List of Figures and Tables -- 1. Language and Life in Monrovia -- 1.1 Introduction -- 1.2 Liberia and Monrovia -- 1.3 The Monrovia Kru -- 1.4 The Sociolinguistic and Ethnographic Present -- 1.5 Fieldwork -- 1.6 Outline of the Argument -- 2. New Krutown -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 Ethnic and Linguistic Origins -- 2.3 Urban History: Old Krutown -- 2.4 The Establishment of New Krutown -- 2.5 A Social Survey of New Krutown -- 3. Linguistic Diversity and Sociolinguistic Patterns -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 The Kru of Neighborhood Residents -- 3.3 Origins of English in Liberia -- 3.4 Varieties of Liberian English -- 3.5 New Krutown English -- 3.6 A Sociolinguistic Profile -- 4. Conveying Social Information through English -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 Kru and English in Domestic Settings -- 4.3 English and Kru in Work Settings -- 4.4 Code-Switching in a Public Argument -- 5. Social Situations and the Choice of English -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 Three Queen Contests -- 5.3 Speaking in Political Meetings -- 5.4 Situations, Social Status, and English -- 6. Civilized Values, Civilized Language -- 6.1 Introduction -- 6.2 Historical Antecedents: The Institutionalization of Civilization -- 6.3 Unification Policy: Cultural Continuities in Institutional Change -- 6.4 Urban Culture and the Semantics of 'Kwiness' -- 6.5 Kwiness, Language and the Sociocultural System -- 7. Structural Constraints and Individual Differences in the Use of English -- 7.1 Introduction -- 7.2 The Methodist Church -- 7.3 The Speakers in Methodist Church Services -- 7.4 The Use of Kru and English in Sunday Services -- 7.5 Social Identity and Patterns of Speaking -- 7.6 The Social Basis for the Use of English -- 8. Systemic Inequality and the Social Meaning of English -- 8.1 Introduction -- 8.2 Linguistic and Social Inequality.

8.3 The Deployment of English: Individual Behavior in the Larger Sociocultural Matrix -- Notes -- Glossary of Key Names and Kru Terminology -- Bibliography -- Index.