SPREAD OF ENGLISH

 There are 3 kinds of English speakers:

 those who speak it as a first language

 those for whom it’s a second or additional language
 Those who learn it as a foreign language
SOME FIGURES
 The number of people for
whom English is the first
language is around 375
million people
 The number of people for
whom English is a second
or any kind of extra
language varies from 500
million to 1.8 billion people.
 English today is probably the
third largest language by
number of native speakers.
 The first place takes Chinese
(850 million native speakers)
 and on the second place is
the Spanish language
(around 400ml).
COUNTRIES WHERE ENGLISH IS THE MAIN
LANGUAGE SPOKEN BY NATIVE PEOPLE

English is the national language of:

 the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland
 the United States of America
 Australia
 New Zealand
 Canada
IT IS ALSO A PRIMARY LANGUAGE IN:
Some territories of South Some territories of Central
America and the Islands of America and Caribbean:
south Atlantic:
 Antigua
 Guyana  Bahamas
 Falkland Islands  Barbados
 Saint Helena  Belize
 Ascension Island  Bermuda
 Tristan da Cunha  Cayman Islands
 Jamaica
 Saint Vincent
 Trinidad and Tobago
 ENGLISH WAS ORIGINALLY SPOKEN IN
ENGLAND AND SOUTH-EASTERN SCOTLAND.
THEN IT WAS INTRODUCED INTO THE GRATER
PART OF SCOTLAND AND IRELAND.

 17th and 18th centuries – North America.

 18th and 19th centuries – Australia, New
Zealand Wales.
 20th century (AE) – Canada, the Bermudas and
other parts of the world.
 THUS NOWADAYS THERE ARE 2 MAIN TYPES OF ENGLISH SPOKEN IN
THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD

Varieties of English

English-based pronunciation standards American-based pronunciation standards

New Zealand English

Irish English
Australian English

British English
American English Canadian English

Welsh English Scottish English

COUNTRIES WHERE ENGLISH IS THE OFFICIAL
OR ONE OF THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES
In the 19th century English was the language
of administration in one third of the world.
And even now in the 21st century English
has an official status, being the second official
language or one of the official languages or
just an important second language, in about
more than 75 countries throughout the world.
THIS SITUATION IS BASICALLY THE RESULT FROM DIFFERENT
COLONIAL PROCESSES.

THE LINGUISTIC OR LANGUAGE CONSEQUENCES OF BRITISH

COLONIAL PAST ARE DIFFERENT:
 In America or Australia pre-colonial languages (as
well as pre-colonial population) were displaced by
English language (and by English speakers
correspondingly). These countries later established
their own national varieties of English.
 there are countries that maintained their own
language and accepted English as the second
language, which further became an elite language
frequently required for education and government
jobs. (India, Countries of West and East Africa)
THE CARIBBEAN ISLANDS OF BARBADOS AND
JAMAICA
 the pre-colonial population was replaced by the new
labor, mostly from West Africa. The long-term effect of
the slave trade gave rise to new hybrid varieties of
English called Creoles.
 Creoles have as their origin a pidgin language.
 Pidgin language is a simplified language that develops
as a means o communication between two or more
groups that do not have a language in common
(commonly used for example in trade). Creole language
appears when a pidgin language used by adults as a
second language becomes native or primary language
for their children.
ENGLISH IS THE SECOND OFFICIAL OR ONE OF THE OFFICIAL
LANGUAGES IN:

Africa
West Africa and southern Africa:
 Gambia
 Ghana
 Nigeria
 Liberia
 South Africa
 Namibia
 Swaziland
 East Africa:
 Kenya
 Tanzania
 Zimbabwe
 Uganda
 Malawi
North Africa:
 Sudan
 Pacific:
•Fiji; Tonga; Samoa; Solomon Islands; Gilbert Islands; Ellis Islands.

