James Buchanan’s use of Anne Fisher’s A new grammar: Towards the development of an English grammar teaching method in eighteenth-century English grammar writing

Abstract

AbstractIn light of the question how the eighteenth-century English grammar writing tradition contributed to the development of Standard English, this article attempts to answer the question to what extent the grammarian James Buchanan made use of Anne Fisher’s grammar in writing his own. While Buchanan admitted that he consulted the works of other grammarians, he did not reveal which he used. It is argued that Buchanan drew on Fisher’s grammar for his focus on English concord, and for the inclusion of example sentences of false syntax and of exercises on bad English. However, the differences in layout and the subjects discussed in the example sentences and exercises are such that the similarities can be said to fall within the remit of acceptable eighteenth-century authorship and that they do not seem evidence of an attempt to plagiarise. On the contrary, Buchanan’s reliance on Fisher’s grammar can best be understood as a concern with the didactics of English grammar rather than with the actual language norms purported by Fisher – though some features seem inspired by her. As such, Buchanan’s use of Fisher’s grammar can be seen as an attempt to further the development of an English grammar teaching method within the discourse community of the eighteenth-century grammarians.