Introduction
The English language is as much a growing, changing language as any other; maybe even more so due to it's current world popularity.
As with other languages, there tends to be two general flavours.
- The purists promote a rigid, rule based, flavour which is usually taught in schools, and does not allow much for inaccuracies or mistakes. This flavour has rules for pronunciation, spelling, grammar, definition and usage, and prefers not to accept changes, idioms, slang or any other impurity.
- The second flavour accepts the flexible, ever changing nature of language, and promotes it. It allows for pronunciation, spelling, grammar, definition and usage to change. The biggest test of whether something is acceptable as English is whether it sounds/looks correct and whether it can be understood.
Naturally the purists detest this second flavour, yet the very rules we use in English today, are just a growing result of those natural changes having become standard in the past.
With English having grown independently in so many country's, Purists must now choose which version of English they wish to remain committed to. The most popular two, at this time, are 'British English' and 'American English', although a more universal, 'International English' may now be gaining prominence.
History of the English language
The English language has moved through three major stages in it's development. 'Old English' (or Anglo-Saxon), from ad 449 to 1100, 'Middle English', from 1100 to 1500, followed by the current 'Modern English'. 'Modern English' is subdivided further into 'Early Modern English' and 'Late Modern English', from about 1660 to the present time.
The transition from Middle English to Modern English was marked by a major change in the pronunciation of vowels, termed the 'Great Vowel Shift', which changed the pronunciation of 18 of the 20 distinctive vowels and diphthongs of 'Middle English'. Spelling, however, remained unchanged.
In the early part of the 'Modern English' period, the language's vocabulary was enlarged by borrowing words from more than 50 other languages. This was mainly brought about by increased world travel. In later years, colonial expansion, notably in North America but also in other areas of the world, as well as scientific discoveries and inventions led to a further expansion of the English lexis.
English settlements along America's Atlantic Coast, during the seventeenth century, provided the foundation for American English, but their speech soon began to evolve in a different direction due to the Atlantic ocean serving as a communication barrier between the colonists and England.
The Americans had to learn to talk in new ways to communicate with their new neighbours, the French, Dutch and Amerindians of several linguistic stocks. Moreover, the settlers had come from various districts and social groups of England, so there was a homogenizing effect: those in a given colony came to talk more like one another and less like any particular community in England. All these influences combined to make American English a distinct variety of the language.
Despite such changes, the norm of usage in the colonies remained that of the motherland until the American Revolution. Thereafter American English was no longer a colonial variety of the English of London but entered its national period. Political independence was soon followed by cultural independence, of which a notable founding father was Noah Webster, who set out to provide dictionaries and textbooks for recording and teaching American English with American models, helping institutionalize what he called Federal English.
With the recent influence of the mass media, more uniform spelling closer to actual pronunciation appears likely to result. Despite the possibility of such standardization, a unique feature of the English language remains its tendency to grow and change. Despite the warnings of linguistic purists, new words are constantly being coined and usages modified to express new concepts. It's vocabulary is constantly enriched by linguistic borrowings, particularly by cross-fertilizations from American English.
A growing / diverging language
Language is always changing, evolving, and adapting to the needs of its users. This allows for new words like the recently added 'modem', 'fax machine' and 'cable TV'. This change is so slow that we hardly notice it (except to grumble about the 'poor English' being used by the younger generation).
Another reason for change is that no two people have exactly the same language experience. We all know a slightly different set of words and constructions, depending on our age, job, education level, region, country, and so on. We pick up new words and phrases from all the different people we talk with, and these combine to make something new and unlike any other person's particular way of speaking.
Many of the changes that occur in language begin with teens and young adults: As young people interact, their language grows to include words, phrases and constructions that are different from those of the older generation. Some changes have a short life span, but others stick around to affect the language as a whole.
We get new words from many different places. We borrow them from other languages (sushi, chutzpah), we create them by shortening longer words (gym from gymnasium) or by combining words (brunch from breakfast and lunch), and we make them out of proper names (Levis, Fahrenheit). Sometimes we even create a new word by being wrong about the analysis of an existing word.
But it is not just the vocabulary that changes, the grammar and sounds of a language also change over time. The differences between 'Old English' and 'Modern English' in terms of sounds and grammar, makes them seem like completely different languages.
Current flavours of English
Countries currently using English as their primary language are:
Antigua, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, South Africa, St. Christopher and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, and United States of America
Apart from the regional variations, particularly in pronunciation and vernacular vocabulary, each of these countries could be considered to have substantial differences in their English language, and so could be considered as individual versions of English. Some experts try to calculate exactly how many versions of English there are; a common number being between 3-6. But now, with the computer age and the ease of travel, we are expecting some form of reconciliation of these versions, in the form of 'International English'.
