Postcolonial English: Varieties around the World

by Edgar W. Schneider

• ISBN13: 9780521831406
• ISBN10: 0521831407
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-05-28
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The global spread of English has resulted in the emergence of a diverse range of postcolonial varieties around the world. Postcolonial English provides a clear and original account of the evolution of these varieties, exploring the historical, social and ecological factors that have shaped all levels of their structure. It argues that while these Englishes have developed new and unique properties which differ greatly from one location to another, their spread and diversification can in fact be explained by a single underlying process, which builds upon the constant relationships and communication needs of the colonizers, the colonized, and other parties. Outlining the stages and characteristics of this process, it applies them in detail to English in sixteen different countries across all continents. Of key interest to sociolinguists, dialectologists, historical linguists and syntacticians alike, this book provides a fascinating new picture of the growth and evolution of English around the globe.

Author Biography

Edgar W. Schneider is Professor and Chair of English Linguistics in the Department of English and American Studies, University of Regensburg.

Table of Contents

List of maps, figures, and tables	p. ix
Series editor's foreword	p. xi
Preface and acknowledgments	p. xiii
List of abbreviations	p. xvi
Introduction	p. 1
Charting the territory: Postcolonial Englishes as a field of linguistic investigation	p. 8
Ancestry	p. 8
Approaches	p. 11
Alternative perspectives and issues	p. 17
The evolution of Postcolonial Englishes: the Dynamic Model	p. 21
Transforming selves in migration: theoretical background	p. 21
The Dynamic Model of the evolution of Postcolonial Englishes	p. 29
Variations on the basic pattern	p. 55
Wider applicability	p. 68
Linguistic aspects of nativization	p. 71
Structural nativization: characteristic features	p. 72
Tracing structural nativization: methodological and conceptual issues	p. 90
The road to nativization: linguistic processes	p. 97
Countries along the cycle: case studies	p. 113
Fiji	p. 114
Australia	p. 118
New Zealand	p. 127
Hong Kong	p. 133
The Philippines	p. 140
Malaysia	p. 144
Singapore	p. 153
India	p. 161
South Africa	p. 173
Kenya	p. 189
Tanzania	p. 197
Nigeria	p. 199
Cameroon	p. 212
Barbados	p. 219
Jamaica	p. 227
Canada	p. 238
The cycle in hindsight: the emergence of American English	p. 251
"Assembled in America from various quarters": Phase 1 (ca. 1587-1670)	p. 254
"English with great classical purity": Phase 2 (ca. 1670-1773)	p. 264
"That torrent of barbarous phraseology": Phase 3 (ca. 1773-1828/1848)	p. 273
"Our honor requires us to have a system of our own": Phase 4 (1828/1848-1898)	p. 282
"We know just who we are by our language": Phase 5(1898-)	p. 291
Summary and outlook	p. 307
Conclusion	p. 309
Notes	p. 318
References	p. 331
Index of authors	p. 360
Index of subjects	p. 363
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