The Columbia Guide to Standard American English

Inthe most reliable and readable guide to effective writing for theAmericans of today, Wilson answers questions of meaning, grammar,pronunciation, punctuation, and spelling in thousands of clear,concise entries. His guide is unique in presenting a systematic,comprehensive view of language as determined by context. Wilsonprovides a simple chart of contexts -from oratorical speech tointimate, from formal writing to informal -and explains in whichcontexts a particular usage is appropriate, and in which it is not.The Columbia Guide to Standard Written American English provides theanswers to questions about American English the way no other guidecan with: * an A Z format for quick reference; * over five thousandentries, more than any other usage book; * sensible and useful advicebased on the most current linguistic research; * a convenient chartof levels of speech and writing geared to context; * both descriptiveand prescriptive entries for guidance; * guidelines for nonsexistusage; * individual entries for all language terms. A vibrantdescription of how our language is being spoken and written at theend of the twentieth century -and how we ourselves can use it mosteffectively -The Columbia Guide to Standard American English is theideal handbook to language etiquette: friendly, sensible, andreliable.