The Development Of Standard English 1300 1800

This volume describes the development of Standard English from Middle English onwards.

Textbooks inform readers that the precursor of Standard English was supposedly an East or Central Midlands variety which became adopted in London; that monolingual fifteenth century English manuscripts fall into internally-cohesive Types; and that the fourth Type, dating after 1435 and labelled ‘Chancery Standard’, provided the mechanism by which this supposedly Midlands variety spread out from London. This set of explanations is challenged by taking a multilingual perspective, examining Anglo-Norman French, Medieval Latin and mixed-language contexts as well as monolingual English ones. By analysing local and legal documents, mercantile accounts, personal letters and journals, medical and religious prose, multiply-copied works, and the output of individual scribes, standardisation is shown to have been preceded by supralocalisation rather than imposed top-down as a single entity by governmental authority. Linguistic features examined include syntax, morphology, vocabulary, spelling, letter-graphs, abbreviations and suspensions, social context and discourse norms, pragmatics, registers, text-types, communities of practice social networks, and the multilingual backdrop, which was influenced by shifting socioeconomic trends.

This book explores the beliefs and approaches to the history of English showing how the standard English dialect is to the detriment of those which are non-standard or from other areas of the world.

The first book-length exploration of 'standard Englishes' with contributions by the leading experts on each major variety of English discussed.

The History of English: An Introduction provides a chronological analysis of the linguistic, social, and cultural development of the English language from before its establishment in Britain around the year 450 to the present. Each chapter represents a new stage in the evolution of the language, all illustrated with a rich and diverse selection of primary texts. The book also explores the wider global course of the language, including a historical review of English in its pidgin and creole varieties and as a native and/or second language in the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and Australasia. The third edition, carefully revised and updated throughout, includes: ● chapter introductions and conclusions to assist in orientation plus additional marginal references throughout; ● the addition of 21 timelines often running from Old English to Present-Day English and focusing on a variety of features; ● a new focus on the relevance of change for and in Present-Day English; ● discussions on the role and image of women, the (in-)visibility of social classes, and regional variation in English; ● material on bilingualism, code-switching, and borrowing, and on the effects of the social media on language use; ● over 90 textual examples demonstrating linguistic change and over 100 figures, tables, and maps, including 31 colour images, to support and illuminate the text; ● updated online support material including brief introductions to Old and to Middle English, further articles on linguistic, historical, and cultural phenomena which go beyond the scope of the book, additional sample texts, exercises, and audio clips. With study questions as well as recommendations for further reading and topics for further study, The History of English is essential reading for any student of the English language and will be of relevance to any course addressing the origins and development of the English language.

The future of English linguistics as envisaged by the editors of Topics in English Linguistics lies in empirical studies which integrate work in English linguistics into general and theoretical linguistics on the one hand, and comparative linguistics on the other. The TiEL series features volumes that present interesting new data and analyses, and above all fresh approaches that contribute to the overall aim of the series, which is to further outstanding research in English linguistics.

The Routledge Handbook of World Englishes constitutes a comprehensive introduction to the study of World Englishes. Split into six sections with 40 contributions, this Handbook discusses how English is operating in a wide range of fields from business to popular culture and from education to new literatures in English and its increasing role as an international lingua franca. Bringing together more than 40 of the world’s leading scholars in World Englishes, the sections cover historical perspectives, regional varieties of English from across the world, recent and emerging trends and the pedagogical implications and the future of Englishes. The Handbook provides a thorough and updated overview of the field, taking into account the new directions in which the discipline is heading. This second edition includes up-to-date descriptions of a wide range of varieties of English and how these reflect the cultures of their new users, including new chapters on varieties in Bangladesh, Uganda, the Maldives and South Africa, as well as covering hot topics such as translanguaging and English after Brexit. With a new substantial introduction from the editor, the Handbook is an ideal resource for students of applied linguistics, as well as those in related degrees such as applied English language and TESOL/TEFL.