The British Isles are home to a vast range of different spoken and signed languages and dialects. Language continues to evolve rapidly, in its diversity, in the number and the backgrounds of its speakers, and in the repercussions it has had for political and educational affairs. This book provides a comprehensive survey of the dominant languages and dialects used in the British Isles. Topics covered include the history of English; the relationship between Standard and Non-Standard Englishes; the major non-standard varieties spoken on the islands; and the history of multilingualism; and the educational and planning implications of linguistic diversity in the British Isles. Among the many dialects and languages surveyed by the volume are British Black English, Celtic languages, Chinese, Indian, European migrant languages, British Sign Language, and Anglo-Romani. Clear and accessible in its approach, it will be welcomed by students in sociolinguistics, English language, and dialectology, as well as anyone interested more generally in language within British society. The British Isles are home to a vast range of different spoken and signed languages and dialects, and language continues to evolve rapidly. This book provides a comprehensive survey of the dominant languages and dialects used in the British Isles, and includes topics on the history of English and the history of multilingualism. List of figures viii List of tables ix List of contributors x Acknowledgements xii Map of the British Isles xiii Introduction David Britain 1 Part I English 7 1 The history of English James Milroy 9 2 Standard and non-standard English Paul Kerswill 34 3 Phonological variation in England Paul Foulkes and Gerard Docherty 52 4 Grammatical variation in England David Britain 75 5 Scottish English and Scots Paul A. Johnston, Jr. 105 6 Northern Irish English Kevin McCafferty 122 7 Southern Irish English Raymond Hickey 135 8 English in Wales Robert Penhallurick 152 9 English on the Isle of Man Andrew Hamer 171 10 English in the Channel Islands Heinrich Ramisch 176 Part II The Celtic Languages 183 11 The history of the Celtic languages in the British Isles Paul Russell 185 12 Gaelic Kenneth MacKinnon 200 13 Irish P aig Riag 218 14 Welsh Martin Ball 237 Part III The Other Languages of the British Isles 255 15 Multilingualism Mark Gibson 257 16 Caribbean creoles and Black English Mark Sebba 276 17 Indic languages Mike Reynolds and Mahendra Verma 293 18 Chinese Li Wei 308 19 European immigrant languages Penelope Gardner-Chloros 325 20 Sign languages Bencie Wall and Rachel Sutton-Spence 341 21 Channel Island French Mari C. Jones 358 22 Angloromani Peter Bakker and Donald Kenrick 368 Part IV Applied Sociolinguistic Issues 375 23 Language policy and planning Dennis Ager 377 24 Non-standard English and education Ann Williams 401 25 Education and speakers of languages other than English Ben Rampton, Roxy Harris and Constant Leung 417 References 436 Index 500