3.Varieties of English

• USA


  • No official language, but English is the most used (80%)
  • English was inherited from British colonization, when USA was founded 40% of Americans spoke English
• Canada


  • Has 2 official languages (English+French)
  • After the Treaty of Paris (1763) that ended Seven-Year's War, Canada was open to English speaking settlement
  • American Revolution 1775-1783 => moving to Canada => Industrial Revolution in Britain (19th century) = moving of English settlers to Canada
• Australia


  • James Cook in 1769 claimed it for UK – in the USA they lost territory where they could put prisoners => 1786 first colony New South Wales => few days later colony in today's Sydney
  • The colony also consisted of islands of New Zealand
• ENL

  English as a National Language (UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand)
• ESL

  English as a Second Language (usually former British colonies for official purposes as education – Nigeria, Kenya, India – around 750 million people)
• EFL

  English as a Foreign Language – e.g.: in work, communication (CZ, Slovak Republic) – number of speakers is hard to tell but millions
• Kachru's "three circles" Model of World Englishes


  • Inner circle = native speakers (not interested in other languages) – USA, UK
  • Outer circle = English as 2nd language: people from former colonies or non-native speakers learning English in countries where English is a native language (India, Singapore)
  • Expanding = where English is foreign language
• Countries where English is spoken as a native language


  • The UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland
• Countries where English is spoken as a second language

  • India, Pakistan, Israel, Malta, Ghana, Nigeria, Jamaica, Bahamas, Caribbean and Pacific region = former British colonies
• Countries where English is spoken as a foreign language


  • People learn English to communicate with other people from abroad
• Bilingual countries


  • Canada (French, English), India (Hindi, English)
• Standard English


  • It is the typical social dialect in the UK
  • It is the set of grammatical and lexical forms typically used in speech and writing of educated native speakers
  • It was artificially created over many years by a network of different groups of people (dictionary makers, publishing houses, editors, teachers) -> but there is no set rules
  • It also includes colloquial or slang vocabulary, swearwords or taboo words
  • Examples: Standard Australian English, Standard Canadian English, Standard American English, Standard Indian English
  • Only 12-15% of UK population use it
  • Less than 1/3 of UK speakers of Standard English have Received Pronunciation (RP)
• Received Pronunciation (RP)


  • Regionally neutral, typical British accent
  • It tells us social and educational background, it is respectable (good education)
  • In dictionaries, taught to foreigners
  • Typical for upper class, royal family, Parliament, the Church of England, ministers
  • In 1920s adopted by BBC, which made it widespread
  • Today educated people use Estuary English = variety of English in the area along the river Thames – middle way between Cockney and RP
• Cockney


  • Southern social dialect
  • Traditionally spoken by uneducated working class
  • Visible differences: a) pronunciation – shift of vowel (i: -> ei, ai -> oi), not pronouncing middle and final (didn, bo'le = bottle)
  • b) lexis – use a lot of borrowing from gypsies (dukes = palms)
• Cockney Rhyming Slang


  • Invented in 1840s by market traders - now used for humour
  • Usually composed from 2 nouns which make an idiom, metaphor -> the last word rhyme with the with which is actually meant (bread and honey = money)
• Standard British English


  • The variety of the English language that is generally used in professional writing in Britain and taught in British schools
  • Although no formal body has ever regulated the use of English in Britain, a fairly fixed model of Standard British English has been taught in British schools since the 18th century
• Standard American English


  • General American (GA), also known as Standard American English (SAE), is a major accent of American English. The accent is not restricted to the US. Within American English, General American and accents resembling it are contrasted with Southern American English, several Northeastern accents, and other distinct regional accents and social group accents like African American Vernacular English.
  • General American, like British Received Pronunciation (RP) and most standard language varieties of many other societies, has never been the accent of the entire nation. However, it has become widely spoken in many American films, TV series, national news, commercial ads, and American radio broadcasts.
• Americans use the present perfect tense less than British English speakers


  A British teacher might mark wrong some things that an American teacher would say are correct
• In British English, 'have got' is often used for the possessive sense of 'have' and 'have got to' is informally used for 'have to'


  This is less common in American English
• Differences between Standard British and American English

