English
Pronunciation:	/ˈɪŋɡlɪʃ/[37]
Spoken in:	Listed in the article
Total speakers:	First language: 309[38] – 380 million[3] Second language: 199[39] – 600 million[40] Overall: 1.8 billion[41]
Ranking:	3 (native speakers)[9][10] Total: 1 or 2 [11]
Language family:	Indo-European  Germanic   West Germanic    Anglo–Frisian     Anglic      English
Writing system:	Latin (English variant)
Official status
Official language of:	53 countries
Regulated by:	no official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	en
ISO 639-2:	eng
ISO 639-3:	eng
World countries, states, and provinces where English is a primary language are dark blue; countries, states and provinces where it is an official but not a primary language are light blue. English is also one of the official languages of the European Union, and one of its three working languages.
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-​based pronunciation key.

English is a West Germanic language originating in England, and the first language for most people in Australia, Canada, the Commonwealth Caribbean, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America (also commonly known as the Anglosphere). It is used extensively as a second language and as an official language throughout the world, especially in Commonwealth countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South Africa, and in many international organisations. Articles with similar titles include the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... This is a list of languages, ordered by the number of native-language speakers, with some data for second-language use. ... A language family is a group of languages related by descent from a common proto-language. ... For other uses, see Indo-European. ... The West Germanic languages constitute the largest branch of the Germanic family of languages and include languages such as German, English and Frisian, as well as Dutch and Afrikaans. ... The Anglo-Frisian languages (also known as Ingvaeonic languages or North Sea Germanic languages) are a group of West Germanic languages consisting of Old English, Old Frisian, and their descendants. ... The Anglic languages (also called Anglian languages) are one of the two branches of Anglo-Frisian languages, itself a branch of West Germanic. ... Writing systems of the world today. ... The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. ... The modern English alphabet consists of the 26 letters[1] of the Latin alphabet: The exact shape of printed letters varies depending on the typeface. ... The following is a list of sovereign states and territories where English is an official language, in order of population. ... ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family. ... ISO 639-2 is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages. ... ISO 639-3 is an international standard for language codes. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1357x628, 36 KB) Summary Colored by me from public domain Wikimedia Commons source Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... A working language (also procedural language) is a language that is given a unique legal status in a supra-national company, society, state or other body or organization as its primal mean of communication. ... Articles with similar titles include the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... The Unicode Standard, Version 5. ... This chart shows concisely the most common way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is applied to represent the English language. ... The West Germanic languages constitute the largest branch of the Germanic family of languages and include languages such as German, English and Frisian, as well as Dutch and Afrikaans. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... “Native Language” redirects here. ... The term Anglophone Caribbean is used to refer to the independent English-speaking countries of the Caribbean region. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A second language (L2) is any language learned after the first language or mother tongue (L1). ... An official language is a language that is given a unique legal status in the countries, states, and other territories. ... The Commonwealth of Nations as of 2006 Headquarters Marlborough House, London, UK Official languages English Membership 53 sovereign states Leaders  -  Queen Elizabeth II  -  Secretary-General Don McKinnon (since 1 April 2000) Establishment  -  Balfour Declaration 18 November 1926   -  Statute of Westminster 11 December 1931   -  London Declaration 28 April 1949  Area  -  Total... For the political science journal, see: International Organization An international organization (also called intergovernmental organization) is an organization of international scope or character. ...

Modern English is sometimes described as the global lingua franca.^[1][2] English is the dominant international language in communications, science, business, aviation, entertainment, radio and diplomacy.^[3] The influence of the British Empire is the primary reason for the initial spread of the language far beyond the British Isles.^[4] Following World War II, the growing economic and cultural influence of the United States has significantly accelerated the spread of the language. On an average school day approximately one billion people are learning English in one form or another. Lingua franca, literally Frankish language in Italian, was originally a mixed language consisting largely of Italian plus a vocabulary drawn from Turkish, Persian, French, Greek and Arabic and used for communication throughout the Middle East. ... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ...

A working knowledge of English is required in certain fields, professions, and occupations. As a result over a billion people speak English at least at a basic level (see English language learning and teaching). English is one of six official languages of the United Nations. See also: Language education and Second language acquisition ESL (English as a second language), ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) and EFL (English as a foreign language) all refer to the use or study of English by speakers of other languages. ... The foundation of the U.N. The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress and human rights issues. ...

