charm to an essay and make the whole exercise worthwhile
– exemplifying in their own style the dangers (and, as they believe, beauties)
of such models.
The model essays come from a variety of general topics on which stu-
dents are expected to be knowledgeable enough to write an essay in their
best style. Each section is introduced by a list of preliminary headings
intended to help students to gather their thoughts (in the good old tradition
of classical inventio). The style keynote here sounded (identical for all the
topics) makes it impossible for the writers to break free from the pattern –
should they feel tempted to do so.
The texts exhibit various forms of ESL, and more specifically South
Asian/Pakistani features: local words, whether loanwords (hookah, pan,
challan) or coinages; register misuse/style mixture which includes unusual
collocations; poetical quotations, strained metaphors and allusions to classi-
cal antiquity – not all of which can be illustrated from the one text here
selected. Similar stylistic peculiarities can be found in the model essays
offered by Chishty et al. (for further items see facs. 31).
Specimen essay: ROAD ACCIDENTS (Chishty 1982: 146–9)

Outline (…)
Some suggestions:
(i) Training of drivers and improvement in their service conditions.
(ii) Inculcation of traffic sense in the general public.
(iii) Exercise of care in issuing driving licences and certificates of road
worthiness of commercial vehicles.
(iv) Rational system of route permits.
(v) Widening and improvement of roads.
(vi) Separation of traffic police from the general police.
The Essay: “An accident is something that happens unexpectedly to hurt a

person.” If you hit somebody and he hits you back and hurts you, that is not
an accident because you should have expected it. But if you climb a ladder,
and the ladder somehow slips or gives way, and with that you, too, fall down
and hurt yourself, that is an accident because you did not expect it, other-
wise you would not have climbed up it.
Every year millions of people fall a prey to accidents. In the United
States alone nearly 115,000 persons are killed and almost a hundred times of
that are hurt in accidents every year. The biggest number of those who are
killed about 55,000, die in road accidents of one kind or another.
In Pakistan, though no authentic figures are available because we do not
believe in authenticity otherwise we would have devised a foolproof system
of collecting them, the situation is not very different; on closer examination
we will find it even grimmer. The number of accidents that are daily reported
in the Press or on the T.V. and radio, is enough to convince you that our
roads have become veritable death traps for us. When we venture to step out
of our homes or places of work on the roads we are not sure whether we will
be able to reach our destination safely or not.
There are numerous causes of road accidents. Some of them are:
1. Narrowness and deplorable condition of roads.
2. Negligence and incompetence of drivers.
3. Love for overspeeding.
4. Lack of proper care in issuing driving licences and certificates of
road worthiness of commercial vehicles. […] (Chishty 1982: 146–8)
10.9 Cooking recipes
India appears to be untypical among ESL societies in having the text type
cookery book/recipe in local forms, and having it in locally marked
English: other former colonies, by contrast, have only imported cookery
books or those written by expatriates. The two locally written and printed
books here analysed (Malhotra 1979, Reejhsinghani 1978) clearly show that
their type is a European transplant (cf. 4.4.3 above): the structure of the
individual recipe is identical with the British pattern, so whatever deviance
there is lies in
a) the dishes described, and the local ingredients which normally have
indigenous, non-English names;
b) some grammatical features, most also found in other text types: ‘parti-
tive’ of in measurements is often omitted (as often in BrE), the use of
articles is variable, and there are quite a few unusual collocations.
a) Alu halwa (sweet potato)

125 grams potatoes, boiled, peeled and mashed to a paste. 125 grams pow-
dered sugar. 75 grams ghee. 1 tsp. ground cardamom seeds. Handful of
finely sliced almonds and pistachios. 1 tblsp. fried raisins and charoli. A few
drops essence of rose or kewda. Silver or gold foil.
Heat ghee and put in potatoes, sugar and cardamoms. Keep on stirring
till the mixture turns golden in colour. Mix in nuts, raisins and essence and
remove from fire. Serve immediately covered with foil.
b) Sweet potato kheer (milk dish)

3 big sweet potatoes, boiled, peeled and mashed. 11/2 litre milk. 1 tsp. ground
cardamom seeds. 4 tblsps. ground sugar. Handful of finely sliced almonds
and pistachios. 1 tblsp. fried raisins. 4 to 5 dates, pitted and sliced finely.
The language of literature 245
Blend together sugar and milk and place on a low fire. Stir frequently until
the milk is reduced to half the quantity. Put in cardamoms and sweet pota-
toes and keep on stirring until the mixture turns thick. Remove from fire and
garnish with nuts, raisins and dates and serve either hot or cold.
(from Reejhsinghani 1978: 6–7)
10.10 The language of literature
The topic is far too wide to permit any kind of adequate or even suggestive
treatment, so a few remarks must suffice. The following major questions
concerning the possibilities and limitations of an ESL literature force them-
selves on the observer:73
1. Is the foreign literary tradition to be transplanted wholesale, together with

the language, leaving nothing local except the themes, thus producing
the proverbial “Mathew Arnold in a sari,” or should non-English topics,
styles and traditions be retained, the foreign language being relentlessly
adapted?
2. If the language chosen is English, then what kind of English – to what
extent are local non-standard forms to be admitted, and in what genres?
3. What audience is addressed – an Indian or an international one (the latter
often indicated by a London publishing house)?
4. What literary or stylistic traditions is the writer to follow? The extreme
forms are likely to be equally unacceptable, whether British styles are
grafted on to Indian themes or Indian linguistic/stylistic conventions
simply relexified into English.
5. How neutral must the ESL writer’s style be in order to be considered
correct, and how can he avoid producing anaemic and unexciting texts?
73 For one of the numerous discussions of the predicament of an ESL author writing for both an ESL
and ENL audience in a multilingual state compare Iyengar (1973: 8–9):
The Indian writer in English has necessarily to keep in mind a scattered national audience, and what
his language lacks in vigorous local idiom and the nuances of regional sentiment and emotion has to
be made up in spatial extension and wide human appeal. ‘National identity’ is a spiralling concept,
ranging from the material to the spiritual. Geographical unity, racial intermingling over a large
stretch of time, common memories of the past, a broad pattern of beliefs and customs all over the
country, a common urge to move towards the new horizons of the future, all have been there – how-
ever much the political fog may have obscured them. But the sap that keeps all this alive is verily, in
Sri Aurobindo’s words, ‘the vision of the Mother, the perpetual contemplation, adoration and serv-
ice of the Mother.’
– a passage that neatly illustrates in its diction the possibilities and dangers of a transplanted English (cf.
the quotation from Rao, below).
How experimental, on the other hand, is an ESL writer allowed to be

without being charged with butchering the Queen’s English?
There is a stifling tradition of IndE writing which is characterized by the

wholesale takeover of specific BrE genres and their appropriate styles. This
was most prominent in the 19th century. Iyengar (1973: 37) quotes from
Kashiprosad Ghose’s poem “The Moon in September”, written in 1830:
How like the breath of love the rustling breeze