  • Different past tense (BR learnt x AM learned)
  • Different past participle (BR got x AM gotten)
  • Use of the verb "have" (BR have got x AM have)
  • Different prepositions (BR in street x AM on street)
• Vocabulary differences


  • Angry (BR) x mad (US)
  • Autumn (BR) x fall (US)
  • Flat (BR) x apartment (US)
  • Lift (BR) x elevator (US)
  • Pavement (BR) x sidewalk (US)
  • Petrol (BR) x gas/gasoline (US)
  • Rubbish (BR) x trash (US)
  • Trousers (BR) x pants (US)
• There are also words which exist in both British and American English but have very different meanings, e.g. corn
• Spelling differences


  • Words that end in -tre in British English end in -ter in American English (theater, center x theatre, centre)
  • Words that end in -our in British English end in -or in American English (color, labor x colour, labour)
  • Words are shorter in American English than in British English (catalog, program x catalogue, programme)
• Accent


  • Description of aspects of pronunciation which identifies where an individual speaker is from, regionally or socially
  • Refers only to the phonological level of language
  • British accent, American, Australian, French, etc.
• Received Pronunciation (RP)


  • RP is an accent of Standard English in the UK
  • BBC English, Public School English, the Queen's English
  • In the US – General American
• Estuary English


  Around river Thames, possible competitor to the RP in terms of pronunciation form in Britain, similar features to Cockney (accent of Londoners)
• Dialect


  • Specific features of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation based on geographical and social differences
  • Regional dialect = regiolect – it is a dialect spoken in an area of a nation/state, whether it is a small area, a federal state or province, or some wider area
  • Social dialect = sociolect – varieties of language spoken by groups defined according to class, education, age, sex, other social parameters (studied by sociolinguistics)
• Overt prestige


  Highly valued among all speakers (Standard – associated with power, wealth, education)
• Covert prestige


  Varieties usually not accepted among all social groups or considered bad language (e.g.: language of the youth)
• Idiolect


  A variety of a language unique to an individual. It is manifested by patterns of vocabulary or idiom selection (the individual's lexicon), grammar, or pronunciations that are unique to the individual. Every individual's language production is in some sense unique.
• Pidgin


  • Contact languages
  • When native language and Lingua Franca are spoken in contact -> development of contact language = Pidgin
  • Many Pidgins developed from 17th to 19th century in trade colonies (China, Africa, New Zealand)
  • Speaker of European languages (English, French) + non-European
  • In plantations between the slaves and the owner
  • During Korean and Vietnam wars – between soldiers and local people
  • It is contact language = no native speakers -> only for communication between different groups
  • Very little grammatical rules, poor vocabulary
  • If the pidgin is used long enough, it begins to evolve into a more rich and complex language
  • Once the pidgin has evolved and has acquired native speakers (kids learn the pidgin as their first language), it became a Creole
• Creole


  • When a Pidgin develops it can become the first language of a social community (e.g. French Creole of Haiti and Louisiana, English Creole of Jamaica, etc.)
  • In the US, there is a very well-known Louisiana Creole, which is derived from French and African Languages. Cajun is a developed dialect of this Creole.
  • Language that developed in contact situations and become native one for new generation of its speakers (children were exposed to unstable Pidgin and developed more complex language that has characteristics of normal languages and is used in all areas)
• When the British Empire colonized almost every continent in the world, they spread their language and culture to Asia, Australia, Africa and North America
• Then, after the US became a super power there was another English speaking country spreading its culture and influence worldwide
• English is a unifying langue of business, politics, education, culture, etc.
• Further, American/English music is listened to in almost every country in the world
• The English language has become very dominant and significant mainly because of the cultural influence of England and the US
• Lingua franca


  A language of the world
• English as a Lingua Franca (ELF)


  • English is used as common language between people who don't share the same native language – it is the chosen language of communication
  • Lingua francas in history: Sumerian (3000 BC), Greek (last centuries BC), Latin
  • International organizations (EU, UNESCO) – pressure to create a Lingua Franca to communicate
  • Factors: economic, culture, politics, science, technology, business
  • Thanks to colonization and role of the USA after the 2WW
• There are over 7,000 languages in the world