"[This book]: provides a concise and accessible history of English; engages with key debates concerning issues of correctness, standards, and dialects; investig

How has the English language evolved into the version we know today? How will it develop in future? Is it changing for the better or the worse? Simon Horobin's

The English language is spoken by more than a billion people throughout the world. But where did English come from? And how has it evolved into the language use

How many languages are there? What differentiates one language from another? Are new languages still being discovered? Why are so many languages disappearing? T

This Very Short Introduction deals with the social life of language, presenting a succinct account of the most important aspects - both "micro" and "macro" - of