Book contents
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Maps
- Contributors to Volume V
- General Preface
- Abbreviations
- General Editor’s Introduction
- Introduction to Volume V
- PART I The United States
- 1 Language Change and the History of American English
- 2 The Dialectology of Anglo-American English
- 3 The Roots and Development of New England English
- 4 The History of the Midland–Northern Boundary
- 5 The Spread of English Westwards
- 6 American English in the City: The Case of Pittsburgh
- 7 New York City and Baltimore
- 8 English in the Southern United States
- 9 Contact Forms of American English
- 10 The Roots of African American English
- 11 The Great Migration and Regional Variation in the Speech of African Americans
- 12 Rural African American English
- 13 Urban African American English
- 14 Puerto Rican English
- 15 The English of Americans of Mexican and Central American Heritage
- PART II Canada
- PART III The Caribbean
- Index
- References
5 - The Spread of English Westwards
from PART I - The United States
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 April 2026
Book contents
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Maps
- Contributors to Volume V
- General Preface
- Abbreviations
- General Editor’s Introduction
- Introduction to Volume V
- PART I The United States
- 1 Language Change and the History of American English
- 2 The Dialectology of Anglo-American English
- 3 The Roots and Development of New England English
- 4 The History of the Midland–Northern Boundary
- 5 The Spread of English Westwards
- 6 American English in the City: The Case of Pittsburgh
- 7 New York City and Baltimore
- 8 English in the Southern United States
- 9 Contact Forms of American English
- 10 The Roots of African American English
- 11 The Great Migration and Regional Variation in the Speech of African Americans
- 12 Rural African American English
- 13 Urban African American English
- 14 Puerto Rican English
- 15 The English of Americans of Mexican and Central American Heritage
- PART II Canada
- PART III The Caribbean
- Index
- References
Summary
With a focus on Western American English vowel systems, this chapter examines the formative influences on the Western US dialect region, framing the current uniformity in vocalic patterns as the outcome of koineisation. Using early written sources and dialect atlas projects, we trace the routes of early colonisation of and the dialect inputs into the region, focusing particular attention on California, Nevada and Oregon. We also draw empirically from acoustic vowel data from modern and historical recordings in an attempt to consider how the information we have about Western speech at different time points over the past 150 years fits with leading models of new dialect formation. Our account of the spread of English westward argues that levelling and simplification were set in motion in the mid-1800s in large part owing to the confluence of American English varieties brought with the earliest settlers. Further, it was likely the instability of the low vowel system across these dialects that laid the foundation for the modern Western koine.
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- The New Cambridge History of the English LanguageNorth America and the Caribbean, pp. 151 - 183Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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