A Handbook of Varieties of English

The Handbook ‚Varieties of English‘ is by far the most thorough reference work on phonology and the first-ever comprehensive overview of the morphology and syntax of varieties of English in the world.

Survey Articles

The books feature descriptive survey articles that are authored by widely acclaimed specialists in the field and that

• cover all main national standard varieties, distinctive regional, ethnic, and social varieties, major contact varieties, as well as major ESL varieties;
• share a common core, which makes them invaluable research tools for cross-linguistic comparisons;
• provide information on the historical and cultural backgrounds as well as the current sociolinguistic situations in the respective regions;
• serve as state-of-the-art reports on major issues in current research.

The handbook is an indispensable reference work and research tool for sociolinguists, dialectologists, phonologists, grammarians, typologists, and specialists in contact languages and varieties of English around the world. It is also ideally suited not only for professional academics but also for undergraduate and graduate students.

The editors are responsible for the following topics:

• Kate Burridge/ Bernd Kortmann: Australia / Pacific Archipelagos
• Bernd Kortmann: British Isles: Morphology and Syntax
• Rajend Mesthrie: Africa / South and Southeast Asia
• Edgar W. Schneider: The Americas / Caribbean
• Clive Upton: British Isles: Phonology

Bernd Kortmann is Professor at the University of Freiburg/Breisgau, Germany.

Edgar W. Schneider is Professor at the University of Regensburg, Germany.

Kate Burridge is Professor at La Trobe University, Australia.

Rajend Mesthrie is Professor at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Clive Upton is Professor at Leeds University, United Kingdom.

"These state-of-the-art volumes are a magnificent testimony to the incredible amount of research which has been carried out in the last quarter century on variation in English around the world. The editors should be heartily congratulated [...]"
David Britain in: Journal of Linguistics 3/2007

"The editors have set their sights high - and managed to achieve them admirably. [...] this is the kind of reference work that comes along maybe once in a generation, and will revolutionize the ways in which we and our students can work with the English language."
Monika S. Schmid in: Linguist List 16.1740

"The handbook marks a milestone in the field of English linguistics."
Holger Diessel in: Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft 11/2006

"This impressive reference presents the most up-to-date findings on the phonology (v.1), morphology, and syntax (v.2) for 60 varieties of English, including national standard; regional, ethnic, and social; pidgins and creoles; and the major English as a second language varieties of the British Isles, Americas and Caribbean, Pacific and Australasia, Africa, and South and Southeast Asia."
Reference & Research Book News, 08/2005