World Englishes Variants of English

Australian English
Divergence of Australian English from BrE can be dated back to 1788 when the first penal colony for British convicts was set up. They spoke mostly Cockney. In 1827 when the speech of Australian residents was described, strong Cockney impact was noticed.

Australian English
During Australian gold rushes in the 1850s Australian English borrowed increasingly from external sources.
Americanization of Australian English occurred during massive influx of American troops during WWII and increased later in the 1950s due to television, movies and mass media.

Australian English
Australian English has a lot in common with New Zealand English, however the difference is obvious to a speaker from either country.
Australian Corpus of English

Australian English
British spelling prevails, correlation of British and American spelling in 3:1 ( -ise VS ize)
There is some influence of Hiberno- English as many people are of Irish descent. Irish impact is seen in the use of me instead of my: What’s me hat?

Australian English
Some words in Australian English are unique like
bush – remote, sparsely-populated areas.
Some elements from Aboriginal languages (places, flora, fauna) were incorporated like kangaroo.

Australian English.
Regional Vocabulary
Pork products are known
in South Australia as fritz
In Victoria as stras
In New South Wales as devon,
In Western Australia as polony
In Queensland as windsor
In Tasmania as belgium

Australian English. Intonation
Stereotypically Australians have a rising tone/ questioning intonation known as high rising terminal.
There are lots of regional patterns

Australian English as a sociolinguistic phenomenon
Broad Australian English
General Australian English
Cultivated Australian English

Australian English
Cultivated Australian English (CAE) is similar to RP. 3 -10 % population speak CAE. Common among public figures.
People speaking CAE are ridiculed as aloof, snobby, affected.

Australian English
General Australian English - stereotype of Australian English, the language of movies & TV.
Broad Australian English is a recognizable variety due to accent, known for long diphthongs and nasal drawl.

Australian English
Diminutives which end in –ie or – o:
Abo – aborigine
Arvo – afternoon
Doco – documentary
Servo - service station/ petrol station
Bottle- o - liquor store
Rego /dz/ - vehicle registration

Australian English
Diminutives which end in –ie or – o:
Compo – compensation
Leso/ lesbo - lesbian
Ambo – ambulance
Filo – Filipino Americans

Australian English
Diminutives which end in –ie or – o:
Barbie – barbecue
Bikkie – biscuit
Bikie - bycycle
Brekkie - breakfast
Brickie – brick layer
Mozzie - mosquito

Australian English
Humour
Inherited from Britain and Ireland is deadpan humour when a person makes extravagant, outrageous or ridiculous statements in a neutral tone, indicating it is humour. Tourists might be told jokes about kangaroos hopping across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Australian English
Due to caricaturised over-use some Australian phrases dropped out of use.

“Wogspeak”
The term “wog” was originally a derogatory term for migrants to Australia from non-Anglo-Celtic countries (particularly Southern and Eastern Europe).
It has in recent years been refigured as a term used by those groups for themselves, and for them marks the solidarity in their common experiences of migration under less than ideal circumstances.

“Wogspeak”
The variety referred to as “wogspeak,” is also referred to as “New Australian English” (NAusE).
It is thus clearly as much a social and ideological construct as a linguistic one.

New Zealand English
NewZild = New Zealand English
NZ= New Zealand

New Zealand English
Influence of Australian English, of Maori speech.
Some traits of old dialects of low-class English of the 19th c. survived in NewZild
Wellington Corpus of New Zealand English

NewZild
Major difference with Australian English is flattened /i/:
pan →pen, pen → pin, pin →pun.
Bull /buwd/ , milk /muwk/

NewZild
British spelling is found universally in New Zealand
-ise is used exclusively
But American spelling creeps: through →thru

NewZild
Maori impact
in flora & fauna ( kiwi - a bird, a NZ-er )
Community consultation
Health, education
government

NewZild
Maori impact
Kia ora = be healthy/ hello, greeting
Haere ra = goodbye
Kia kaha - be strong/ moral support
Makariri nē? = cold isn’t it?/ greeting in the morning

NewZild
Maori impact
Nē – isn’t it?
Half-pai (pai – means good) = half standard

NewZild vocabulary
Super – old age pension scheme
Sweet as - fine with me
Choice! = excellent idea
Cuzzie bro – close friend
Flatting = sharing a flat
Flash – stylish, expensive
Fulla – guy, taken from fella, fellow

NewZild
Hard case- a person with a good sense of humour
Scarfie – a university student
Bring a plate = ads of self catering
Box of Birds, Box of Bees – feel very good
Having you on = pull sb’s leg

Indian English
British English and Scottish English are taught, the latter influenced Indian English with rhoticity and thrilled -r-.
RP is encouraged and promoted
Indian English has established itself as an audible distinct dialect with specific phrases

Indian English
Obsolete forms of English, antiquated phrases which were fashionable 50 years ago
Indian English is an object of jokes due to ruined Grammar

Indian English
BrE is popular with older generations, AmE – with younger, there are debates about variant to be adopted:
70% BBC English,
10% General American English,
17% Indian English

