Standards of English: Codified Varieties Around the World

Front Cover
Raymond Hickey
Cambridge University Press, Dec 6, 2012 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 421 pages
The notion of a 'standard' variety of English has been the subject of a considerable body of research. Studies have tended to focus on the standard features of British and American English. However, more recently interest has turned to the other varieties of English that have developed around the world and the ways in which these have also been standardised. This volume provides the first book-length exploration of 'standard Englishes', with chapters on areas as diverse as Canada, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. This is a timely and important topic, edited by a well-known scholar in the field, with contributions by the leading experts on each major variety of English discussed. The book presents in full the criteria for defining a standard variety, and each chapter compares standards in both spoken and written English and explores the notion of register within standard varieties.
 

Contents

1 Standard English and standards of English
1
2 The codification of English in England
34
3 An evolving standard British English pronunciation model
55
4 Standard English in Scotland
72
5 Standard Irish English
96
6 Standards of English in Malta and the Channel Islands
117
7 The idea of Standard American English
139
8 Standard Canadian English
159
14 Standards of English in SouthEast Asia
274
15 Standard Australian English the sociostylistic broadness continuum
294
16 Standard New Zealand English
318
17 Acrolectal English in the South Pacific emerging standards?
336
18 Varieties resistant to standardisation
354
Maps of anglophone countries
369
Timelines
387
Glossary
392

9 Standards of English in the Caribbean
179
10 Standard South African English
198
11 Standards of English in West Africa
213
12 Standards of English in East Africa
229
13 Standards of English in South Asia
256

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About the author (2012)

Raymond Hickey is Professor of Linguistics in the English Department at the University of Duisburg, Essen.