This volume presents a sociolinguistic perspective on the history of the English language. Based on original empirical research, it discusses the social factors that promoted linguistic changes in earlier English, and the people who were the leading force behind them. The authors focus on the major grammatical developments that shaped the language in Tudor and Stuart times, the period that laid the foundations for modern Standard English.

Nevalainen and Raumolin-Brunberg adopt an interdisciplinary approach, exploring the extent to which sociolinguistic models and methods can be applied to the history of English.