Lecture 8

English as the world language. Varieties of English.

1. Historical and economic background of widespreaing English.

2. Some of the distinctive characteristics of American English.

3. The language of Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

4. Some other varieties of English (English of India and Pakistan, African English)

Historical and economic background of widespreading English.

SOME OF THE DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF AMERICAN ENGLISH

In one of his stories Oscar Wilde said that the English "have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language." Bernard Shaw, on the contrary, seemed to hold a different opinion on the point, but he expressed it in such an ambiguous way that, if one gives it some thought, the idea is rather the same as that of Oscar Wilde. Bernard Shaw said that America and England are two great nations separated by the same language.

Of course, both these statements were meant as jokes, but the in­sistence on a certain difference between the language used in the United States of America and the language spoken in England is emphasized quite seriously. Viewed linguistically, the problem may be put in this way: do the English and ihe Americans speak the same language or two different languages? Does the United States of America possess its own language?

The hypothesis of the so-called "American language" has had sev­eral champions and supporters, especially in the United States. One of the most popular books dealing with the problem is The American Lan­guage by H. L. Mencken published in New York in 1957.

Yet, there are also other points of view. There are scholars who regard American English as one of the dialects of the English language. This theory can hardly be accepted because a dialect is usually opposed to the literary variety of the language, whereas.American English pos­sesses a literary variety of its own. Other scholars label.American Eng­lish "a regional variety" of the English language.

Before accepting this point of view, though, it is necessary to find out whether or not.American English, in its modem stage of develop­ment, possesses those characteristics which would support its status as an independent language. A language is supposed to possess a vocabu­lary and a grammar system of its own. Let us try to see if American English can boast such.