Is breathing through the fragrant Sandal trees!
How sad but sweet the Bulbul sings above …
Like liquid silver yon soft-gliding stream
Wanders and glistens in the lunar beam …
While such writing is typical of the early phases of an imitative literature,

and was rightly criticised (or made fun of) in the 19th century, there are
warnings, even down to the present day, against such sterile writing – which
is frequently outdated in the ‘mother land’ by the time it is imitated in the
‘colonies’. One of the most-quoted statements in support of stylistic inde-
pendence is by Raja Rao, who said in his famous Kanthapura (1938: 9–10):
The telling has not been easy. One has to convey in a language that is not
one’s own the spirit that is one’s own. One has to convey the various shades
and omissions of a certain thought-movement that looks maltreated in an
alien language. I used the word ‘alien’, yet English is not really an alien lan-
guage to us. It is the language of our own intellectual make-up. We are all
instinctively bilingual, many of us writing in our own language and in
English. We should not, we cannot write only as Indians. We have grown to
look at the large world as part of us. Our method of expression has to be as
distinctive and colourful as the Irish and American. Time alone will justify
it. (quoted from Labru 1984: 24)
The 1959 Kavita Manifesto specified as its first points:
1. We affirm our faith in a vital language as sufficient to write poetry in. A vital
language may be in modern idiom or ‘ancient’ but it must not be a total trav-
esty of the current pattern of speech. We consider all expressions like ‘the
sunlight sweet’, ‘deep booming voice’ and ‘fragrant flowers upon the distant
lea’ to be ridiculous. King’s and Queen’s English, yes; Indian English per-
missible; pidgin, bombastic and gluey English, no.
2. We think that poetry must deal in concrete terms with concrete experience.
That experience may be intellectual or emotional or historical-tragical-pas-
toral-comical, but it must be precise, and lucidly and tangibly expressed. It is
better to suggest a sky by referring to a circling eagle in it than to say simply
‘the wide and open sky’. …
6. We claim that the phase of Indo-Anglian romanticism ended with Sarojini
Naidu and ‘I bring for you aglint with dew a little lovely dream’. Now, waking
up, we must more and more aim at a realistic poetry reflecting poetically and
pleasingly the din and hubbub, the confusion and indecision, the flashes of
beauty and goodness of our age, and leave the fireflies to dance through the
neem. …
(quoted from Nandy 1973: 13–14)
As in other fields of non-native writing (e.g. in neo-Latin literature) it is

probably easier for an Indian to write a good poem than to write good prose,
where there may be a greater danger of being imitative, with a veneer of
local colour or flavour. If an Indian writer breaks away from traditional pat-
terns, he is as removed in his experimental forms and diction from his IndE
as an Englishman would be from his everyday BrE. It is then difficult to say
in what way the text type is nativized, except, of course, as regards the con-
tents in the wider sense. Compare Adil Jussawalla’s “Sea breeze, Bombay”
(Nandy 1973: 35):
SEA BREEZE, BOMBAY
Partition’s people stitched

Shrouds from a flag, gentlemen scissored Sind.
An opened people, fraying across the cut
Country, reknotted themselves on this island.
Surrogate city of banks,

Brokering and bays, refugees’ harbour and port,
Gatherer of ends whose brick beginnings work
Loose like a skin, blotching the coast,
Restore us to fire. New refugees,

Wearing blood-red wool in the worst heat,
Come from Tibet, scanning the sea from the north,
Dazed, holes in their cracked feet.
Restore us to fire. Still,

Communities tear and re-form; and still a breeze,
Cooling our garrulous evenings, investigates nothing,

Ruffles no tempers, uncovers no root.
And settles no one adrift of the mainland’s histories.
To permit judgment of the quality of an adaptation of English to Indian

situations, it is probably more useful to quote a few passages from a best-
selling novel, less ambitious formally and linguistically than classics by
writers like Khushwant Singh, Raja Rao or Mulk Raj Anand. I have here
chosen Bhattacharya’s Music for Mohini (1952) about a “suave, city-bred
and an upcoming music star […] in a new rural setting”, as the blurb has it,
which also describes the author as “a front-ranking Indo-Anglian novelist
and author.” The following two passages are linguistically somewhat un-
British – without, apparently, being translated from an indigenous language:
… She pulled his snub nose. “Tongue clever! Am I not your elder? Bad
enough that you so often call me Mohini and not Didi, Elder Sister.” She
swept back a loop of hair, damping her brow. “You should knock your head
on my feet at every sun-up and beg my blessing.” (1952: 9)
The firewagon rocked with speed, seated in a corner, Jayadev was sunk in a
book. He had no eye for the other passengers, no ear for their chatter. He
was a silent solitary man with heavy-lidded dreamy eyes in a young tranquil
face. Marriage had stirred a whirlpool in the stream of his feelings, and he
was anxious to smooth the disturbance and be his true self again. … It was
his mother’s will which had led him into marriage, even though at this vital
hour, every conscious thought and feeling was to have been dedicated,
yoked, to the great task at hand. It was his dream to reorientate the values
and patterns of Hindu life … . While others borrowed a ready-made sword
from Western ideology to cut the knots of the problem, Jayadev delved back
into India’s remote past for a solution. (1952: 67)
Literary parodies are dubious linguistic evidence (cf. Görlach 1983); how-
ever, if they are interpreted very cautiously, they can draw attention to
stereotypical features which are perceived as distinctive for a language by
both external observers and – possibly – the speakers themselves. The his-
tory of colonial Englishes is full of such parodying accounts, which range
from Anstey’s “Baboo Jabberjee, B.A.” to Ch.G. Leland’s racy poems of
1876 in largely unauthentic Chinese Pidgin English – which provided the
commonly accepted stereotype of the variety. (How wide off the mark lin-
guistically such fabrications can be, and still be considered funny, is shown
by Coren’s “Idi Amin” columns of the 1970s, which were not in Ugandan
English, but in a kind of Caribbean creole.)
One of the best-known modern parodies is R. Parthasarathy’s “What is
your good name, please?” which makes fun of almost all the features in
which IndE deviates from the proclaimed British model, such as (apart from
the localising function of names):
1. tense and aspect confusion;

