This book provides an accessible yet comprehensive introduction to the study of the dialects of English as they are spoken around the world, from the earliest dialect dictionaries of the sixteenth century to contemporary research emerging from the field of geolinguistics. Organised into ten thematic chapters, it explores and evaluates the methods and purposes of each approach to the study of dialectal variation, with full explanations of technical terms throughout. Illuminating one of the most productive fields of interest in language study, this compelling book is essential reading for students of dialect and regional difference in English.

A History of the English Language explores the etymological and social improvement of English from the Roman victory of England to the present day to give an exhaustive review of the distinctive parts of its history. This top of the line exemplary course book has been reconsidered and refreshed and urges the reader to create both a comprehension of present-day English and an illuminated mentality toward the issues influencing the dialect today. The history and advancement of English, from the most punctual referred to works to its status today as a prevailing world dialect, is a subject of real significance to etymologists and students of history. In this book, a group of worldwide specialists cover the whole written history of the English dialect, sketching out its improvement more than fifteen centuries. With an accentuation on later periods, each key stage in the historical backdrop of the dialect is secured, with full records of institutionalization, names, the circulation of English in Britain and North America, and its worldwide spread. New authentic studies of the vital parts of the dialect are displayed, and recorded changes that have influenced English are dealt with as a proceeding with process, clarifying the state of the dialect today. This total and state-of-the-art history of English will be fundamental to every propelled understudy, researchers and instructors in this conspicuous field.

This volume is one of the first detailed expositions of the history of different varieties of English. It explores language variation and varieties of English from an historical perspective, covering theoretical topics such as diffusion and supraregionalization as well as concrete descriptions of the internal and external historical developments of more than a dozen varieties of English.

This volume of the Cambridge History of the English Language covers the period 1476-1776, beginning at the time of the establishment of Caxton's first press in England and concluding with the American Declaration of Independence, the notional birth of the first (non-insular) extraterritorial English. It encompasses three centuries which saw immense cultural change over the whole of Europe: the late middle ages, the renaissance, the reformation, the enlightenment, and the beginnings of romanticism. During this time, Middle English became Early Modern English and then developed into the early stages of indisputably 'modern', if somewhat old-fashioned, English. In this book, the distinguished team of six contributors traces these developments, covering orthography and punctuation, phonology and morphology, syntax, lexis and semantics, regional and social variation, and the literary language. The volume also contains a glossary of linguistic terms and an extensive bibliography.

The contributions in Moribund Germanic Heritage Languages in North America advance the ever-expanding research program in formal and theoretical treatments of heritage language grammars through in-depth empirical investigations. The core focus on moribund varieties of heritage Germanic languages extends beyond the exploration of the individual heritage language grammars and contributes to larger discussions in the field of Germanic linguistics.

Covers topical issues and examines the use of dialect in media, advertising and the tourist industry. This book outlines the linguistic characteristics of regional accents and dialects in terms of regional pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.

Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Project is a national project to locate, identify, preserve and make accessible the literary contributions of U.S. Hispanics from colonial times through 1960 in what today comprises the fifty states of the United States.

The goal of The Oxford Handbook of African American Language is to provide readers with a wide range of analyses of both traditional and contemporary work on language use in African American communities in a broad collective. The Handbook offers a survey of language and its uses in African American communities from a wide range of contexts organized into seven sections: Origins and Historical Perspectives; Lects and Variation; Structure and Description; Child Language Acquisition and Development; Education; Language in Society; and Language and Identity. It is a handbook of research on African American Language (AAL) and, as such, provides a variety of scholarly perspectives that may not align with each other -- as is indicative of most scholarly research. The chapters in this book "interact" with one another as contributors frequently refer the reader to further elaboration on and references to related issues and connect their own research to related topics in other chapters within their own sections and the handbook more generally to create dialogue about AAL, thus affirming the need for collaborative thinking about the issues in AAL research. Though the Handbook does not and cannot include every area of research, it is meant to provide suggestions for future work on lesser-studied areas (e.g., variation/heterogeneity in regional, social, and ethnic communities) by highlighting a need for collaborative perspectives and innovative thinking while reasserting the need for better research and communication in areas thought to be resolved.

This book explores twenty-first century approaches to place by bringing together a range of language variation and change research.

Identifying and examining political, socio-psychological and symbolic borders, Language, Borders and Identity encompasses a broad, geographically diverse spectrum of border contexts, taking a multi-disciplinary approach by combining sociolinguistics resea