Indian English
AmE grows popular due to TV, pop-culture, visits to the USA
AmE dominates within academic, technical publications, mass media

Indian English
/v/ < > /W/
Impact of Bengali, Hindi, Tamil → Benglish, Hindish, Tanglish

Indian English. Grammar
Progressive tense in stative verbs :
I’m understanding, He is knowing the answer
Variation in number: he likes to pull your legs
Prepositions – to pay your attention on, discuss about

Indian English. Grammar
Tag questions: isn’t it ? / no? in general questions; He’s here, no?
Word order: They’re late always. My all friends are waiting. Yes, I didn’t.
Past tense form: I had gone = I went

Indian English. Grammar
But & only as intensifiers: I was just joking but.
Open/ close = turn on/off
Overuse of words actually, basically, obviously in the beginning of the sentence

Indian English. Grammar
Overuse of the word different: We had gone to different different places.
Omission of the article: Let’s to ______city

Indian English. Vocabulary
Your good name please? = what’s your name?
Deadly = intensive ( That movie is deadly)
Hi-fi = stylish (Your shoes are hi-fi)
Sexy = excellent & extremely cool (That’s a sexy car)

Indian English. Vocabulary
Hello! What do you want? = in telephone conversations
Back = ago : I met him 5 years back
Mr/ Mrs as common nouns: My Mrs is not feeling well
Uncle/ aunt to refer to someone significantly older

Indian English. Vocabulary
Repair = of a broken object: The TV became repair
Healthy = to refer to fat people
Dress - to refer to any clothes for men/ women/ children
Bath and bathe are interchangeable

Indian English. Vocabulary
Interjections
High-end-= of very high quality (sarcastically of work and people)
Oof! = distress & frustration
arey! Acchha! = to express range of emotions

Indian English
Words from India in English
Jungle, bungalow, banana, pajamas, guru, shampoo

Canadian English
traditionally described as a mix of British and American features,
with the balance between the two varying by region, by generation (an ongoing Americanization has been observed among the young),
pronunciation base is strongly American,
the British component is more clearly visible in some vocabulary items

Canadian English
Many words known as americanisms are also found in Canada

Canadian English
Newfounland
Eastern Canadian
Quebec
Central / Western
Ottawa Valley Twang

Canadian English/ Newfounland
Elements from European Languages of 15-17th centuries non-existent in Europe. Spanish, French, Irish, English
Spoken very quickly, not intelligible for non-local people

Canadian English/ Eastern
Close to Am E, considered as Canadian English in the USA

Canadian English/ Quebec
Strong French accent,
Throaty sounds

Canadian English/ western
60% population
close to northern US accents

Canadian English/ Ottawa
1.3 million people
Impact of Scottish and French, Irish

American English
Northern is not to be confused with political North during the Civil war, historically it is New England
Southern – coastal areas of Waryland, Virginia, Georgia, Gulf States
Midland – area extending through all the country

American English
The Dictionary of American Regional English in 1907
Linguistic atlas of AmE in 1931
1200 people interviewed, 1000 points of usage

American English
The Dictionary of American Regional English in 1985-1991
The data from 2700 informants in 1002 communities in 50 states collected between 1965-1970

Some British–American vocabulary differences
UK US UK US
lift elevator pavement sidewalk
boot trunk waistcoat vest
Leader editorial vest undershirt
bowler (hat) derby handbag purse
beetroot beets
head teacher principal
banknote bill
aubergine eggplant

Some British–American vocabulary differences
biscuit cookie
queue line
flat apartment
fancy-dress party costume party
pensioner retiree
lorry truck
football soccer
trousers pants
crisps potato chips

British and American automobile vocabulary
British American
windscreen windshield
bonnet hood
wing fender
quarterlight wing
boot trunk
indicator turn signal
hazard lights flashers
running lights parking lights
Tyre tire

American coinages
Among the countless American coinages are these:
radio, disc jockey, waterfront, right away, get along with, fall for, make the grade, get around to, babysitter, boyfriend and girlfriend, knowhow, in the red, hitchhike, show business, merger, publicity, executive, hindsight, commuter etc.

British VS American English
1. Sing/ Plural coordination
BrE The team is …/AmE The team are
2. Past Simple in AmE with words already, just, yet
3. Get –passive is more common in AmE

British VS American English
4. Subjunctive mood is more common in AmE
BrE He suggested they should apply…
AmE He suggested they_____ apply..
5. Irregular verbs in AmE form past tense forms as regular verbs ( learned, leaped, spelled)

BrE VS AmE: grammar
AmEng: I suggest that Susie take the job.
BrEng: I suggest that Susie takes the job.
AmEng: The report recommends that he be promoted.
BrEng: The report recommends that he is promoted.

BrE VS AmE: grammar
AmEng: I suggested that Susie take the job.
BrEng: I suggested that Susie took the job.
AmEng: The report recommended that he be promoted.
BrEng: The report recommended that he was promoted.

