ABSTRACT
In the preface to this book I remarked on the sheer volume of print and broadcast material aimed at a broad general audience and dealing with linguistic subjects. One of the abiding preoccupations of this genre is to assess what it often calls ‘the state of the language’—a difficult and somewhat paradoxical undertaking. Popular as well as scholarly discussions emphasize that language is not static but constantly in flux; and where English is concerned, great stress is typically also laid on its heterogeneity and diversity. Commentators thus appear to acknowledge that there is no (fixed) state and no (one) language to discuss under the heading of ‘the state of the language’. And yet their attempts to delineate such a state, to provide an overview that will tell us where we are, continue unabated.
