ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 presents the genesis and evolution of the World Englishes model and discusses its theoretical background in the light of word-formation phenomena. In particular, it explores the evolutionary processes of World Englishes, questioning the very perception of traditional language paradigms and stresses the need to rethink those paradigms due to the complexity and dynamicity which characterize varieties of English across the globe. The same idea of English as a monolithic entity is disputed by focusing on cross-fertilization as a lens through which to observe the multitude of fluctuating Englishes.
This chapter also discusses complex issues related to the categorization of different varieties of English, presenting some of the available models from a critical perspective. In this respect, it stresses that no pictorial reproduction of the many models available seems to satisfactorily or adequately emphasize the cross-fertilization process that the English compound undergoes. Indeed, such models inevitably tend to represent varieties of English as single, independent entities. Moreover, the chapter deals with the notion of nativeness and offers an overview of the different perspectives which determine its predominant contemporary interpretations.
