English in Language Shift by Rajend Mesthrie

English in Language Shift by Rajend Mesthrie

Rajend Mesthrie examines the rise of a new variety of English among Indian migrant workers indentured on the plantations of Natal in South Africa. Considering the historical background to, and linguistic consequences of, language shift in an immigrant context, he draws significant parallels between second language acquisition and the processes of pidginization and creolization. In particular, he analyses universals of second language acquisition and the role of transfer from the Indic and Dravidian substrate languages. English in Language Shift observes the acquisition of language in its social setting, often outside the classroom. Its linguistic focus is on the distinctive syntax of South African Indian English, with respect to word order and clause structures; and it contains descriptions of lexis, phonetics and morphology, in terms of social variation. South African Indian English is compared with other dialects within South Africa, with English in India, and with Englishes generally.

'A fascinating and very well-documented account of the evolution and development of South African Indian English since the Indian indentured labourers were brought into South Africa, beginning in the 1860s' Gillian Sankoff, University of Pennsylvania
'A most impressive piece of work.' J. M. Coetzee

Mesthrie, Rajend: - RAJEND MESTHRIE is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Cape Town, where he holds a National Research Foundation (SARCHI) research chair. He is also the current President of the Linguistics Society of Southern Africa. He has published in the field of Sociolinguistics, with special reference to language contact and variation in South Africa. His most recent publication is World Englishes (with Rakesh Bhatt, CUP 2008). He is a regular participant on SAFM's Word of Mouth radio program, where he appears to have a fairly large following. He is an A-rated researcher, the only linguist in South Africa currently so designated by the NRF.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780521026499
ISBN 10	0521026490
Title	English in Language Shift
Author	Rajend Mesthrie
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Year published	2006-06-01
Number of pages	276
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable