These two volumes and CD-ROM form an impressive and informative survey of all major English varieties currently spoken. The aim, in the words of the editors, is “documenting and mapping the structural variation among (spontaneously spoken) non-standard varieties of English.” Various standard Englishes, such as Received Pronunciation (RP), are also described, although it is not clear how the editors distinguished a national standard from a national variety. These standard varieties are used as “implicit standard[s] of comparison” for most varieties. Although this perspective might seem surprising in a descriptive work, upon further thought this explicit acknowledgment is refreshing. In many studies, the use of a standard variety for comparison usually remains implicit, rather than being acknowledged at the outset.
The result is two volumes that together total nearly 2500 pages (although some material is repeated in each volume). The two volumes contain reviews of the same varieties in the same order, one volume on phonology and one on syntax. At first I thought this was an odd organization; I would want to know everything about a single variety, I thought. But after browsing through and using the handbook to investigate some trivial comparative queries (I confess to not reading all 2500 pages), I have found that the organization works nicely. I found that the questions I tended to ask of the handbook were either of a phonological or a syntactic nature, and having a volume focused on just one of these structural components facilitated discovery.
Within each volume, the varieties are grouped by geography (British Isles; Americas and Caribbean; Pacific and Australasia; Africa, South and Southeast Asia). Each section has an introduction that summarizes features (social and linguistic) of the area and introduces the reader to some of the main issues that have attracted the attention of scholars of those Englishes. These introductions would be valuable for students first encountering these descriptions, in that they situate the entries within the ongoing academic discourse on the varieties in that geographical area. The introductions do not survey the featural differences; this comparison is saved for the synopses that conclude each volume, which I discuss below.
The varieties of English in these volumes are not classified except by geography; there is no separate section on creoles, or new Englishes, or any other ways of classifying varieties. This descriptive focus means that the work is even more useful as a tool for theorizing and analysis. Some classification does enter into some of the entries (and of course the names of the varieties), but the use of a common set of linguistic features in all entries ensures that the comparative focus is maintained. However, it is not clear precisely how a variety gains the status to deserve an entry. Some varieties are dealt with collectively, a practice that leads to some very heterogeneous chapters (for example, “North England” is a single entry, as is “New York, Philadelphia, and other northern cities”). To the contributors' credit, these entries manage to give some sense of the variety within them. Of course, any decision about what counts will be a bit artificial, as some of the regional introductions point out.
Note that the aim is to map structural variation, so that a volume on lexical variation is excluded. Nevertheless, some lexical items are noted in individual chapters, especially as they relate to phonological or syntactic features of the varieties, or as they exemplify influences from other varieties and languages.
The entries that I browsed (and several that I read carefully) are excellent. They are all based on analyses of corpora; usually at least one of these corpora was collected and analyzed – recently – by the author of the chapter. In other words, these are descriptions based on careful analysis of linguistic data, by authors who are first-hand experts in the variety. One could hardly ask for more.
The entries have in common some standard material. In each phonology entry the same set of vowels is considered. In these cases, they use the lexical sets of Wells 1982. These sets have been criticized because not all varieties employ the same sets; however, they are the most useful tool we have for comparison of this kind. In fact, noting mismatches with the standard lexical sets provides an excellent tool for description, and several authors reoriented the sets for their variety. The benefits of having a common set of features to consider far outweigh the shortcomings of the systems chosen. There is also a common set of issues considered by each author, so that, for example, all entries include something about prosody and do not restrict the entire entry to vowels. In the morphosyntax volume, a similar set of features was prescribed. These sets were fairly general but ensured that one could read two entries and get a real comparative sense of the varieties.
The greatest strength of all the entries (and of these volumes) is the inclusion of social and historical material in each one. One thus receives not just a structural description of these varieties, but a social one as well. Usually, these structural and sociohistorical descriptions are connected so that the relationship between the social patterning and origins of a variety can be seen in its structure. The authors and editors are to be commended for having included this material in the face of what must have been pressure to keep the page count down; it shows how integral sociohistorical description is to linguistic description. The inclusion of such material also allows comparisons that aren't evident in the areal structure of the volumes.
Each volume concludes with a set of synopses for each major geographical area, and one global synopsis. All of these synopses survey each feature in an organized manner, so that if one wanted to find out what kind of variation there is in the Americas in, say, the pronunciation of /ai/, one could turn to the discussion of that vowel in the synopsis on the Americas (and if desired, compare that variation to the British Isles). These synopses also therefore give an overview of the features common to wide geographic areas. The global synopses take an even wider view; the editors expand on description and provide some interesting categorizing and theorizing about “universal” properties and tendencies of English varieties. Both the phonological and morphosyntactic synopses rely on a set of features to classify all varieties. The phonological features are more obvious, as the phonetic realization of phonemes and the phoneme inventory provide a straightforward list. The morphosyntax synopsis could not consider every aspect of English morphosyntax, so Bernd Kortmann and Benedikt Szmrecsanyi have chosen to focus on “nonstandard” features with a view to identifying more or less “nonstandard” varieties. One problem with this is that it is not altogether clear what variety is taken as standard; I suppose most of the 76 features are “nonstandard enough” that they are unlikely to be standard anywhere. (An interesting finding in this synopsis is that American varieties are the most nonstandard and the Asian varieties, the least nonstandard, with the British Isles in the middle.) These inventories were compiled through questionnaires sent to the authors of each contribution, so they are likely to be very accurate. In general, the synopses are an excellent addition to the individual contributions, and ensure that the contributions of the volume are not restricted to description alone.
The only major complaint I have is the lack of maps in the text. Some contributors have provided maps, but it would have been useful to have a world map showing where each variety is located, and region or even country maps for each region or variety. I did go fetch my atlas, but 10 or 20 extra pages in each volume would have made this unnecessary.
A CD-ROM is also included. Its main feature refers to the online version, which was not yet available at the time of review, so I cannot comment on this feature. The physical CD-ROM presents the data in the handbook in a more interactive fashion. One can choose a feature and highlight each variety that exhibits that feature. There are also sound samples of each variety, which will make the volumes more accessible to novice linguists studying English. It is a nice resource, but do not buy the volumes for the CD-ROM, mainly because there is not much one could do except browse with it and see interesting relationships between unlabeled small dots. It would be much more useful with more samples in specific places, labels on the dots, and the ability to zoom in to specific regions. (There is a “magnify” tool, but on my PC it simply showed a bigger dot that was not even the same color as the one I was selecting.) While many varieties are represented, the samples seem to be somewhat sparse and uneven, and the sound quality spotty.
Despite these drawbacks, this is a reference work that should be in the library of every university with an English or linguistics department. It is worth the money, as it will be able to do the work of many other volumes, and it will save much sleuthing by students and researchers. The editors and contributors are to be commended for producing such a thought-provoking and at the same time useful work.
