As a result of colonization, many varieties of English now exist around the world. Legacies of Colonial English brings together a team of internationally-renowned scholars to discuss the role of British dialects in both the genesis and subsequent history of postcolonial Englishes. Considering the input of Scottish, English and Irish dialects, they closely examine a wide range of Englishes - including those in North and South America, South Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand - and explain why many of them still reflect non-standard British usage from the distant past. Complete with a checklist of dialect features, a detailed glossary and set of general references on the topic of postcolonial Englishes, this book will be an invaluable source to scholars and students of English Language and Linguistics, particularly those interested in sociolinguistics, historical linguistics and dialectology.

Contributors: Raymond Hickey, Caroline Macafee, Merja Kyto, Laura Wright, Walt Wolfram, Natalie Schilling-Estes, Shana Poplack, Sali Tagliamonte, J. K. Chambers, Sandra Clarke, Edgar W. Schneider, Michael Montgomery, Roger Lass, Daniel Schreier, Andrea Sudbury, Scott Kiesling, Elizabeth Gordon, Peter Trudgill, Suzanne Romaine