2. irregular use of articles;
3. invariable tags (isn’t it? no?);
4. questions marked by intonation only;
5. pleonastic uses (headache pain, discussing about)
6. local idioms (inter-caste, matric fail, foreign-returned, put up) and
wrong uses of BrE idioms (make the two ends meet);
7. erudite diction (eschew, opine, purchase).
What is Your Good Name, Please?
What is your good name, please?

I am remembering we used to be neighbours
in Hindu Colony ten fifteen years before.
Never mind. What do you know?
You are in service, isn’t it?
I am Matric fail. Self-employed.
Only last year I celebrated my marriage.
It was inter-caste. Now I am not able
to make the two ends meet.
Cost of living is going up and up everyday.
Sugar, for example, is costing much.
I am eschewing sugar therefore since last two months.
Also I am diabetes. It is good, no?
Excuse me, please, where are you putting up?
Never mind, you will be coming to my place
one day surely, I am hoping.
Not to disappoint.
You are Madrasi, no? How I make out?
All Madrasis talking English language wonderfully.
I am knowing intimately one Srijut Dandayudhapani
from Brahmanwada.
He is foreign-returned from U.K.
Pronounciation is A1, I am telling you.

Some people are lucky.
He is officer in State Bank, Drawing Rs. 2.000.
We are always discussing about politics.
Congress government I am saying
is still best for delivering goods.
What you opine?
Beg pardon, I am going.
I am forgetting to go to Gandhi Market
for purchasing the Aspro
Since today morning I am suffering
from headache pain.
I am taking your leave, yes, for the time. (quoted from Gokak 1975)
It is interesting to compare Nissim Ezekiel’s “Very Indian poem in Indian

English” which makes use of the same set of stereotypical features, thus
illustrating the strong hold these preconceptions have – features which are
in fact very rare in ‘normal’ Indian texts, as is documented by their virtual
absence from the Kolhapur corpus (Schmied p.c.).
10.11 Conclusion
The analysis of a much greater corpus of texts will be necessary to show

how much variation there is in the individual text types here described and
how characteristic highly nativized texts are of Indian writing in English as
a whole. Besides, a diachronic investigation of texts within their genres
could show whether a trend away from IntE, which is so noticeable in pro-
nunciation, is also found in writing, as a consequence of the considerable
reduction in ELT by native speakers and – possibly – a growing willingness
to accept local usages as part of a national (or South Asian?) norm. Again,
such trends should ideally show up in a statistical analysis of large corpora
from different periods.
Another approach that has not been followed up to a sufficient extent, is
to compare text-type specific similarities and differences in various ESL
communities, in which the colonial BrE input in the 19th century was
largely identical (which explains the similarities), but social structures, reli-
gious composition, political developments and native stylistic and literary
traditions have caused the postcolonial varieties to diverge. Some progress
has been made to account for such splits on the levels of pronunciation,
grammar and lexis, but text type analysis has been largely neglected to date –
Conclusion 251
a field that promises to yield exciting results, but presupposes an enormous

amount of cultural and linguistic expertise in the individual speech commu-
nities compared.
11 Facsimiles
The following 34 texts are intended as supplements to chapters 3 (dedica-
tions), 4 (cooking recipes), 5 (advertisements) and 10 (Indian English).
They provide further specimens for arguments in the respective chapters
and can be used for analysis – or just be enjoyed. Typefaces and illustrations
have important semiotic functions especially in text types like advertise-
ments, features which can only be reproduced in facsimile form. Note that
the layout of individual pages has not been retained where accommodation
to the page sizes of the present book required the cutting up of original
pages. Accordingly, sizes have generally been reduced to adapt pages to the
printed frame.
The 34 specimens chosen are referred to as facs. 1–34 in the text. They
are distributed as follows:
Dedications (items 1–10)
1 Cotgrave, Randle. 1611. A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues.

London; facs. EL 82.
2 Florio, John. 1611. Queen Anna’s New World of Words, or Dictionarie of the
Italian and English Tongues. London; facs. EL 105.
3 Brinsley, John. 1612. Ludus Literarius: or, the Grammar Schoole; Shewing
how to Proceede from the First Entrance into Learning, to the Highest
Perfection. London; facs. EL 62.
4 Bullokar, John. 1616. An English Expositor: Teaching the Interpretation of the
Hardest Words Used in Our Language. London; facs. EL 11.
5 Ray, John. 1691. A Collection of English Words not Generally Used; with their
Significations and Original, in Two Alphabetical Catalogues. London;
facs. EL 145.
6 Pujolas, J. 1690. The Key of the French Tongue; or, a New Method for
Learning it Well, Easily, in Short Time and Almost Without a Master.
7 Lane, A. 1695. A Rational and Speedy Method of Attaining to the Latin
Tongue. London; facs. EL 334.
8 Lane, A. 1700. A Key to the Art of Letters: or, English a Learned Language,
Full of Art, Elegancy and Variety. London; facs. EL 171.
10 Harris, John. 1704. Lexicon Technicum, or, An Universal English Dictionary of
Arts and Sciences. London.
254 Facsimiles
Cooking recipes (items 11–15)
11 Kettilby, Mary. 1724. A Collection of (…) Receipts in Cookery, Physick and

Surgery (…). London: for the author.
12 Francatelli, Charles Elmé. 1852. A Plain Cookery Book for the Working
Classes. London: Phillips and Co.
13 Beeton, Isabella. 1861. Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management.
London: for the author.
14 Anon. 1887. Good Things Made, Said and Done for Every Household, 24th
ed. Leeds: Goodall, Backhouse and Co.
15 Reejhsinghani, Aroona. 1978. Cooking the Punjabi Way. Bombay: Jaico.
Advertisements (items 16–28)
16 Anon. 1680–1720. Trade Cards; from: John Lewis, Printed Ephemera.

