Course outline:
This lecture course will give an overview of how the English language first spread on the British Isles, and then, from the early 17th century onwards, to North America, Australia, New Zealand, several African countries, the Indian subcontinent, and to countries in South East Asia. The status of English in these countries or areas is of course different, making it necessary to introduce such concepts as national variety, national standard, first/second language, official/co-official language, bilingualism/diglossia, speech community, (de-) creolisation, etc. These topics will be illustrated by means of those varieties, which use the English language as a mother tongue or as a second language. The socio-historical description will highlight both their historical development, and their present situation. The linguistic description concentrates on phonetic/phonological, lexical and also grammatical features, which are constitutive for a specific variety, and which – at the same time – make it different from other varieties.
