Everything about The English Language totally explained
English is an
Indo-European,
West Germanic language originating in
England, and is the
first language for most people in the
United States, the
United Kingdom,
Canada,
Australia,
New Zealand,
Ireland, and the
Anglophone Caribbean. It is used extensively as a
second language and as an
official language throughout the world, especially in
Commonwealth countries and in many
international organizations.
Modern English is sometimes described as the first global
lingua franca. English is the
dominant international language in
communications,
science,
business,
aviation,
entertainment,
radio and
diplomacy. The influence of the
British Empire is the primary reason for the initial spread of the language far beyond the
British Isles. Since World War II, the growing economic and cultural influence of the United States has significantly accelerated the adoption of English.
A working knowledge of English is required in certain fields, professions, and occupations. As a result, over a billion people speak English at least at a basic level (see
English language learning and teaching). English is one of six official languages of the
United Nations.
History
English is a
West Germanic language that originated from the
Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to
Britain by Germanic settlers and Roman auxiliary troops from various parts of what is now northwest Germany and the Northern
Netherlands. Initially,
Old English was a diverse group of dialects, reflecting the varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of
England. One of these dialects, Late West Saxon, eventually came to dominate. The original Old English language was then influenced by two waves of invasion. The first was by language speakers of the
Scandinavian branch of the Germanic family; they conquered and colonized parts of Britain in the 8th and 9th centuries. The second was the
Normans in the 11th century, who spoke Old Norman and ultimately developed an English variety of this called
Anglo-Norman. These two invasions caused English to become "mixed" to some degree (though it was never a truly mixed language in the strict linguistic sense of the word; mixed languages arise from the cohabitation of speakers of different languages, who develop a hybrid tongue for basic communication).
Cohabitation with the Scandinavians resulted in a significant grammatical simplification and lexical enrichment of the Anglo-Frisian core of English; the later
Norman occupation led to the grafting onto that Germanic core of a more elaborate layer of words from the
Romance branch of the European languages. This Norman influence entered English largely through the courts and government. Thus, English developed into a "borrowing" language of great flexibility and with a huge vocabulary.
Classification and related languages
The English language belongs to the western sub-branch of the
Germanic branch of the
Indo-European family of languages. The closest living relative of English is
Scots, spoken primarily in Scotland and parts of Northern Ireland, which is viewed by linguists as either a separate language or a group of dialects of English. The next closest relative to English after Scots is
Frisian, spoken in the Northern Netherlands and Northwest Germany. Other less closely related living
West Germanic languages include
German,
Low Saxon,
Dutch, and
Afrikaans. The
North Germanic languages of Scandinavia are less closely related to English than the West Germanic languages.
Many
French words are also intelligible to an English speaker (though pronunciations are often quite different) because English absorbed a large vocabulary from
Norman and French, via
Anglo-Norman after the Norman conquest and directly from French in subsequent centuries. As a result, a large portion of English vocabulary is derived from French, with some minor spelling differences (word endings, use of old French spellings, etc.), as well as occasional divergences in meaning, in so-called "faux amis", or
false friends. The pronunciation of French loanwords in English has become completely anglicized and follows a typically Germanic pattern of stress. Native speakers of Romance languages, for example, who don't understand any Germanic languages, often still can't distinguish between spoken English and Dutch.
Geographical distribution
Approximately 375 million people speak English as their first language. English today is probably the third largest language by number of native speakers, after
Mandarin Chinese and
Spanish. However, when combining native and non-native speakers it's probably the most commonly spoken language in the world, though possibly second to a combination of the
Chinese languages, depending on whether or not distinctions in the latter are classified as "languages" or "dialects." Estimates that include
second language speakers vary greatly from 470 million to over a billion depending on how
literacy or mastery is defined. There are some who claim that non-native speakers now outnumber native speakers by a ratio of 3 to 1.
