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In:Pluricentricity and Pluriareality: Dialects, Variation, and Standards
Edited by Philipp Meer and Ryan Durgasingh
[Studies in Language Variation 32] 2025
► pp. 90–117

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Chapter 5
Pluricentricity versus pluriareality?

Areal patterns in the English-speaking world

ORCiD logo with link | University of Regensburg, Germany | National University of Singapore, Singapore
Published online: 16 January 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/silv.32.05sch
Abstract
This paper investigates the issue of what data from the English-speaking world can contribute to the ongoing debate on the notions of “pluricentricity” versus “pluriareality” — and to the interpretation of English(es) as pluricentric or pluriareal, respectively. After brief definitions and discussions of the core notions, areal distributions in the English-speaking world — which can be viewed as evidence for either perspective — are systematically screened and exemplified. This includes differences between national varieties of English and evidence for “epicentric” linguistic influences on the one hand, and areal distributions on local, regional, supra-national, and global scales on the other. I conclude that both notions do not exclude each other; rather, each captures and highlights different aspects of reality. “Pluriareality” describes language production, while “pluricentricity” focuses on perception.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Pluricentricity versus pluriareality: Competing notions
    • 2.1“Pluricentricity” — an ambiguous notion
    • 2.2“Pluriareality” — A controversial notion
    • 2.3Testing and assessment strategies
  • 3.Evidence for pluricentricity
    • 3.1National varieties
      • 3.1.1British English versus American English
      • 3.1.2National varieties on a global scale
    • 3.2Epicentric influences
    • 3.3Intermediate summary — Pluricentricity: National varieties and putative epicenters
  • 4.Evidence for pluriareality: Non-national patterns
    • 4.1Areality: The local scale
    • 4.2Areality: The regional scale
    • 4.3Areality: The transnational scale
    • 4.4Areality: The transnational and global scale
    • 4.5Areality in perception: Perceptual Dialectology
    • 4.6Intermediate summary — pluriareality
  • 5.Pluricentricity or pluriareality? Weighing the arguments and evidence
  • Notes
  • References
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