Background
Francis, Winthrop Nelson was born on October 23, 1910 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Son of Joseph Sidney and Kate Winthrop (Nelson) Francis.
(The study of DIALECTS, that is, of variant features withi...)
The study of DIALECTS, that is, of variant features within a language, their history, differences of form and meaning, interrelationships, distribution, and, more broadly, their spoken as distinct from their literary forms. The discipline recognizes all variations within the bounds of any given language; it classifies and interprets them according to historical origins, principles of development, characteristic features, areal distribution, and social correlates. The scientific study of dialects dates from the mid-19c, when philologists using data preserved in texts began to work out the historical or diachronic development of the Indo-European languages. Their interest was etymological and systematic. Scientific phonetics and the principle that sound change was not erratic but followed discoverable rules or laws, were a basic part of the growth of dialectology. Living dialects were seen to furnish a huge treasury of living data on phonology, lexicology, and other features of language that written texts could not furnish. The linguist's task was to gather, analyse, and interpret this living body of language. Dialectology is pursued through a number of methods; the American linguist W. Nelson Francis (Dialectology, 1983) describes the prevailing methods as traditional, structural, and generative.
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(The goal of this book is to furnish the student of Englis...)
The goal of this book is to furnish the student of English composition with information and theory about his language as background for increasing his skill in writing. The book describes the elements of the English language-- grammar, history, vocabulary, speech, writing, and usage- sparely and clearly, avoiding the detailed analysis required in an upper-level linguistics course.
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Francis, Winthrop Nelson was born on October 23, 1910 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Son of Joseph Sidney and Kate Winthrop (Nelson) Francis.
AB, Harvard College, 1931. Master of Arts, University Pennsylvania, 1935. Doctor of Philosophy, University Pennsylvania, 1937.
Master of Arts ad eundem gradum, Brown University, 1964.
From instructor to Professor of English, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1937-1962;
professor linguistics, Brown U., Providence, 1962-1976;
professor linguistics emeritus, Brown U., Providence, since 1976. Member of commission on English language National Council Teachers of English, 1960-1966. Consultant to curriculum division Portland (Oregon) Public Schools, 1960-1961.
Visiting professor linguistics Trondheim (Norway) U., 1976-1977. Member of advisory board International Corpus of English, since 1989. Lecturer in field.
(This volume presents the results of a lexical and grammat...)
(The study of DIALECTS, that is, of variant features withi...)
(The goal of this book is to furnish the student of Englis...)
(The structure of American English with a chapter on Ameri...)
Lieutenant United States Naval Reserve, 1943-1946. Member American Association of University Professors, Modern Language Association, Linguistic Society of America, American Dialect Society, International Linguistic Association, Providence Shakespearean Society (president), Phi Beta Kappa.
Married Anne Poage Funkhouser, November 25, 1939 (divorced June 1967). Children: John W.N. Francis, Samuel Hophins Francis. Married Nearlene Jacquelyn Burkley Bertin, July 1, 1967.
1 adopted child, Nearlene Jocelyn.