A Survey of Modern English

439 Pages·2020·8.483 MB·English

by  Stephan Gramley, Vivian Gramley, Kurt-Michael Pätzold

A Survey of Modern English
A Survey of Modern English covers a wide selection of aspects of the modern English
language. Fully revised and updated, the major focus of the third edition lies in Standard
American English and British English individually and in comparison with each other. Over
and beyond that, this volume explores other Englishes around the world, including those of
Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa as well as numerous varieties spoken in southern,
eastern, and western Africa, south and southeast Asia, and the Pacific. The main areas of
investigation and interest include:
• pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary;
• multiple facets of English dialects and sociolects with an emphasis on gender and
ethnicity;
• questions of pragmatics as well as a deeper look at English-related pidgin and creole
varieties.
This authoritative guide is a comprehensive, scholarly, and systematic review of modern
English. In one volume, the book presents a description of both the linguistic structure of
present-day English and its geographical, social, gender, and ethnic variations. This is com-
plemented with an updated general bibliography and with exercises at the end of each chap-
ter and their suggested solutions at the end of the volume, all intended to provide students
and other interested readers with helpful resources.
Stephan Gramley is Studiendirektor associated with the Department of Linguistic and Liter-
ary Studies at Bielefeld University, Germany.
Vivian Gramley is a senior lecturer for English linguistics in the Department of Linguistic
and Literary Studies at Bielefeld University, Germany.
Kurt-Michael Pätzold is a former senior lecturer in the Department of Linguistic and Liter-
ary Studies at Bielefeld University, Germany.
Tay&l Forra ncis
Tay&l Forra ncis Group
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A Survey of
Modern English
Third Edition
Stephan Gramley, Vivian Gramley,
and Kurt-Michael Pätzold
Third edition published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2021 Stephan Gramley, Vivian Gramley, and Kurt-Michael Pätzold
The right of Stephan Gramley, Vivian Gramley, and Kurt-Michael
Pätzold to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted
by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 1992
Second edition published by Routledge 2004
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Gramley, Stephan, 1943- author. | Gramley, Vivian, author. |
Pätzold, Kurt-Michael, 1941- author.
Title: A survey of modern English / Stephan Gramley, Vivian Gramley
and Kurt-Michael Pätzold.
Description: Third edition. | Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge,
2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020008419 (print) | LCCN 2020008420
(ebook) | ISBN 9780367281465 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367281472
(paperback) | ISBN 9780429300356 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: English language. | English language—Usage. |
English language—Variation.
Classification: LCC PE1087 .G7 2020 (print) | LCC PE1087 (ebook) |
DDC 420.904—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020008419
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020008420
ISBN: 978-0-367-28146-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-28147-2 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-30035-6 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by codeMantra
For Hedda
and for Jerome
with thanks for their unparalleled patience
Taylor & Francis
Taylor & Francis Group
http://taylorandfrancis.com
Contents
List of illustrations xi
Preface xiii
1 The English language: standards and variation 1
1.1 Standard English (StE) 1
1.2 Language attitudes 2
1.3 The emergence of Standard English 5
1.4 Standard and General English (GenE) 7
1.5 Sociolinguistics and variation in General English: diatypes and dialects 10
1.6 Exercises 14
Further reading 16
PART 1
English as a linguistic system 17
2 Vocabulary 19
2.1 Lexical meaning and dictionaries 22
2.2 Growth and structure of the English vocabulary 26
2.3 Word formation 32
2.4 Semantic and pragmatic shifts in meaning 37
2.5 Words in combination 40
2.6 Exercises 50
Further reading 51
3 The pronunciation and spelling of English 53
3.1 The phonology of English 53
3.2 The consonants 56
3.3 The vowels 65
3.4 Suprasegmentals 73
3.5 The orthography of English 78
3.6 Exercises 83
Further reading 85
viii Contents
4 Grammar 86
4.1 Word classes 86
4.2 Functional phrases 93
4.3 The verb phrase (VP) 97
4.4 The noun phrase (NP) 116
4.5 The clause 121
4.6 Exercises 126
Further reading 131
PART 2
Uses and users of English 133
5 Written and spoken language use: diatypes 135
5.1 Language in use: the register approach 135
5.2 Textuality: texts and discourse 139
5.3 Written English: English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and the register model 146
5.4 Spoken language 155
5.5 Discourse markers 168
5.6 Exercises 172
Further reading 175
6 Dialectal and sociolinguistic variation: users 176
6.1 Dialect studies 176
6.2 Stance and variationist linguistics 178
6.3 Gender 182
6.4 Ethnicity 196
6.5 Modes of address: reflecting power, solidarity, and politeness 198
6.6 Exercises 208
Further reading 210
PART 3
National and regional varieties of English 211
7 English in the British Isles 213
7.1 The linguistic situation in the British Isles 213
7.2 Vocabulary 215
7.3 Pronunciation 216
7.4 Grammar and inflectional morphology 224
7.5 Social and regional dimensions 226
7.6 Exercises 236
Further reading 238
8 English in America 239
8.1 English in North America 239
8.2 The vocabulary of AmE 245
8.3 Pronunciation 246
8.4 Grammar 253
8.5 Social and ethnic variation in AmE 256
8.6 Exercises 264
Further reading 266
Contents ix
9 Standard British and American English in comparison 267
9.1 Comparing standard Englishes 267
9.2 Vocabulary 267
9.3 Pronunciation and spelling 272
9.4 Grammar and inflectional morphology 282
9.5 Social, regional, and pragmatic dimensions 287
9.6 Exercises 288
Further reading 291
10 English in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa 292
10.1 Southern Hemisphere Settler English 292
10.2 Southern Hemisphere: vocabulary 296
10.3 Southern Hemisphere: pronunciation 300
10.4 Southern Hemisphere English: grammar 305
10.5 Variation in Southern Hemisphere English 308
10.6 Exercises 312
Further reading 313
11 Pidgin and creole English 314
11.0 Understanding what pidgins and creoles are 314
11.1 English pidgins and creoles 320
11.2 Vocabulary and word formation in English-based pidgins and creoles 324
11.3 The pronunciation of English pidgins and creoles 328
11.4 Grammar 330
11.5 A creole in use 332
11.6 Exercises 333
Further reading 334
12 English as a Second Language 335
12.1 English as a Second Language (ESL) in Africa and Asia 338
12.2 Vocabulary in ESL varieties in Africa and Asia 350
12.3 The pronunciation of ESL in Africa and Asia 352
12.4 The grammar of ESL in Africa and Asia 356
12.5 Pragmatic variation in African and Asian ESL 360
12.6 Exercises 365
Further reading 366
Key to the exercises 367
Bibliography 383
Index 409