Investigating the Establishment of a Euro-English Variety: Views, Reflections, and Perspectives

Abstract

From the sociolinguistic perspective on the debate on Euro-English, this paper explores the main facets of the spread of English in Europe concerning contentious views on the emergence and establishment of a Euro-English variety. After summarising the steps by which the EU has reached its current political set-up, and along with providing a historical account of how scholars have conceptualised English in Europe, the paper examines the challenges this language has faced across Europe to become the chosen means of communication, as well as its implications for the European linguistic landscape, also after Brexit. It finally formulates a proposal for an ‘alternative’ Euro-English, which can linguistically unify European countries by virtue of their common classical roots.