British VS American English
6. Usage of prepositions: AmE to meet with someone
Monday to Friday , AmE Moday thru Friday
In Churchill Street, AmE on Churchill Street
7. BrE towards, backwards AmE toward__

Modern English Grammar: Vision & Terminology
Corpus Linguistics contribution.
Cambridge International Corpus (CIC)

North American English Grammar
Written grammar displays fewer differences between BrE and AmE than spoken grammar.
American influence on everyday English grammar is considerable, for example, like as a marker of direct speech reporting.

Shall
Shall is infrequent in AmE, they prefer will or be going to.
I shall be in the office at 9.30.
Frequency of shall per 1 million words
BrE AmE
118 16

Shall
However, AmE allows shall in first person interrogatives, especially functioning as suggestions or in semi-fixed expressions:
Let’s try to find other words, shall we?
How shall we say it?

must
Must is much more frequent in BrE than in AmE which prefers have to to express obligation.
Frequency of Must per 1 million words
BrE AmE
450 151

have got to
Modal have got to is twice more frequent in spoken BrE than AmE.
Have to (without got) is twice more frequent in AmE.
I’ve got to go and meet my mother at the station.

Had better
Had better is 6 times more frequent in spoken BrE than AmE.

Be going to
Be going to ( and the contracted form gonna) are not a characteristic use in BrE, which prefers imperatives in direction-giving:
You’re gonna to go two blocks and then you’re gonna to see a big modern white building… (AmE)
Come to T-junction, turn left. Go down…, you come …. (BrE)

guess
I guess is 30 times more frequent in spoken AmE than in BrE where
I suppose, I reckon are more frequent.
I reckon we should have more coffee after this .

Be & Not
Negated forms are found in both variants, though in AmE stronger preference is observed for not in both present and past tense forms:
Tim isn’t working there any more. (BrE)
Joe is not working there any more. (AmE)

Have got
The present tense form of have with got is more than twice frequent in spoken BrE than AmE:
I’ve got one sister and one brother (BrE)

Get
In AmE, get has an –ed participle form gotten, which is not used in BrE:
I mean, as poverty has gotten worse, you know, education has gotten worse…

Ir(regular) verbs
In AmE, the past tense of fit is most often fit, while in BrE fitted:
Jennifer says she never really fit in…
I found a pair of boots that fitted me

Ir(regular) verbs
Verbs such as burn, dream, lean, learn, smell, spell, spill often allow a past tense and –ed ending. AmE overwhelmingly prefers –ed ending.

Interrogative tags
Interrogative tags are around 4 times more frequent in BrE than in AmE:
He’s brilliant, isn’t he?

copy tags
In informal contexts, AmE speakers often use an interrogative copy tag with rising intonation in responses involving surprise or emotional involvement:
I changed schools three times
You did?
In one year.
Wow. Wow.
In BrE Did you?

copy tags
Affirmative copy tags occur in both variants but are much rarer in AmE than in BrE:
I think it’s really funny that they live together, I do. (BrE)

right?
The universal tag,right? is 4 times more frequent in AmE than in BrE:
You lived in Canada, right? (AmE)
I was hoping we could change this one, right? (BrE)

Tails
Tails are considerably less common in AmE than in BrE, but they do occur in informal spoken AmE:
That was a nightmare, that one. (BrE)
He’s a scary guy, that Dan Boland (AmE)

Really → real
In informal spoken AmE, really is ofen used as a modifier of adjectives and other adverbs without the –ly ending. This is sometimes considered non-standard by traditionalists:
We all get along real well.
They were real nice to us.

Well, good
Good is often used in informal spoken AmE where BrE requires well:
Hi, how are you doing?
I’m good.

Present Perfect
Present Perfect is less frequent in AmE where the tendency is to use Past Simple.

exclamative
AmE uses some exclamative and intensifying expressions which are not common in BrE: geez, goddam, oh my gosh:
It was the best tasting goddam stuff I’ve ever eaten in my life.
It’s been eighty degrees here.- Oh my gosh!

African American English
Within the last several decades, it has gone through a number of name changes, which include
Negro Dialect, Nonstandard Negro English, Black English, Black English Vernacular,Afro-American English, African American (Vernacular) English, African American Language, and Ebonics.

American English & other languages
Words which seem to be spreading widely and rapidly include gas, guy(s), Hi, movie, truck, Santa (Claus), and station wagon, and adolescent slang and fashion terms like man as a form of address or cool meaning ‘very good’.

American English & other languages
older words which have been internationalized so strongly that their American origin may no longer be recognized in many communities, like radio (for older British wireless), commute, fan, star, know-how, break even, or let’s face it

American English & other languages
American pronunciations are getting more widespread, e.g.,
research stressed on the first and
primarily on the second syllable,
schedule with /sk-/,
lieutenant with /lu:-/, etc.

American English & other languages
The spelling center is clearly preferred over centre outside specifically British spheres of influence, and program rather than programme is also used widely, not only in computing contexts.