AMERICAN LANGUAGE, The

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AMERICAN LANGUAGE, The, short form AL. An encyclopedic study of English in the US by Henry Louis MENCKEN (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1919), which demonstrates the distinctness of AmE, chronicles the contributions of each of the nation's major ethnic groups to the language, and stresses American linguistic creativity and independence. Revised and enlarged editions of the AL appeared in 1921, 1923, and 1936, and two large supplements to the 4th edition in 1945 and 1948. The later editions used anecdotal contributions from readers as well as contemporary AmE scholarship. Mencken ignored 20c developments in linguistics. A 1963 abridgement and conflation of the 4th edition and its supplements (which remain in print as a three-volume set) was edited with additions by Raven I. McDavid Jr.

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