BRITISH ENGLISH
British English is the English language as spoken and written in the United Kingdom or, more broadly, throughout the British Isles. Slight regional
variations exist in formal, written English in the United Kingdom.
English is a West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain by Germanic settlers from various parts of
what is now northwest Germany and the northern Netherlands. The resident population at this time was generally speaking Common Brittonic
—the insular variety of continental Celtic, which was influenced by the Roman occupation. This group of languages (Welsh, Cornish, Cumbric)
cohabited alongside English into the modern period, but due to their remoteness from the Germanic languages, influence on English was
notably limited.
AMERICAN ENGLISH
American English sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States
and widely adopted in Canada. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and is the common language used by the federal
government, considered the de facto language of the country because of its widespread use. English has been given official status by 32 of the
50 state governments.
AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH
Australian English is a major variety of the English language, used throughout Australia. Although English has no official status in the
constitution, Australian English is the country’s national and de facto official language as it is the first language of the majority of the population.
Australian English began to diverge from British English after the founding of the Colony of New South Wales in 1788 and was recognized as
being different from British English by 1820. It arose from the intermingling of early settlers from a great variety of mutually intelligible dialectal
regions of the British Isles and quickly developed into a distinct variety of English.
CANADIAN ENGLISH
Canadian English is the set of varieties of the English language native to Canada. According to the 2011 census, English was the first language of
approximately 19 million Canadians (57% of the population) the remainder of the population were native speakers of Canadian French (22%) or
other languages (allophones, 21%).
The term “Canadian English” is first attested in a speech by the Reverend A. Constable Geikie in an address to the Canadian Institute in 1857.
Canadian English is the product of five waves of immigration and settlement over a period of more than two centuries. The first large wave of
permanent English-speaking settlement in Canada, and linguistically the most important, was the influx of loyalists fleeing the American
Revolution, chiefly from the Mid-Atlantic States – as such, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia,
and West Virginia. Canadian English is believed by some scholars to have derived from northern American English.
INDIAN ENGLISH
English language public instruction began in India in the 1830s during the rule of the East India Company (India was then, and is today, one of
the most linguistically diverse regions of the world). In 1835, English replaced Persian as the official language of the Company. Lord Macaulay
played a major role in introducing English and western concepts to education in India. He supported the replacement of Persian by English as
the official language, the use of English as the medium of instruction in all schools, and the training of English-speaking Indians as teachers.
The view of the English language among many Indians has gone from associating it with colonialism to associating it with economic progress,
and English continues to be an official language of India, albeit with an Indian twist, popularly known as Indian English.
PHILIPPINE ENGLISH
Philippine English is any variety of English (similar and related to American English) native to the Philippines, including those used by the media
and the vast majority of educated Filipinos. English is taught in schools as one of the two official languages of the country, the other being
Filipino (Tagalog).
Philippine English has evolved tremendously from where it began decades ago. Some decades before English was officially introduced, if not
arguably forced, to the Philippines, the archipelagic nation has been subject to Spanish rule and thus Spanish was the language of power and
influence. However, in 1898, when the Spanish gave the United States control of the nation, the English language, although initially not favored,
became widely used in a matter of years, which was catalyzed by the coming of American teachers.
UGANDAN ENGLISH
Ugandan English, or Uglish (pronounced you-glish), is the dialect of English spoken in Uganda. As with similar dialects spoken elsewhere,
Ugandan English has developed a strong local flavor. The speech patterns of Ugandan languages strongly influence spoken English. Uganda has a
large variety of indigenous languages, and someone familiar with Uganda can readily identify the native language of a person speaking English.
Ugandan speakers will alter foreign words to make them sound more euphonic.
