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 //.