World Englishes - Language VS Dialect
World Englishes - Language VS Dialect
World Englishes - Language VS Dialect
World Englishes
The term used to describe all the different varieties of English language that exist worldwide.
Refers to the differences of English that emerge as it is used in various context across the world.
Initially, the emergence of the English language can be dated back from the expansion of the British
Empire in the 17th century. Their drive for colonization has brought the Modern English to different parts
of the globe: North America, Caribbean, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, and
Vietnam. As time grows, the use of the English language to these countries has also proliferated. In
contact with the local languages, a new, increasingly stable and localized varieties of English with
properties and functions of their own also started to emerge.
English has become the lingua franca. It has widely been used as a language of formal and other
interactions in very many countries, the tool for globalization and the default choice for transnational
communication.
1. Southern Accent- a distinct American accent typically used in the state of Texas and Atlantic
coasts. One of the unique distinctions of the Southern accent is the Dipthongs. Dipthongs are
sounds formed by the combination of two vowels in a single syllable.
Example:
have - /hæ(ə)v/ (he-uhv)
dog - /dɒg/ (dawg)
Standard English:
I can’t believe you guys have a dog.
Southern accent:
I can’t believe y’all hæ(ə)v a dɒg.
2. Californian accent- an accent used in wide parts of the state of California, US. There are two
major linguistic traits you will find that make the California accent stand out from other parts of
the US. These are the cot-cauught mergers, and mary-marry-merry mergers.
o In the California accent, there is often no distinction between the words, “cot” and
“caught.” They both sound like /cͻt/ or the vowel in “hot”. In places like the Midwest and
New York, there is a clear difference between these words.
o In the California accent, you are likely to hear all three of these words pronounced
exactly the same: Mary, marry and merry.
The vowel will all sound like the vowel in “red” /rεd/. Mary /mεry/, marry /mεry/ and
merry /mεry/. Someone from the eastern United States, however, will make a different
vowel sound for each of these.
Language - is the method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of
words in a structured and conventional way.
Spoken Language - is a form of communication in which people uses the mouth to create
recognizable sounds. These sounds come from a large vocabulary of sequences of sounds with
agreed-upon meanings. These sequences of sounds are called words, and each represents one or
more objects or concepts. A shared grammar and syntax allow the speaker to form these words
into statements which listeners will be able to understand.
Written Language - refers to a language that is written down and used for recording events,
ideas, and feelings. Accessing and exploiting the written word requires two key language skills:
writing and reading. Without these two, especially reading, it becomes almost impossible to
understand what has been written even though most words will be understood aurally.
Dialect - Dialect is a particular form of a language which is peculiar to a specific region or social group.
Dialects are often just spoken, and has cultural variations associated within the language it belongs to.
Standard Dialect - A term in linguistics for a part of a language traditionally equated with the
language itself and seen as the product of such ‘refining’ forces as use at a royal court, by the
middle classes, and in literature, printing, publishing, and education.
Non-standard Dialect – also known as vernacular dialect. It is a dialect or language variety that
has not historically benefited from the institutional support or sanction that a standard dialect has.
Like any dialect, a nonstandard dialect has an internally coherent system of grammar.
Mutual Intelligibility - Mutual Intelligibility is a situation in which two or more speakers of a language
(or of closely related languages) can understand each other. Mutual Intelligibility is a continuum (that is,
a gradient concept), marked by degrees of intelligibility, not by sharp divisions.