Filled with real examples of the way people use English in different contexts, The Routledge Dictionary of English Language Studies is an indispensable guide to the richness and variety of the English language for both students and the general reader. From abbreviation to zero-article, via fricative and slang, the Dictionary contains over 600 wide ranging and informative entries covering: the core areas of language description and analysis: phonetics and phonology, grammar, lexis, semantics, pragmatics and discourse sociolinguistics, including entries on social and regional variation, stylistic variation, and language and gender the history of the English language from Old English to the present-day the main varieties of English spoken around the world, covering the British isles, the Caribbean, North America, Africa, Asia, and Australasia stylistics, literary language and English usage.