Synopses & Reviews
This book looks at native speaker varieties of English, considering how and why they differ in terms of their pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary and spelling. It shows how the major national varieties of English have developed, why similar causes have given rise to different effects in different parts of the world, and how the same problems of description arise in relation to all 'colonial' Englishes. It covers varieties of English spoken in Britain, the USA, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the Falkland Islands.
Synopsis
This book looks at native speaker varieties of English, considering how and why they differ in terms of their pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary and spelling.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-132) and index.
About the Author
Laurie Bauer is Professor of Linguistics at the Victoria University, Wellington.
Table of Contents
Preface
1 BACKGROUND NOTIONS
1.1 Accent, dialect, language and variety
1.2 Home and colony
1.3 Colonial lag
1.4 Dialect mixing
2 ENGLISH BECOMES A WORLD LANGUAGE
2.1 The spread of English
2.2 Models of English
2.3 English in Scotland and Ireland
3 VOCABULARY
3.1 Borrowing
3.2 Coining
3.3 The results
4 GRAMMAR
4.1 Morphology
4.2 Syntax
5 SPELLING
5.1 Lexical distributional differences
5.2 Variation in the system
6 PRONUNCIATION
6.1 Describing varieties of English
6.2 Input varieties
6.3 Influences from contact languages
6.4 Influences from other colonies
6.5 Influences from later immigrants
6.6 Influences from world English
6.7 Differences between varieties
7 THE REVENGE OF THE COLONISED
7.1 Vocabulary
7.2 Grammar
7.3 Pronunciation
8 BECOMING INDEPENDENT
8.1 British Englishes
8.2 North American Englishes
8.3 Southern hemisphere Englishes
8.4 Discussion
8.5 The break-up of English?
9 STANDARDS IN THE COLONIES
9.1 Moving away from the standard in vocabulary
9.2 Moving away from the standard in grammar
9.3 Moving away from the standard in pronunciation
Discussion of the exercises
References
Index