This book helps students of English and linguistics to place the language of the period 1500-1700 in its historical context as a language with a common core but also as one which varies across time, regionally and socially, and according to register. The volume focuses on the structure of what contemporaries called the General Dialect - its spelling, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation - and on its dialectal origins. The book also discusses the language situation and linguistic anxieties in England at a time when Latin exerted a strong influence on the rising standard language.

The volume includes: *the major changes in English from the 15th to the 18th century *emphasis on long-term linguistic developments *sources for the study of Early Modern English *illustrations ranging from drama and personal letters to trials and early science *exercises encouraging further exploration of the changing English language.

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