Codification of correctness: normative sources for Joseph Priestley's grammar1. (2nd January 2016) - Straaijer, Robin
Abstract: In this paper, I will discuss possible sources for Priestley's norm of correctness in his grammar book, The Rudiments of English Grammar, from a socio-historical perspective. I will show that Priestley's norms of correctness were informed by the usage of the well-educated middle class, the language of science, Robert Lowth's grammar and the discourse community of eighteenth-century grammarians, and a contemporary canon of good and bad usage.