Paying particular attention to the actual pronunciations advocated by Thomas Spence and his contemporaries, this text aims to reconstruct what was felt to be "correct" pronunciation in 18th-century Britain.

1. Thomas Spence: His Life and Works ; 2. Eighteenth-Century English: The 'Cinderella' of English Historical Linguistics ; 3. Evidence for Eighteenth-Century Pronunciation: The Value of Pronouncing Dictionaries ; 4. Spence's Grand Repository of the English Language ; 5. The Phonology of Eighteenth-Century English: Evidence from Spence's Grand Repository and Contemporary Pronouncing Dictionaries ; 6. Conclusion ; Appendices

`Beal's study of a largely ignored eighteenth-century pronouncing dictionary is an important contribution to the field of English historical phonology largely through the benefits of its inclusive methodology: the technique leaves no relevant evidential stone unturned and the results are consequently firmly fixed in their historical, social and linguistic framework.' Margaret J-M Sonmez, J. Linguistics 36 (2000). `a work that contains a number of new insights into sound change at the phonetic level, and into the interrelationship between phonic details, their social conditioning and their phonological implications. / From the smaller world of Thomas Spence's life and works to the larger context of language studies then and now, this is a book that makes connections.' Margaret J-M Sonmez, J. Linguistics 36 (2000). `careful piecing together of evidence from many sources.' Margaret J-M Sonmez, J. Linguistics 36 (2000). `the whole of [this] final section is essential reading for any student of Early and Later Modern English pronunciation.' Margaret J-M Sonmez, J. Linguistics 36 (2000). `a tantalising glimpse of what can happen when evidence relating to phonetic and lexical diffusion is combined.' Margaret J-M Sonmez, J. Linguistics 36 (2000). `Beal's work has a far wider significance than its subtitle might suggest, and the book is an important work of scholarship in eighteenth-century English phonology and in the history of English phonology more generally.' Margaret J-M Sonmez, J. Linguistics 36 (2000). `Beal has done us a great favour in drawing Spence's work to our attention, and another in regulating and evaluating its content.' Alison Wray, Journal of Sociolinguistics `this book may be seen as a valuable addition to a rather underesearched period of the English Language' Alison Wray, Journal of Sociolinguistics

Fascinating study into the work of 18th-century political writer, Thomas Spence Demonstrates importance of pronouncing dictionaries as source for historical phonology Insight into the politics of 18th-century language and its impact on education and reform Includes substantial appendices of entries from Spence's 'Grand Repository'

Fascinating study into the work of 18th-century political writer, Thomas Spence Demonstrates importance of pronouncing dictionaries as source for historical phonology Insight into the politics of 18th-century language and its impact on education and reform Includes substantial appendices of entries from Spence's 'Grand Repository'