english in the world

English in the World

Fernando Trujillo

Language Diffusion

During the period of Modern English (from XVII), English has extended to be used by 670 million people with a native or native-like command of English, increasing to approximately 1,200–1,500 million if the criterion of reasonable competence is adopted (Crystal, 1997, English as a global language).

English varieties

The British Isles

English in Britain has co-existed o exists together with (or sometimes against):

Irish, Scottish Gaelic,Manx , British , Welsh, Cornish , Cumbric , Pictish , Latin , Scots, Norse and Norn , Flemish in Wales , Anglo-Norman , Romani and some other Community Languages.

The British Isles

The British Isles: main differences among varieties

use of vowel // (blood vs. good).use of // y // (pat vs. path).use of // e // (city ending in one of them).use of //.use of // y // (to contrast pull vs. pool and cot vs. caught).use of the glottal stop //.dissappearance of // before // y //, among others.

Welsh English

Words such as dance, sample, grant, branch are pronounced with / / instead of //.//-// is neutralized: rubber as //.Non-rhotic with linking and intrusive /r/.

Strong aspirarion of voiceless plosives.

// is clear in all contexts.

Scottish English

Rhotic variety//-// is neutralized in favour of //: palm = Pam.

//-// is neutralized in favour of //: pool = pull.

//-// is neutralized: cot = caught.

Scottish Vowel Length Rule:vowels are longer before //, //, // y // and in final position.

Loss of aspiration of voiceless plosives.

[] instead of // in non-initial position.

// dark in all positions.

Irish English

Rhotic variety.clear //.// between vowels as [].Words such as dance, sample, grant, branch are pronounced with / / instead of //.

Contrasts //-// y //-// are lost in favour of // y //.

Australian English

// instead of // in very, and // instead of // in non-stressed syllables.use of // and // in laugh and dance.

use of open // in final position: ever as // .non-rhotic variety, with linking and intrusive /r/.

// between vowels turns into // .use of the glottal stop //.

AusEng // is darker than RP.

New Zealand English

// is a central phoneme close to //.// realized as //.words such as dance, sample, grant, branch are pronounced with // instead of //.neutralization of // y // (beer and bear).

neutralization of // y // before // (doll and dole).

use of dark // in all contexts.

// between vowels produced as [].non-rhotic with linking and intrusive /r/.

South African English

words such as dance, sample, grant, branch are pronounced with // instead of //.a tendency towards monophthong.

// instead of // in very, and // instead of // in non-stressed syllables.loss of aspiration of voiceless plosives.// between vowels produced as [].non-rhotic but no linking or intrusive /r/.

US English

US English: SouthernVarieties

Lower Southern: non-rhoticInland Southern: rhotic

offglide of //, //, // towards // in stressed syllables.diphthong // turns into [].diphthongs // y // have an open first element.// and // are neutralized before nasals: pin y pen.

US English: General AmericanVarieties:

Central Eastern (=standard),Western,Midland andNorthern.

Central EasternRhotic// between vowels produced as [].Use of dark // in all contexts.// instead of // in very

Northern Variety“Northern Cities Chain Shift”:

• // to the front. • // closer to [], • // more central close to //

US English: North EasternVarieties:

Eastern New England and New York City.

Eastern New EnglandThe most similar USEng variety to EngEng.Non-rhotic, linking and intrusive /r/Use of // and //.

New York CityNon-rhotic with linking and intrusive /r/.Use of vowels // and //.// becomes //.// y // become [] y [].

Canadian English

Similar to Western US variety.

The “Canadian Rising”: before voiceless consonants, diphthongs // y // have centralized allophones on the first element of the diphthong: night time as / / and out loud as / /.The difference between cot and caught is neutralized.

African English

Non-rhoticTendency to reduce consonant clusters: last as //.Tendency to devoice final voiced consontants, as proud //.Loss of vowel sounds (from 10 to 7).

Indian English

Non-rhotic.Simplification of vowel sounds.Loss of aspiration of voiceless plosives.In some varieties, neutralization of // y //, // y //, // y //, // y //, // y //.