The British Isles are home to a vast range of different spoken and signed languages and dialects. Language continues to evolve rapidly, in its diversity, in the number and the backgrounds of its speakers, and in the repercussions it has had for political and educational affairs. This book provides a comprehensive survey of the dominant languages and dialects used in the British Isles. Topics covered include the history of English; the relationship between Standard and Non-Standard Englishes; the major non-standard varieties spoken on the islands; and the history of multilingualism; and the educational and planning implications of linguistic diversity in the British Isles. Among the many dialects and languages surveyed by the volume are British Black English, Celtic languages, Chinese, Indian, European migrant languages, British Sign Language, and Anglo-Romani. Clear and accessible in its approach, it will be welcomed by students in sociolinguistics, English language, and dialectology, as well as anyone interested more generally in language within British society.
Introduction David Britain; Part I. English: 1. History of English James Milroy; 2. Standard and non-standard English Paul Kerswill; 3. Phonological variation in England Paul Foulkes and Gerard Docherty; 4. Grammatical variation in England David Britain; 5. Scottish English and Scots Paul Johnston; 6. Northern Irish English Kevin McCafferty; 7. Southern Irish English Raymond Hickey; 8. English in Wales Robert Penhallurick; 9. English on the Isle of Man Andrew Hamer; 10. English in the Channel Islands Heinrich Ramisch; Part II. The Celtic Languages: 11. The history of the Celtic languages in the British Isles Paul Russell; 12. Gaelic Kenneth MacKinnon; 13. Irish Pádraig Ó Riagáin; 14. Welsh Martin Ball; Part III. Other Languages of the British Isles: 15. Multilingualism Mark Gibson; 16. Caribbean creoles and Black English Mark Sebba; 17. Indic languages Mike Reynolds and Mahendra Verma; 18. Chinese Li Wei; 19. European immigrant languages Penelope Gardner-Chloros; 20. Sign languages Bencie Woll and Rachel Sutton-Spence; 21. Channel Island French Mari Jones; 22. Angloromani Peter Bakker and Donald Kenrick; Part IV. Applied Sociolinguistic Issues: 23. Language policy and planning Dennis Ager; 24. Non-standard English and education Ann Williams; 25. Education and languages other than English Ben Rampton, Roxy Harris and Constant Leung.
