This book provides the first comprehensive account of the history and extent of Celtic influences in English. Drawing on both original research and existing work, it covers both the earliest medieval contacts and their linguistic effects and the reflexes of later, early modern and modern contacts, especially various regional varieties of English.

In this book, contributors have been brought together to discuss the role of two major factors shaping the grammars of different varieties of English (and of other languages) all over the world: so-called vernacular universals and contact-induced change. Rather than assuming a general typological perspective, the studies in this volume focus on putative universal vernacular features - significant phonological or (morpho-) syntactic parallels found in non-standard varieties of English, English-based Creoles, and also varieties of other languages, all of which represent widely differing...

As the most widely documented language in human history, English holds a unique key to unlocking some of the mysteries of the uniquely human endowment of language. Yet the field of World Englishes has remained somewhat marginal in linguistic theory. This collection heralds a more direct and mutually constructive engagement with current linguistic theories, questions, and methodologies. It achieves this through areal overviews, theoretical chapters, and case studies. The 36 articles are divided between four themes: Foundations, World Englishes and Linguistic Theory, Areal Profiles, and Case...