Orality in the History of English

doi:10.1017/9781009205443.006

3 - Orality in the History of English

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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 October 2025

Matylda Włodarczyk

Edited by

Merja Kytö and

Erik Smitterberg

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Merja Kytö: Affiliation:
Uppsala Universitet, Sweden
Erik Smitterberg: Affiliation:
Uppsala Universitet, Sweden

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Summary

In this chapter, I argue for the importance of two models in explorations of orality in the history of English: communicative immediacy and ‘oral/conversational diagnostics’, within the framework of oral vs. literate/production styles. Based on the two models, I identify certain (sub)registers and genres as reference points for assessing the nature of orality reflected in historical linguistic data. In addition, I use the major conclusions of the ‘bad’ data debate, foundational for historical pragmatics, as a springboard for a selective survey of research focused on interjections, speech acts, and specific discourse domains and genres such as wills, courtroom discourse and letters. Potential directions for future research and new data sources are also provided to indicate gaps in the coverage of historical oralities in English.

Keywords

oral diagnostics communicative immediacy Multidimensional Analysis oral styles genre (sub)register “bad” data drift colloquialisation

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Type: Chapter
Information: The New Cambridge History of the English Language
Documentation, Sources of Data and Modelling
, pp. 75 - 100

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009205443.006 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2025

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