Introducing English Linguistics

Further reading
For a discussion of English as a world language, see D. Crystal, English as a Global Language, 2nd edn.
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003). A description of the comparative method as it applies to the
Indo-European language family can be found in O. J. L. Szemerényi, Introduction to Indo-European Linguistics
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996). An overview of the typological approach to language classification is
presented in W. Croft, Typology and Universals (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990). There are
many introductions to the history of the English language, including A. Baugh and T. Cable, A History of the
English Language, 5th edn. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001) and T. Pyles and J. Algeo, The
Origins and Development of the English Language, 5th edn. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 2004).
The factors influencing language change can be found in two books by W. Labov: Principles of Linguistic
Change, vol. I: Internal Factors, and vol. II: Social Factors (Oxford and Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1994 and
2001).
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INTRODUCING ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

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C H A P T E R
The social
context of
English
3
This chapter explores how the social context in which lan-
guage is used affects human communication. It begins with
a discussion of the need to distinguish