Alphabet to Email_Naomi S. Baron.pdf

ALPHABET TO EMAIL

How is technology changing the way we write?

In the fast-moving world of email, content is far more important than

spelling and punctuation. Is it time to throw away the old rules—or

should we hurry to the rescue?

From pen-and-parchment to the email revolution, Naomi S.Baron’s

provocative account shows how a surprising variety of factors—not just

technology, but also religious beliefs, the law, nationalism, and economics—

shape the way we read, write and communicate. Along the way, readers will

discover that:

• Long before keyboards and carpal tunnel syndrome, monks grumbled

about the ergonomics of the medieval scriptorium.

• In 1902 the Times of London proclaimed of the telephone: ‘An

overwhelming majority of the population do not use it and are not likely to

use it at all.’

• Many children who seldom spoke to their parents at home now

communicate with them through email.

• And much more.

This fascinating, anecdotal foray through the history of language and writing

offers a fresh perspective on the impact of the digital age on literacy and

education, and on the future of our language.

Naomi S.Baron is Professor of Linguistics at the Department of Language

and Foreign Studies, American University. She is the author of five

previous books about language, including Growing Up with Language:

How Children Learn to Talk (Addison Wesley, 1992).

Alphabet to Email was highly commended in the English-Speaking Union

Duke of Edinburgh’s English Language Award 2000.

ALPHABET

TO EMAIL

How Written English Evolved and Where It’s Heading

NAOMI S.BARON

London and New York

First published 2000

by Routledge

11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada

by Routledge

29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

First published in paperback 2001

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002.

form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,

including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Baron, Naomi S.

Alphabet to email: how written English evolved and where it’s heading/Naomi S.Baron.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.

1. English language—Written English—History. 2. Written

communication—English-speaking countries—History. I. Title.

PE1075.B28 2000

421´.1 21–dc21

99–043735

ISBN 0-415-18685-4 (Hbk)

ISBN 0-415-18686-2 (Pbk)

ISBN 0-203-19431-4 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-19434-9 (Glassbook Format)

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