London: Faber and Faber 1969.
17 Anon. 1705–1711. Advertisements, from Defoe’s Review. London.
18 Anon. 1840. Advertisements, from The Newspaper, n.p..
19 Anon. c1820. Clothing, from Robert Wood, Victorian Delights. London:
Evans 1967.
20 Anon. 1840? Lottery, from Hindley and Hindley. London: Wayland 1972.
21 Anon. 1849. Advertisement in form of a proclamation, from Robert Wood,
Victorian Delights. London: Evans 1967.
22 Anon. 1860? Bryant and May’s Matches, from Hindley and Hindley. London:
Wayland 1972.
23 Anon. 1887. Advertising end pieces, from Good Things. Leeds.
24 Anon. 1880s. Pears’ soap, and Punch parody, from Hindley and Hindley;
c1980. The Present Perfect and Happy Ballantine’s Day, from modern
magazines.
25 Anon. c1900. Bird’s Custard Powder, from Scotch Haggis, n.p.
26 Anon. 1980. Bilingual advertisements, from Manila Bulletin.
27 Anon. 1972. Advertisements in Tok Pisin and Bislama, from Wantok and
Nabanga (1980).
28 Anon. 1978–80. Advertisements for sarees, banks and builders, from South
Asian newspapers.
South Asian texts (items 29–34)
29 Newspaper report, 1980. City’s ponywallas hounded, from The Indian

Express, 6 Oct.
30 Newspaper report, 1978. Traffic nightmare, from The Skyline, Hyderabad, 23
June.
Facsimiles 255
31 Essays, 1982. Advertising. Science in the service of man, from B.A. Chishty,
R.A. Khan and S.A. Hamid, Polymer English Grammar and
Composition for B.Sc. Students, with a Supplement on Text Book.
Lahore, Urdu Bazar: Polymer.
32 Anon. 1980. Matrimonial advertisements, from The Hindu.
33 Anon. 1981–2. Book advertisements, from Sterling International Catalogue.
London: Independent Publishing.
34 Anon. 1985. Film advertisements, from Deccan Chronicle, 1 Oct.
256
Facsimiles
1 Cotgrave, Randle. 1611. A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues. London; facs. EL 82.
Facs. 1
Facs. 2
Dedications
2 Florio, John. 1611. Queen Anna’s New World of Words, or Dictionarie of the Italian and English Tongues. London; facs. EL 105.
257
258 Facsimiles Facs. 3 a
3 Brinsley, John. 1612. Ludus Literarius: or, the Grammar Schoole; Shewing how
to Proceede from the First Entrance into Learning, to the Highest Perfection.
London; Facs. EL 62.
Facs. 3 b Dedications 259
260
Facsimiles
4 Bullokar, John. 1616. An English Expositor: Teaching the Interpretation of the Hardest Words Used in Our Language.
Facs. 4
Facs. 5
Dedications
5 Ray, John. 1691. A Collection of English Words not Generally Used; with their Significations and Original, in Two
Alphabetical Catalogues. London; facs. EL 145.
261
262
Facsimiles
6 Pujolas, J. 1690. The Key of the French Tongue; or, a New Method for Learning it Well, Easily, in Short Time and Almost
Without a Master. London; facs. EL 284.
Facs. 6
Facs. 7
Dedications
7 Lane, A. 1695. A Rational and Speedy Method of Attaining to the Latin Tongue. London; facs. EL 334.
263
264 Facsimiles Facs. 8
8 Lane, A. 1700. A Key to the Art of Letters: or, English a Learned Language,
Full of Art, Elegancy and Variety. London; facs. EL 171.
Facs. 9 Dedications 265
266
Facsimiles
10 Harris, John. 1704. Lexicon Technicum, or, An Universal English Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. London.
Facs. 10
Facs. 11
Cooking Recipes
11 Kettilby, Mary. 1724. A Collection of (…) Receipts in Cookery, Physick and Surgery (…). London: for the author.
267
268
Facsimiles
12 Francatelli, Charles Elmé. 1852. A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes. London:
Phillips and Co.
Facs. 12 a
Facs. 12 b Cooking Recipes 269
Facs. 13 b
Cooking Recipes
13 Beeton, Isabella. 1861. Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management. London: for the author.
271
Facs. 14 b
Cooking Recipes
14 Anon. 1887. Good Things Made, Said and Done for Every Household, 24th ed. Leeds: Goodall, Backhouse
and Co.
273
Glossary 15a/b. alu halwa ‘sweet potato’, channa ‘chickpea’, charoli ‘Indian nut’, chuare
‘dry dates’, ghee ‘butter oil’, kheer ‘sweet milk’, pullao ‘rice dish’
Facs. 15 b Cooking Recipes 275
16 Anon. 1680-1720. Trade Cards; from: John Lewis, Printed

Ephemera. London: Faber and Faber 1969.
Facs. 17 a Advertisements 277
17 Anon. 1705-1711. “Advertisements”, from Defoe’s Review. London.

278 Facsimiles Facs. 17 b
Facs. 17 c Advertisements 279
280 Facsimiles Facs. 17 d
Facs. 17 e Advertisements 281
282
Facsimiles
18 Anon. 1840. “Advertisements”, from The Newspaper, n.p.;

Facs. 18 a
Facs. 18 b Advertisements 283
19 Anon. c1820. “Clothing”, from Robert Wood,

Victorian Delights. London: Evans 1967.
Facs. 20 Advertisements 285
20 Anon. 1840? “Lottery”, from Hindley and Hindley.

