Digital Englishes

Abstract

This entry provides a discussion of the concept of digital Englishes in relation to established and informal world Englishes. It describes and posits questions about the presence, development, change, and interaction of Englishes in online spaces. Rather than argue for a variety or varieties called “digital Englishes” it conceptualizes the term as one that refers to both the space and the forms where and according to which Englishes that exist in the “real world” are further modified and subjected to human creativity. It discusses this ideas without abandoning the fundamental concepts of world Englishes and the Three Circles Model of English. Subsequently, it argues that while the internet gives away a perception of borderless and boundless interactions among different varieties of English, in truth it too has rules and parameters even if they are regulated by different variables.