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{{Other uses|English (disambiguation)}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2016}}
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<div style="font-size:162%; padding:.1em;">Welcome to [[Wikipedia]],</div>
{{EngvarB|date=July 2014}}
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<div style="font-size:95%;">the [[free content|free]] [[encyclopedia]] that [[Wikipedia:Introduction|anyone can edit]].</div>
{{Infobox language
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<div id="articlecount" style="font-size:85%;">[[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}]] articles in [[English language|English]]</div>
|name=English
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|pronunciation={{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɪ|ŋ|ɡ|l|ɪ|ʃ}}{{sfn|OxfordLearner'sDictionary|2015|loc=Entry: [http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/pronunciation/english/english_1 English – Pronunciation]}}
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|region= [[English-speaking world|Worldwide]] (see {{slink||Geographical distribution}}, below)
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<ul style="position:absolute; right:-1em; top:50%; margin-top:-2.4em; width:38%; min-width:25em; font-size:95%;">
|speakers=360{{ndash}}400{{nbsp}}million
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<li style="position:absolute; left:0; top:0;">[[Portal:Arts|Arts]]</li>
|date=2006
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<li style="position:absolute; left:0; top:1.6em;">[[Portal:Biography|Biography]]</li>
|ref={{sfn|Crystal|2006|pp=424–426}}
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<li style="position:absolute; left:0; top:3.2em;">[[Portal:Geography|Geography]]</li>
|speakers2=[[Second language|L2 speakers]]: 400{{nbsp}}million;{{brk}}as a [[foreign language]]: 600–700 million{{sfn|Crystal|2006|pp=424–426}}
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<li style="position:absolute; left:33%; top:0;">[[Portal:History|History]]</li>
|familycolor =Indo-European
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<li style="position:absolute; left:33%; top:1.6em;">[[Portal:Mathematics|Mathematics]]</li>
|fam2=[[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
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<li style="position:absolute; left:33%; top:3.2em;">[[Portal:Science|Science]]</li>
|fam3=[[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]]
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<li style="position:absolute; left:66%; top:0;">[[Portal:Society|Society]]</li>
|fam4=[[Anglo-Frisian languages|Anglo-Frisian]]
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<li style="position:absolute; left:66%; top:1.6em;">[[Portal:Technology|Technology]]</li>
|fam5=[[Anglic languages|Anglic]]
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<li style="position:absolute; left:66%; top:3.2em;"><strong>[[Portal:Contents/Portals|All portals]]</strong></li>
|ancestor=[[Old English]]
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</ul>
|ancestor2=[[Middle English]]
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</div>
|ancestor3=[[Early Modern English]]
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* [[Latin script]] ([[English alphabet]])
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* [[English Braille]], [[Unified English Braille]]
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* [[List of territorial entities where English is an official language#Sovereign states|67 countries]]
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* [[List of territorial entities where English is an official language#Non-sovereign entities|27 non-sovereign entities]]{{brk}}
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{{Collapsible list |titlestyle= font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left; |title= Various organisations|
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* [[United Nations]]
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<h2 id="mp-tfa-h2" style="margin:0.5em; background:#cef2e0; font-family:inherit; font-size:120%; font-weight:bold; border:1px solid #a3bfb1; color:#000; padding:0.2em 0.4em;">{{#ifexpr:{{formatnum:{{PAGESIZE:Wikipedia:Today's featured article/{{#time:F j, Y}}}}|R}}>150|From today's featured article|Featured article <span style="font-size:85%; font-weight:normal;">(Check back later for today's.)</span>}}</h2>
* [[European Union]]
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<div id="mp-tfa" style="padding:0.1em 0.6em;">{{#ifexpr:{{formatnum:{{PAGESIZE:Wikipedia:Today's featured article/{{#time:F j, Y}}}}|R}}>150|{{Wikipedia:Today's featured article/{{#time:F j, Y}}}}|{{Wikipedia:Today's featured article/{{#time:F j, Y|-1 day}}}}}}</div>
* [[Commonwealth of Nations]]
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<h2 id="mp-dyk-h2" style="clear:both; margin:0.5em; background:#cef2e0; font-family:inherit; font-size:120%; font-weight:bold; border:1px solid #a3bfb1; color:#000; padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Did you know...</h2>
* [[Council of Europe]]
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<div id="mp-dyk" style="padding:0.1em 0.6em 0.5em;>{{Did you know}}</div>
* [[International Criminal Court|ICC]]
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* [[International Olympic Committee|IOC]]
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* [[NATO]]
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* [[WTO]]
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<div id="mp-itn" style="padding:0.1em 0.6em;">{{In the news}}</div>
* [[North American Free Trade Agreement|NAFTA]]
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* [[Organization of American States|OAS]]
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<div id="mp-otd" style="padding:0.1em 0.6em 0.5em;">{{Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/{{#time:F j}}}}</div>
* [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|OECD]]
 