History

Main article: History of the English language

English is an Anglo-Frisian language. Germanic-speaking peoples from northwest Germany (Saxons and Angles) and Jutland (Jutes) invaded what is now known as Eastern England around the fifth century AD. It is a matter of debate whether the Old English language spread by displacement of the original population, or the native Celts gradually adopted the language and culture of a new ruling class, or a combination of both of these processes (see Sub-Roman Britain). English is a West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain by Germanic settlers and Roman auxiliary troops from various parts of what is now northwest Germany and the Northern Netherlands. ... The Anglo-Frisian languages (also known as Ingvaeonic languages or North Sea Germanic languages) are a group of West Germanic languages consisting of Old English, Old Frisian, and their descendants. ... For other uses, see Saxon (disambiguation). ... White cliffs of Dover in England White cliffs of Rugen down the Baltic coast from Schleswig The Angles is a modern English word for a Germanic-speaking people who took their name from the cultural ancestor of Angeln, a modern district located in Schleswig, Germany. ... Jutland Peninsula Jutland (Danish: Jylland; German: Jütland; Frisian Jutlân; Low German Jötlann) is the western, continental part of Denmark as well as one of the three historical Lands of Denmark, dividing the North Sea from the Kattegat and the Baltic Sea. ... For the coarse vegetable textile fiber, see Jute. ... Old English (also called Anglo-Penis[1], Englisc by its speakers) is an early form of the English language that was spoken in parts of what is now England and southern Scotland between the mid-fifth century and the mid-twelfth century. ... Romano-British is a term used to refer to the Romanized Britons under the Roman Empire (and later the Western Roman Empire) and in the years after the Roman departure exposed to Roman culture and Christian religion. ... Sub-Roman Britain is a term derived from an archaeologists label for the material culture of Britain in Late Antiquity. ...

Whatever their origin, these Germanic dialects eventually coalesced to a degree (there remained geographical variation) and formed what is today called Old English. Old English loosely resembles some coastal dialects in what are now northwest Germany and the Netherlands (i.e., Frisia). Throughout the history of written Old English, it retained a synthetic structure closer to that of Proto-Indo-European, largely adopting West Saxon scribal conventions, while spoken Old English became increasingly analytic in nature, losing the more complex noun case system, relying more heavily on prepositions and fixed word order to convey meaning. This is evident in the Middle English period, when literature was to an increasing extent recorded with spoken dialectal variation intact, after written Old English lost its status as the literary language of the nobility. It is postulated that the early development of the language was influenced by a Celtic substratum.^[5][6] Later, it was influenced by the related North Germanic language Old Norse, spoken by the Vikings who settled mainly in the north and the east coast down to London, the area known as the Danelaw. Satellite view of the German Bight (the Frisian Coast). ... A synthetic language, in linguistic typology, is a language with a high morpheme-per-word ratio. ... The Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) is the hypothetical common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans. ... This article concerns the English kingdom, not the Westland Wessex helicopter Wessex was one of the seven major Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (the Heptarchy) that preceded the kingdom of England. ... An isolating language is a language in which the vast majority of morphemes are free morphemes and are considered to be full-fledged words. By contrast, in a synthetic language, a word is composed of agglutinated or fused morphemes that denote its syntactic meanings. ... The Brythonic languages (or Brittonic languages) form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family. ... The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages, a sub-family of the Indo-European languages, along with the West Germanic languages and the East Germanic languages. ... Old Norse is the Germanic language spoken by the inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300. ... For other uses, see Viking (disambiguation). ... Green: Danelaw The Danelaw (from the Old English Dena lagu, Danish: Danelagen ) is an 11th century name for an area of northern and eastern England under the administrative control of the Vikings (or Danes, or Norsemen) from the late 9th century. ...

The Norman Conquest of England in 1066 profoundly influenced the evolution of the language. For about 300 years after this, the Normans and successive dynasties used Anglo-Norman, which was close to Old French, as the language of the court, law and administration. A very large number of Norman words found their way into Old English, particularly those in the legal and administrative fields, but also including many common words for food, such as mutton^[7] and beef^[8] . Later, many words were borrowed directly from Latin and Greek, leaving a parallel vocabulary that persists into modern times. The Norman influence gave rise to what is now referred to as Middle English. The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the Battle of Hastings and the events leading to it. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories corresponding roughly to the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from around 1000 to 1300. ... An unweaned lamb Legs of lamb in a supermarket cabinet The terms lamb, hoggett or mutton are culinary names for the meat of a domestic sheep. ... For other uses, see Beef (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ... Middle English is the name given by historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of 1066 and the mid-to-late 15th century, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become widespread, a process aided by the...

