Here is the first book to tell the whole story of the English language.Written for general readers, The Story of English presents a stimulating and comprehensive record of spoken and written English-from its Anglo-Saxon origins some two thousand years ago to the present day, when English is the dominant language of commerce and culture with more than one billion English speakers around the world. From Cockney, Scouse, and Scots to Gulla,Singlish, Franglais, and the latest African American slang, this sweeping history of the English language is the essential introduction for anyone who wants to know more about our common tongue.
The home of the Indo-Europeans
The Germanic and Celtic languages
The Welsh language
The home of the English
The varieties of Old English
The influence of the Norsemen
'Tidewater' English
The R-pronouncing regions of England
American English before I776
The American rivals of English
The Lowlands and Highlands of Scotland
The settlement of the Scots-Irish
Appalachian English
The 'Celtic Fringe'
Irish English in 1800
The retreat from Irish Gaelic
The flight of the Irish
West Africa and the slave trade
Maritime Pidgin English
English in the Caribbean and Central America
Black American English
The regions of American English
Canadian English
The expanding frontier
Imperial English
The home of Cockney
The making of Australian English
New Zealand English
The languages of South Africa