ABSTRACT
Readers of The World’s Major Languages may be assumed to have more than a nodding acquaintance with the English language. English is, moreover, widely studied and has received significant attention from distinguished grammarians since the nineteenth century. It thus seems appropriate here to discuss English in terms not entirely parallel to those in which other languages, perhaps less familiar, are described in this book. In somewhat more detail than is possible at present for most other languages, this chapter will describe the structural variation that characterises English functionally and socially, as well as some salient historical and regional variation. Section 2 describes the status of English throughout the world, along with its social
history and past contact with other languages. Section 3 offers a historical sketch of its lexicon, phonology, morphology and syntax, followed by a brief account of orthographic practices. Section 4 treats regional, social and functional variation in present-day English.
2.1 Current Status of English