* [[Organisation of Islamic Cooperation|OIC]]
 
* [[OPEC]]
 
* [[GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development]]
 
* [[Pacific Islands Forum|PIF]]
 
* [[UKUSA Agreement]]
 
* [[Association of Southeast Asian Nations|ASEAN]]
 
* [[ASEAN Economic Community]]
 
* [[South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation|SAARC]]
 
*[[Caribbean Community|CARICOM]]
 
* [[Turkic Council]]
 
* [[Economic Cooperation Organization|ECO]]
 
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|iso1=en
 
|iso2=eng
 
|iso3=eng
 
|lingua=52-ABA
 
|map=Countries with English as Official Language.png
 
|mapcaption=
 
{{legend|#00d921|Anglosphere}}
 
{{legend|#088a4b|Official as majority language}}
 
{{legend|#16c46d|Official as minority language}}
 
{{legend|#045fb4|Co-official as majority language}}
 
{{legend|#5599ff|Co-official as minority language}}
 
{{legend|#f1ff59|Unofficial}}
 
{{legend|#ffc34a|Not official as majority language}}
 
{{legend|#ffffff|Not official as minority language}}
 
|notice=IPA
 
|sign=[[Manually coded English]]<br />(multiple systems)
 
|glotto=stan1293
 
|glottorefname=Standard English
 
}}
 
 
 
'''English''' {{IPAc-en|audio=En-us-English.ogg|ˈ|ɪ|ŋ|ɡ|l|ɪ|ʃ}} is a [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic language]] that was first spoken in [[Anglo-Saxon England|early medieval England]] and is now a global ''[[lingua franca]]''.{{sfn|Crystal|2003a|p=6}}{{sfn|Wardhaugh|2010|p=55}} Named after the [[Angles]], one of the Germanic tribes that migrated to [[England]], it ultimately derives its name from the [[Angeln|Anglia (Angeln)]] peninsula in the [[Baltic Sea]]. It is closely related to the [[Frisian languages]], but its vocabulary has been significantly influenced by other [[Germanic languages]], particularly [[Old Norse|Norse]] (a [[North Germanic languages|North Germanic language]]), as well as by [[Latin language|Latin]] and [[Romance languages]], particularly [[French language|French]].<ref name="Wolff">{{cite book |last=Finkenstaedt |first=Thomas |author2=Dieter Wolff  |title=Ordered profusion; studies in dictionaries and the English lexicon |publisher=C. Winter |year=1973 |isbn=3-533-02253-6}}</ref>
 
 
 
English has developed over the course of more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of [[Anglo-Frisian languages|Anglo-Frisian dialects]] brought to [[Great Britain]] by [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon settlers]] in the 5th century, are called [[Old English]]. [[Middle English]] began in the late 11th century with the [[Norman conquest of England]], and was a period in which the language was influenced by French.{{sfn|Crystal|2003b|p=30}} [[Early Modern English]] began in the late 15th century with the introduction of the [[printing press]] to London and the [[King James Bible]], and the start of the [[Great Vowel Shift]].<ref>{{cite web|title=''How English evolved into a global language''|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12017753|date=20 December 2010|publisher=BBC|accessdate=9 August 2015}}</ref> Through the worldwide influence of the [[British Empire]], modern English spread around the world from the 17th to mid-20th centuries. Through all types of printed and electronic media, as well as the emergence of the United States as a global [[superpower]], English has become the [[World language|leading language]] of international discourse and the ''lingua franca'' in many regions and in professional contexts such as science, navigation and law.{{sfn|The Routes of English|2015}}
 
 
 
