Edgar W. Schneider

This volume presents 15 original research papers by renowned specialists in their respective fields. A variety of research traditions are included, such as dialect geography and sociolinguistics, but also smaller sub-fields such as the study of slang and perceptual dialectology. Varieties studied include the South, the Eastern Seaboard, the Middle West, African American English, Cuban English, and others. A growing sense of unity in the discipline is reflected by recurring topics and methods across earlier boundaries between sub-disciplines. For instance, computerized data and statistical analyses are standard tools nowadays, and a few papers explicitly address the possibilities and limitations of these methods. The study of variation and change of linguistic varieties has largely replaced earlier, monolithic notions of dialect, and the question of change in dialects, the erosion of traditional speech forms under the impact of modern communication patterns and socio-economic developments, is investigated in several contributions. In general, a recent orientation towards the history and development of nonstandard varieties is reflected in the book several papers study diffusion patterns of linguistic forms, or discuss the emergence of individual dialects or dialectal forms in a language contact framework. Altogether, the papers provide a lively illustration of and a fairly representative selection from ongoing high-quality linguistic research into American English.

Focus on the USA

This volume gives a detailed overview of the varieties of English spoken in the Americas and the Caribbean, including regional, social and ethnic dialects (such as Southern US, Canadian or Chicano English) as well as Caribbean creoles from the Bahamas to Suriname. The chapters, written by widely acclaimed specialists, provide concise and comprehensive information on the phonological, morphological and syntactic characteristics of each variety discussed. The articles are followed by exercises and study questions. The exercises are geared towards students and can be used for classroom assignments as well as for self study in preparation for exams. Instructors can use the exercises, sound samples and interactive maps to enhance their classroom presentations and to highlight important language features. The accompanying CD-ROM contains interactive maps and speech samples that supplement the printed articles and offer material and data for further research. The rich detail found in the chapters as well as the valuable tools on the CD-Rom make this survey of English Varieties a mainstay for researchers and teachers. The content of the CD-ROM is online: http://www.varieties.mouton-content.com.

The Americas and the Caribbean

Manfred Görlach

Beat Glauser

The continuing expansion of research in dialectology, sociolinguistics and English as a world language has made the field increasingly difficult to survey. This bibliography is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of the relevant publications of the past few years. Like its predecessor, it will prove an indispensable reference book. The collection is in four parts, dealing respectively with general studies, Britain and Ireland, the United States and Canada, and the rest of the world. There is a joint index in which the 2800 entries are classified according to specific areas, ethnic groups and major linguistic categories, thus making the bibliography easy to use with the greatest profit. The present bibliography complements the one compiled by W. Viereck, E.W. Schneider and M. Görlach, which covered the period from 1965 to 1983 and was published in the same series in 1984.

A New Bibliography of Writings on Varieties of English, 19841992/93

A lively and accessible introduction to world Englishes, setting a range of global varieties in their historical and social contexts.

An Introduction

English Around the World

Ingrid Neumann-Holzschuh

Basic notions in the field of creole studies, including the category of “creole languages” itself, have been questioned in recent years: Can creoles be defined on structural or on purely sociohistorical grounds? Can creolization be understood as a graded process, possibly resulting in different degrees of “radicalness” and intermediate language types (“semi-creoles”)? If so, by which linguistic structures are these characterized, and by which extralinguistic conditions have they been brought about? Which are the linguistic mechanisms underlying processes of restructuring, and how did grammaticalization and reanalysis shape the reorganization of linguistic, specifically morphosyntactic structures commonly called “creolization”? What is the role of language contact, language mixing, substrates and superstrates, or demographic factors in these processes? This volume provides select and revised papers from a 1998 colloquium at the University of Regensburg in which these questions were addressed. 19 contributions by renowned scholars discuss structural, sociohistorical and theoretical aspects, building upon case studies of both Romance-based and English-oriented creoles. This book marks a major step forward in our understanding of the nature of creolization.

