The volume, which is part of a series providing a full account of the history of the English language, details the history of English from 1776 to 1997. An extensive introduction explains the changing socio-historic setting in which English has developed in response to a continuing background of diversity as it was transplanted to North America and beyond. Separate chapters on vocabulary, syntax, onomastics, phonology, English grammar and usage, and literary language chronicle the linguistic features of the language during this period, using as its basis the common core inherited from the sixteenth century and shared by what are now the two principal varieties, American and British English. A glossary, extensive bibliography, and subject index are included. (MSE)