During the 15th century, Middle English was transformed by the Great Vowel Shift, the spread of a prestigious South Eastern-based dialect in the court, administration and academic life, and the standardising effect of printing. Early Modern English can be traced back to around the Elizabethan period. The Great Vowel Shift was a major change in the pronunciation of the English language that took place in the south of England between 1200 and 1600. ... “Caxton” redirects here. ... Shakespeares writings are universally associated with Early Modern English Early Modern English refers to the stage of the English language used from about the end of the Middle English period (the latter half of the 1400s) to 1650. ... Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603 ) was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. ...

Classification and related languages

The English language belongs to the western sub-branch of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European family of languages. The Germanic languages are a group of related languages constituting a branch of the Indo-European (IE) language family. ... For other uses, see Indo-European. ...

The question as to which is the nearest living relative of English is a matter of discussion. Apart from such English-lexified creole languages such as Tok Pisin, Scots (spoken primarily in Scotland and parts of Northern Ireland) is not a Gaelic language, but is part of the English family of languages: both Scots and modern English are descended from Old English, also known as Anglo-Saxon. The closest relative to English after Scots is Frisian, which is spoken in the Northern Netherlands and Northwest Germany. Other less closely related living West Germanic languages include German, Low Saxon, Dutch, and Afrikaans. The North Germanic languages of Scandinavia are less closely related to English than the West Germanic languages. A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable language that originated from a non-trivial combination of two or more languages, typically with many features that are not inherited from any parent. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Scots refers to the Anglic varieties spoken in parts of Scotland. ... This article is about the Frisian languages, as spoken in the north of the Netherlands and Germany. ... The West Germanic languages constitute the largest branch of the Germanic family of languages and include languages such as German, English and Frisian, as well as Dutch and Afrikaans. ... Low Saxon (in Low Saxon, Nedersaksisch, Neddersassisch, Plattdüütsch or Nedderdüütsch) is any of a variety of Low German dialects spoken in northern Germany and the Netherlands. ... Afrikaans is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia. ... The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages, a sub-family of the Indo-European languages, along with the West Germanic languages and the East Germanic languages. ...

Many French words are also intelligible to an English speaker (though pronunciations are often quite different) because English absorbed a large vocabulary from Norman and French, via Anglo-Norman after the Norman Conquest and directly from French in subsequent centuries. As a result, a large portion of English vocabulary is derived from French, with some minor spelling differences (word endings, use of old French spellings, etc.), as well as occasional divergences in meaning, in so-called "faux amis", or false friends. Norman is a Romance language and one of the Oïl languages. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the Battle of Hastings and the events leading to it. ... False friends are pairs of words in two languages or letters in two alphabets that look or sound similar but differ in meaning. ...

Geographical distribution

See also: List of countries by English-speaking population

Over 380 million people speak English as their first language. English today is probably the third largest language by number of native speakers, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.^[9][10] However, when combining native and non-native speakers it is probably the most commonly spoken language in the world, though possibly second to a combination of the Chinese Languages, depending on whether or not distinctions in the latter are classified as "languages" or "dialects."^[11][12] Estimates that include second language speakers vary greatly from 470 million to over a billion depending on how literacy or mastery is defined.^[13][14] There are some who claim that non-native speakers now outnumber native speakers by a ratio of 3 to 1.^[15] This is a list of countries of the world sorted by the total English-speaking population in that country. ... This article is on all of the Northern Chinese dialects. ... Chinese (written) language (pinyin: zhōngwén) written in Chinese characters The Chinese language (汉语/漢語, 华语/華語, or 中文; Pinyin: Hànyǔ, Huáyǔ, or Zhōngwén) is a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. ... A second language (L2) is any language learned after the first language or mother tongue (L1). ... This article is about the ability to read and write. ...

