ABSTRACT

Multiethnic contact in working-class parts of East London has given rise to a major new dialect, Multicultural London English (MLE). A contemporaneous, more ethnically homogeneous variety, British Asian English (BAE), has developed among lower-middle-class British Asians in West London. This study explores whether the morphosyntax of BAE resembles that of MLE, traditional London vernacular, Standard British English, or Indian English, all in contact with BAE. The study analyses four features: was/were levelling, indefinite and definite article allomorphy, and the quotative system. The first two are more stigmatized and show a sharp decline in use among BAE speakers. The other two show closer tracking of British vernaculars with some Indian influence. The findings confirm that MLE is not widespread in this neighbourhood. Instead, BAE speakers combine Standard British English and a few higher-prestige Indian features to signal an upwardly mobile, ethnically Asian style, very distinct from the class loyalty indexed by MLE. The findings support the view that dialect shift is not entirely mechanistic, deriving strictly from frequencies in the input. It can be sensitive to competing prestige values and can include non-local influences as well.