Alternative histories of English / edited by Richard Watts and Peter Trudgill.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 245-270) and index.

Legitimate language : giving a history to English / Jim Milroy -- History of the lesser-known varieties of English / Peter Trudgill -- 'North of Watford gap' : a cultural history of Northern English / Katie Wales -- History of southern hemisphere Englishes / Elizabeth Gordon and Andrea Sudbury -- 'Deformed in the dialects' : an alternative history of non-standard English / Shana Poplack, Gerard Van Herk and Dawn Harvie -- Building a new English dialect : South African Indian English and the history of Englishes / Rajend Mesthrie -- Story of good and bad English in the United States / Dennis R. Preston -- From polite language to educated language : the re-emergence of an ideology / Richard Watts -- Eloquence and elegance : ideals of communicative competence in spoken English / Sharon Millar -- Women's writings as evidence for linguistic continuity and change in Early Modern English / Terttu Nevalainen -- Discourse markers in Early Modern English / Andreas H. Jucker -- Broadcasting the nonstandard message / David Crystal.

"This book deviates from the standard or "textbook" way of looking at the history of the English language. Emphasis is placed on a linguistic description of English in a much broader sense. A range of international contributors provide accounts of the histories of non-standard, non-British and non-American varieties. By approaching and including non-formal styles and registers, and the pragmatic and communicative aspects of English, it opens the door to unbiased consideration of such topics as South African Indian English, Southern Hemisphere Englishes, and Early Modern English women's writing. Watts' and Trudgill's collection shows how a focus on the history of standard English dialect is to the detriment of those which are from other areas of the world."--BOOK JACKET.

Machine converted from AACR2 source record.