STANDARDS AND VARIATION IN URBAN SPEECH: EXAMPLES FROMLOWLAND SCOTS. Ronald K. S. Macaulay. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 1997.Pp. x + 202. $64.00 cloth.

Abstract

This book, which focuses on the Lowland Scots variety of English spoken in Glasgow, is a welcome addition to the John Benjamins series “Varieties of English Around the World.” Macaulay brings together work based on data collected in three decades—the '70s, '80s, and '90s. The 12 chapters thus represent several strands of research, all centered on the basic theme of language standards and variation. Macaulay argues that the “view of the inherent superiority of standardized varieties is misleading and that allvarieties of language persist because they are functional for their speakers” (p. 5).