Varieties of English

Varieties of English

When we name a language, we are referring not to the actual form the language which we hear or read. We are referring to the common core or the nucleus of the language which runs through all the varieties of that language, ‘a set of grammatical or other conventions which are common to all the varieties of that language that we come across.

It is to this common core or nucleus of the English language that we are referring to when we say that someone speaks or writes English.

The actual realisation of a language differs from region to region and from person to person. It also differs according to the subject matter, the medium being used, the attitude of the speaker and the mother tongue of the speaker. Every language is realised in a varieties of ways by its users.

1. Varieties according to region or area (Regional Variation):

 Speakers of a language living in different regions use different varieties of the language. We used to say in India that language changes after every twelve kohs (one koh is roughly equal to one and a half miles). These varieties are called dialects. Sometimes, the differences between the language spoken in different regions, due to the geographical distances and poor communication between the people living in these areas, become so great that instead of calling them different dialects of the same language, we start calling them different languages.

The most easily noticed differences between dialects are the differences of pronunciation or phonology. Differences of vocabulary are also there but they are less pronounced. Grammatical differences are also to be found but they are very few and are very hard to notice.

All English speaking people do not speak the same kind of English. English, like any other language, has many dialects. Within Britain itself, we have the Irish English, the Scottish English, the Midland English, the Northern English, the Welsh, the South-western English and the Cockney (London). English is also spoken in America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The varieties of English spoken in these countries are different in some respects from the English spoken in Britain. They can also be called the different dialects of English. Even in these countries, we can notice differences in the kind of English spoken by people living in different regions. These varieties can also be called the different dialects of the language. Some people in almost every country of the world use English if not regularly, at least occasionally. The English of every country is different from the English of every other country and may be regarded as a different dialect of the language.

It is difficult to determine how many dialects a language has. It depends upon deep we want to go into the differences. Depending upon how much detailed we want our study to be, the number of the dialects can increase or decrease. What generally recognise as one dialect may further be divided into several sub-dialects if go too deep into the differences. For example, Malwai is one of the dialects of Punjabi. It is spoken in the Patiala, Sangrur, Bathinda, Barnala, Ferozepur, Faridkot, Ludhiana and Moga districts. But the Malwai used by the people in Sagrur, Bathinda, Ferozepur and Faridkot is different to some extent from the Malwai used by the people of Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib districts and the Malwai spoken by those living in Moga and Ludhiana districts.

Standard English

The variety of English used by the BBC is known as the Standard English. It is the kind of English used by the educated section of the linguistically aware people in Britain and used in the reputed universities of Britain.

In spite of these dialectical differences, the uniformity found in the English spoken by the people all over the world is greater than in the dialects of any other language. It is the most remarkable thing considering the fact that English is spoken nearly all over the world.

Uniformity is the greatest in the matter of spelling. Barring a few differences of spelling between the two broad sub-systems – the British and the American – (American - advertize, color, center, program and thru and British - advertise, colour, centre programme and through) , the same spellings are used all over the world.

Uniformity is somewhat less in grammar and vocabulary. We find some differences in vocabulary between American and British English. What is tap to an Englishman is faucet to an American. But in spite of all the differences, the uniformity even in grammar and vocabulary is surprising and is increasing with the world coming closer as a result of technological developments.

Differences of pronunciation are the maximum. The Americans pronounce a large number of words differently from the British. Even here, differences of vowel sounds are more numerous than those of consonants.

National Standards of English

There are, at present, two widely recognised national standards of English – The American and the British. For the most part, there is a striking uniformity between the two but a few differences between the two may be pointed out. Differences of grammar are very few. For example, the American English has two past participles for the verb got (got and gotten) but the British English has only one (gotten). The use of the present perfect continuous and past perfect continuous tenses has almost been done away with by the Americans. They use the present continuous and the past continuous tenses in places where the British use the perfect continuous tenses.

I am living in this house for the last ten years. (AmE)

I have been living in this house for the last ten years. (BrE)

He was playing football since childhood. (AmE)

He had been playing football since childhood. (BrE)

Again, in British English, the pronoun one is repeated for co-reference but in AmE, it is replaced by he.

