This study explores the role of linguistic structure in speakers’ perceptions of vernacular English, i.e. speech used in informal interactions. In so doing, it tests the assumptions of the Interface Principle (Labov 1993) and its major claim that semantic and discourse-pragmatic features will… read more
The study is a corpus-based variationist analysis tracing the development of quotative marking in Indian English. It seeks to enhance our understanding of the way the quotative system changes over time and complements existing academic research, most of which has primarily explored constructed… read more
The study explores recent diachronic developments in quotative marking in Indian English, using variationist sociolinguistic methods. Drawing on data obtained from a multilingual community in the south of New Delhi, it reveals a highly diverse system of strategies employed to introduce direct… read more
The paper explores the problems involved in detecting historical continuity in new (post-colonial) forms of English emerged in settings marked by complex linguistic and sociocultural heterogeneity. In doing so, it describes the relationship between modern Singapore English and one of its historical… read more
An unprecedented case in the history of languages, English has expanded all over the world yielding a variety of unique – und sometimes mutually unintelligible – forms. The immediate repercussion of this observation is that when confronted with regionally marked vernaculars in the EFL setting,… read more