13-Varieties of English

1、Varieties of EnglishAmerican EnglishOfficial language status of states and territories.1.Dark Blue: English is official language 2.Brown:Two or more official languages 3.Blue:No official language; English is de facto language 4.Pink: No official language; multiple de facto languages American English

2、 (variously abbreviated AmE, AE, AmEng, USEng, en-US, also known as United States English, or U.S. English) is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two thirds of native speakers of English live in the United States.English is the most common langu

3、age in the United States. Though the U.S. federal government has no official language, English is considered the de facto, in practice but not necessarily ordained by law, language of the United States because of its widespread use. English has been given official status by 30 of the 50 state govern

4、ments.The use of English in the United States was inherited from British colonization. The first wave of English-speaking settlers arrived in North America in the 17th century. During that time, there were also speakers in North America of Spanish, French, Dutch, German, Norwegian, Swedish, Scots, W

5、elsh, Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Finnish, Russian (Alaska) and numerous Native American languages.British EnglishBritish English, or UK English or English English (BrE, BE, en-GB), is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhe

6、re. The Oxford English Dictionary applies the term to English used in the whole of the British Isles, but in Great Britain, reserving Hiberno-English for The English language as spoken and written in Ireland.There are slight regional variations in formal written English in the United Kingdom (for ex

7、ample, although the words wee and little are interchangeable in some contexts, one is more likely to see wee written by someone from northern Britain or from Northern Ireland than by someone from Southern England or Wales). Nevertheless, there is a meaningful degree of uniformity in written English

8、within the United Kingdom, and this could be described as British English. The forms of spoken English, however, vary considerably more than in most other areas of the world where English is spoken, and a uniform concept of British English is therefore more difficult to apply to the spoken language.

9、 According to Tom McArthur in the Oxford Guide to World English, for many people.especially in England, the phrase British English is tautologous, and it shares all the ambiguities and tensions in the word British, and as a result can be used and interpreted in two ways, more broadly or more narrowl

10、y, within a range of blurring and ambiguity. Canadian English Canadian English (CanE, en-CA) is the variety of English used in Canada. More than 26 million Canadians (85% of the population) have some knowledge of English (2006 census). Approximately 17 million speak English as their native language.

11、 Outside Quebec, 76% of Canadians speak English natively. Canadian English contains elements of British English in its vocabulary, as well as several distinctive Canadianisms. In many areas, speech is influenced by French, and there are notable local variations. However, Canada has very little diale

12、ct diversity compared to the United States.The phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicon for most of Canada are similar to that of the Western and Midland regions of the United States, while the phonological system of western Canadian English is identical to that of the Pacific Northwest

13、 of the United States, and the phonetics are similar. As such, Canadian English and American English are sometimes grouped together as North American English. Canadian English spelling is largely a blend of British and American conventions. Australian English Australian English (AusE, AuE, AusEng, e

14、n-AU) is the form of the English language spoken in Australia.Australian English began diverging from British English shortly after the foundation of the Australian penal colony of New South Wales in 1788. British convicts sent there, (including Cockneys from London), came mostly from large English

15、cities. They were joined by free settlers, military personnel and administrators, often with their families. American vs British English American English has grown steadily in international significance since World War II, parallel to the growth of U.S. political, economic, technological and cultura

16、l influence worldwide. American English is currently the dominant influence on world English (cf. British English) largely due to the following: Population: U.S. vs U.K. (70% vs 17% of all native English;) Wealth of the U.S. economy vs. the U.K., & influences Magnitude of higher education in America

17、 vs the U.K. Magnitude of the publishing industry in America Magnitude of global mass media and media technology influence Appeal of American popular culture on language and habits International political and economic position of the U.S. I. Different Pronunciation, Although Same Spelling Advertisem

18、ent (advert, ad) Controversy, Laboratory, Secretary Leisure, schedule, dynasty, dance Renaissance, oregano, migratory, clerk bank, office, ate PC-influence examples: harass & harassment, Uranus, etc. II. Different Spelling, Although Same PronunciationColour color, Centre center Cheque check (verb to

19、 check the same) Defence defense (noun form), Licence (noun form) license Alright all right; Manoeuvre maneuver; tyre tire ; Gaol jail Ageing aging; Whisky (Scotch) whiskey (U.S. & Ireland) III. Same Term, Different. But Similar Spelling and PronunciationAluminium aluminum Polythene polyethylene Mat