English is the [[List of languages by number of native speakers|third most widespread native language]] in the world, after [[Standard Chinese]] and [[Spanish language|Spanish]].{{sfn|Ethnologue|2010}} It is the most widely learned [[second language]] and is either the [[official language]] or one of the official languages in [[list of territorial entities where English is an official language|almost 60 sovereign states]]. There are more people who have learned it as a second language than there are native speakers. English is the most commonly spoken language in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, and it is widely spoken in some areas of the [[Caribbean]], Africa and South Asia.{{sfn|Crystal|2003b|pp=108–109}} It is [[Official languages of the United Nations|co-official language of the United Nations]], of [[Languages of the European Union|the European Union]] and of many other world and regional international organisations. It is the most widely spoken Germanic language, accounting for at least 70% of speakers of this Indo-European branch. English has a vast [[vocabulary]], and counting exactly how many words it has is impossible.{{sfn|HowManyWords|2015}}{{sfn|Algeo|1999}}  
 
 
 
Modern [[English grammar]] is the result of a gradual change from a typical Indo-European dependent marking pattern with a rich [[inflection]]al [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] and relatively free [[word order]], to a mostly [[Analytic language|analytic]] pattern with little [[inflection]], a fairly fixed [[SVO word order]] and a complex [[syntax]].{{sfn|König|1994|page=539}} [[Modern English]] relies more on [[auxiliary verb]]s and [[word order]] for the expression of complex [[grammatical tense|tenses]], [[grammatical aspect|aspect]] and [[grammatical mood|mood]], as well as [[passive voice|passive constructions]], [[interrogative]]s and some [[negation]]. Despite noticeable variation among the [[English accents|accents]] and [[English dialects|dialects of English]] used in different countries and regions – in terms of [[phonetics]] and [[phonology]], and sometimes also [[vocabulary]], [[grammar]] and [[English spelling differences|spelling]] – English-speakers from around the world are able to communicate with one another with [[mutual intelligibility|relative ease]].
 
 
 
== Classification ==
 
[[File:Germanic Languages Map Europe.png|thumb|The [[Germanic languages]] in Europe]]
 
[[File:Anglo-Frisian distribution map.svg|thumb|left|The [[Anglo-Frisian languages]]<br /><br />
 
{{legend|#ffa500|English}}
 
{{legend|#D2691E|[[Scots language|Scots]]}}
 
{{legend|#000066|[[West Frisian language|West Frisian]]}}
 
{{legend|#3366CC|[[North Frisian language|North Frisian]]}}
 
{{legend|#66CCFF|[[Saterland Frisian language|Saterland Frisian]]}}]]
 
 
 
English is an [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European language]], and belongs to the [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]] group of the [[Germanic languages]].{{sfn|Bammesberger|1992|pp=29–30}} Most closely related to English are the [[Frisian languages]], and English and Frisian form the [[Anglo-Frisian languages|Anglo-Frisian]] subgroup within West Germanic.<!-- Sentence on Low German has been moved up. Was the Anglo-Frisian sentence referenced from Bammesberger? --> [[Low German|Low German/Low Saxon]] is also closely related, and sometimes English, the Frisian languages, and Low German are grouped together as the [[Ingvaeonic languages|Ingvaeonic]] or North Sea Germanic languages.{{sfn|Bammesberger|1992|p=30}} Modern English descends from [[Middle English]], which in turn descends from [[Old English]].{{sfn|Robinson|1992}} Particular dialects of Old and Middle English also developed into a number of other [[English languages|English (Anglic) languages]], including [[Scots language|Scots]]{{sfn|Romaine|1982|pp=56–65}} and the extinct [[Fingallian]] and [[Forth and Bargy dialect|Forth and Bargy (Yola)]] dialects of Ireland.{{sfn|Barry|1982|pp=86–87}}
 
 
 
English is classified as a Germanic language because it shares [[language change|innovations]] with other Germanic languages such as [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[German language|German]], and [[Swedish language|Swedish]].{{sfn|Durrell|2006}} These shared innovations show that the languages have descended from a single common ancestor, which linguists call [[Proto-Germanic]]. Some shared features of Germanic languages are the use of [[modal verb]]s, the division of verbs into [[Germanic strong verb|strong]] and [[Germanic weak verb|weak]] classes, and the sound changes affecting [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] consonants, known as [[Grimm's law|Grimm's]] and [[Verner's law]]s.
 
