The lesser of two evils: Atypical trajectories in English dialect evolution

Abstract

Schneider's Dynamic Model of Postcolonial English Development (2007) suggests that distinct local identities and their associated varieties of English emerge as a result of British colonization, and reach maturity only when ties to the colonial power are finally severed. While this developmental trajectory is well documented in many of the case studies discussed in, and since, Schneider (2007), a comparison of Hong Kong and Gibraltar shows, in certain cases, that association with Britain can be seen as the best guarantor of these local identities and varieties of English. The present article sketches this alternate developmental trajectory, and examines under what circumstances it may emerge and how widely it might be applied.

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