Degrees of Restructuring in Creole Languages

The two volumes of Englishes around the World present high-quality original research papers written in honour of Manfred Görlach, founder and editor of the journal English World-Wide and the book series Varieties of English Around the World. The papers thematically focus on the field that Manfred Görlach has helped to build and shape. Volume 1 contains articles on general topics and studies of what might be termed “Old” Englishes, varieties of English that have been rooted in their respective regions for a long time and have been traditional focal points of scholarly study. The first section contains eight general and comparative papers (dealing with terminological matters or definitions of core concepts, historical issues, structural comparisons across a wide range of varieties); the second one has nine papers on dialects of English as used in the British Isles (covering England, Scotland, Ulster and Ireland); and finally, there are four contributions on North American varieties of English (including Southern English, African American Vernacular English, Newfoundland Vernacular English, and American English in a historical perspective). The thematic scope comprises the levels of lexis, phonology, morphology, syntax, pragmatics, and orthography, as well as sociohistorical issues, the question of the evolution and transmission of dialects, various sources of evidence including literary dialect.

Studies in honour of Manfred Görlach. Volume 1: General studies, British Isles, North America

Englishes around the World

The global spread of English has had widespread linguistic, social and cultural implications, affecting the lives of millions of people around the world. This textbook provides a lively and accessible introduction to world Englishes, describing varieties used in places as broad-ranging as America, Jamaica, Australia, Africa and Asia, and setting them within their historical and social contexts. Students are guided through the material with chapter previews and summaries, maps, timelines, lists of key terms, discussion questions and exercises, and a comprehensive glossary, helping them to understand, analyse and compare different varieties of English, and apply descriptive terminology. The book is accompanied by a useful web site, containing textual and audio examples of the varieties introduced in the text, and links to related sources of interest. Providing essential knowledge and skills for those embarking on the study of world Englishes, this is set to become the leading introduction to the subject.

Peter Trudgill

Daniel Schreier

Jeffrey P. Williams

This book documents the lesser-known varieties of English which have been overlooked and understudied within the canon of English linguistics.

Further Studies in the Lesser-Known Varieties of English

This is the first ever volume to compile sociolinguistic and historical information on lesser-known, and relatively ignored, native varieties of English around the world. Exploring areas as diverse as the Pacific, South America, the South Atlantic and West Africa, it shows how these varieties are as much part of the big picture as major varieties and that their analysis is essential for addressing some truly important issues in linguistic theory, such as dialect obsolescence and death, language birth, dialect typology and genetic classification, patterns of diffusion and transplantation and contact-induced language change. It also shows how close interwoven fields such as social history, contact linguistics and variationist sociolinguistics are in accounting for their formation and maintenance, providing a thorough description of the lesser-known varieties of English and their relevance for language spread and change.

The Lesser-Known Varieties of English

Marianne Hundt

The plural form 'Englishes' conveys the diversity of English as a global language, pinpointing the growth and existence of a large number of national, regional and social forms. The global spread of English and the new varieties that have emerged around the world has grown to be a vast area of study and research, which intersects multiple disciplines. This Handbook provides a comprehensive and authoritative survey of World Englishes from 1600 to the present day. Covering topics such as variationist sociolinguistics, pragmatics, contact linguistics, linguistic anthropology, corpus- and applied linguistics and language history, it combines discussion of traditional topics with a variety of innovative approaches. The chapters, all written by internationally acclaimed authorities, provide up-to-date discussions of the evolution of different Englishes around the globe, a comprehensive coverage of different models and approaches, and some original perspectives on current challenges.

The Cambridge Handbook of World Englishes

Die Buchreihe Linguistische Arbeiten hat mit über 500 Bänden zur linguistischen Theoriebildung der letzten Jahrzehnte in Deutschland und international wesentlich beigetragen. Die Reihe wird auch weiterhin neue Impulse für die Forschung setzen und die zentrale Einsicht der Sprachwissenschaft präsentieren, dass Fortschritt in der Erforschung der menschlichen Sprachen nur durch die enge Verbindung von empirischen und theoretischen Analysen sowohl diachron wie synchron möglich ist. Daher laden wir hochwertige linguistische Arbeiten aus allen zentralen Teilgebieten der allgemeinen und einzelsprachlichen Linguistik ein, die aktuelle Fragestellungen bearbeiten, neue Daten diskutieren und die Theorieentwicklung vorantreiben.

Edgar W. Schneider

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