 
 
English, like the other insular Germanic languages, [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]] and [[Faroese language|Faroese]], developed independently of the continental Germanic languages and their influences. English is thus not [[Mutual intelligibility|mutually intelligible]] with any continental Germanic language, differing in [[lexis (linguistics)|vocabulary]], [[syntax]], and [[phonology]], although some, such as Dutch, do show strong affinities with English, especially with its earlier stages.{{sfn|Harbert|2007}}
 
 
 
Because English through its history has changed considerably in response to contact with other languages, particularly [[Old Norse]] and [[Norman language|Norman French]], some scholars have argued that English can be considered a [[mixed language]] or a [[Creole language|creole]] – a theory called the [[Middle English creole hypothesis]]. Although the high degree of influence from these languages on the vocabulary and grammar of Modern English is widely acknowledged, most specialists in language contact do not consider English to be a true mixed language.{{sfn|Thomason|Kaufman|1988|pp=264–265}}{{sfn|Watts|2011|loc=Chapter 4}}
 
[[File:Westgermanic English tree.svg|thumb|upright=1.13|[[Phylogenetic tree]] showing the historical relations between the languages of the West Germanic branch of the Germanic languages]]
 
Through Grimm's law, the word for ''foot'' begins with {{IPA|/f/}} in Germanic languages, but its [[cognate]]s in other Indo-European languages begin with {{IPA|/p/}}. English is classified as an Anglo-Frisian language because Frisian and English share other features, such as the [[palatalization (sound change)|palatalisation]] of consonants that were velar consonants in Proto-Germanic (see {{section link|Phonological history of Old English|Palatalization}}).{{sfn|König|van der Auwera|1994}}
 
 
 
* English ''sing'', ''sang'', ''sung''; Dutch ''zingen'', ''zong'', ''gezongen''; German ''singen'', ''sang'', ''gesungen'' (strong verb)
 
: English ''laugh'', ''laughed''; Dutch and German ''lachen'', ''lachte'' (weak verb)
 
* English ''foot'', Dutch ''voet'', German ''Fuß'', Norwegian and Swedish ''fot'' (initial {{IPA|/f/}} derived from Proto-Indo-European {{PIE|*p}} through Grimm's law)
 
: Latin ''pes'', [[word stem|stem]] ''ped-''; Modern Greek {{lang|el|πόδι}} ''pódi''; [[Russian language|Russian]] {{lang|ru|под}} ''pod''; [[Sanskrit]] {{lang|sa|पद्}} ''pád'' (original Proto-Indo-European {{PIE|*p}})
 
* English ''cheese'', Frisian ''tsiis'' (''ch'' and ''ts'' from palatalisation)
 
: German ''Käse'' and Dutch ''kaas'' (''k'' without palatalisation)
 
 
 
== History ==
 
{{Main article|History of English}}
 
 
 
=== Proto-Germanic to Old English ===
 
{{Main article|Old English}}
 
 
 
[[File:Beowulf Cotton MS Vitellius A XV f. 132r.jpg|thumb|The opening to the Old English epic poem ''[[Beowulf]]'', [[manuscript|handwritten]] in [[Half-uncial|half-uncial script]]:<br />''{{lang|ang|Hƿæt ƿē Gārde/na ingēar dagum þēod cyninga / þrym ge frunon...}}''<br />"Listen! We of the Spear-Danes from days of yore have heard of the glory of the folk-kings..."]]
 
 
 
The earliest form of English is called Old English or Anglo-Saxon (c. 550–1066 CE). Old English developed from a set of [[Ingvaeonic languages|North Sea Germanic dialects]] originally spoken along the coasts of [[Frisia]], [[Lower Saxony]], [[Jutland]], and Southern [[Sweden]] by Germanic tribes known as the [[Angles]], [[Saxons]], and [[Jutes]]. In the fifth century, the Anglo-Saxons [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain|settled Britain]] as [[End of Roman rule in Britain|the Roman economy and administration collapsed]]. By the seventh century, the Germanic language of the Anglo-Saxons [[Celtic language-death in England|became dominant in Britain]], replacing the languages of [[Roman Britain]] (43–409 CE): [[Common Brittonic]], a [[Celtic languages|Celtic language]], and [[Latin]], brought to Britain by the [[Caesar's invasions of Britain|Roman occupation]].{{sfn|Collingwood|Myres|1936}}{{sfn|Graddol|Leith|Swann et al.|2007}}{{sfn|Blench|Spriggs|1999}} ''England'' and ''English'' (originally ''Ænglaland'' and ''Ænglisc'') are named after the Angles.{{sfn|Bosworth|Toller|1921}}
 
