Page:The American Language.djvu/15

CONTENTS

 

I. By Way of Introduction, 1

1. The Diverging Streams, 1
2. The Academic Attitude, 4
3. The View of Writing Men, 12
4. Foreign Observers, 18
5. The Characters of American, 19
6. The Materials of American, 29

II. The Beginnings of American, 36

1. In Colonial Days, 36
2. Sources of Early Americanisms, 40
3. New Words of English Material, 44
4. Changed Meanings, 51
5. Archaic English Words, 54
6. Colonial Pronunciation, 58

III. The Period of Growth, 63

1. The New Nation, 63
2. The Language in the Making, 72
3. The Expanding Vocabulary, 76
4. Loan-Words, 86
5. Pronunciation, 94

IV. American and English Today, 97

1. The Two Vocabularies, 97
2. Differences in Usage, 102
3. Honorifics, 117
4. Euphemisms and Forbidden Words, 124

V. Tendencies in American, 131

1. International Exchanges, 131
2. Points of Difference, 138
3. Lost Distinctions, 143
4. Foreign Influences Today, 149
5. Processes of Word Formation, 159
6. Pronunciation, 166

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