Standards of English

Codified Varieties around the World

Raymond Hickey

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN:
  9780521763899
• eBook ISBN:
  9781139847667
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Linguistics
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

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.

Table of contents

• Standards of English
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Figures
• Maps
• Tables
• Contributors
• Preface
• 1 Standard English and standards of English
• 2 The codification of English in England
• 3 An evolving standard British English pronunciation model
• 4 Standard English in Scotland
• 5 Standard Irish English
• 6 Standards of English in Malta and the Channel Islands
• 7 The idea of Standard American English
• 8 Standard Canadian English
• 9 Standards of English in the Caribbean
• 10 Standard South African English
• 11 Standards of English in West Africa
• 12 Standards of English in East Africa
• 13 Standards of English in South Asia
• 14 Standards of English in South-East Asia
• 15 Standard Australian English: the sociostylistic broadness continuum
• 16 Standard New Zealand English
• 17 Acrolectal English in the South Pacific: emerging standards?
• 18 Varieties resistant to standardisation
• Maps of anglophone countries
• Timelines
• Glossary
• Name index
• Language index
• Subject index