Synopses & Reviews
'In the closing years of the twentieth century, the English language has become a global resource. As such, it does not owe its existence or the protection of its essence to any nation or group.'
Tom McArthur, in his Introduction to The Oxford Companion to the English Language.
The Oxford Guide to World English takes up where its 'mother book', The Oxford Companion to the English Language, left off. Organized by continent, there are chapters on Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Australasia, Oceania, and Antarctica. Tom McArthur takes note of the world's many varieties of English in an interconnected way and notes the ties that bind varieties and regions that happen to be geographically far apart, as with, for example: West African English and African American English; Scots, Ulster Scots, the Scotch-Irish migrations to Appalachia in the US, and country and western music; and aspects of Australian, New Zealand, South African, and Falklands English as southern-hemisphere varieties. The end result is a book that is accessible and appealing to the non-specialist, and that covers a very wide range of dialects and languages, including UK dialects such as Brummie, Cockney, and Manx English, Spanglish, Jamaican Creole, Yinglish, Chicano English, Maori English, and Bahamian.
A concluding chapter studies the nature and power of large languages; such issues as gender and political correctness; the role, status, and nature of broken and/or fractured English; the worldwide English language teaching industry; and the issue of standardness, considered both locally and globally.
This hugely comprehensive work provides a fascinating and novel survey of English both as a pre-eminent world language and as an increasingly divergent language.
Review
"Enchanting"--New York Times Book Review
"What did we do without it?"--The Times, London
Synopsis
The Oxford Guide to World English takes up where its "mother book," the Oxford Companion to the English Language, left off. Organized by continent, there are chapters on Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Australasia, Oceania, and Antarctica. Tom McArthur covers the world's many varieties of English in an interconnected way and notes the ties that bind varieties and regions that are geographically far apart. The end result is a book that, while invaluable to the specialist, is accessible and appealing to the non-specialist, and covers a vast spread of "Englishes" from Brummie, Cockney, Estuary, and RP in the UK to New York and New Orleans speech in the US and such other varieties as Indian English, Maori English, and West African Pidgin.
Synopsis
The Oxford Guide to World English takes up where its "mother book," the Oxford Companion to the English Language, left off. Organized by continent, there are chapters on Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Australasia, Oceania, and Antarctica. Tom McArthur covers the world's many varieties
of English in an interconnected way and notes the ties that bind varieties and regions that are geographically far apart. The end result is a book that, while invaluable to the specialist, is accessible and appealing to the non-specialist, and covers a vast spread of "Englishes" from Brummie,
Cockney, Estuary, and RP in the UK to New York and New Orleans speech in the US and such other varieties as Indian English, Maori English, and West African Pidgin.
About the Author
Tom McArthur is the editor of the quarterly journal English Today: The International Review of the English Language. He has published 15 books on aspects of language, including the general editorship of The Oxford Companion to the English Language, and has taught at the Universities of Bombay, Edinburgh, Exeter, and Quebec.
Table of Contents