London: Wayland 1972.
286
Facsimiles
21 Anon. 1849. “Advertisement in form of a proclamation”, from Robert Wood, Victorian

Delights. London: Evans 1967.
Facs. 21
22 Anon. 1860? “Bryant and May’s Matches”, from

Hindley and Hindley. London: Wayland 1972.
Facs. 23 b
23 Anon. 1887. “Advertising end pieces”, from Good Things. Leeds.

Advertisements
289
24 Anon. 1880s. “Pears’

soap, and Punch par-
ody”, from Hindley and
Hindley; c1980. “The
Present Perfect” and
“Happy Ballantine’s
Day”, from modern
magazines.
25 Anon. c1900. “Bird’s Custard

Powder”, from Scotch Haggis, n.p.
292 Facsimiles
The non-English parts of facs. 26 and 27 translate as follows:
26 What happens if you suddenly die? … That is why you must have a God-
father. Like; … That is why you are able to be assured; … your inner life is
peaceful because there is the; … Godfather (Protector) of the Family. …
(Any brand of film is) Totally within the ability of AGFA (to develop); …
No matter what brand of film you use, it is certain that you will get the Best
of Both Worlds from AGFACOLOR Service Centers; … At. … There is no
longer any further delay!
27a (Everyone) listen well! This soap powder called ‘Cold Power’ is really first-
(left) class. It washes and forces out all kind of dirt from your clothes. This soap
powder contains a strong element in order to cause to force out all dirt – in
all clothes. You may use water from the tank or waste water. This is cold
water. ‘Cold power’ is stronger in forcing out all dirt from your clothes.
27a Sweeter! This ‘medicine’ for cleaning teeth is named ‘Colgate’. Its flavour is
(right) even sweeter. Colgate is able to force out all small bits of food which stick
between your teeth. It cleans also the red particles of buai from your teeth.
If you use Colgate for cleaning your teeth daily, your teeth will always
stay clean. You can find this toothpaste Colgate in many shops where you
live. It is a very good toothpaste for looking after your teeth.
If you go to a shop ask for Colgate for cleaning teeth.
27b Claquettes – three times stronger; for all the family; good for children.
(Alko[hol]) Once you drown inside, you will never come out again.
Stop! You are no longer killing yourself with cigarette(s).
26 Anon. 1980. “Bilingual adver-

tisements”, from Manila Bulletin.
294
Facsimiles
27 Anon. 1972. “Advertisements in Tok Pisin and Bislama”, from Wantok and Nabanga (1980).
Facs. 27 a
28 Anon. 1978-80. “Advertisements

for sarees, banks and builders”, from
South Asian newspapers.
29 Newspaper report, 1980. “City’s pony-

wallas hounded”, from The Indian Express,
6 Oct.
Facs. 30 South Asian Texts 299
30 Newspaper report, 1978. “Traffic nightmare”, from The Skyline, Hyderabad,

23 June.
31 Essays, 1982. “Advertising”.

“Science in the service of man”,
from B.A. Chishty, R.A. Khan
and S.A. Hamid, Polymer
English Grammar and
Composition for B.Sc. Students,
with a Supplement on Text Book.
Lahore, Urdu Bazar: Polymer.
Facs. 31 b South Asian Texts 301
302 Facsimiles Facs. 31 c
Facs. 31 d South Asian Texts 303
304 Facsimiles Facs. 31 e
32 Anon. 1980. “Matrimonial

advertisements”, from The
Hindu.
33 Anon. 1981-2. “Book adver-

tisements”, from Sterling
International Catalogue. London:
Independent Publishing.
34 Anon. 1985. “Film

advertisements”, from
Deccan Chronicle, 1 Oct.
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Index of persons
(includes all sources as well as selected persons referred to in the text,
excluding the numerous references to my own publications)
Adamzik, Kirsten, 7 Carroll, Susanne, 101–2

Addison, Joseph, 144, 148–9, 156, Chaucer, Geoffrey, 183
166 Chishty, B. A., 234, 239–44, 300–4
Alexander, Richard J., 181, 186–7 Corbett, John, 220
Alexander, W., 212, 217 Coren, Alan, 249
Allen, Alistar, 10 Crystal, David, 3, 101–2
Alston, Robin C., 110 Culler, Jonathan, 181
Anand, Mulk Raj, 248 Curtis, Tony, 10
Annand, J. K., 212, 223
Anstey, F., 248 Dasgupta, Probal, 233
Arnold, Richard, 163–73 Davis, John, 1
Ascham, Margaret, 112 Davy, Derek, 3, 101–2
Defoe, Daniel, 144, 148, 150, 156,
Bacon, Francis, 113–4 277–81
Barry, J. M., 217 Dekker, Thomas, 114
Battacharya, 248 Devitt, Amy, 202, 204–6, 208, 220
Beeton, Isabella, 132–4, 270–1 Diller, Hans-Jürgen, xv, 1, 7, 99, 104
Bendel, Sylvia, 141 Dimter, Matthias, 3, 7
Bennett, Henry S., 112, 120 Donaldson, William, 213
Bergson, Henri, 181 Donne, John, 192
Besch, Werner, 7, 102 Douglas, Gavin, 204, 217, 220
Biber, Douglas, xv–vii, 7–8, 21, 104,
115, 202, 228 Eco, Umberto, 152
Blair, Walter, 186 Elliott, Blanche B., 143–6, 149
Bonheim, Helmut, 99, 115 Ezekiel, Nissim, 250
Brinsley, John, 258–9
Bullokar, John, 260 Fergusson, Robert, 218
Burnett, F. H., 212 Finegan, Edward, 7, 202, 228
Burns, Robert, 211, 214, 218, 221 Finkenstaedt, Thomas, 91
Busch, Wilhelm, 212, 220 Florio, John, 257
Bush, George W., xvi Francatelli, Charles E., 134–6, 268–9
Butler, Sharon, 127 France, Peter, 220
Bysshe, Edward, 265 Francis, Nelson, 104
324 Index of persons
Freud, Sigmund, 181 Kachru, Braj B., 225–6