20、hs math (shortening of mathematics) Rise raise (more money in salary, wages) IV. Same Words, But Different or Additional Meanings I married a homely girl. We needed a torch for the dark trail. (cf. flashlight, or GB electric torch, flaming torch) IBM made over a billion dollars last year. (cf. thous

21、and million; changing GB standards) GB Trousers = US Pants; US Pants = GB underwear pantsGB Jumper = US Sweater; US Jumper = GB Pinafore dress. V. Grammar, Syntax, Punctuation, General Usage Grammar (U.S.) Finnair has a flight to London today.(G.B.) Finnair have a flight to London today. (large coll

22、ective nouns) (U.S.) England has played well today, even if it lost.(G.B.) England have played well today, even if they lost. (G.B.) The Government are acting like themselves again. (G.B.) Have you got your grade in history yet?(U.S.) Have you gotten your grade in history yet? (G.B.) He went on a co

23、urse. How many were on the course?(U.S.) He was in a course. How many were in the course? (G.B.) We lived in the High Street. (cf street people .)(U.S.) We lived on Main Street (on plus article plus High/Main) (G.B.) Hes in hospital with a broken leg.(U.S.) Hes in the hospital with a broken leg. (G.

24、B.) I have got a car. vs. (U.S.) I have a car. I got a car.(G.B.) We werent able to catch him up(U.S.) We werent able to catch him, catch up with him, catch up with him. VI. Divergence and OverlapTo post vs to mail a letter an art gallery vs an art museum Autumn vs fall tap vs faucet, luggage vs bag

25、gage, shop vs store, etc. VII. Same Concept, Different Terms or Expressions; (or)Same Word, Differences in Style, Connotation and FrequencyHire a car rent a car (hire-purchase vs installment plan) Petrol gasoline; Saloon sedan, Estate car station wagon Boot trunk (storage area); silencer muffler (to

26、 reduce exhaust noise); Fortnight two weeks; Goods train freight train Barrister vs. solicitor lawyer, attorney-at-law Sweet (vs sweets) dessert; red whortleberries lingonberriesVIII. Inventiveness; Combinations; Allusions to Brand NamesHamburger cheeseburger, beefburger, fishburger, lobsterburger .

27、 Hotel, motel, floatel, boatel Hardware, software, firmware, shareware, freeware, vaporware; treeware . Suburb, exurb, technoburb, cyburb citizen, netizen Metrosexual, retrosexual, bersexual, metronatural, etc., vs jetrosexual Smoke/fog = smog; to litter/to bug = litterbug Cosmetics/pharmaceuticals

28、= cosmeceuticals, pharmaceuticals/farming = pharming; Sexploitation, cityscape, zeroscaping (xeriscaping; xeric plants) IX. Euphemistic References Senior citizen, emeritus professor (cf. PC language below) Security officer, hair stylist, household manager Powder room, ladies lounge; motion discomfor

29、t bag X. Equality VocabularyFireman firefighter, Policeman police officer Mailman mail carrier, Salesman sales person Manmade artificial, synthetic, manufactured Maid house cleaner. Stewardess flight attendant Chairman chairperson, Chair, presiding officer Australian English vs British EnglishBarbie

30、 (BBQ) barbecuebathers word used in South Australia to refer to a swimming garmentbattler someone who works hard but stills only just makes a livingbikie motorcyclist, usually a member of a motorcycle gangbloke a manbludger someone who lives off the labour of othersbooze alcoholbush countrysidebushr

31、anger an outlawBYO “bring your own (usually means “bring your own alcohol)galah foolgive it a burl try it, have to gogrizzle guts someone who complainsgday good day or hellogood on ya well done, general term of approvalgrog alcohol, beerheaps a lothoon a hooliganroad train a very big truck with seve

32、ral trailersrock up to turn up, to arriveroo kangaroorooted, exhausted or broken, ruinedropeable very angryrubbish(verb) to criticisetall poppy someone who is successfultea sometimes used to refer to the evening mealtee up to set up an appointmenttomato sauce ketchupTop End the far north of Australi

33、awagging school not attending schoolwhinge to complainwoop woop a name for any small unimportant town a long way awaywuss a coward, nervous personYank an AmericanYobbo uneducated personWritten English and spoken English Spoken English is the English which is oral and which you use to communicate wit

