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British English? American English? Are there such things?

It's hard to talk about ‘national’ Englishes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2016

M. Lynne Murphy
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Extract

In the last issue of English Today I argued that while the differences between American and British English may be small, they are innumerable, varied and interesting. But that article (and many of the things I write) invited the question of whether it even makes sense to talk of American English and British English. These labels are extremely problematic on geographic, linguistic and political grounds. Are we justified in using such sloppy terminology? Shouldn't linguists like me know better? Let's look the problems of nomenclature, starting with the eastern side of the Atlantic.

Type
Research Article
Information
English Today , Volume 32 , Issue 2 , June 2016 , pp. 4 - 7
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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