ABSTRACT
English has always been a highly mobile language, beginning with its arrival in the British Isles from Europe around the fifth century and its subsequent spread across the globe. As previous chapters have shown, this mobility has resulted in the emergence of diverse systems of language use, with the creation of unique varieties of English across time and throughout the world. The history of English demonstrates that one of the most important influences on the emergence of these varieties is the sociohistorical conditions in which they arose, including migration patterns, settlement history, geographical factors and contact with other languages. This chapter turns to the outcomes of such processes: to the linguistic characteristics of contemporary varieties of English.