Asia:
•India
•Pakistan
•Singapore
•Hong Kong
•Philippines
•Seychelles
•Mauritius
•United Arab Emirates

Central America and Caribbean:

•Saint Lucia
•Puerto Rico

Europe:
•Gibraltar
•Malta
DARK GREEN: 80-100%
GREEN: 60-80%
GREEN: 40-60%
GREEN: 20-40%
LIGHT GREEN: 0-20%
DIALECTS

 Written language – generally accepted

standard.
 Spoken language – vary form place to place
DIALECTS DIFFER IN

 Pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary

 Accents – pronunciation only

 Sociolects – gender, age, occupation, etc.

RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION (RP)

 19th century – accepted in a best society

 London area

 Kings English

 Public schools

 BBC English
TEST
 1. What is the difference between accent and dialect.
 2. What is Creole language and where is it spoken?
 3. Give an example of country where English is one of
the official languages/
 4. What is the difference between phoneme and
allophone? Give examples.
 5. What are the distinctive features for the English
consonants?
 6. What are the two types of transcription?
 THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND
NORTHERN IRELAND

 The total population of

the United Kingdom
(estimate 2011) – 62
million
 England – 51.4 million
 Scotland – 5.2 million
 Wales – 3 million
 Northern Ireland – 1.7
million
ONE COUNTRY – FOUR NATIONS

 England

 Scotland

 Wales

 Northern Ireland
SCOTLAND, WALES AND IRELAND

 The process of uniting these four nations in one

country was long and took several hundred years.
It was completed only in 1800 when the Irish
parliament was joined with the parliament of
England, Scotland and Wales and the whole area
became a single state – the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
 However in 1922 most of Ireland separated in
became a single state – the Republic of Ireland
THE DOMINANT CULTURE OF PEOPLE IN
IRELAND, WALES AND HIGHLANDS SCOTLAND –
CELTIC.
FOR PEOPLE IN ENGLAND AND LOWLANDS
SCOTLAND IT WAS GERMANIC

This difference:
 Languages

 economic, social and legal systems.

 Today these differences have become blurred, but

they have not completely disappeared
SCOTLAND

 Education; the legal and welfare systems are

organized separately and differently from the
rest of Britain. Scotland even prints its own
banknotes.
 the Scottish way of speaking English is very
distinctive. Scots.
 different symbols of Scottishness which are
well-known throughout Britain
THE HISTORICAL CULTURAL SPLIT BETWEEN
HIGHLAND AND LOWLAND SCOTLAND

 Scottish Gaelic (Gallic)

 In 1991 – 11% and in 2001 – 1.2% of the
Scottish population can speak Gallic language
THE PEOPLE OF WALES DO NOT HAVE AS MANY
REMINDERS OF THEIR WELSHNESS IN
EVERYDAY LIFE AS THE SCOTTS

 The organization of public life - the same as in

England
 not so many symbols of Welshness

 in the 19th century many Scottish, Irish and

English people went to find work in Wales
THE WELSH LANGUAGE

 The survey of 2001 showed that 20.8% of the

population of Wales can speak Welsh
 in 2011 this number is 21.7%.

 over the past years there has been a serious

attempt to revive the language
•Children in Wales learn it at school
• There are many local newspapers
in Welsh and a Welsh TV-channel
•A lot of public notices and signs are
written both in Welsh and in English
• Anyone can claim a right to speak
Welsh in court or to use it in
academic examinations
THE QUESTION OF NATIONAL IDENTITY IN
NORTHERN IRELAND
 People can be divided into 2 large classes or
groups

Protestants Catholics
PROTESTANTS

 people whose ancestors came from lowland

Scotland or England
 want Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK
CATHOLIC

 people whose ancestors were native Irish

 would like Northern Ireland to become part of
the Republic of Ireland
ALTHOUGH THERE ARE 2 COMMUNITIES
LIVING SIDE BY SIDE THEIR LIVES ARE
VERY DIFFERENT IN MANY ASPECTS
 They live in different houses, listen to different TV
and radio programs and read different
newspapers.
 Their children go to different schools, so that those
who go to university often find themselves mixing
with people from the “other” community for the
1st time in their lives
 Though in recent years these
extreme differences are gradually
softening. The differences are
more obvious among working
class and less visible among
middle and upper class. It is
interesting that in Football
Northern Ireland and the Republic
of Ireland have different teams, but
in rugby it is one team for the
whole of Ireland.