Until 'International English' establishes itself (if at all), the two most popular versions of English will remain 'British English' and 'American English'.
British English has a reasonable degree of uniformity in its formal written form, which, as taught in schools, is largely the same as in the rest of the English-speaking world (except North America). On the other hand, the forms of spoken English - dialects, accents and vocabulary - used across the British Isles vary considerably more than in most other English-speaking areas of the world, even more so than in the United States, due to a much longer history of dialect development in the English speaking areas of Great Britain and Ireland. Dialects and accents vary, not only between England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and the Republic of Ireland, but also within these individual countries. For a long time, Received Pronunciation (RP) (also referred to as BBC English or Queen's English) was regarded as 'proper English', but with the intentional use of a mix of presenters with a variety of British accents and dialects, the BBC has made the concept of 'proper English' far less prevalent.
An important development of English outside Great Britain occurred with the colonization of North America. The most distinguishing differences between American English and British English are in pronunciation and vocabulary, with slighter differences in spelling, pitch, and stress as well. Written American English also has a tendency to be more rigid in matters of grammar and syntax, but at the same time appears to be more tolerant of the use of neologisms. Despite these differences, it is often difficult to determine, apart from context, whether documents have been written in Great Britain, the U.S.A, or any other English speaking country.
Apart from the USA and Britain, the form of English used in much of the rest of the world has remained closer to 'British English'. Most of these countries, however, have their own unique dialects of English; although mainly close to British English, each also has it's own peculiar mix of 'American English' words and features, as well as its own words and idioms. Hence the term Commonwealth English refers not to a particular English dialect, but rather to a collection of dialects based on British English to a greater extent than on 'American English'.
These two versions of English differ in many more ways than just the spelling and pronunciation of some words. Differences include 'Singular and plural for nouns', 'Use of some tenses', 'verb changes', differences in 'syntactic elements' and prepositions, 'meanings of words', punctuation, and much more.
Regarding movement between the two languages, it has been noted that British English is a lot more accepting of American words than vice-versa, although there are still many points of confusion between these two versions of English.
The English language - an exact science
Many people think that there is only one correct way to write English, but as we have looked at previously in this document, there are many flavours and differences.
In my experience writing documentation and websites, I have only ever had spelling/grammar complaints from two sorts of people. Either Americans complaining about British spelling and grammar, or the British complaining about the use of American spellings and grammar. Oddly enough, a much higher number of complaints come from the Americans compared to the British.
Also, strangely enough, I am yet to receive any complaints from citizens of any other English speaking countries, probably because these other countries have accepted both British English and American English as standards, and as long as documents consistently use one or the other, the reader has no problem adapting to the differences.
If you have well written American English documents, you will receive some complaints from the British (as you will from the Americans if you have a well written British English documents), but if your documents are difficult to understand, and written poorly, you are almost guaranteed to not receive any complaints at all. This is because English speakers tend to just give up on a document if it is difficult to understand.
If, for example, a hotel has a website, written using a poor standard of English, people will not judge the hotel for the attractive site, the hotel's facilities or prices, but for the bad English, and will quickly move on to another site.
Most English speakers adapt their understanding of a document based on the English used within it. They will employ different meanings for words and phrases based on whether the document is written in British English or American English. There are many examples of words that differ between British English and American English. For some examples, have a look at Wikipedia.
Some points to think about, when translating a document to English, are:
- Choose one version of English and consistently stick to it.
- Avoid any acronyms, idioms, or slang which may only be used in some English speaking countries.
- Make sure that the document flows, leading the reader from one paragraph to the next, from one thought to another.
- Have native English speakers verify that your document is easy to understand, and that your ideas are being conveyed accurately.
Recommendations for the use of English in translated documents
In Thailand, there is a definite preference growing among young people to speak American English. This is also reflected among many other people groups learning English as a second language. Reasons given for such this include the current international status of the United States, and the preference for the accent.
It, therefore, may seem the natural choice to choose American English for your documents, but you must remember that you are not writing your documents for those who speak English as a second language.
According to some studies, native English speakers actually generally prefer British English. Reasons given for this include:
- Many native English speaking countries were settled by the British, and so their versions of English are based on British English.
- As discussed previously, British English has generally been more accepting of foreign words and meanings, making it easier to write documents intended for an international audience.
As a New Zealander, I have a very good understanding of British English and American English, as well as the subtle differences used in New Zealand English. I am able to work with either American English or British English, but have a better understanding of British English.
In my experience, I have found that unless there is a real reason to choose American English when setting out to write a document, it is generally a good idea to choose British English.
Reference material
Much of the content of this page was referenced, extracted, or paraphrased from the following sites:
