Description

The respected phonetician and philologist Henry Sweet (1845-1912) has had a lasting influence on the study and teaching of linguistics, particularly phonetics and Old English. Sweet is also known for being, in part, the inspiration for Henry Higgins in Shaw's Pygmalion. This two-volume work, first published in 1892-8, marks the start of a new tradition in the study of English, although it received little attention in Britain upon its publication. Building on developments in European linguistics, this was the first grammar of English to adopt a scientific approach to the description of language, in particular of phonology. The work is a thorough description of English grammar in comparison with that of Old English, and covers the parts of speech, phonology, accidence and syntax. Volume 2 (1898) presents a detailed description of English syntax.