34、h others in real life situation.Written English is the language which is not oral and which is used to communicate with others in a more or less a formal situation. Written English is called the most neglected of the skills (CINDERELLA). Spoken English is the called as the most difficult of the skil

35、ls which requires the proper accent, tone, style, and the proper body languages.The DIFFERENCES ARE AS FOLLOWS: 1-The receiver is present in spoken English (SE) but absent in written English (WE) 2-You can get environmental clues in (SE) but not in WE. 3- You can get info about body language and mov

36、ement in SE but not in WE. 4- The mistakes in SE is neglected or overseen but in WE mistakes are more visible and hence more corrected which accounts for the need for more accuracy in WE. 5-SE is fluency based while WE is accuracy based. 6- In SE the word is lost while in WE the word is present in f

37、ront of the eyes. 7-In SE the script is absent and cannot be revised, in WE the script is present and can be revised. 8-The difference in style (formal and informal) is important in both language. 9-The need for the correct tone and accent and body signs is necessary in SE but can be neglected in WE

38、. 10-The noise is an important barrier in SE but not in WE. 11-SE is spontaneous while WE is scripted . 12-In SE you dont have much time while in WE you can revise and think your thoughts before.Spoken and Written English The English of speech tends to be different from the English of writing some f

39、airly obvious ways. For instance: We have time to plan our message in writing, but that is not possible while using the spoken form of English. We often use words like “Well, “You see etc in speech. But in writing we tend to avoid these. These kind of words and phrases add little facts , but tell us

40、 something about the attitude of the speaker towards the context and audience. We often use Hesitate fillers, i.e. some speech forms like um / /, err/ / while we think of what next to say. More over in spoken form, we may fail to complete the sentence and mix up one grammatical construction with ano

41、ther. These do not occur in writing. In spoken form a sentence has a less strict construction than the sentence in a writing form. It is also difficult to divide a spoken conversation into separate sentences and the relationships between one clause to another is less clear in this case as the speake

42、r relies more on hearers understanding of the context. The speaker also depends upon the ability of the listener to interpret if he fails to provide the exact sound representation to his expression. More over the speaker is able to rely on features of intonation which tell us a great deal, which can

43、t be given in written punctuation. Even, as far as the sound or the phonetic aspect of the analysis is concerned, there are some important point to note which makes spoken form some what special. Though the sound system of our spoken language serves us primarily as a medium of communication, its eff

44、iciency as such an instrument of communication does not depend upon the perfect production and reception of every single element of speech. The speaker will , in almost any utterance, provide the listener with far more cues than he needs for easy comprehension. The situation or the context of which

45、both the speaker and the listener are aware of , limit the purport of an utterance. A.C. Gimson, in his book An Introduction to Pronunciation in English gives an example as follows: Thus, in any discussion about a zoo, involving a statement such as We saw the lions and the tigers, we are predisposed

46、 by the context to understand lions, even if the n is omitted and the word actually said is liars . or again , we are conditioned by grammatical probabilities, so that a particular sound may lose much of its significance, e. g. in the phrase The men are working, the quality of the vowel in men is no

47、t as vitally important for deciding whether it is a question of men or man .as it would be if the word were said in isolation , since here plurality is determined in addition by the demonstrative adjective preceding men and the verb form following. This kind of appropriation of sound is called redun

48、dancy. Is there any difference between written and spoken English grammar? Not officially. French, for instance, used to have different written and spoken verb forms; English has nothing like this. However, in practice there are some key differences; not so much between written and spoken, as betwee

49、n formal and informal writing. In spoken English, we nearly always use contractions or short forms like Id or dont. We also write these when formality isnt important - in a friendly email, say - but a formal document such as a report or a solicitors letter should use full forms: I would, do not. Spo

50、ken/informal English also tends to leave out non-essential words like subjects (if theyre clear from the context) and auxiliary verbs. Like a drink after work? is normal speech and/or informal writing, but in formal correct writing you would use the full form Would you like.? However, the major diff

51、erence is not of grammar but of vocabulary; formal language often uses different words altogether. English Social Differences 1.Social Differences in English Life 2. Psychological Aspects of English Social Stratification 3. Ways of Speaking, Manners, Etiquette and Goodwill .4. Cultural and Social Differences 5. Snobs 6. The Classes: Upper, Middle, Working 7. Clothes and Fashion 8. Eating and Drinking 9. The Training of Character in Some English Schools . 10. Social Differences in English Education 11. Social Differences in Leisur