The countries with the highest populations of native English speakers are, in descending order: United States (215 million), United Kingdom (58 million), Canada (18.2 million), Australia (15.5 million),
Ireland (3.8 million), and New Zealand (3.0-3.7 million). Countries such as
Jamaica and
Nigeria also have millions of native speakers of
dialect continua ranging from an
English-based creole to a more standard version of English. Of those nations where English is spoken as a second language, India has the most such speakers ('
Indian English') and linguistics professor
David Crystal claims that, combining native and non-native speakers, India now has more people who speak or understand English than any other country in the world. Following India is the
People's Republic of China.
Countries in order of total speakers
| Rank |
Country |
Total |
Percent of population |
First language |
As an additional language |
Comment |
| 1 |
United States |
251,388,301 |
83% |
215,423,557 |
35,964,744 |
Source: US Census 2006: Language Use and English-Speaking Ability: 2006 , Table 1. Figure for second language speakers are respondents who reported they don't speak English at home but know it "very well" or "well". Note: figures are for population age 5 and older |
| 2 |
India |
90,000,000 |
8% |
178,598 |
65,000,000 second language speakers.
25,000,000 third language speakers |
Figures include both those who speak English as a second language and those who speak it as a third language. 1991 figures. The figures include English speakers, but not English users. |
| 3 |
Nigeria |
79,000,000 |
53% |
4,000,000 |
>75,000,000 |
Figures are for speakers of Nigerian Pidgin, an English-based pidgin or creole. Ihemere gives a range of roughly 3 to 5 million native speakers; the midpoint of the range is used in the table. Ihemere, Kelechukwu Uchechukwu. 2006. "A Basic Description and Analytic Treatment of Noun Clauses in Nigerian Pidgin." Nordic Journal of African Studies 15(3): 296–313. |
| 4 |
United Kingdom |
59,600,000 |
98% |
58,100,000 |
1,500,000 |
Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109. |
| 5 |
Philippines |
45,900,000 |
52% |
27,000 |
42,500,000 |
Total speakers: Census 2000, text above Figure 7. 63.71% of the 66.7 million people aged 5 years or more could speak English. Native speakers: Census 1995, as quoted by Andrew Gonzalez in The Language Planning Situation in the Philippines, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 19 (5&6), 487-525. (1998) |
| 6 |
Germany |
36,000,000 |
44% |
272,504 |
36,000,000 |
Native speakers: Statistisches Bundesamt (cited here).
Non-native speakers: 2006 Eurobarometer survey. Does not include foreign military personnel based in Germany. |
| 7 |
Canada |
25,246,220 |
76% |
17,694,830 |
7,551,390 |
Source: 2001 Census - Knowledge of Official Languages and Mother Tongue. The native speakers figure comprises 122,660 people with both French and English as a mother tongue, plus 17,572,170 people with English and not French as a mother tongue. |
| 8 |
Australia |
18,172,989 |
92% |
15,581,329 |
2,591,660 |
Source: 2006 Census. (External Link) The figure shown in the first language English speakers column is actually the number of Australian residents who speak only English at home. The additional language column shows the number of other residents who claim to speak English "well" or "very well". Another 5% of residents didn't state their home language or English proficiency. |
English is the primary language in
Anguilla,
Antigua and Barbuda, Australia (
Australian English), the
Bahamas,
Barbados,
Bermuda,
Belize, the
British Indian Ocean Territory, the
British Virgin Islands, Canada (
Canadian English), the
Cayman Islands, the
Falkland Islands,
Gibraltar,
Grenada,
Guam,
Guernsey (
Channel Island English),
Guyana, Ireland (
Hiberno-English),
Isle of Man (
Manx English), Jamaica (
Jamaican English),
Jersey,
Montserrat,
Nauru, New Zealand (
New Zealand English),
Pitcairn Islands,
Saint Helena,
Saint Kitts and Nevis,
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands,
Trinidad and Tobago, the
Turks and Caicos Islands, the United Kingdom, the
U.S. Virgin Islands, and the United States (various forms of
American English).
