Varieties of English

VARIETIES OF ENGLISH
 English is the most widely-spoken language in the world, having the distinct status of
being the official language of multiple countries.
 While the English language is uniform with major variations in spelling present between
American English and British English, the dialect or accent is usually the factor that
enables one to distinguish the various types of English out there.
 Like most languages, there are varieties of English too, however, the difference is not as
prominent as you may see in other languages.
 From the thick Ugandan English to the French-themed Canadian English, the varieties of
accents present are both diverse and beautiful.
 Apart from accents, there is a tendency for people to mix English with their local lingo
to form a hybrid variety of English language that is as colorful as the culture in that
country.
VARIOUS ENGLISH LANGUAGE DIALECTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
BRITISH ENGLISH
British English is the English language spoken and written in the United Kingdom or, more
broadly, throughout the British Isles. Slight regional variations exist in formal, written English in
the United Kingdom.
English is a West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to
Britain by Germanic settlers from various parts of what is now northwest Germany and the
northern Netherlands.
The resident population at this time was generally speaking Common Brittonic—the insular
variety of continental Celtic, which was influenced by the Roman occupation. This group of
languages (Welsh, Cornish, Cumbric) cohabited alongside English into the modern period, but
due to their remoteness from the Germanic languages, their influence on English was notably
limited.
AMERICAN ENGLISH
American English sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties
of the English language native to the United States and widely adopted in Canada.
English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and is the common language
used by the federal government, considered the de facto language of the country because of its
widespread use. English has been given official status by 32 of the 50 state governments.
AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH
Australian English is a major variety of the English language, used throughout Australia. Although
English has no official status in the constitution, Australian English is the country’s national and
de facto official language as it is the first language of the majority of the population.
Australian English began to diverge from British English after the founding of the Colony of New
South Wales in 1788 and was recognized as being different from British English by 1820. It arose
from the intermingling of early settlers from a great variety of mutually intelligible dialectal regions
of the British Isles and quickly developed into a distinct variety of English.
CANADIAN ENGLISH
Canadian English is the set of varieties of English native to Canada. According to the 2011
census, English was the first language of approximately 19 million Canadians (57% of the
population) the remainder of the population were native speakers of Canadian French (22%) or
other languages (allophones, 21%).
The term “Canadian English” was first attested in a speech by the Reverend A. Constable Geikie
in an address to the Canadian Institute in 1857. Canadian English is the product of five waves of
immigration and settlement over a period of more than two centuries.
The first large wave of permanent English-speaking settlement in Canada, and linguistically the
most important, was the influx of loyalists fleeing the American Revolution, chiefly from the Mid-
Atlantic States – as such, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland,
Washington, D.C., Virginia, and West Virginia. Canadian English is believed by some scholars to
have derived from northern American English.
INDIAN ENGLISH
English public instruction began in India in the 1830s during the rule of the East India Company
(India was then, and is today, one of the most linguistically diverse regions of the world). In 1835,
English replaced Persian as the official language of the Company. Lord Macaulay played a major
role in introducing English and western concepts to education in India. He supported the
replacement of Persian by English as the official language, the use of English as the medium of
instruction in all schools, and the training of English-speaking Indians as teachers.
The view of this language among many Indians has gone from associating it with colonialism to
associating it with economic progress, and English continues to be an official language of India,
albeit with an Indian twist, popularly known as Indian English.
PHILIPPINE ENGLISH
Philippine English is any variety of English (similar and related to American English) native to
the Philippines, including those used by the media and the vast majority of educated Filipinos.
English is taught in schools as one of the two official languages of the country, the other being
Filipino (Tagalog).
Philippine English has evolved tremendously from where it began decades ago. Some decades
before English was officially introduced, if not arguably forced, to the Philippines, the
archipelagic nation has been subject to Spanish rule and thus Spanish was the language of
power and influence.
However, in 1898, when the Spanish gave the United States control of the nation, the English
language, although initially not favored, became widely used in a matter of years, which was
catalyzed by the coming of American teachers.
UGANDAN ENGLISH
Ugandan English, or Uglish (pronounced you-glish), is the dialect of English spoken in Uganda.
As with similar dialects spoken elsewhere, Ugandan English has developed a strong local flavor.
The speech patterns of Ugandan languages strongly influence spoken English.
Uganda has a large variety of indigenous languages, and someone familiar with Uganda can
readily identify the native language of a person speaking English. Ugandan speakers will alter
foreign words to make them sound more euphonic.
The English language is an amalgamation of cultures, intricacies, and experiences. A lot of the
common words used have strange origins. Would you like to find out? Check out our article about
English Eponyms.

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VARIETIES OF ENGLISH

VARIOUS ENGLISH LANGUAGE DIALECTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

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