Slap Happy

Download or read book American English written by Zoltan Kovecses and published by Broadview Press. This book was released on 2000-09-26 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a cultural-historical (rather than purely linguistic) introduction to American English. The first part consists of a general account of variation in American English. It offers concise but comprehensive coverage of such topics as the history of American English; regional, social and ethnic variation; variation in style (including slang); and British and American differences. The second part of the book puts forward an account of how American English has developed into a dominant variety of the English language. It focuses on the ways in which intellectual traditions such as puritanism and republicanism, in shaping the American world view, have also contributed to the distinctiveness of American English.