The countries with the highest populations of native English speakers are, in descending order: United States (215 million),^[16] United Kingdom (58 million),^[17] Canada (17.7 million),^[18] Australia (15 million),^[19] Ireland (3.8 million),^[17] South Africa (3.7 million),^[20] and New Zealand (3.0-3.7 million).^[21] Countries such as Jamaica and Nigeria also have millions of native speakers of dialect continuums ranging from an English-based creole to a more standard version of English. Of those nations where English is spoken as a second language, India has the most such speakers ('Indian English') and linguistics professor David Crystal claims that, combining native and non-native speakers, India now has more people who speak or understand English than any other country in the world.^[22] Following India is the People's Republic of China.^[23] A dialect continuum is a range of dialects spoken across a large geographical area, differing only slightly between areas that are geographically close, and gradually decreasing in mutual intelligibility as the distances become greater. ... An English-based creole language, or English creole for short, is a creole language that was significantly influenced by the English language. ... Indian English refers to the dialects or varieties of English spoken primarily in India, and/or by first generation Indian diaspora elsewhere in the world. ... Professor David Crystal, OBE (born 1941 in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, UK) is a linguist, academic and author. ...

Distribution of native English speakers by country (Crystal 1997)

	Country	Native speakers
1	USA	214,809,000[16]
2	UK	58,200,000[17]
3	Canada	17,694,830[18]
4	Australia	15,013,965[19]
5	Ireland	4,200,000+ (Approx)[17]
6	South Africa	3,673,203[20]
7	New Zealand	3,500,000+ (Approx)[21]
8	Singapore	665,087[24]

English is the primary language in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia (Australian English), the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Belize, the British Indian Ocean Territory, the British Virgin Islands, Canada (Canadian English), the Cayman Islands, Dominica, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guernsey (Guernsey English), Guyana, Ireland (Hiberno-English), Isle of Man (Manx English), Jamaica (Jamaican English), Jersey, Montserrat, Nauru, New Zealand (New Zealand English), Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Singapore, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the United Kingdom, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the United States (various forms of American English). Ive created this diagram as an update for [1]. The previous chart didnt take into account several varieties, which is why the Others percentage was too small. ... Ive created this diagram as an update for [1]. The previous chart didnt take into account several varieties, which is why the Others percentage was too small. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Ireland. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_South_Africa. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_New_Zealand. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Singapore. ... Australian English (AuE, AusE, en-AU) is the form of the English language used in Australia. ... Canadian English (CaE) is a variety of English used in Canada. ... Guernsey English is the dialect of English spoken by natives of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, distinguished by the fact that it has considerable influence from Dgèrnésiais, the variety of Norman indigenous to Guernsey. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Manx English, or Anglo-Manx, is the dialect of English which was formerly spoken by the people of the Isle of Man. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Motto Leo Terram Propriam Protegat(Latin) Let the Lion protect his own land or May the Lion protect his own land Anthem God Save the Queen Capital Grytviken (King Edward Point) Official languages English Government British overseas territory  -  Head of State Queen Elizabeth II  -  Commissioner Alan Huckle Area  -  Total 3... For other uses, see American English (disambiguation). ...

In many other countries, where English is not the most spoken language, it is an official language; these countries include Botswana, Cameroon, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, Ghana, Gambia, Hong Kong, India, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malta, the Marshall Islands, Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Rwanda, the Solomon Islands, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It is also one of the 11 official languages that are given equal status in South Africa ("South African English"). English is also an important language in several former colonies or current dependent territories of the United Kingdom and the United States, such as in Hong Kong and Mauritius. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about a type of political territory. ... A dependent territory, dependent area or dependency is a territory that does not possess full political independence or sovereignty as a State. ...

English is not an official language in either the United States or the United Kingdom.^[25][26] Although the United States federal government has no official languages, English has been given official status by 30 of the 50 state governments.^[27]

English as a global language

See also: English on the Internet and global language

Because English is so widely spoken, it has often been referred to as a "global language", the lingua franca of the modern era.^[2] While English is not an official language in many countries, it is currently the language most often taught as a second language around the world. Some linguists believe that it is no longer the exclusive cultural sign of "native English speakers", but is rather a language that is absorbing aspects of cultures worldwide as it continues to grow. It is, by international treaty, the official language for aerial and maritime communications, as well as one of the official languages of the European Union, the United Nations, and most international athletic organisations, including the International Olympic Committee. The predominance of English on the Internet—English language content and English language users—has fueled the rise of the Internet as a means of communication, information dissemination and entertainment. ... International English is the concept of the English language as a global means of communication in numerous dialects, and the movement towards an international standard for the language. ... International English is the concept of the English language as a global means of communication in numerous dialects, and the movement towards an international standard for the language. ... Lingua franca, literally Frankish language in Italian, was originally a mixed language consisting largely of Italian plus a vocabulary drawn from Turkish, Persian, French, Greek and Arabic and used for communication throughout the Middle East. ... A second language (L2) is any language learned after the first language or mother tongue (L1). ... Stamp The International Olympic Committee (French: Comité International Olympique) is an organization based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas on June 23, 1894. ...