One must work hard if one wants to succeed. BrE

One must work hard if he wants to succeed. AmE

Lexical differences (differences of vocabulary) are numerous but they are well known to the users of both the standards.

BrE                                         AmE

Railway                                 Railroad

Tap                                         Faucet

Autumn                               Fall

Valves (in radio sets)      Tubes

Some differences of spelling are also found but they too are well known to users of both the standards and do not cause any confusion or misunderstanding. From the words like colour, labour etc. which have our in BrE, the Americans have dropped e. In words which end in re in BrE such as centre and metre, the Americans have started using er. Programme (BrE) is program in AmE.

BrE                                         AmE

Colour                                   Color

Centre                                  Center

Programme                        Program

A few differences of pronunciation are also observed. For example, in the word often, the letter t is silent in BrE but it is articulated in AmE. Differences of vowel sounds in pronunciation are more numerous than the differences in consonants.

Scottish and Irish English can also be regarded as national standards but because of geographical proximity, differences of vocabulary and grammar between the British standard are very few. Similarly, Canadian English may also be treated as a national standard but again due to the reason given above, very few differences of vocabulary and grammar are observed between the two.

African English is virtually identical with the British English in spelling but considerable differences of vocabulary are to be found.

New Zealand English is more like the British English than any other non-European variety but it is now getting more and more influenced by the Australian and American English. 

Australian English is the dominant standard in the southern hemisphere. It is even starting to exert influence even in the northern hemisphere.

 Pronunciation and Standard English

All the national standards mentioned above and even some more which are close to the standard differ very little so far as vocabulary and grammar are concerned. The most easily observable difference among them which distinguishes them immediately is that of pronunciation.

In British English, the standard pronunciation generally referred to as the Received Pronunciation or the RP is the pronunciation that the BBC has been using. It is the kind of pronunciation which a private education system based on boarding schools has been patronising. It is insulated from all regional influences of the area in which the schools are situated. It is non-regional and enjoys a large degree of prestige.

In American English, the standard and prestigious pronunciation is the one used by the American broadcasting and telecasting network. It is known as the network English just as the British standard is known as the BBC English.

Varieties according to education and social standing (status)

In every dialectal area, we observe a considerable difference in speech depending on the education and social standing of the speakers. The variety used by the educated upper classes is somewhat different from the dialect of the area, grammatically more correct and closer to the standard English. The variety used by the uneducated lower classes can be more closely identified with the local dialect and grammatically more removed from the standard.

The educated variety enjoys greater prestige because it is the variety used by the government agencies, the learned professions, the political parties, the press and the law courts. The educated variety can be identified in England with the BBC English and in the United States with the network English. Because of the prestige attached to this variety, it is normally referred to as the standard English. On the other hand, the speech of the uneducated section is considered non-standard and is identified with the dialect of the area.

Varieties according to the medium

Language also differs according to the medium in which it is realised i.e. whether it is spoken or written. The written variety tends to be more formal, grammatically more correct and is characterised by greater clarity in meaning. On the other hand, the spoken variety is more sloppy, grammatically less correct, and lacking in clarity.

Two factors may be responsible for this difference. One, in speech, the listener is present before the speaker who can judge from his face expressions and from his immediate feedback whether the listener has got his message correctly or not. In written communication, the receiver of the message is absent from the scene. Therefore, the writer has to be more careful about the use of words and adherence to grammatical rules lest his message should be misunderstood.

Two, Speech is accompanied by a number of other features such as tone, rhythm, stress, tempo etc. which help the speaker to make his meaning clear. These devices are not available to us in writing as they cannot be represented in conventional orthography. It is difficult to represent them appropriately even by using the prosodic signs create by the phoneticians. Therefore, the writer has to depend purely on the use of correct words and meticulous use of the grammatical and syntactical rules. Whereas in speech, a single word or phrase or an incomplete sentence may serve the purpose, in writing a carefully worded and well-constructed sentence is required.

