The Lesser-Known Varieties of English
An Introduction

Documents the linguistic properties of lesser-known varieties of English, showing their relevance for language spread and change.

Daniel Schreier (Edited by), Peter Trudgill (Edited by), Edgar W. Schneider (Edited by), Jeffrey P. Williams (Edited by)

9780521883962, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 4 March 2010

386 pages, 1 b/w illus. 25 tables
23.7 x 15.7 x 2.2 cm, 0.74 kg

'… represents a treasure trove of fascinating materials about the varieties of English, many of which have not been described in detail before … scholars of English in many different fields will find the material exceptionally valuable.' David Deterding, English World-Wide

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.

1. Introduction Daniel Schreier, Peter Trudgill, Edgar W. Schneider and Jeffrey Williams
Part I. The British Isles: 2. Shetlands and Orkney Gunnel Melchers and Peter Sundkvist
3. Channel Islands Mari C. Jones
Part II. The Americas and the Caribbean: 4. Canadian maritimes Michael Kiefte
5. Newfoundland and Labrador Sandra Clarke
6. Honduras/Bay Islands Ross Graham
7. White Caribbean Jeffrey P. Williams
8. Bahamas Jeff Reaser, 9. Dominican Kokoy Michael Aceto
10. Anglo-Argentinian English Julian Jefferies
Part III. South Atlantic Ocean: 11. Falkland Islands David Britain and Andrea Sudbury
12. St Helena Daniel Schreier
13. Tristan da Cunha Daniel Schreier
Part IV. Africa: 14. White Zimbabwean English Susan Fitzmaurice
15. White Kenyan English Thomas Hoffmann
Part V. Australasia and Pacific: 16. Eurasian English in Singapore Lionel Wee
17. Peranakans English in Malaysia and Singapore Lisa Lim
18. Norfolk Island and Pitcairn Peter Mühlhäusler.

Subject Areas: Anthropology [JHM], Historical & comparative linguistics [CFF], Sociolinguistics [CFB]