English is the language most often studied as a foreign language in the European Union (by 89% of schoolchildren), followed by French (32%), German (18%), and Spanish (8%).^[28] In the EU, a large fraction of the population reports being able to converse to some extent in English. Among non-English speaking countries, a large percentage of the population claimed to be able to converse in English in the Netherlands (87%), Sweden (85%), Denmark (83%), Luxembourg (66%), Finland (60%), Slovenia (56%), Austria (53%), Belgium (52%), and Germany (51%). ^[29] Norway and Iceland also have a large majority of competent English-speakers.

Books, magazines, and newspapers written in English are available in many countries around the world. English is also the most commonly used language in the sciences.^[2] In 1997, the Science Citation Index reported that 95% of its articles were written in English, even though only half of them came from authors in English-speaking countries.

Dialects and regional varieties

Main article: List of dialects of the English language

The expansion of the British Empire and—since WWII—the primacy of the United States have spread English throughout the globe.^[2] Because of that global spread, English has developed a host of English dialects and English-based creole languages and pidgins. This is a list of varieties of the English language. ... This is a list of varieties of the English language. ... A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable language that originated from a non-trivial combination of two or more languages, typically with many features that are not inherited from any parent. ... A pidgin is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups who do not share a common language, in situations such as trade. ...

The major varieties of English include, in most cases, several subvarieties, such as Cockney slang within British English; Newfoundland English within Canadian English; and African American Vernacular English ("Ebonics") and Southern American English within American English. English is a pluricentric language, without a central language authority like France's Académie française; and, although no variety is clearly considered the only standard, there are a number of accents considered to be more prestigious, such as Received Pronunciation in Britain. A variety of a language is a form that differs from other forms of the language systematically and coherently. ... St Mary-le-Bow The term cockney refers to working-class inhabitants of London, particularly east London, and the slang used by these people. ... British English (BrE, BE, en-GB) is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere in the Anglophone world. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Canadian English (CaE) is a variety of English used in Canada. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... For African American U.S. English that is distinctly non-standard U.S. English, see African American Vernacular English. ... Southern American English as defined by the monophthongization of to before obstruents (Labov, Ash, and Boberg 2006:126). ... For other uses, see American English (disambiguation). ... A pluricentric language is a language with several standard versions. ... The Académie française In the French educational system an académie LAcadémie française, or the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ...

Scots developed — largely independently — from the same origins, but following the Acts of Union 1707 a process of language attrition began, whereby successive generations adopted more and more features from English causing dialectalisation. Whether it is now a separate language or a dialect of English better described as Scottish English is in dispute. The pronunciation, grammar and lexis of the traditional forms differ, sometimes substantially, from other varieties of English. Scots refers to the Anglic varieties spoken in parts of Scotland. ... The Acts of Union were a pair of Acts of Parliament passed in 1706 and 1707 (taking effect on 1 May 1707) by, respectively, the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. ... Language attrition is the loss of a first or second language or a portion of that language by either a community or an individual. ... A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος, dialektos) is a variety of a language characteristic of a particular group of the languages speakers. ... Scottish English is usually taken to mean the standard form of the English language used in Scotland, often termed Scottish Standard English. ...

Because of the wide use of English as a second language, English speakers have many different accents, which often signal the speaker's native dialect or language. For the more distinctive characteristics of regional accents, see Regional accents of English speakers, and for the more distinctive characteristics of regional dialects, see List of dialects of the English language. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... This is a list of varieties of the English language. ...

