Cultural tools evolve in social groups and change over time as they are passed down from generation to generation. They also might
be taken up by other social groups and adapted to fit their needs. English, for example, is a tool that has changed considerably over
the years. The way it was used by writers in the eighteenth century was rather different than the way it is being used by the authors of
this book. Furthermore, although it originated in the British Isles, it has, for various reasons, spread all over the world and, as it has
been taken up by new groups of speakers, it has been altered and adapted to fit the particular circumstances of its use. And so the
English spoken in India is rather different from that spoken in Australia.