This volume compares the evolution and current status of two of the world's major languages, English and Spanish. Parallel chapters trace the emergence of Global English and Spanish and their current status, covering aspects such as language and dialect contact, language typology, norm development in pluricentric languages, and identity construction. Case studies look into the use of English and Spanish on the internet, investigate mixed and alternating lects, as well as ongoing change in Spanish-speaking minorities in the US. The volume thus contributes to current theoretical debates and provides fresh empirical data. While offering an in-depth treatment of the evolution of English and Spanish to the reader, this book introduces the driving factors and the effects of the emergence of world languages in general and is relevant for researchers and students of sociolinguistics, historical linguistics, and typology alike.

'The authors present a three-dimensional map of the reality of Spanish and English, as well as their contacts, beyond ideological biases. The volume addresses key concepts for interpreting the contemporary language landscape: polycentrism, postcolonialism, codification, variation, globalization. It is a Kaleidoscopic approach to an intriguing language panorama.' Francisco Moreno-Fernández, Heidelberg University and Universidad de Alcalá
'… linguists interested in these languages, their development, and their intersections will find it valuable.' Jean Danic, LINGUIST List

Danae Perez is lecturer and researcher at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences. Her research centers around the sociolinguistic and typological evolution of postcolonial varieties with a particular focus on the contacts of Spanish and English in the Americas. Marianne Hundt is professor of English Linguistics at Zurich University. With a strong background in corpus linguistics, she has published widely on topics in world Englishes research, English historical linguistics and construction grammar. She is co-editor of English World-Wide. Johannes Kabatek is Professor in Ibero-Romance linguistics at Zurich University. His research focuses on Ibero-Romance languages, language contact, medieval Spanish; Galician, Catalan; Brazilian Portuguese; historical linguistics; spoken and written language. Daniel Schreier is professor of English Linguistics at the University of Zurich. He was visiting scholar in Canterbury, North Carolina, and Regensburg and has published and edited several books on world Englishes, English dialectology, and the sociolinguistics of English, and he is former co-editor of English World-Wide.