How English Became English
A short history of a global language
1st Edition
Published on 28. January 2016
144 pages
978-0-19-106921-5 (ISBN)
Description
The English Language is spoken by more than a billion people throughout the world. But where did English come from? And how has it evolved into the language used today?
In How English Became English Simon Horobin investigates the evolution of the English language, examining how the language continues to adapt even today, as English continues to find new speakers and new uses. Engaging with contemporary concerns about correctness, Horobin considers whether such changes are improvements, or evidence of slipping standards. What is the future for the English Language? Will Standard English continue to hold sway, or are we witnessing its replacement by newly emerging Englishes?
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01/2016
Oxford University Press
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Person
Simon Horobin is Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Magdalen College. He has written extensively on the history, structure, and uses of the English language. He is the author of Does Spelling Matter? (OUP, 2013) and a number of books on the history of English, and the language of Chaucer.
Content
- 1: What is English?
- 2: Origins
- 3: Authority
- 4: Standards
- 5: Varieties
- 6: Global English
- 7: Why do we care?