Frier, Wolfgang, 7 Kandiah, Thiru, 232
Fries, Udo, 102 Kay, Billy, 208
Galt, John, 203, 217, 221 Kay, Christian, 21
Gebert, Clara, 110–1, 113–4, 117 Keats, John, 146, 234, 296
Gelfert, Hans-Dieter, 181 Kettilby, Mary, 267
Gibbon, Grassic, 203, 217, 221 Kloss, Heinz, 201, 223
Gieszinger, Sabine, 143, 158 Koch, Walter A., 7
Gläser, Rosemarie, 99, 102, 177 Kolb, Erwin J., 176
Glaser, Elvira, 121
Glen, Duncan, 220 Laass, Sirka, 1
Gloning, Thomas, 121 Labov, William, 205
Gregory, Michael, 101–2 Labru, G. L., 226–9, 246
Große, Rudolf, 7, 8 Lal, Monohar, 241
Gülich, Elisabeth, 7 Lane, A., 263–4
Lee, David Y., 7, 104
Haegeman, Liliane, 125 Leech, Geoffrey N., 143, 147, 158–9
Hall, John R. Clark, 92 Leland, Ch. G., 248
Halliday, M. A. K., 99, 105 Lenz, Katja, 219
Hardie, Buff, 216 Lewis, J. N. C., 10
Harington, Sir John, 183 Lewis, John, 276
Harris, John, 266 Longacre, Robert E., xv
Hempfer, Klaus, 7 Lorimer, W. L., 209
Hermerén, Lars, 152, 160 Luther, Martin, 164, 208–9
Hieatt, Constance B., 127 Lux, Friedemann, 7
Hinck, Walter, 7 Lyons, John, xvi
Hindley, Diana and Geoffrey, 285,
287, 290 McClure, Derrick, 208–9, 217–9, 223
Hindley, Reg, 22 McDavid, Raven I. Jr., 186
Hodgett, G. A. J., 127 MacDiarmid, Hugh, 216
Hogg, Richard M., 7, 103 McLellan, Robert, 210, 217, 219
Hoverstadt, Joan, 10 McLintock, Mrs., 137, 214
Hume, Alexander, 207 Makepeace, Chris E., 10
Malhotra, Nirmala, 244
Iyengar, K. R. S., 245–6 Marfurt, Bernhard, 181
Markus, Manfred, 99, 102
James VI, 113, 204 Mehrotra, Raja Ram, 225, 227, 237
Johnson, Samuel, 114, 149, 176–9,184, Meurman-Solin, Anneli, 105
220 Miller, Edwin H., 112–5
Jussawala, Adil, 247–8 Milne, W. P., 217
Index of persons 325
Milton, Colin, 215 Schrøder, Kim, 152

Milton, John, 5 Scott, Alexander, 126
Mohan, Ramesh, 232 Scott, Sir Walter, 146, 210, 212, 215,
Morison, Stanley, 145 221, 234–5, 297
Mulcaster, Richard, 184, 205, 220, 223 Shakespeare, William, 110, 146, 183
Murray, Charles, 219 Shastri, S.V., 228
Shoaf, R.A. 183
Nandy, Pritish, 246–7 Skeyne, Gilbert, 206
Noyes, Gertrude E., 176 Sledd, James H., 176
Smith, S. Goodsir, 207, 218
O’Donnell, William R., 101–2 Soutar, William, 218
Ogston, David, 217 Spenser, Edmund, 5
Oxford, Arnold W., 131 Starnes, DeWitt T., 176
Steger, Hugo, 7
Parthasarathy, R., 249–50
Stellmacher, Dieter, 222
Platt, John, 226
Suerbaum, Ulrich, 102
Plinius 126
Swales, John M., 99
Pocheptsov, G. G., 108
Polenz, Peter von, 3 Todd, Loreto, 101–2, 228
Pujolas, J., 262 Tucker, Susie, 157, 167
Tulloch, Graham, 203, 209–10
Quayle, Eric, 131 Turner, E.S., 143, 148–9, 154
Quirk, Randolph, 101–2
Ungerer, Friedrich, 142
Raible, Wolfgang, 7
Ramsay, Allan, 218 Vestergaard, Torben, 152
Rao, Raja, 246, 248
Rao, V. P., 232–3 Watts, Isaac, 165–7, 170
Ray, John, 261 Webster, Noah, 198
Redfern, Walter, 181 Wegera, Klaus-Peter, 7
Reejhsinghani, Aroona, 138, 244–5, Wellmann, Hans, 7
274–5 Werlich, Egon, 7
Reichmann, Oskar, 7 Wesley, Charles, 164–5, 172–3
Richards, Maurice, 9–10, 185–6 Wesley, John, 106, 163–4, 168
Roberts, Jane, 21 Williams, Franklin B. 112
Romaine, Suzanne, 202, 205, 207 Wimmer, Rainer, 7
Ross, Alison, 188 Winter, Werner, 2
Roy, Arundati, xvi Wolff, Dieter, 91
Wood, Robert, 156, 284
Sampson, H., 143, 150–1 Young, Douglas, 207, 218
Schmied, Josef, 105, 228, 250 Young, Edward, 114–5
Index of topics, terms, places and anonymous works
(includes all major items discussed, except minor categories)
abstand, 203 book announcements, 230–1, 306

academic writing, 12, 227 book types, 107
acknowledgements, 1, 109 bound forms, 9, 18, 106, 109, 175
action/activity, 9–10, 17 Buy British, 146, 156, 287
adaptation/nativization, 10, 163,
169–73, 234, 245, 250 Calvinist, 171
adjectives, 148, 151–3, 155, 158–9, 236 Cambridge History of the English
administration, 205–6, 226–7 Language (CHEL) 7, 103
Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (ALD), captatio benevolentiae xv, 109
89 cartoons, 213
advertese, 147 church hymn, 11, 12, 16, 163–73
advertisement, 6, 12, 142, 184, 214 –5, structure, 169
233–6, 276–97 classification, 7–8, 14–22, 101, 103–4
films, 235, 241, 307 closing formula, 119
matrimonial, 226, 235–6, 304 code switching, 293
structure, 150 coherence/cohesion, 18, 107, 168–9, 171
advertising, 136, 141–62, 300–2 collections 9, 107, 124, 128
advice, 132 colonial lag 6, 146
ambiguity, 181–99 communicative competence, 100, 105,
American English (AmE), 190, 235 158
anglicization, 204, 218–20 componential analysis, xvi, 3–22,
analysis, methods, 12, 14, 88–90, 143 121–2, 186
appropriateness/decorum 1, 4–5, 13, composite, 18
99–100, 105, 226, 237 compounds, 3, 9, 10
archaism, 238 Concise Oxford Dictionary (COD),
ARCHER corpus, 104 177–8
argument(ation), 103 conglomerate, 106
audience, see readership contents-oriented, 20
convention, breach of, 215
Bible, 164, 167, 204, 208–9 conventionalization, 5, 7, 9, 100, 105
bilingualism, 185, 202 convergence, 203–4, 221
Bislama, 161, 295 cooking recipe 121–40, 142, 214,
block language, 134 244–5, 267–75
blunders, 182, 188–9 corpora, 110–1, 250
Index of topics, terms, places and anonymous works 327
corpus linguistics, 1, 104, 228 epitaphs, 209–10

