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| Varieties of English | |
|---|---|
| Name | English |
| Native names | English |
| Region | Global |
| Family | Indo-European |
| Script | Latin |
| Iso1 | en |
Varieties of English
Varieties of English comprise regional, national, social, and historical forms of the English language that have diverged through migration, contact, policy, and cultural exchange. They are recognized across continents in contexts associated with British Empire, United States, Commonwealth of Nations, European Union, and global media networks such as BBC and CNN. Studies of these varieties intersect with work by scholars active at institutions like University of Oxford, Harvard University, University of Cambridge, Yale University, and Stanford University.
Classification schemes for varieties of English draw on typologies used by Noam Chomsky, William Labov, John Wells (phonetician), Martha Wells, Jennifer Jenkins, and bodies such as the International Phonetic Association and Modern Language Association. Major distinctions include British English, American English, Australian English, and Indian English as well as designations like World Englishes and Standard English. Comparative frameworks reference linguistic atlases produced by projects at Oxford English Dictionary, The British Library, Linguistic Society of America, Sociolinguistic Scale (Labov) and corpora maintained by Corpus of Contemporary American English, British National Corpus, and International Corpus of English.
Regional and national varieties include varieties from England such as Received Pronunciation and Cockney, regional forms in Scotland (e.g., Scots language contexts), forms in Ireland including Hiberno-English, varieties in United States like Southern American English, African American Vernacular English, and varieties in Canada such as Canadian English. Southern Hemisphere varieties encompass Australian English, New Zealand English, and regional forms in South Africa including South African English and Cape Flats English. Asian and Pacific national varieties include Indian English, Pakistani English, Philippine English, Singapore English, Nigerian English, Ghanaian English, and forms seen in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.
Social stratification and community identity produce varieties like Upper Class English varieties in London, Estuary English, African American Vernacular English associated with communities in cities such as New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, and Los Angeles, as well as Working-class English varieties in Liverpool and Manchester. Ethnographic varieties include Chicano English in Los Angeles, Konkani English in Mumbai, Ladino-influenced English among diaspora communities, and heritage varieties maintained by migrant groups associated with Windrush generation movements, Irish diaspora, and Indian diaspora communities in Toronto and Sydney.
Historical change traces from Old English (Anglo-Saxon era linked to King Alfred the Great), through Middle English during the era of Geoffrey Chaucer and the influence of Norman Conquest, to Early Modern English shaped by William Shakespeare, King James I and the King James Bible, and into contemporary divergence in the eras of Industrial Revolution, British colonization of India, and transatlantic migrations to the United States of America. Language change has been documented in corpora such as Early English Books Online and by scholars working at British Academy, Royal Society, and research programs funded by National Endowment for the Humanities.
Phonological differences include vowel shifts described by John Wells and phenomena such as the Great Vowel Shift, Northern Cities Vowel Shift in the Great Lakes region, and rhoticity contrasts exemplified by Boston, Massachusetts and Scotland. Grammatical variation appears in systems studied by Bickerton, Peter Trudgill, and William Labov, including use of progressive aspect and tense forms in Indian English and null copula in contexts paralleling features in African American Vernacular English. Lexical variation encompasses regional terms catalogued by the Oxford English Dictionary, everyday vocabulary divergence across marketplaces like Covent Garden, Pike Place Market, and consumer cultures in Tokyo and Dubai.
Standardisation involves institutions and publications such as Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Chicago Manual of Style, and style authorities tied to BBC broadcasting norms, The New York Times, and educational systems like University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate. Prestige varieties have historical associations with courts and capitals including London, Washington, D.C., Canberra, and Cape Town. Debates over prescriptive norms engage figures and movements connected to Noah Webster, Samuel Johnson, Language policy in India, and regulatory discussions in bodies like Council of Europe and UNESCO.
Contact situations gave rise to creoles and contact varieties such as Jamaican Patois, Gullah, Tok Pisin, Krio language, and Singlish in Singapore. Processes of global spread are linked to British Empire, transatlantic slave trade, Indian Ocean trade, and contemporary globalization through institutions like United Nations, NATO, and multinational corporations such as Google, Microsoft, Apple Inc., BBC World Service, and Al Jazeera which shape lingua franca roles. Language contact research draws on fieldwork in locales like Haiti, Sierra Leone, Papua New Guinea, Mauritius, and Caribbean islands, and on theoretical contributions from Dell Hymes, Einar Haugen, and Salikoko Mufwene.