Charles Dickens makes fun of idiolects in Martin Chuzzlewit
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14198/raei.2005.18.13Keywords:
Dickens, Charles, Martin Chuzzlewit, Literatura inglesa, Libros de viajes, Personajes literarios, Idiolectos, HumorismoAbstract
Martin Chuzzlewit is considered a very rich linguistic mosaic where a number of characters are in the habit of speaking 'private languages' or idiolects. In this travel-book we find a source of Dickens's impressions of America and a treatment of a linguistic problem: to make each class, each group and profession speak in its own characteristic way. In the representation of American speech the Victorian writer uses features such as deviant spellings, unusual morpho-syntactic patterns, standard words used in a different context, extralinguistic capitals and hyphens. The technique in the dialogues of Martin Chuzzlewit is especially the graphic and humorous, by means of which he exhibits the most trifling and commonplace things in a new and amusing light.Funding
This research has been funded by the Galician Secretaría Xeral de Investigación and by Vicerrectorado de Investigación (Universidade da Coruña).Downloads
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Published
15-11-2005
How to Cite
Soto Vázquez, Adolfo Luis. 2005. “Charles Dickens Makes Fun of Idiolects in Martin Chuzzlewit”. Alicante Journal of English Studies / Revista Alicantina De Estudios Ingleses, no. 18 (November):261-73. https://doi.org/10.14198/raei.2005.18.13.
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Copyright (c) 2005 Adolfo Luis Soto Vázquez
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.