correspondence, see letters Erkenntnisinteresse, xvi
creole, 203, 208 explicitness, 133
critical views, 114, 148 essay (writing), 156, 242–4, 300–4
cultural history, 1, 22, 109, 112 eulogy, xv, 118
Eurocentric, xvi
Deccan Chronicle, 229 explicitness, 133
decorum, see appropriateness expository (prose),147,175–80, 213, 223
dedication, 109–20, 142, 231–2,
256–66, facsimiles, 1, 111, 253–307
absence of, 113 features, distinctive, 14, 104, 115, 124,
definition 105–6, 121, 176–9 129–30, 132, 134, 135, 137, 139,
derivation, 8 186–7, 206
designations of text types, xv, 8, 23–88, fiction, 20
105, 123, 142 field, see domain
development, 131, 150, 164, 204 Filipino, 6, 293
deviation, xvi, 225, 228–30, 234, 244, folk-typology, xv
249 foreignness, 9, 18
dialect, 4, 101, 144, 189, 214–5 foreword, xv–vii, 142, 231–2
dictionary, 175–80 forgeries, 20
Dictionary of Contemporary English formal(ity), 19, 205, 210, 211, 215
(DCE), 89 formula(icness), 19, 153, 191, 206
diglossia, 202, 204, 211 free forms, 106
distortions, 126, 147, 160 (cf. misuses) French, 4, 125, 202
document, 4 functional range, xvi, 1, 4, 100–1, 103,
domain, 4, 17, 202 201, 205, 221–2, 225–6
drama, 12, 219 funeralia, 10
Edinburgh, 210 Gaelic, 220, 222

editing, 171–3 gaps, 4
encyclopedia, 175–80 genre, xv, 104
Encyclopedia Britannica, 165–6, 177 genteel, 125, 133–4
encyclopedic distinctions, xvi Gentleman’s Magazine, 165
English as a second language (ESL), 5, German, 7, 102, 160, 184, 202, 209
225, 250 Glaswegian 217, 219
English for special purposes (ESP), 13 Good Things, 136, 155, 272–3, 288–9
English Linguistics (EL), 110–1, 114, grammar books, 207
118
ephemera, 9–10 Halbsprache, 201, 223
epistle dedicatory, 117 Helsinki Corpus, 104
328 Index of topics, terms, places and anonymous works
Hindu, 305 length, 20

historical linguistics, 1, 19, 22, 99–100 letters, 11, 12, 107, 211–2, 239–42
Historical Thesaurus, 21 lexical entries 175–80
homogeneity, 108 lexis, 117–8, 175–80
humour, 160–1, 181–99, 215–6 literary genres/diction, 4, 156, 216–20,
245–50
illustration, 18, 141, 155, 160, 190 loan style, 226
increase of text types, 90–1, 131 loan syntax, 104
India, 138, 225–51, 296 Low German, 221–3
Indian/South Asian English, xvi, 6,
138, 146, 225–51, 296–307 mass media, 221–2
Indian Express, 298 meaning, 176, 197–8
individuality, 116 medical, 124, 126–7, 144, 148, 150,
informal language, 211–6 155, 288–9
innovation, 4 medium, 19, 103
inscriptions, 10 mergers, 11
instruction, 127, 131 merry tales, 182
intelligibility, 219 metalinguistic reflexion, 207
International Corpus of English (ICE), Methodism, 165
104, 228 metonymy, 9
intertextuality, 18, 22, 103, 191 Middle English, 127–30
inventory of text types, 23–88 minority language, 201–2
irony, 148–9, 179 misuses, 126, 160, 211
models, 5, 163–4, 239–44, 245
Jamaica, 209, 214, 221 music, 17
jargon, 8–9, 20
joke, 12, 108, 181–99, 215–6 Nabanga, 295
journalism, xvi, 207–8, 212–4 names, 192
narrative, 216–7
Kavita Manifesto, 246–7 national language, 204, 221
Kolhapur Corpus, 250 Newspaper, 146, 154–5, 157, 159, 282–3
newspaper, 11, 106, 141, 213, 222,
Lallans, 207 227–30
Lallans magazine, 213 report, 298–9
language contact, 5 non-verbal communication, 191
language planning, 204, 223 Northern Ireland, 208, 221, 223
Latin(ate), 4, 99, 145–6, 151, 155, 159, novel, 107, 212
202, 207, 249
Learning English Humour, 181 obituary, 105, 237–8
legal texts, 4, 152, 202 obsolescence, 92
legend, 11, 16 official, 20
Index of topics, terms, places and anonymous works 329
Old English, 11, 91, 122, 126–7 rhetoric, 1, 5, 13, 104, 109, 115,118,
Old Mortality, 209 151–2, 155, 170, 199
opening formulas, 117 rhythm, 104
riddle, 185
Pakistan, 239–41, 296–7 romance, 10
paraphrase, 10, 18, 163
scholarly prose, 4, 232–3
parody, 248–50
Scotch Haggis, 291
part-whole relationship, 107
Scots/Scotland, xvi, 137, 166, 201–23
period style, 109–10, 140
semiotics, 151–2
persuasion, 141–62
sentence structure, 104
Philippines, 6, 161, 293
seriousness, 160–1, 211
philology, 3
Shorter Oxford English Dictionary
plainness, 167
(SOED), 3, 23, 88–91
poetic diction, 123, 170, 235
Skyline, 230, 299
poetry, 4, 18, 163, 168, 218–9
social changes, 125, 156–7
pragmatics, 13, 188, 198, 225
social functions, xvi
prescription, 142
sociolinguistics, 13, 143, 220–1, 225
prescriptive, xvi, 205, 225
speech/spoken English, 4, 221
prestige, 225
speech act, 12
pronunciation, 193, 210–1, 215
spelling, 191–2
prose, 19
splits 12, 142
prototypes, 106
spontaneous, 20
proverbs, 12, 136
stability, 110, 119, 162
Punch, 146, 188, 290
standardization, 204–5
punning, 160, 181–99
standard language, 4
statistics, 111
Rationalism, 125
stereotype, 248–50
readership, 124, 136, 143, 145–6,
structural development, 1, 99
155–7, 176, 217–8
structuralism, 11
realization, 10, 106
style/stylistics, 3, 9, 11, 13, 99, 103,
rebus, 160, 285
154, 225
register, 3, 6, 101
syntax, 99, 125, 127, 129–30, 137, 153,
relexification, 206
159, 175, 193–6, 207, 249
religion, 16, 106, 163–73, 202
religious diction, 167–8, 208–9 Tatler, 147–9
Renaissance, 6, 12 terminologies, 8, 13
representative, 104, 112 Textsorten, 7, 102
research, 7, 102, 143, text structure, 127, 176
Review, 145, 150–1, 277–81 text types, exported, 136–9, 161, 225,
reviews, 230–1 245–6
330 Index of topics, terms, places and anonymous works
Textwissenschaften, 120 vagueness, 8, 11, 108

