The Verbalist

Ayres, Alfred, 1826？-1902Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 389K words
Chapters: 39

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Verbalist by Alfred AyresAuthor: Ayres, Alfred, 1826?-1902,Language: English, Class: PE: Language and Literatures: English, Release Date: Aug 30, 2007

Editor's review

The Verbalist is a critique of English usage by the nineteenth-century American language commentator Alfred Ayres; the title means roughly "one who fusses over words." Its content addresses common errors in the English writing and speech of the time, including misused words, grammatical ambiguity, faulty collocation, and style. The author takes a clearly prescriptivist stance, passing judgments of praise and blame on many usages in direct prose with concrete examples, carrying the argumentative tone of language commentary of that era. The book's value lies not in providing today's standards of usage but in presenting the anxieties and modes of discussion about "correct usage" in the late nineteenth-century English-speaking world; it is vivid material for observing the history of ideas about English usage. For English learners, many entries still point to common expression pitfalls, though some judgments have diverged from contemporary usage. It is suitable as reference reading for English majors, language teachers, and language enthusiasts, to be read with a critical eye rather than accepted wholesale as a rulebook.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English majors and readers researching language history and usage
Teachers of English who want to understand traditional views on usage
Language enthusiasts interested in prescriptive grammar and the language-purification movement
Learners needing original English material for close reading and critical reading practice

Not a good fit for

Test-takers and writers seeking an authoritative guide to contemporary English usage
Beginners with weak English foundations who are still building basic grammar
Self-learners expecting a systematic grammar textbook or workbook

Reading tips

Read by entry rather than straight through; look more closely at usages you often get wrong.
Consult contemporary dictionaries or usage guides as you read, checking whether the author's judgments still apply.
Keep a notebook, categorizing tips that remain valid and rules that are now outdated.
Use it as close-reading material: choose several entries to translate and write your own commentary

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Can this book be used as an English grammar textbook?

Not really. It presents criticism and examples entry by entry rather than a step-by-step grammar course, and lacks systematic explanation and exercises. It is better as supplementary reading alongside a proper grammar book.

Do the usage judgments in the book still apply today?

Some remain useful for reference, but many reflect nineteenth-century prescriptivist positions and are now distant from contemporary usage. Read them against modern dictionaries and usage guides, analyzing rather than copying.

Why is the book called The Verbalist?

A verbalist is someone who is overly concerned with words and given to nitpicking over language. The author uses the name both to signal the book's focus on word usage and with a touch of self-mockery and argument, hinting that he is himself that fastidious critic of words.

Will the book be too difficult for someone with average English?

Many example sentences are nineteenth-century written English, and some wording is old-fashioned, so beginners will struggle. It is best to have intermediate reading ability or to sample short entries before deciding whether to read it through.

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About the author

Ayres, Alfred, 1826？-1902 Author · American

Alfred Ayres (Ayres, Alfred, 1826?–1902) was an American teacher of elocution and a writer. His birth year can only be inferred as around 1826; the exact date and his early life are sparsely recorded in publicly available sources and are difficult to establish with certainty. According to existing materials, he long engaged in teaching and writing on elocution and oral expression, and belongs among the nineteenth-century American popular authors concerned with language usage and spoken cultivation. His representative works include The Verbalist and The Mentor, and he also wrote elocutionary works such as The Actor and His Art. These works mostly center on standards of word usage, techniques of expression, and training in public speaking, bearing a practical, instructive character aimed at general readers. His style is direct, combining examples with rules, and reflects the contemporary American emphasis on proper speech and competence in public expression. His works exercised a certain influence in language education and the popularization of elocution, and are often mentioned by later readers interested in English usage and oral cultivation.