Varieties of English Around the World (vols. G1–55, T1–9,1979–2015)

This volume presents fifteen original research papers by renowned specialists in their respective fields. A variety of research traditions are included, such as dialect geography and sociolinguistics, but also smaller sub-fields such as the study of slang and perceptual dialectology. Varieties studied include the South, the Eastern Seaboard, the Middle West, African American English, Cuban English, and others. A growing sense of unity in the discipline is reflected by recurring topics and methods across earlier boundaries between sub-disciplines. For instance, computerized data and statistical analyses are standard tools nowadays, and a few papers explicitly address the possibilities and limitations of these methods. The study of variation and change of linguistic varieties has largely replaced earlier, monolithic notions of dialect, and the question of change in dialects, the erosion of traditional speech forms under the impact of modern communication patterns and socio-economic developments, is investigated in several contributions. In general, a recent orientation towards the history and development of nonstandard varieties is reflected in the book — several papers study diffusion patterns of linguistic forms, or discuss the emergence of individual dialects or dialectal forms in a language contact framework. Altogether, the papers provide a lively illustration of and a fairly representative selection from ongoing high-quality linguistic research into American English.

Although varieties of North American English have come in for a good deal of linguistic scrutiny in recent years, the vast majority of published works have dealt with American rather than Canadian English. This volume constitutes a welcome addition to our linguistic knowledge of English-speaking Canada. While the focus of the volume is primarily synchronic, several of the dozen papers it contains offer a diachronic perspective on Canadian English. Topics range from general issues in Canadian lexicography and orthography to sociolinguistic studies of varieties of English spoken in all major geographical areas of the country: Atlantic Canada, Ontario, Quebec and the West. A theme common to many of the articles is the relationship of Canadian English to American varieties to the south.

This collection comprises 15 essays ranging from the social history of and attitudes towards Scots to the representation of Scottishness in literary language and to modern sociolinguistic work. The uniqueness of the historical and present-day linguistic situation in Scotland makes the volume of particular concern not only to Scotophiles, but also to linguists interested in bidialectalism, language planning, literary dialect, urban surveys, and language and education. The authors include linguistist Scotland, England, the United States, Scandinavia and Germany.