Many years ago, David Graddol interviewed Tom McArthur about a range of issues concerning the spread of English as a global language (Graddol & McArthur, Reference Graddol and McArthur2009: 18). In one of McArthur's responses, he talked about people ‘“plugging in” into an electronic network, whether it's the radio, TV, cinema or the Internet and the World Wide Web’, which McArthur referred to as ‘Worlds of Reference, a “global nervous system”’. McArthur elaborated that English ‘dominates it at the moment, but other languages are moving into this electronic net and will continue to do so.’ In that connection, Graddol and McArthur regarded English itself as an ‘enormously hybridised language’ in the sense that Standard English is ‘hybridising with other kinds of English and also with other languages and producing dynamic and systemic, stable hybrid forms.’ Hybridising, to McArthur, and indeed to many of the speakers of English today, is a ‘very important and vigorous process in the modern world’. (Graddol & McArthur, Reference Graddol and McArthur2009: 18)
We touched upon the vigorous hybridising process in the editorial of the previous issue (the second of volume 39) with reference to Chinglish, Denglish and Taglish in relation to Chinese, German and Tagalog speakers. Such creative language use in English by multilingual individuals and in multilingual speech communities has become increasingly common, particularly in the ubiquitous social media and other contexts. Karaoke (with kara meaning ‘empty’ and oke for ‘orchestra’) and meshitero (literally meaning ‘food terror’, an internet slang expression, depicting the act of uploading images of delicious meals on social media) are two examples of the hybridising process in the context of Japan, because the elements of the two words are evidently Japanese alongside English loanwords that are written in katakana. Such examples are a constant reminder of the changing nature of English.
Our English language changes. So does English Today. Since Volume 38 in 2022, we have increased the size of the volume of English Today. What remains unchanged is that we continue to bring the reader high-quality research and discovery of the English language around the world. In this current issue of Volume 39, apart from research articles, we include a new ‘special feature’ section on the topic of ‘What's in a name?’ and it's about naming practices of English varieties, with a particular focus on English from China. As readers will see, we have included six curated essays within the section showcasing a collection of different views, perspectives and positions regarding naming English from China, e.g., China English, Chinglish and/or Chinese English.
Reading the articles and essays of the current issue, and those in the distant and immediate past issues and volumes of English Today, such as the ‘interview’ and the ‘editorial’ mentioned above, may feel like taking a journey of the English language. To use a German English word for such a metaphor, it's a Bummel. An example of the word in the Cambridge German-English Dictionary (2023) is Wir machten einen gemütlichen Bummel durch die Altstadt. (We went for a nice casual stroll through the old town.) So, Bummel means a ‘casual stroll’, but in German English, it has a more sophisticated and subtle meaning.
It is interesting to see the English translation of Bummel towards the end of the book by Jerome K. Jerome, titled Three Men on the Bummel (Jerome, Reference Jerome1920: 327–328):
“What is a ‘Bummel’?” said George. “How would you translate it?”
“A ‘Bummel,’” I explained, “I should describe as a journey, long or short, without an end; the only thing regulating it being the necessity of getting back within a given time to the point from which one started. Sometimes it is through busy streets, and sometimes through the fields and lanes; sometimes we can be spared for a few hours, and sometimes for a few days. But long or short, but here or there, our thoughts are ever on the running of the sand. We nod and smile to many as we pass; with some we stop and talk awhile; and with a few we walk a little way. We have been much interested, and often a little tired. But on the whole we have had a pleasant time, and are sorry when ‘tis over.”
We hope the reader of English Today enjoys reading the articles, and the curated special feature essays of this current issue, and those of the past issues and volumes, to take a Bummel with us, long or short, without an end, ‘getting back within a given time to the point from which one started . . . ’
The ‘special feature’ section in this issue contains six essays involving seven authors, including Li Wei, Lin Pan, Philip Seargeant, Zoya Proshina, Ying Wang, Yiyang Li and David C. S. Li. They present a range of views about how (and when) an English variety is named, as well as the sociolinguistic motivation for and consequences of naming. In addition to the special feature section on the naming of English in China, Ying–Ying Tan considers the naming of English in Singapore. Rotimi Oladipupo and Elizabeth Akinfenwa investigate the English accent used in Nollywood (i.e. Nigerian) films. This issue also includes three articles that are driven by lexicology. Julia Landmann and Andreas Landmann examine the historical change in English mining terms, and Antonio Lillo introduces rhyming slang that has developed in relation to the Coronavirus disease. Jieun Kiaer, Niamh Calway and Hyejeong Ahn explore different ways that English names a new food from China. Finally, David Deterding reviews Chinese English: Names, Norms and Narratives (Routledge 2023).
For the editors