Just as English itself has borrowed words from many different languages over its history, English loanwords now appear in a great many languages around the world, indicative of the technological and cultural influence of its speakers. Several pidgins and creole languages have formed using an English base, such as Jamaican Creole, Nigerian Pidgin, and Tok Pisin. There are many words in English coined to describe forms of particular non-English languages that contain a very high proportion of English words. Franglais, for example, is used to describe French with a very high English word content; it is found on the Channel Islands. Another variant, spoken in the border bilingual regions of Québec in Canada, is called FrEnglish. A loanword (or loan word) is a word directly taken into one language from another with little or no translation. ... A pidgin is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups who do not share a common language, in situations such as trade. ... A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable language that originated from a non-trivial combination of two or more languages, typically with many features that are not inherited from any parent. ... Jamaican Creole, also known locally as Patois/(Patwa) or simply Jamaican, is an English/African-based language --not to be confused with Jamaican English nor with the Rastafarian use of English-- used primarily on the island of Jamaica. ... Nigerian Pidgin is an English-based pidgin or creole language spoken as a kind of lingua franca across Nigeria that is referred to simply as Pidgin, Broken English or Brokan. It is often not considered a creole language since most speakers are not native speakers, although many children do learn... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Franglais (slang), a portmanteau combining the words français (French) and anglais (English), also called Frenglish, is a slang term for types of speech, although the word has different overtones in French and English. ... This article is about the British dependencies. ... Franglais (slang), a portmanteau combining the words français (French) and anglais (English), also called Frenglish, is a slang term for types of speech, although the word has different overtones in French and English. ...

Constructed varieties of English

• Basic English is simplified for easy international use. It is used by manufacturers and other international businesses to write manuals and communicate. Some English schools in Asia teach it as a practical subset of English for use by beginners.
• Special English is a simplified version of English used by the Voice of America. It uses a vocabulary of only 1500 words.
• English reform is an attempt to improve collectively upon the English language.
• 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. There is also a tunnelspeak for use in the Channel Tunnel.
• English as a lingua franca for Europe and Euro-English are concepts of standardising English for use as a second language in continental Europe.
• Manually Coded English — a variety of systems have been developed to represent the English language with hand signals, designed primarily for use in deaf education. These should not be confused with true sign languages such as British Sign Language and American Sign Language used in Anglophone countries, which are independent and not based on English.
• E-Prime excludes forms of the verb to be.

Euro-English (also EuroEnglish or Euro-English) terms are English translations of European concepts that are not native to English-speaking countries. Due to the United Kingdom's (and even the Republic of Ireland's) involvement in the European Union, the usage focuses on non-British concepts. This kind of Euro-English was parodied when English was "made" one of the constituent languages of Europanto. Look up Appendix:Basic English word list in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Special English is a simplified version of the English language used by the United States broadcasting service Voice of America in daily broadcasts. ... Voice of America logo Voice of America (VOA), is the official external radio and television broadcasting service of the United States federal government. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Seaspeak is a simplified language designed to facilitate communication between ships whose captains native tongues differ. ... The NATO phonetic alphabet is a common name for the radiotelephony spelling alphabet of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which assigned words to the letters of the English alphabet so that critical combinations of letters could be pronounced and understood by aircrew and air traffic controllers regardless of their... Edward Johnson may refer to: Edward Johnson (general) (1816–1873), American Civil War Edward H. Johnson (born 1846?), inventor, electric Christmas tree lights Edward Johnson (soccer) (born 1984), American Edward Mead Johnson (1852–1934), co-founder of Johnson and Johnson Edward Johnson (finance) Edward Johnson (mayor), former mayor of Baltimore... Tunnelspeak is a constructed language used by workers in the Channel Tunnel, using a limited vocabulary of French and English for ease of communication between workers with different native languages. ... Map of the Channel Tunnel. ... It has been suggested that Euro-English be merged into this article or section. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Manually Coded English (MCE) is a general term used to describe a variety of visual communication methods expressed through the hands which attempt to represent the English language. ... British Sign Language (BSL) is the sign language used in the United Kingdom (UK), and is the first or preferred language of an unknown number of Deaf people in the UK (published estimates range from 30,000 to 250,000 but it is likely that the lower figures are more... It has been suggested that ASL Grammar be merged into this article or section. ... Dr. David Bourland coined the term E-Prime, short for English Prime, in the 1965 work A Linguistic Note: Writing in E-Prime to refer to the English language modified by prohibiting the use of the verb to be. E-Prime arose from Alfred Korzybskis General Semantics and his... Europanto is a constructed language, a linguistic jest with a hodge-podge vocabulary from many European languages. ...

Phonology

Main article: English phonology

English phonology is the study of the phonology (ie the sound system) of the English language. ...

