English in the Commonwealth of Nations
| Part of a series on the |
| English language |
|---|
| Topics |
| Advanced topics |
| Phonology |
| Dialects |
|
| Teaching |
The use of the English language in current and former countries of the Commonwealth was largely inherited from British colonisation, with some exceptions. English serves as the medium of inter-Commonwealth relations and the language forms part of the Commonwealth's common culture.[1][2]
Commonwealth English refers to English as practised in the Commonwealth; the term is most often interchangeable with British English, but is also used to distinguish between British English and that in the rest of the Commonwealth.[3] English in the Commonwealth is diverse, and many regions have developed their own local varieties of the language. The official status of English varies; in Bangaldesh, it lacks any but is nonetheless widely used across society, and likewise in Cyprus, it is also not official but is widely used as a lingua franca.[4][5]
Written English in current and former Commonwealth countries generally favours British English spelling as opposed to American English,[6] with some exceptions, particularly in Canada, where there are strong influences from neighbouring American English.[7]
Native varieties
[edit]Southern Hemisphere native varieties of English began to develop during the 18th century, with the colonisation of Australasia and South Africa. Australian English and New Zealand English are closely related to each other and share some similarities with South African English (though it has unique influences from indigenous African languages, and Dutch influences it inherited along with the development of Afrikaans from Dutch).[8][9]
Canadian English contains elements of British English and American English, as well as many Canadianisms and some French influences. It is the product of several waves of immigration and settlement, from Britain, Ireland, France, the United States, and around the world, over a period of more than two centuries.[10][11]
Anglo-Indians speak English as their native language.[12]
Africa
[edit]The deep roots of South African English in that country are indicated by the influence on it of other local languages.[13]
A community of native English speakers can be found in Zimbabwe, which likewise has its own national dialect; Zimbabwean English bears features of British English, South African English and other Southern Hemisphere Commonwealth English varieties.[14][15] Also in Southern Africa and with historical influence from South Africa, Namibia and Botswana have their own dialects,[16][17] with smaller native English-speaking populations.[18][19] The same is true of Kenya in East Africa.[20]
Caribbean
[edit]Caribbean English is drawn from British English and West African languages. It is influenced by constant contact with English-based Creoles. There is considerable influenced from Hindustani and other South Asian languages in countries with language Indian populations, including Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana. Jamaican English and Barbadian English bear influences of Irish English.[21]
Non-native varieties
[edit]Second-language varieties of English in Africa and Asia have often undergone "indigenisation"; that is, each English-speaking community has developed (or is in the process of developing) its own standards of usage, often under the influence of local languages. These dialects are sometimes referred to as New Englishes (McArthur, p. 36); most of them inherited non-rhoticity from Southern British English.
Africa
[edit]Several dialects of West African English exist, with considerable regional variation, though there is a set of common tendencies of pronunciation. Nigerian and Ghanaian English are the varieties with the largest number of speakers; English also holds official or national status in Sierra Leone, Cameroon’s Anglophone provinces, the Gambia, and Saint Helena, a British territory. It also holds official status in Liberia, which is not a Commonwealth country but rather has a history connected to the United States of America.[22][23]
English varieties are also spoken in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.
Prior to Togo's admission at the 2022 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey said that he expected Commonwealth membership to provide opportunities for Togolese citizens to learn English, and remarked that the country sought closer ties with the Anglophone world.[24]
Asia
[edit]Hong Kong
[edit]Hong Kong ceased to be part of the Commonwealth (by virtue of being a British territory) in 1997. Nonetheless, the English language there still enjoys official status.[25]
Indian subcontinent
[edit]English was introduced to the subcontinent by the British Raj. India has the largest English-speaking population in the Commonwealth, although comparatively very few speakers of Indian English are first-language speakers.[26][27] The same is true of English spoken in other parts of South Asia, including Pakistani English,[28] Sri Lankan English,[29] Bangladeshi English[30] and Myanmar English (though Myanmar is not a Commonwealth country, English is the mother tongue of the Anglo-Burmese population).[31] South Asian English is fairly homogeneous across the subcontinent, though there are some differences based on various regional factors.[32]
Malay Archipelago
[edit]Southeast Asian English includes Singapore English, Malaysian English, and Brunei English as well as other varieties in non-Commonwealth countries; it is not only the result of British colonisation but also American colonisation (as in the case of the Philippines) and globalisation. It has interacted with diverse local ecologies, shaping its form, function and status in the region.[33]
See also
[edit]Other languages:
References
[edit]- ^ "Joining the Commonwealth". Commonwealth. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
- ^ "The Commonwealth". New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- ^ "Commonwealth English". Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
- ^ Ara, Rowshon (March 2020). "A Foreign Language or the Second Language: The Future of English in Bangladesh". International Journal of Language Education. 4 (1): 81–95. ISSN 2548-8457.
- ^ Ammon, Ulrich; Dittmar, Norbert; Mattheier, Klaus J.; Trudgill, Peter, eds. (2006). "Greece and Cyprus". Sociolinguistics: an international handbook of the science of language and society / Soziolinguistik: ein internationales Handbuch zur Wissenschaft von Sprache und Gesellschaft. Handbooks of linguistics and communication science / Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft. Vol. 3 (2nd ed.). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. p. 1888. ISBN 9783110184181.
