Pronouncing Shakespeare's Words: A Guide from A to Zounds

by Dale F. Coye (Editor)

Overview

A sensible and straightforward guide for students, teachers, and actors of Shakespeare. Based on the results of an extensive survey of 100 Shakespearean scholars and dramatists from the US, Canada, and the UK. Their recommendations on the pronunciation of over 300 controversial words, together with a variety of linguistic studies, are the authorities for the pronunciations given here. Pronunciation variants are listed for the UK, Canada, and the US.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781135929817
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/12/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	724
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Dale F. Coye

Table of Contents

Introduction; A Pronouncing Guide to the Plays and Poems; The Plays; The Poems

Editorial Reviews

For this specialized guide, Coye (Coll. of New Jersey) pulled together surveys from 100 Shakespearean scholars to determine the correct pronunciation of over 300 words from Shakespeare's plays and poems, seemingly every word necessary for a reasonable reader. The resulting reference, which utilizes The Riverside Shakespeare (Classic Returns, LJ 1/98) as the base text (though a word index does provide access for readers using other editions), is a unique and useful tool. An exhaustive introduction precedes a phonetic pronunciation guide that includes definitions. Organized by play or poem, words are given in the order in which they appear in a linear reading. Lists at the beginning of each work contain pronunciation guides for place and proper names, the most common "hard" words, and the most common reduced forms. In addition, five appendixes cover common words with more than one standard pronunciation, common archaic forms, the vowel system in American and British English, special notes on selected words, and pronunciation in Elizabethan England. Though most good editions of Shakespeare's work include some pronunciation guidance and many of the words in this resource are found in dictionaries, this is still the only collection of established scholarly opinion on pronunciation and one of the few resources providing guidance for place and proper names. This work will greatly benefit students and professors of Shakespearean literature and drama and is recommended for academic libraries supporting these departments.--Neal Wyatt, Chesterfield Cty. P.L., VA

Library Journal

The subject is not how the words were pronounced in Shakespeare's time, but how they are pronounced now. Despite the subtitle, the arrangement is not alphabetical, but line-by-line from each play and poem, so that the next question about pronunciation will not be far from the last. Introductory sections explain such matters as pronunciation variants within the US, lost rhymes and puns, lower class accents, shifting the stress of a word to maintain iambic rhythm, and compressing or expanding words. Appendices consider such factors as common words with more than one standard pronunciation in modern English, the vowel systems of North American and British English, and common archaic forms in Shakespeare. The notation system is fully explained. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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