 
 
Old English was divided into four dialects: the Anglian dialects, [[Mercian dialect|Mercian]] and [[Northumbrian dialect|Northumbrian]], and the Saxon dialects, [[Kentish dialect (Old English)|Kentish]] and [[West Saxon dialect|West Saxon]].{{sfn|Campbell|1959|p=4}} Through the educational reforms of [[Alfred the Great|King Alfred]] in the ninth century and the influence of the kingdom of [[Wessex]], the West Saxon dialect became the [[standard language|standard written variety]].{{sfn|Toon|1992|loc=Chapter: Old English Dialects}} The [[epic poetry|epic poem]] ''[[Beowulf]]'' is written in West Saxon, and the earliest English poem, ''[[Cædmon's Hymn]]'', is written in Northumbrian.{{sfn|Donoghue|2008}} Modern English developed mainly from Mercian, but the [[Scots language]] developed from Northumbrian. A few short inscriptions from the early period of Old English were written using a [[Anglo-Saxon runes|runic script]].{{sfn|Gneuss |2013|p=23}} By the sixth century, a [[Old English Latin alphabet|Latin alphabet]] was adopted, written with [[half-uncial]] [[letterform]]s. It included the runic letters ''[[wynn]]'' {{angbr|{{lang|ang|ƿ}}}} and ''[[Thorn (letter)|thorn]]'' {{angbr|{{lang|ang|þ}}}}, and the modified Latin letters ''[[eth]]'' {{angbr|{{lang|ang|ð}}}}, and ''[[Æ|ash]]'' {{angbr|{{lang|ang|æ}}}}.{{sfn|Gneuss |2013|p=23}}{{sfn|Denison|Hogg|2006|pp=30–31}}
 
 
 
Old English is very different from Modern English and difficult for 21st-century English speakers to understand. Its grammar was similar to that of modern [[German language|German]], and its closest relative is [[Old Frisian]]. [[Old English grammar|Nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs]] had many more [[Inflectional morphology|inflectional endings and forms]], and word order was [[Pragmatic word order|much freer]] than in Modern English. Modern English has [[grammatical case|case forms]] in pronouns (''he'', ''him'', ''his'') and a few verb endings (''I have'', ''he has''), but Old English had case endings in nouns as well, and verbs had more [[grammatical person|person]] and [[grammatical number|number]] endings.{{sfn|Hogg|1992|loc=Chapter 3. Phonology and Morphology}}{{sfn|Smith|2009}}{{sfn|Trask|Trask|2010}}
 
 
 
The translation of Matthew 8:20 from 1000 CE shows examples of case endings ([[nominative case|nominative]] plural, [[accusative case|accusative]] plural, [[genitive case|genitive]] singular) and a verb ending ([[present tense|present]] plural):
 
: ''Foxas habbað holu and heofonan fuglas nest''
 
: Fox-as habb-að hol-u and heofon-an fugl-as nest-∅
 
: fox-{{sc|NOM.PL}} have-{{sc|PRS.PL}} hole-{{sc|ACC.PL}} and heaven-{{sc|GEN.SG}} bird-{{sc|NOM.PL}} nest-{{sc|ACC.PL}}
 
: "Foxes have holes and the birds of heaven nests"{{sfn|Lass|2006|pp=46–47}}
 
 
 
=== Middle English ===
 
{{Main article|Middle English}}
 
 
 
