US English and Pragmatic Norms

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US English, that is, the variety of English spoken in the United States, synonymous here with “American English”, has been well described on a phonological, orthographical, lexical and grammatical level. Pragmatic descriptions are less extensive. Drawing from speech act scholarship in cross-cultural and variational pragmatics, this entry explores the pragmatic profile of American English. In doing so, it highlights a number of key foci of appropriate language use in present-day American English, namely democratic language use, clarity of expression, social warmth and achievement recognition.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of World Englishes
EditorsKingsley Bolton
Place of PublicationHoboken
PublisherWiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Publication date2025
ISBN (print)978-1-119-51831-0
ISBN (electronic)978-1-119-51829-7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2025