In many other countries, where English isn't the most spoken language, it's an official language; these countries include
Botswana,
Cameroon,
Dominica,
Fiji, the
Federated States of Micronesia,
Ghana,
Gambia,
India,
Kenya,
Kiribati,
Lesotho,
Liberia,
Madagascar,
Malta, the
Marshall Islands,
Mauritius,
Namibia,
Nigeria,
Pakistan,
Palau,
Papua New Guinea, the
Philippines,
Puerto Rico,
Rwanda, the
Solomon Islands,
Saint Lucia,
Samoa,
Seychelles,
Sierra Leone,
Singapore,
Sri Lanka,
Swaziland,
Tanzania,
Uganda,
Zambia, and
Zimbabwe. It is also one of the 11 official languages that are given equal status in South Africa (
South African English). English is also the official language in current
dependent territories of Australia (
Norfolk Island,
Christmas Island and
Cocos Island) and of the United States (
Northern Mariana Islands,
American Samoa and
Puerto Rico), and in the former British colony of
Hong Kong.
English is an important language in several former
colonies and
protectorates of the United Kingdom but falls short of official status, such as in
Malaysia,
Brunei,
United Arab Emirates and
Bahrain. English is also not an official language in either the United States or the United Kingdom. Although the United States federal government has no official languages, English has been given official status by 30 of the 50 state governments.
English as a global language
Because English is so widely spoken, it has often been referred to as a "
world language", the
lingua franca of the modern era. While English isn't an official language in most countries, it's currently the language most often taught as a
second language around the world. Some linguists believe that it's no longer the exclusive cultural sign of "native English speakers", but is rather a language that's absorbing aspects of cultures worldwide as it continues to grow. It is, by international treaty, the official language for aerial and maritime communications. English is an official language of the
United Nations and many other international organizations, including the
International Olympic Committee.
English is the language most often studied as a foreign language in the European Union (by 89% of schoolchildren), followed by French (32%), German (18%), and Spanish (8%). In the EU, a large fraction of the population reports being able to converse to some extent in English. Among non-English speaking countries, a large percentage of the population claimed to be able to converse in English in the
Netherlands (87%),
Sweden (85%),
Denmark (83%),
Luxembourg (66%),
Finland (60%),
Slovenia (56%),
Austria (53%),
Belgium (52%), and
Germany (51%).
Norway and
Iceland also have a large majority of competent English-speakers.
Books,
magazines, and
newspapers written in English are available in many countries around the world. English is also the most commonly used language in the
sciences. In 1997, the
Science Citation Index reported that 95% of its articles were written in English, even though only half of them came from authors in English-speaking countries.
Dialects and regional varieties
The expansion of the British Empire and—since WWII—the primacy of the United States have spread English throughout the globe. Because of that global spread, English has developed a host of
English dialects and English-based
creole languages and
pidgins.
The major
varieties of English include, in most cases, several subvarieties, such as
Cockney within
British English;
Newfoundland English within
Canadian English; and
African American Vernacular English ("Ebonics") and
Southern American English within
American English. English is a
pluricentric language, without a central language authority like France's
Académie française; and, although no variety is clearly considered the only standard, there are a number of accents considered to be more prestigious, such as
Received Pronunciation in Britain.
Scots developed — largely independently — from the same origins, but following the
Acts of Union 1707 a process of
language attrition began, whereby successive generations adopted more and more features from English causing dialectalisation. Whether it's now a separate language or a
dialect of English better described as
Scottish English is in dispute. The pronunciation, grammar and lexis of the traditional forms differ, sometimes substantially, from other varieties of English.
Because of the wide use of English as a second language, English speakers have many different
accents, which often signal the speaker's native dialect or language. For the more distinctive characteristics of regional accents, see
Regional accents of English, and for the more distinctive characteristics of regional dialects, see
List of dialects of the English language.
