Postcolonial English: Varieties around the WorldThe global spread of English has resulted in the emergence of a diverse range of postcolonial varieties around the world. Postcolonial English provides a clear and original account of the evolution of these varieties, exploring the historical, social and ecological factors that have shaped all levels of their structure. It argues that while these Englishes have developed new and unique properties which differ greatly from one location to another, their spread and diversification can in fact be explained by a single underlying process, which builds upon the constant relationships and communication needs of the colonizers, the colonized, and other parties. Outlining the stages and characteristics of this process, it applies them in detail to English in sixteen different countries across all continents as well as, in a separate chapter, to a history of American English. Of key interest to sociolinguists, dialectologists, historical linguists and syntacticians alike, this book provides a fascinating new picture of the growth and evolution of English around the globe. |
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Common terms and phrases
accepted adopted ADS strand African Afrikaans American English attitude Australia Australian English basilectal bilingualism British English Canadian Canadian English Caribbean characteristic colonial contexts Creole creolization cultural dialect Dictionary distinctive documented Dynamic Model early emergence endonormative ethnic European example exonormative orientation formal forms of English function grammatical groups homogeneity Hong Kong identity construction IDG strand immigrants important independence Indian English indigenous languages indigenous population innovations Jamaican Jamaican Creole Kachru koinéization language contact language shift large numbers lexical linguistic major Malaysian English markers Mufwene Native Americans Nigerian norm observed patterns PCEs percent phase Pidgin plantation political pronunciation regional respect role settlement settlers Singapore Singaporean English Singlish situation slaves social society sociolinguistic South Africa speakers speech spread standard status STL strand structural nativization symbolic tion traditional Trudgill twentieth century types typically usage varieties of English verbs vernacular whites words Zealand Zealand English
References to this book
Language Anxiety: Conflict and Change in the History of English Tim William Machan Limited preview - 2009 |