This book traces the development of Standard English, revealing a complex and intriguing history that challenges the usual textbook accounts. Leading scholars offer a wide-ranging analysis, from theoretical discussions of the origin of dialects, to detailed descriptions of the history of individual Standard English features. Ranging from Middle English to the Modern English period, the volume concludes that Standard English had no one single ancestor dialect, but is the cumulative result of generations of authoritative writing from many text types.

Contributors: Laura Wright, Jim Milroy, Richard J. Watts, Jonathan Hope, Raymond Hickey, Gabriella Mazzon, Derek Keene, Matti Rissanen, Irma Taavitsainen, Anneli Meurman-Solin, Merja Kyto, Suzanne Romaine, Susan Fitzmaurice, Roger Lass