Just as English itself has borrowed words from many different languages over its history, English
loanwords now appear in a great many languages around the world, indicative of the technological and cultural influence of its speakers. Several
pidgins and
creole languages have formed using an English base, such as
Jamaican Patois,
Nigerian Pidgin, and
Tok Pisin. There are many words in English coined to describe forms of particular non-English languages that contain a very high proportion of English words.
Franglais, for example, is used to describe French with a very high English word content; it's found on the
Channel Islands. Another variant, spoken in the border bilingual regions of Québec in Canada, is called
Frenglish. Also, in
Wales, which is part of the United Kingdom, the languages of
Welsh and English are sometimes mixed together by fluent or comfortable Welsh speakers, and the phase used is
Wenglish.
Constructed varieties of English
- Basic English is simplified for easy international use. It is used by manufacturers and other international businesses to write manuals and communicate. Some English schools in Asia teach it as a practical subset of English for use by beginners.
- Special English is a simplified version of English used by the Voice of America. It uses a vocabulary of only 1500 words.
- English reform is an attempt to improve collectively upon the English language.
- Seaspeak and the related Airspeak and Policespeak, all based on restricted vocabularies, were designed by Edward Johnson in the 1980s to aid international cooperation and communication in specific areas. There is also a tunnelspeak for use in the Channel Tunnel.
- Euro-English is a concept of standardising English for use as a second language in continental Europe.
- Manually Coded English — a variety of systems have been developed to represent the English language with hand signals, designed primarily for use in deaf education. These shouldn't be confused with true sign languages such as British Sign Language and American Sign Language used in Anglophone countries, which are independent and not based on English.
- E-Prime excludes forms of the verb to be.
Euro-English (also
EuroEnglish or
Euro-English) terms are English translations of European concepts that are not native to English-speaking countries. Because of the United Kingdom's (and even the Republic of Ireland's) involvement in the European Union, the usage focuses on non-British concepts. This kind of Euro-English was parodied when English was "made" one of the constituent languages of
Europanto.
Phonology
Vowels
Notes:
It is the
vowels that differ most from region to region.
Where symbols appear in pairs, the first corresponds to American English,
General American accent; the second corresponds to British English,
Received Pronunciation.
American English lacks this sound; words with this sound are pronounced with or . See Lot-cloth split.
Some dialects of North American English don't have this vowel. See Cot-caught merger.
The North American variation of this sound is a rhotic vowel.
Many speakers of North American English don't distinguish between these two unstressed vowels. For them, roses and Rosa's are pronounced the same, and the symbol usually used is schwa .
This sound is often transcribed with or with .
The diphthongs and are monophthongal for many General American speakers, as and .
The letter <U> can represent either /u/ or the iotated vowel /ju/. In BRP, if this iotated vowel /ju/ occurs after /t/, /d/, /s/ or /z/, it often triggers palatalization of the preceding consonant, turning it to /ʨ/, /ʥ/, /ɕ/ and /ʑ/ respectively, as in tune, during, sugar, and azure. In American English, palatalization doesn't generally happen unless the /ju/ is followed by r, with the result that /(t, d,s, z)jur/ turn to /tʃɚ/, /dʒɚ/, /ʃɚ/ and /ʒɚ/ respectively, as in nature, verdure, sure, and treasure.
Vowel length plays a phonetic role in the majority of English dialects, and is said to be phonemic in a few dialects, such as Australian English and New Zealand English. In certain dialects of the modern English language, for instance General American, there's allophonic vowel length: vowel phonemes are realized as long vowel allophones before voiced consonant phonemes in the coda of a syllable. Before the Great Vowel Shift, vowel length was phonemically contrastive.
This sound only occurs in non-rhotic accents. In some accents, this sound may be, instead of /ʊə/, /ɔ:/. See English-language vowel changes before historic r.
This sound only occurs in non-rhotic accents. In some accents, the schwa offglide of /ɛə/ may be dropped, monophthising and lengthening the sound to /ɛ:/.
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