The English Languages

Plural? Monolithic? Legion? - Tom McArthur explores the nature of English in its local and global contexts.

Hundreds of millions of people use English every day everywhere in the world, but may or may not succeed in understanding each other. Despite the success of its standard form (or forms) in many countries, the complex called 'English' is immensely diverse - probably more diverse than any single language has ever been - and is likely to become even more so. This book is a compelling and broad-ranging invitation to consider the variety, the options and the implications of this vast system. The English Languages looks at the 'pluralism' of English, the 'Englishes', that have arisen in the last few decades, and addresses the question of whether or not English can be considered a family of languages in its own right, like the Romance languages.

Introduction; Acknowledgements; 1. Organized Babel; 2. A universal resource; 3. Cracks in the academic monolith; 4. Models of English; 5. Standardness; 6. Scots and Southron; 7. Substrates and superstrates; 8. The Latin analogy; 9. The shapes of English; Index.