Historical Pragmatics: Evidence From The Old Bailey

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the value of The Proceedings of the Old Bailey (1674–1913) as a linguistic resource, via a discussion of pragmatic studies undertaken by Archer, Cecconi and Traugott. The field of historical pragmatics is also delineated, as practised by these linguists. The paper argues that, as well as telling us important things about Old Bailey discursive practices of old, and the language used, the studies offer a means of advancing pragmatic theory – in respect to grammaticalization and facework – and pragmatic methodology – in respect to the viability of using corpus-linguistic techniques to locate pragmatic phenomena.