Tok Pisin, 5, 139, 161, 294 variation, 11
tolerance, 223 varieties of English, xv, 19, 100–1,
trade cards, 147, 276 108, 189–90, 192
translation, 18, 108, 163, 189, 209, 212, vernaculars, 4
220 verse, 19, 128, 147, 156, 287
transmission, 10–11 Vulgarities of Speech, 184
transplanted English, 136–9, 161, 225,
245–6 Wantok, 295
typography, 104, 106, 145, 147–50, 234 word-formation, 196–7
world language, 5
Ullans, 208, 223 written, 125
Index of words and phrases
antelope 177 isn’t it 249

antimony 177–8 jakes 183
ballant 126 lexicographer 179
bare head 182, 215 kepand na sudron 204
breathless clay 167 moanarchy 184
brute 183 network 179
crotchet 169 oats 179
des-troyed 183 pension 179
dukes and fools 215 pensioner 179
elk/ellend 178–9 present perfect 290
enthusiast 168 rejoycings 185
geil of rasps 137 reticulated 179
happy Ballantine’s Day 290 whereas 153
humour 181

Text Types and The History of English (Manfred Gorlach, 2004)

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Text Types and the History of

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Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Bibliothek

2 A history of text types: A componential analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

3 Text types and the linguistic history of modern English . . . . . . . 99

4 Text types and language history: the cooking recipe . . . . . . . . . . . 121

5 A linguistic history of advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

5.5 A text type exported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

6 The church hymn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

7 Lexical entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

8 Linguistic aspects of jokes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

9 Text types and the history of Scots. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

9.3 Informal language. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

10 Text types and Indian English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Fig. 1: The functional distribution of English in various domains

Text 1: OE medical recipe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Dedications (items 1–10)

1 Cotgrave, Randle. 1611. A Dictionarie of the French and English

Cooking recipes (items 11–15)

11 Kettilby, Mary. 1724. A Collection of (…) Receipts in Cookery, Physick

Advertisements (items 16–28)

16 Anon. 1680-1720. Trade Cards; from: John Lewis, Printed Ephemera.

South Asian texts (items 29 –34)

29 Newspaper report, 1980. “City’s ponywallas hounded”, from The

The foreword belongs to the fast diminishing number of text classes on

The present book summarizes my reflexions on what I see as one of the

Cologne, July 2003 Manfred Görlach

1995a). In particular, the history of European ‘vernaculars’ after 1500 is

From the 15th century onwards, various linguistic innovations accordingly

against the buzz-word of classical rhetoric, decorum (itself modelled on the

1. The continuation of earlier types. This might include a more specific

That the opposite development, the functional reduction of a language, can

For scholars it is therefore important to settle various basic sociohistorical

2.2 Methods of classification 3

My remarks above will have intimated that I prefer an analytical approach

recent second edition of the Sprachgeschichte (Vol. I, 21998) do not make

2.3 The inventory of text types and distinctive features

1. The polysemic nature of many terms, especially where a specific speech

Figure 2. Sources of names of text types

Finally, the variability of individual texts (so to speak a parole feature of

drastic changes in the transmission of church hymns are mostly intentional

1. The contents of words, or rather the individual senses which function in

types and semantic splits occasioned by new features introduced to dis-

many terms are translated by paraphrases (as the proposed translation of

pragmatics text type

Figure 4. Linguistic disciplines partially overlapping with, or contributing to, text

of textuality; pragmatics offering the situation-related explanation; sociolin-

As my sample analysis of selected items taken from letter C (cf. figure 5)

A (field) a law, b religion, c science, d literature, e politics/econ., f war, g

Figure 5. Categories of text type classification ; taxonomic framework based on 25

Another concern is to determine whether (or in how far) the collection of

and ‘words accompanying and explaining a map, picture, etc.’ have no

A – ‘field’ is an obvious parameter which needs little justification, only that

B – ‘intention’ has a large-scale overlap with speech-act categories. I have

C – very many terms relate to an act or an action as well as the document

This parameter offers the greatest difficulties in deciding whether a term

I should, in a logical sequence, come much earlier in the conspectus. Is the

J makes statements about intertextuality. A text can be original, or it can be

K answers the question of whether the type is native to British culture,

L distinguishes the validity of the term/concept as generally ‘English’, or

M makes a statement about the existence of the genre in present-day culture;

N – medium repeats the well-known classification of an utterance being either

O – formality is one of the central parameters in stylistics; there are connec-