hildren will thus have considea-able freedom to selectvariants from different dialects and form them into new combinations, aswell as to develop new Intermediate and other interdialectal forms. Onlysubsequently, in the third generation, will the new dialect appear as a stable,crystallised variety as a result of focusing processes of reduction just described{see TnidgiU 1986: ch. 3).

In a dialect mixture situation, such as that present in a newly settled colony,large numbers of variants &om the different dialects involved in the mixturewill abound. As time passes and focusing begins to take place, particularly asthe colony begins to acquire an independent identity, the variants present inthe mixture will begin to be subject to reduction. This will take place as a resultof accommodation between speakers in face-to-face interaction, which mayalso lead to the development of new. intermediate or hyper-adaptive or otherinterdialect forms which were not actually present in any of the contributingdirects. This reduction will not take place in a haphazard maimer. Indetermining who accommodates to whom

EngUsh English. The ar%ument is essentially that /i/. /e/ and /ae/ have moved asa result of a chain shift, most likely a push chaM. The lowest vowel of the three,/ae/. moved upwards in the dkection of [e], forcing /e/ to move upwards in thedirection of [e] in order to maintain the disttaction. Subsequently /i/. ratherthan moving upwards in t ^ direction of [i]. as perhc^ happened in the case ofAustralian English, moved back and down, giving a central vowel quality whichonce again maintains the distinction:

(colonial situations, new towns, rapid urbanisation

KiT-centrdisation

New Zealand English is remarkable inhaving very close realisations of /ae/ = [e] and /e/=[e],

/u/ is currently once again undergoing imrounding simul-taneously in many parts of the world (North America, New Zealand, SouthernEngland) in the speech of young people.

/A/.

Apart from what any critic had to say about my writing, I knew I had succeeded where it counted when mymother finished reading my book and gave me her verdict: "So easy to read."

I was told by my former boss that writing was my worstskill and I should hone my talents toward account management.

I think my mother's English almost had an effect on limiting my possibilities in life as well.

When I was fifteen, she used to have mecall people on the phone to pretend I was she

I was ashamed of her English

It's my mother tongue. Her language, as I hear it, is vivid,direct, full of observation and imagery. That was the language that helped shape the way I saw things,expressed things, made sense of the world.

Yet some ofmy friends tell me they understand 50 percent of what my mother says. Some say they understand 80 to 90percent. Some say they understand none of it,

expressive command of English

I've often used that same kind of English with him,

I again found myself conscious of theEnglish I was using, the English I do use with her.

My mother was in the room