Postcolonial English
Varieties around the World

This book provides an account of the spread and diversification of postcolonial English worldwide.

Edgar W. Schneider (Author)

9780521539012, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 17 May 2007

384 pages, 3 b/w illus. 9 maps 3 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.51 kg

'This book is without doubt an invaluable companion for not only linguists but also culturalists, anthropologists, sociologists, political analysts … and other scholars interested in language spread, contact and change.' The Linguist List!

The 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.

1. Introduction
2. Charting the territory: postcolonial English as a field of linguistic investigation
3. The evolution of postcolonial English: the dynamic model
4. Linguistic aspects of nativization
5. Countries along the cycle: case studies
6. The cycle in hindsight: the emergence of American English
7. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Grammar, syntax & morphology [CFK], Phonetics, phonology [CFH], Historical & comparative linguistics [CFF], Sociolinguistics [CFB], Linguistics [CF]