Vowels

Notes: Articles with similar titles include the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... A monophthong (in Greek μονόφθογγος = single note) is a pure vowel sound, one whose articulation at both beginning and end is relatively fixed, and which does not glide up or down towards a new position of articulation; compare diphthong. ... Vowels See also: IPA, Consonants Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels See also: IPA, Consonants Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels See also: IPA, Consonants Near‑close Close‑mid Mid Open‑mid Near‑open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels See also: IPA, Consonants Near‑close Close‑mid Mid Open‑mid Near‑open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels See also: IPA, Consonants Near‑close Close‑mid Mid Open‑mid Near‑open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels See also: IPA, Consonants Near‑close Close‑mid Mid Open‑mid Near‑open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels See also: IPA, Consonants Near‑close Close‑mid Mid Open‑mid Near‑open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... The IPA symbol for the Schwa In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa can mean: An unstressed and toneless neutral vowel sound in any language, often but not necessarily a mid-central vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... In phonetics, a diphthong (in Greek δίφθογγος) is a vowel combination usually involving a quick but smooth movement from one vowel to another, often interpreted by listeners as a single vowel sound or phoneme. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels See also: IPA, Consonants Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels See also: IPA, Consonants Near‑close Close‑mid Mid Open‑mid Near‑open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels See also: IPA, Consonants Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels See also: IPA, Consonants Near‑close Close‑mid Mid Open‑mid Near‑open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels See also: IPA, Consonants Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... The IPA symbol for the Schwa In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa can mean: An unstressed and toneless neutral vowel sound in any language, often but not necessarily a mid-central vowel. ... Vowels See also: IPA, Consonants Near‑close Close‑mid Mid Open‑mid Near‑open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... The IPA symbol for the Schwa In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa can mean: An unstressed and toneless neutral vowel sound in any language, often but not necessarily a mid-central vowel. ...

It is the vowels that differ most from region to region. Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ...

Where symbols appear in pairs, the first corresponds to American English, General American accent; the second corresponds to British English, Received Pronunciation. Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ...

1. American English lacks this sound; words with this sound are pronounced with /ɑ/ or /ɔ/.
2. Many dialects of North American English do not have this vowel. See Cot-caught merger.
3. The North American variation of this sound is a rhotic vowel.
4. Many speakers of North American English do not distinguish between these two unstressed vowels. For them, roses and Rosa's are pronounced the same, and the symbol usually used is schwa /ə/.
5. This sound is often transcribed with /i/ or with /ɪ/.
6. The diphthongs /eɪ/ and /oʊ/ are monophthongal for many General American speakers, as /eː/ and /oː/.
7. The letter <U> can represent either /u/ or the iotated vowel /ju/. In BRP, if this iotated vowel /ju/ occurs after /t/, /d/, /s/ or /z/, it often triggers palatalization of the preceding consonant, turning it to /ʨ/, /ʥ/, /ɕ/ and /ʑ/ respectively, as in tune, during, sugar, and azure. In American English, palatalization does not generally happen unless the /ju/ is followed by r, with the result that /(t, d,s, z)jur/ turn to /tʃɚ/, /dʒɚ/, /ʃɚ/ and /ʒɚ/ respectively, as in nature, verdure, sure, and treasure.
8. Vowel length plays a phonetic role in the majority of English dialects, and is said to be phonemic in a few dialects, such as Australian English and New Zealand English. In certain dialects of the modern English language, for instance General American, there is allophonic vowel length: vowel phonemes are realized as long vowel allophones before voiced consonant phonemes in the coda of a syllable. Before the Great Vowel Shift, vowel length was phonemically contrastive.
9. This sound only occurs in non-rhotic accents. In some accents, this sound may be, instead of /ʊə/, /ɔ:/. See pour-poor merger.
10. This sound only occurs in non-rhotic accents. In some accents, the schwa offglide of /ɛə/ may be dropped, monophthising and lengthening the sound to /ɛ:/.

// Father-bother merger The father-bother merger is a merger of the Early Modern English vowels and that occurs in almost all varieties of North American English (exceptions are accents in Eastern New England (such as the Boston accent) and New York-New Jersey English. ...   In phonetics, an r-colored vowel or rhotacized vowel is a vowel either with the tip or blade of the tongue turned up during at least part of the articulation of the vowel (a retroflex articulation) or with the tip of the tongue down and the back of the tongue... The IPA symbol for the S