The Problem of Joseph Priestley’s (1733–1804) Descriptivism
Joseph Priestley’s (1733–1804) Rudiments of English Grammar (1761, second revised edition 1768) has often been interpreted as demonstrating that, unlike most 18th-century grammarians, Priestley took a descriptive approach towards the study of language. This article
argues that such a characterisation both of Priestley’s work and that of his contemporaries is misleading. The article offers a reappraisal of Priestley’s Grammar, demonstrating that the idea of linguistic perfectibility is central to his linguistic ideas, but that it has
often been overlooked by modern commentators. The two editions of Priestley’s Grammar are assessed, and it is argued that the substantial alterations that he makes for the second edition reveal a grammarian struggling to bring order to the study of the English language.
Document Type: Research Article
Publication date: 01 January 2006
- International Journal for the History of the Language Sciences
- Access Key
- Free content
- Partial Free content
- New content
- Open access content
- Partial Open access content
- Subscribed content
- Partial Subscribed content
- Free trial content