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Geographic distribution of the English language
Native English speakers by dialect
English is probably the most wide-spread language in the world and it's taught in almost all countries as a second language.It's a primary language in a number of countries: Australia (Australian English), the Bahamas, Barbados (Caribbean English), Bermuda, Dominica, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica (Jamaican English), New Zealand (New Zealand English), Antigua and Barbuda, St. Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom (British English) and the United States of America (American English).
English is also one of the official languages of Belize (with Spanish), Canada (plus French), India (with Hindi and 21 other state languages), Ireland (with Irish), Singapore (with Malay, Mandarin, Tamil and other Asian languages) and South Africa (along with Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, and Northern Sotho).
English is the official language of Hong Kong and is used in business activities. It's studied from earlier ages, and is one of the main signatures of a few primary schools, many secondary schools and almost all universities. An important number of students acquire native-speaker level. It's so widely used and spoken that it is inadequate to say that is only a second or foreign language.
English is the most widely used "second" and "learning" language in the world, and as such, many linguists believe, it is no longer the exclusive cultural emblem of "native English speakers," but rather a language that is absorbing aspects of cultures worldwide as it grows in use. Others theorise that there are limits to how far English can go in suiting everyone for communication purposes. It is the language most often studied as a foreign language in Europe (32.6 percent), followed by French, German and Spanish. It is also the most studied in Japan, South Korea and in the People's Republic of China, where it is compulsory for most high school students.
English is NOT an official language of the United States federal government. But it's for 27 of the 50 state governments (Hawaii also designated Hawaiian as an official language). It is an official language (but not native) in a number of Oceanic and African countries: Cameroon, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, Ghana, Gambia, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Malta, the Marshall Islands, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Rwanda, the Solomon Islands, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
English Dialects and regional variants
English has 25 varieties, many of which are also divided in sub-varieties. Here you find a list of English dialects:
AAVE (Ebonics)
American English
Australian English
British English
Canadian English
Caribbean English
Commonwealth English
English English
Hawaiian English
Hiberno-English
Highland English
Hong Kong English
Indian English
International English
Jamaican English
Liberian English
Malaysian English
Newfoundland English
New Zealand English
Philippine English
Scottish English
Singaporean English
South African English
Standard English
Welsh English
The expansiveness of the British and the Americans spread English language throughout the globe. It's now the second most spoken language in the world after Mandarin Chinese. There is a variety of English dialects and English-based creoles and pidgins.
The major varieties of English in most cases have several sub-varieties, like Cockney within British English, Newfoundland English within Canadian English, and the Afro-American Vernacular English ("Ebonics") within American English. English is considered a "pluricentric" language, with no variety being clearly considered the only standard.
there are people disputing the status of Scots as a closely related but separate language from English and consider it as a group of English dialects. Scots has a long tradition as a separate written and spoken language. Pronunciation and grammar differ from other Anglican varieties including Scottish English.
Many countries around the world have blended English words and phrases into their everyday speech and refer to the result by a colloquial name that implies its bilingual origins, which parallels the English language's own addiction to loan words and borrowings. Named examples of these ad-hoc constructions, distinct from pidgin and Creole languages, include English, Wasei-eigo, Franglais and Spanglish. Europanto combines many languages but has an English core.
Due to English's wide use as a second language, English speakers can have many different accents, which may identify the speaker's dialect or language.
Constructed variants of English
Basic English: a simplified form for easy international use. It is used by some aircraft manufacturers and other international businesses to write manuals and communicate. Some English schools in the Far East teach it as an initial practical subset of English.Seaspeak and the related Airspeak and Policespeak, all based on restricted vocabularies, were designed by Edward Johnson in the 1980s to aid international cooperation and communication in specific areas.
Special English: a simplified version of English used by the Voice of America. It uses a vocabulary of 1500 words.
European English: a new variant of the English language created to become the common language in Europe
English reform: an attempt to collectively improve upon the English language.
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