"Hundreds of millions of people use English every day everywhere in the world, but may or may not succeed in understanding one other. Despite the success of its standard form (or forms) in many countries, the complex called 'English' is immensely diverse - probably more diverse than any language has ever been - and is likely to become more so in the next century. This book is a compelling and wide-ranging invitation to consider the nature, the varieties, the descriptions, the options, and the implications of this vast system. The English Languages looks at the 'pluralism' of English - the many 'Englishes' identified by scholars in the last twenty years - and addresses the question of whether English can be considered a family of languages in its own right, like the Romance languages."--Jacket.

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