A Social History of English is the first history of the English language to utilize the techniques, insights and concerns of sociolinguistics. Written in a non-

Ranging widely over time and place, Asa Briggs highlights continuities and changes in society in England from prehistory to the present day. Literature, art and

Written in a non-technical manner, this book takes into account standardisation, pidginisation, bi- and multilingualism, the issues of language maintenance and

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SOCIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE brings to students, researchers and practitioners in all of the social and language-related sciences carefully select