Varieties according to attitude

Language also varies depending on our attitude towards the listener or reader. The varieties according to attitude are known as styles. The style used by a user depends on many factors such as the situation, the purpose of communication, the speaker’s relations with the person being addressed and status of the two. While speaking to a senior or elder or a person of authority, we use a different kind of language from the one we use while communicating with an equal or friend or someone lower to us in position. These varieties are known as stylistic varieties or styles. We may assume a neutral or unmarked style which is not influenced by attitude. On one side of this neutral style is the formal, stiff, cold, impersonal style which we use while communicating with people higher than us in age, rank or authority. On the other side is the informal, relaxed, warm and friendly style which we use while communicating with our equals or juniors or people with whom we are very familiar terms.

Varieties according to subject matter

Language also varies depending on the subject matter we are dealing with. Varieties of language on the basis of the subject matter are known as registers. We have different registers such as a legal register, an engineering register, an academic register, a medical register and so on.

Normally, out of the varieties discussed above, an individual adopts one variety as his permanent form of English although, occasionally, he may switch over to other varieties depending on the need of the hour. But every individual possesses a variety of registers and habitually switches to the most appropriate one as the occasion arises.

Switching over from one register to another involves only switching over to the particular set of lexical items (words and terminology) normally used for handling the subject in question. There is a set of terminology associated with every subject which the people of that profession use and which is not used while dealing with other subjects. Such a set is called the jargon of the profession. When we are discussing a particular subject, we try to use the jargon associated with that subject.

Out of the varieties discussed so far, one may constantly use any of them but the selection of a particular variety of one class presupposes the selection of particular variety of another class. For example, a well formed legal sentence must use the educated variety.

Varieties according to interference

The mother tongue of a non-native speaker of English also influences the English he uses. Unconsciously or due to ignorance, he introduces some grammatical and lexical features of his mother tongue into English thus giving rise to a different variety of the language. A Punjabi may be heard saying ‘I was talking with him’ instead of ‘I was talking to him’ because the preposition used in Punjabi in such situations is NAL which is normally considered to be equivalent to the English preposition with. Similarly, he may say ‘You will pass the examination if you will work hard’ although English makes use of the present tense in the subordinate clause of condition because in Punjabi, future tense is used in both the clauses of such a sentence. In addition to the use of the vocabulary and grammatical rules of his native language, he will also use tie accent of his mother tongue while speaking English.

Relationships between variety classes.

It may appear that the varieties described above are equal in rank and independent of one another. But there are situations when they are not so. Because writing is an art practised by educated people, written English will generally tend to be English of one or the other national standard.

That is why people sometimes face difficulties in representing uneducated or regional varieties. The orthographic conventions are suitable for writing standard educated English only. We do not sometimes know which letter of the alphabet we should use to represent a peculiar sound used in the non-standard variety which is not found in the standard variety.

Attitudinal varieties enjoy a great deal of independence in relation to other varieties. We may be formal or informal while discussing chemistry or physics or politics. But even here, there is a limit. We cannot choose to be informal or casual across authority gap or seniority gap. Similarly, it would be inappropriate to be formal in courtship or while discussing football or some other sport.

Individual varieties

In the ultimate analysis, we may say that every individual uses his own variety of English which is different from the variety used by any other speaker. We may refer to this individual variety by calling it idiolect. So we can say that every individual uses his own idiolect.

  Varieties within a variety

The conditioning factors which determine the variety of English or, for that matter, of any other language do not have an absolute effect. Their effect is variable and relative. It differs from person to person. One person may be more strongly affected than another by a particular factor.

Secondly, there is a margin of variation which cannot be explained in terms of any of these factors. There are sometimes two variations of the same sentence which cannot be assigned to two different varieties. All we can say is that one of them is rarer than the other or that one is newer and the other is older or archaic. Languages are constantly changing. As a result, there are always two different but coexistent forms in use, one relatively older and the other relatively newer. Some people in the community may prefer the one while others may choose the other. But many of us will not be consistent in their choice. They may choose the one on one occasion and the other on another occasion.