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The Lesser-Known Varieties of English

The Lesser-Known Varieties of English

The Lesser-Known Varieties of English

An Introduction
Daniel Schreier, University of Zurich
Peter Trudgill, Universitetet i Agder, Norway
Edgar W. Schneider, University of Regensberg
Jeffrey P. Williams, Texas Tech University
March 2010
Hardback
9780521883962

    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.

    • Written in an accessible style, making it suitable as a supplement to courses on world Englishes
    • Offers a perspective on those colonial varieties which are often overlooked in volumes on similar subjects, making this book invaluable for those researching in this area
    • The four editors combine knowledge from the different geographical areas studied, creating greater insight into the subjects covered

    Reviews & endorsements

    '… 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

    See more reviews

    Product details

    March 2010
    Hardback
    9780521883962
    386 pages
    237 × 157 × 22 mm
    0.74kg
    1 b/w illus. 25 tables
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • 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.
      Contributors
    • Daniel Schreier, Peter Trudgill, Edgar W. Schneider, Jeffrey P. Williams, Gunnel Melchers, Peter Sundkvist, Mari C. Jones, Michael Kiefte, Sandra Clarke, Ross Graham, Jeff Reaser, Michael Aceto, Julian Jefferies, David Britain, Andrea Sudbury, Susan Fitzmaurice, Thomas Hoffmann, Lionel Wee, Lisa Lim, Peter Mühlhäusler

    • Editors
    • Daniel Schreier , University of Zurich

      Daniel Schreier is Professor of English at the University of Zurich. He has taught and lectured in New Zealand, Germany and in the USA. His previous publications include Isolation and Language Change (2003), Consonant Change in English Worldwide (2005) and St Helenian English (2008).

    • Peter Trudgill , Université de Fribourg, Switzerland

      Peter Trudgill is Professor of Sociolinguistics at the University of Agder. He has carried out research on dialects of English, Norwegian, Greek, Albanian and Spanish and has written and edited more than thirty books on sociolinguistics and dialectology including Sociolinguistic Variation and Change (2002), A Glossary of Sociolinguistics (2003) and New Dialect Formation (2004).

    • Edgar W. Schneider , University of Regensberg

      Edgar W. Schneider is Professor and Chair of English Linguistics at the University of Regensburg. He is the editor of the scholarly journal English World-Wide and its associated book series, Varieties of English around the World. His previous publications include Introduction to Quantitative Analysis of Linguistic Survey Data (1996) and Postcolonial English (Cambridge, 2007).

    • Jeffrey P. Williams , Texas Tech University

      Jeffrey P. Williams is Professor and Chair of Sociology at Texas Tech University. He previously taught at the University of Sydney and has conducted fieldwork in Papua New Guinea, the American Southwest and most recently with Montagnard refugees in North Carolina, USA. He was the co-editor of Contact Englishes of the Eastern Caribbean (2003).