ISBN Oxford Companion to the English Language 736 pages

The Oxford Companion to the English Language provides an authoritative single-volume source of information about the English language. It is intended both for reference and for browsing. The first edition of this landmark Companion published in 1998 adopted a strong international perspective covering topics from Cockney to Creole Aboriginal English to Caribbean English and a historical range from Chaucer to Chomsky Latin to the World Wide Web. It succinctly described and discussed the English language at the end of the twentieth century including its distribution and varieties its cultural political and educational impact worldwide its nature origins and prospects and its pronunciation grammar vocabulary word-formation and usage. This new edition notably focuses on World Englishes English language teaching English as an international language and the effect of technological advances on the English language. More than 130 new entries include African American English British Sign Language China English digital literacy multimodality social networking superdiversity and text messaging among many others. It also includes new biographical entries on key individuals who have had an impact on the English language in recent decades including Beryl (Sue) Atkins Adam Kilgariff and John Sinclair. It is an invaluable reference for English Language students and fascinating reading for any general reader with an interest in language.