English is the most widely spoken language globally, accounting for more than half of all global trade.
There are different types of English, including British, American, and Australian varieties. It’s difficult to tell the difference between these three varieties of English.
Around 380 million people are fluent in English as a first language. More than a billion individuals are fluent in English as a second language or have a decent command of it.
However, despite the English language being essentially the same across American and British English, there are essential features that make each type of English unique.
Even though English has a variety of dialects, the differences between them aren’t quite as pronounced as in other languages.
Accents range from Ugandan English to Canadian English, and they are both lovely and distinct.
Additionally, there is a propensity for people to combine English with their native tongue to create their unique form of English.
In this article, you will learn more about the different types of English spoken around the world.
1. British English
It is the English language spoken and written in Great Britain or, more generally, in the British Isles that is referred to as British English.
You can find minor geographical differences in written English used in official situations in Britain.
England’s Anglo-Frisian dialects were brought to the country by Germanic settlers who came from various sections of northwest Germany and the northern Netherlands, where English originated.
Common Brittonic type of continental Celtic was impacted by the Roman occupation. It became the dominant language spoken among residents during this period. They co-existed with English into the modern era.
However, they had little impact on it because of their distance from the Germanic languages.
2. American English
English native to the United States and commonly spoken in Canada is referred to as “American English,” “United States English.”
For many people in the United States, English is the primary language, and it is used in all federal government agencies, making it the country’s official language. In 32 of the 50 states, English has been designated as an official language.
3. Australian English
A prominent dialect of English, Australian English, is spoken throughout Australia. Most Australians use English as their first language, making it the country’s national and de facto official language, although it does not have official status under the constitution.
It wasn’t until the colony of New South Wales was established in 1788 that Australian English began to deviate from British English.
When early immigrants came from various dialectal regions of the British Isles, they mixed and mingled, creating a unique dialect of English.
4. Canadian English
Native to Canada, Canadian English refers to the various dialects spoken there. About 19 million Canadians speak English as their first language, while the rest of the population speaks Canadian French or other languages.
When Reverend A. Constable Geikie delivered a lecture to the Canadian Institute back in 1857, he referred to “Canadian English” for the first time.
Five waves of immigration and settlement spanning more than two centuries have resulted in the development of Canadian English.
The influx of loyalists fleeing the American Revolution, primarily from the Mid-Atlantic States as such, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington, Delaware, Maryland, D.C., Virginia, and West Virginia, was the first and most significant linguistically significant wave of permanent English-speaking settlement in Canada.
According to some academics, Northern American English may have been a source of Canadian English.
5. Irish English
There are two distinct varieties of English spoken and written in Ireland: Hiberno-English or Irish English.
Unlike other types of English, there are considerable variations in how Irish (or Hiberno-English) is spoken, written, and spoken in the North and South and East and West.
Among the different types of English, Irish English comes with a unique set of rules of grammar, for example, in Irish English, “after” is employed to record a finished action or to convey recency: therefore, “they’re after departing has the meaning of ‘they have just departed.”
No matter how terrible one’s Irish skills may be, the Irish-speaking population has an odd inclination to spice up their speech.
6. Indian English
During the control of the East India Company in the 1830s, English public education began in India (India was then, and is today, one of the most linguistically diverse regions of the world).
In 1835, English supplanted Persian as the Company’s official language, which was founded in 1815.
Lord Macaulay had a significant impact on introducing English and western principles to Indian schooling.
English should be replaced with Persian as the official language and should be used in all schools.
This in turn made English-speaking Indians should be trained to be instructors. A shift in the perception of this language among many Indians has taken place.
They saw it as a symbol of colonialism to one that sees it as a symbol of economic advancement.
7. Philippine English
The term “Philippine English” refers to any of the English dialects used in the Philippines, including but not limited to the varieties used by the media and the great majority of the country’s educated population.
As one of the country’s official languages, Filipino is taught in schools (Tagalog).
As a result of Philippine English’s rapid growth throughout the years, the language has developed significantly.
In the Philippines, Spanish was the language of authority and influence for some time until English was formally brought into the archipelagic nation.
When the Spanish surrendered their country to the United States in 1898, the arrival of American professors sparked a rapid rise in the use of English, which had previously been a minority language.
8. Scottish English
The dialects of English spoken in Scotland are known as Scottish English. Scottish Standard English (SSE) or Standard Scottish English is a transregional, uniform variant.
After the 17th century, Scots and English came into touch with one other’s dialects. As a result, this led to the development of Scottish English.
Many phonological compromises and lexical transfers resulted from Scots-speakers’ shifts to English usage.
As a result, linguists unfamiliar with the history of Scottish English often mistake for mergers. Phonology is what makes Scottish English is unique among the different types of English.
It is less vowel-rich in the Scots dialect than in other forms of English. The vowels of Scottish English are more recognizable to non-native speakers because there are fewer diphthongs.
9. Ugandan English
An English dialect spoken in Uganda is Uglish (pronounced you-glish). Ugandan English, like other local languages, has evolved a distinct character.
The language’s speech patterns heavily influence the spoken English of Ugandans. Those knowledgeable about Uganda’s indigenous languages may quickly identify the native tongue of someone who speaks English.
Ugandans will change foreign terms to make them sound more euphonic when spoken.
