Language in the USA

by Shirley Brice Heath (Editor), Charles A. Ferguson (Editor)

Language in the USA is a volume of specially commissioned studies on the language situation in America, how it came to be the way it is, and the forces of changes within it. The USA has its own unique pattern of languages: American English, the principal language, different in structure and use from other kinds of English in the world; two hundred American Indian languages, some of them flourishing as never before; Spanish, spoken in North America before English and now the second most important language in the country; a cost of immigrant languages, each with a different history of accommodation to the American scene. The book explains the place of these various languages and how they are used in education, the professions, and general communication. Language in the USA is a work of reference, which gives an accessible account of the very considerable research in this area done by linguists, sociologists, educationalists, and anthropologists.

Genres: Language

632 pages, Paperback

First published August 31, 1981

Reviews

[I. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very nice introduction to the language situation in the U.S. for me. Comprehensible essays on various topics, insights in psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, aspects of history, economics, ethnicity and culture in language evolution, examples from the past and visions for future (compiled in eraly 1980s!). I liked it, I did.