Review by Choice Review
Burchfield has essentially created a new reference work using the historical approach similar to that in his A Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary (CH, Feb'73). He dates the entrance of new usages when possible and gives examples of changes that have taken place throughout the words' history. He expands Fowler's database of the best fiction to include the best newspapers and magazines. Unlike Fowler, he does not consult traditional grammar books. With few modifications, Burchfield has maintained Fowler's prosodic and poetic terms, but has replaced Fowler's spelling system with the International Phonetic Alphabet. Significantly, Burchfield discusses sexist language and assails words such as "man" and "he" as generic pronouns. He maintains the discussion of the difference between traditional problem words such as "affect" and "effect," but expands the discussion of words such as "disinterest" to include both "impartial" and "lack of interest." Essential for all libraries. M. D. Linn; University of Minnesota-Duluth
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
First published in 1926, Fowler's Modern Usage was revised in 1965 by Ernest Gowers. Now Robert Burchfield, the editor of the Oxford English Dictionary for almost 30 years, has undertaken a thorough rewriting of what he has termed "a fossil." Fowler still gives advice on choosing the right word, word formation, pronunciation, and punctuation. However, now there are lots of examples from the 1980s and 1990s. Burchfield has gotten rid of Fowler's amusing but often useless headwords ("Between Two Stools"). He provides new usage for words such as gender (Fowler said it was only a grammatical term). Fowler is now much more reflective of current usage than Partridge's Usage and Abusage [RBB My 1 95], which only got a cosmetic revision. Burchfield's explanations of the usage of problem words such as that/which and like/as are clear. Fowler used simple respelling for pronunciation; Burchfield uses the International Phonetic Alphabet. The book still has no index, and even the classified index from earlier editions has been dropped, but long entries now have tables of contents. Many writers will be loathe to give up their old Fowler, but libraries with an earlier edition will want to add this new one, which will be used by writers long into the twenty-first century.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
An icon to those who write and think about words, Fowler's has not been updated since 1965. (It was originally published in 1926.) Burchfield, the chief editor of The Oxford English Dictionary and its four-volume supplement, is perhaps the best equipped to tackle this monument. His revision pulls a much-loved and slightly eccentric work out of the charm of the past and into the whirlwind of today's language. In a simple, alphabetical arrangement, the third edition covers grammar, syntax, style, word choice, and advice on usage. Some of the contents have been changed completely: there are explanations of the differences between British and American usage, new pronunciation guidelines, and new entries reflecting the politicizing of speech (sexist language, political correctness). The most famous and endearing aspect of Fowler's, the treatment of the split infinitive, has been rewritten to provide more explanation than wit. Some of the contents have only been updated and clarified, retaining the same examples. For instance, the second edition seeks to define "dead letter" apart from "its Pauline and post-office uses"; the new edition changes this to "apart from its theological and post-office uses"; both use "quill pens, top hats, [and] steam locomotives" as examples of objects that have fallen out of fashion. The result is a work that is different from the original and more useful, but academic libraries will want to keep the first and second editions as well. Other libraries will definitely want to update their copies; this work will be a standard in the field for years to come.Neal Wyatt, Chesterfield Cty. P.L., Va. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Library Journal Review