- ^ New Oxford Style Manual. Oxford University Press. 2016.
- ^ Boberg, Charles (2004) Standard Canadian English Archived 11 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine." In Raymond Hickey. Standards of English: Codified Varieties Around the World. Cambridge University Press. p. 159.
- ^ Bayard, Donn (2000). "New Zealand English: Origins, Relationships, and Prospects" (PDF). Moderna Språk. 94 (1). Sweden: Linnaeus University: 8–14. doi:10.58221/mosp.v94i1.9625. ISSN 2000-3560. S2CID 254175799. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
- ^ Wells, J. C., ed. (1982), "The southern hemisphere", Accents of English: Beyond the British Isles, vol. 3, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 592–622, doi:10.1017/cbo9780511611766.006, ISBN 978-0-521-28541-4, retrieved 17 June 2024
- ^ Dollinger, Stefan (2008). "New-Dialect Formation in Canada". Benjamins, ISBN 9789027231086. p. 25.
- ^ Boberg, Charles (2010). The English language in Canada: status, history and comparative analysis. Studies in English language. Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 55–105. ISBN 978-0-511-78981-6.
- ^ Andrews, Robyn (2013). Christmas in Calcutta: Anglo-Indian Stories and Essays. SAGE Publishing India. ISBN 978-81-321-1814-5.
- ^ "Introduction to South African English". Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
- ^ Mlambo, Muzi (26 May 2009). "A survey of the language situation in Zimbabwe". English Today. 25 (2): 18. doi:10.1017/S0266078409000145. ISSN 1474-0567.
- ^ Tom McArthur (ed.), Oxford Companion to the English Language. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. ISBN 0-19-214183-X. pp. 116, 352.
- ^ Stell, Gerald (10 September 2021), Schröder, Anne (ed.), "English in Namibia: A socio-historical account", Varieties of English Around the World, vol. G65, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 21–42, doi:10.1075/veaw.g65.02ste, ISBN 978-90-272-0919-1, retrieved 1 March 2025
- ^ Alimi, Modupe (1 July 2011). "Botswana English: implications for English language teaching and assessment". Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. 32 (4): 309–324. doi:10.1080/01434632.2011.574700. ISSN 0143-4632.
- ^ "Namibian languages". Namibia Biodiversity Database. Archived from the original on 4 December 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
- ^ Bolton, Kingsley; Kachru, Braj B. (2006). World Englishes: Critical Concepts in Linguistics. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-31508-1.
- ^ Buregeya, Alfred (2020), "Kenyan English", The Electronic World Atlas of Varieties of English, retrieved 1 March 2025
- ^ "Introduction to Caribbean English". Oxford English Dictionary. Archived from the original on 15 September 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
- ^ "West African English". Oxford English Dictionary. Archived from the original on 21 January 2025. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
- ^ "Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations". Office of the Historian. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
- ^ Lawson, Alice (24 June 2022). "Togo sees Commonwealth entry as pivot to English-speaking world". Reuters. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- ^ Eoyang, Eugene Chen (2000). "From the Imperial to the Empirical: Teaching English in Hong Kong". Profession: 62–74. JSTOR 25595704.
- ^ "India is the 2nd largest English-speaking nation". The Times of India. 11 November 2005. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
- ^ Rukmini S (24 November 2014). "Sanskrit and English: there's no competition". The Hindu.
- ^ "People of Pakistan". Britannica. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
With the exception of this educated elite, English is spoken fluently by only a small percentage of the population.
- ^ "Introduction to Sri Lankan English". Oxford English Dictionary. Archived from the original on 15 September 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
- ^ Naym Pieal, Jannatul (5 May 2023). "Tracing roots: The emergence and disappearance of Dhaka's Anglo-Indians". The Business Standard. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
- ^ Burnett, Dean (2003). "A history of the Anglo-Burmese community". International Journal of Anglo-Indian Studies. 7 (1).
- ^ Schilk, Marco; Bernaisch, Tobias; Mukherjee, Joybrato (2012), Hundt, Marianne; Gut, Ulrike (eds.), "Mapping unity and diversity in South Asian English lexicogrammar: Verb-complementational preferences across varieties", Varieties of English Around the World, vol. G43, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, p. 140, doi:10.1075/veaw.g43.06sch, ISBN 978-90-272-4903-6, retrieved 1 March 2025
- ^ Moody, Andrew J. (21 March 2024), Moody, Andrew J. (ed.), "Introduction: English in Southeast Asia", The Oxford Handbook of Southeast Asian Englishes, Oxford University Press, p. 0, doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780192855282.013.44, ISBN 978-0-19-285528-2, retrieved 1 March 2025
- McArthur, Tom (2002). The Oxford Guide to World English. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-866248-3.
- Peters, Pam (2004). The Cambridge Guide to English Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-62181-X.
- Trudgill, Peter & Hannah, Jean (2002). International English: A Guide to the Varieties of Standard English; 4th ed. London: Arnold. ISBN 0-340-80834-9.