English in the Commonwealth of Nations

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File:Please Do Not Step or Sit on Graves - Genocide Memorial Center - Kigali - Rwanda.jpg
English and Kinyarwanda text in Kigali, Rwanda. Rwanda, a Commonwealth country, was not previously part of the British Empire.

Commonwealth English is the set of varieties of the English language used in current and former countries of the Commonwealth. It connotes a mostly similar set of word spellings, punctuation rules and grammatical conventions. The use of English was largely inherited through British colonisation, with limited exceptions. The language forms part of the association's common culture and serves as the medium of inter-Commonwealth relations.[1][2]

The term Commonwealth English is most often interchangeable with British English, but is also used to distinguish between British English and that in the rest of the Commonwealth.[3] Many regions have developed their own local varieties of the language. Its official status varies; in Bangladesh, it lacks any but is widely used, and likewise in Cyprus, it is not official but is used as the Script error: No such module "Lang"..[4][5]

Written English in current and former countries of the Commonwealth generally favours British English spelling as opposed to that of American English,[6] with some exceptions, particularly in Canada.[7]

Native varieties

File:Abenaki stop sign odanak.jpg
Multilingual stop sign in a First Nations reserve in Canada, featuring the Abenaki, French and English languages

Southern Hemisphere native varieties of English began to develop during the 18th century, with the colonisation of Australasia and South Africa. Australian English and New Zealand English are closely related to each other and share some similarities with South African English. Nonetheless, South African English has unique influences from indigenous African languages, and Dutch influences inherited alongside the evolution of Afrikaans, while New Zealand English has a lot of influences from the Māori language.[8][9]

Canadian English contains elements of British English and American English, as well as many Canadianisms and some French influences. It is the product of several waves of immigration and settlement, from Britain, Ireland, France, the United States, and around the world, over a period of more than two centuries.[10][11]

File:Mother and daughter in India 1920.jpg
The mother tongue of Anglo-Indians is English, whilst most Indians speak it as a second language.

In many Commonwealth countries, there exists a relatively small native Anglophone minority amongst a larger population who speak English as a second language; Anglo-Indians speak English as their mother tongue, but it is not the first language of most Indians.[12][13]

Africa

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". In addition to South Africa, a number of Commonwealth countries in Africa have native varieties of English. A community of native English speakers exists in Zimbabwe; the country's dialect bears features of British English, South African English and other Southern Hemisphere varieties of Commonwealth English.[14][15] Also in Southern Africa and with historical influence from South Africa, Namibia and Botswana have their own dialects,[16][17] with smaller native English-speaking populations.[18][19] The same is true of Kenya[20][21] and Uganda in East Africa.[22][23]

Caribbean

File:No Politics nor Religion in Bar sign, Placencia Belize 2021.jpg
Sign in Belizean Creole, an English-based creole language
File:Mackennal (1926) Shakespeare Memorial.jpg
William Shakespeare memorial in Sydney, Australia. English is part of the common culture of the Commonwealth.

Caribbean English is drawn from British English and West African languages. It is influenced by constant contact with English-based Creoles. There is considerable influence from Hindustani and other South Asian languages in countries with language Indian populations, including Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana. Jamaican English and Barbadian English bear influences of Irish English.[24]

Non-native varieties

Second-language varieties of English in Africa and Asia have often undergone "indigenisation"; that is, each English-speaking community has developed (or is in the process of developing) its own standards of usage, often under the influence of local languages. These dialects are sometimes referred to as New Englishes;[25] most of them inherited non-rhoticity from Southern British English.[26][27][28]

Africa

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In the Commonwealth countries of West Africa, there are national varieties of English in Nigeria,[29] Ghana,[30] Sierra Leone,[31] Cameroon[32] and the Gambia.[33][34]

In East Africa, national varieties of English are spoken in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania.[20][35][22][36] The modern development of English in Rwanda is closely associated with the post-1994 period. The return of Rwandans who had lived for extended periods in neighbouring countries, particularly Uganda, increased the presence of English in public and institutional life, and provided an important regional input for local English usage.[37][38] English subsequently expanded in domains such as education and administration.[37][39] Rwanda became a Commonwealth country in 2009.[40]

Prior to Togo's admission to the Commonwealth in 2022, foreign minister Robert Dussey said that he expected Commonwealth membership to provide opportunities for Togolese citizens to learn English.[41]

Asia

Hong Kong

Hong Kong ceased to be part of the Commonwealth by virtue of being a British territory in 1997. Nonetheless, the English language there still enjoys official status.[42]

Indian subcontinent

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English was introduced to the subcontinent by the British Raj. India has the largest English-speaking population in the Commonwealth, although comparatively very few speakers of Indian English are first-language speakers.[43][44] The same is true of English spoken in other parts of South Asia, including Maldivian English,[45] Pakistani English,[46] Sri Lankan English,[47] Bangladeshi English[48] and Myanmar English; though Myanmar or Burma is not a Commonwealth country, English is the mother tongue of the Anglo-Burmese population.[49] South Asian English is fairly homogeneous across the subcontinent, though there are some differences based on various regional factors.[50]

Malay Archipelago

Southeast Asian English includes Singapore English, Malaysian English, and Brunei English as well as other varieties in non-Commonwealth countries (such as Indonesian English); it is not only the result of British colonisation but also American colonisation (as in the case of the Philippines) and globalisation. It has interacted with diverse local ecologies, shaping its form, function and status in the region.[51]

See also

References

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Boberg, Charles (2004) Standard Canadian English Template:Webarchive." In Raymond Hickey. Standards of English: Codified Varieties Around the World. Cambridge University Press. p. 159.
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Dollinger, Stefan (2008). "New-Dialect Formation in Canada". Benjamins, Template:ISBN. p. 25.
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Tom McArthur (ed.), Oxford Companion to the English Language. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. Template:ISBN. pp. 116, 352.
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".. The Independent, 26 August 2005
  24. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  25. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  26. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ Brinton, Lauren and Leslie Arnovick. The English Language: A Linguistic History. Oxford University Press: Canada, 2006.
  29. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  30. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  31. ↑ Saidu Bangura, 2015 A Roadmap to Sierra Leone English: A Sociohistorical and Ecological Perspective, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, PhD thesis, p. 124, 222, 232-242.
  32. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Template:Twlac
  33. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  34. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  35. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  36. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  37. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  38. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  39. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  40. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  41. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  42. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  43. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  44. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  45. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  46. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  47. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  48. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  49. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  50. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  51. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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  • McArthur, Tom (2002). The Oxford Guide to World English. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Template:ISBN.
  • Peters, Pam (2004). The Cambridge Guide to English Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Template:ISBN.
  • Trudgill, Peter & Hannah, Jean (2002). International English: A Guide to the Varieties of Standard English; 4th ed. London: Arnold. Template:ISBN.

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