ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces, explains, and discusses what Standard English and General English are, looking at the various stages in the emergence of both, including koineization. It focuses on the English of the British Isles, North America, and the Southern Hemisphere ENL countries. The chapter provides examples of non-standard English, including above all the traditional dialects of Britain and the regional varieties of the British Isles and North America. It elaborates on Non-Standard General English features of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century London, American, and Australian English. The chapter discusses nineteenth- and twentieth-century African-American English texts to illustrate non-standard ethnic variation. The mixing of people who originally came from the various dialect regions in Britain had the effect of evening out differences in a process known as leveling or koineization. The cities were and remain the strongholds of Non-Standard General English.