{{Quote box |width=300px |align=right |quoted=true |
 
|salign=right
 
|quote=''Englischmen þeyz hy hadde fram þe bygynnyng þre manner speche, Souþeron, Northeron, and Myddel speche in þe myddel of þe lond, … Noþeles by comyxstion and mellyng, furst wiþ Danes, and afterward wiþ Normans, in menye þe contray longage ys asperyed, and som vseþ strange wlaffyng, chyteryng, harryng, and garryng grisbytting''.<br /><br />Although, from the beginning, Englishmen had three manners of speaking, southern, northern and midlands speech in the middle of the country, … Nevertheless, through intermingling and mixing, first with Danes and then with Normans, amongst many the country language has arisen, and some use strange stammering, chattering, snarling, and grating gnashing.
 
|source= [[John of Trevisa]], ca. 1385{{sfn|Hogg|2006|pp=360–361}}
 
}}
 
 
 
In the period from the 8th to the 12th century, Old English gradually transformed through [[language contact]] into [[Middle English]]. Middle English is often arbitrarily defined as beginning with the [[Norman conquest of England|conquest of England]] by [[William the Conqueror]] in 1066, but it developed further in the period from 1200–1450.
 
 
 
First, the waves of Norse colonisation of northern parts of the British Isles in the 8th and 9th centuries put Old English into intense contact with [[Old Norse]], a [[North Germanic]] language. Norse influence was strongest in the Northeastern varieties of Old English spoken in the [[Danelaw]] area around York, which was the centre of Norse colonisation; today these features are still particularly present in [[Scots language|Scots]] and [[Northern England English|Northern English]]. However the centre of norsified English seems to have been in [[the Midlands]] around [[Kingdom of Lindsey|Lindsey]], and after 920 CE when Lindsey was reincorporated into the Anglo-Saxon polity, Norse features spread from there into English varieties that had not been in intense contact with Norse speakers. Some elements of Norse influence that persist in all English varieties today are the pronouns beginning with ''th-'' (''they, them, their'') which replaced the Anglo-Saxon pronouns with ''h-'' (''hie, him, hera'').{{sfn|Thomason|Kaufman|1988|pp=284–290}}
 
 
 
With the [[Norman conquest of England]] in 1066, the now norsified Old English language was subject to contact with the [[Old Norman]] language, a [[Romance language]] closely related to Modern [[French language|French]]. The Norman language in England eventually developed into [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-Norman]]. Because Norman was spoken primarily by the elites and nobles, while the lower classes continued speaking Anglo-Saxon, the influence of Norman consisted of introducing a wide range of [[loanwords]] related to politics, legislation and prestigious social domains.{{sfn|Svartvik|Leech|2006|p=39}} Middle English also greatly simplified the inflectional system, probably in order to reconcile Old Norse and Old English, which were inflectionally different but morphologically similar. The distinction between nominative and accusative case was lost except in personal pronouns, the instrumental case was dropped, and the use of the genitive case was limited to describing [[Possession (linguistics)|possession]]. The inflectional system regularised many irregular inflectional forms,{{sfn|Lass|1992}} and gradually simplified the system of agreement, making word order less flexible.{{sfn|Fischer|van der Wurff|2006|pages=111–13}} By the [[Wycliffe Bible]] of the 1380s, the passage Matthew 8:20 was written
 
 
 
: ''Foxis han dennes, and briddis of heuene han nestis''<ref>{{cite web| last = Wycliffe | first = John | url=http://wesley.nnu.edu/fileadmin/imported_site/wycliffe/wycbible-all.pdf | publisher = Wesley NNU | title = Bible}}</ref>
 
 
 
Here the plural suffix ''-n'' on the verb ''have'' is still retained, but none of the case endings on the nouns are present.
 
 
 
By the 12th century Middle English was fully developed, integrating both Norse and Norman features; it continued to be spoken until the transition to early Modern English around 1500. Middle English literature includes [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]'s ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]'', and [[Thomas Malory|Malory's]] ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]''. In the Middle English period the use of regional dialects in writing proliferated, and dialect traits were even used for effect by authors such as Chaucer.
 
 
 
=== Early Modern English ===
 
{{Main article|Early Modern English}}
 
 
 
[[File:Great Vowel Shift2a.svg|right|upright=1.36|thumb|Graphic representation of the [[Great Vowel Shift]], showing how the pronunciation of the long vowels gradually shifted, with the high vowels i: and u: breaking into diphthongs and the lower vowels each shifting their pronunciation up one level]]
 
 
 
The next period in the history of English was Early Modern English (1500–1700). Early Modern English was characterised by the [[Great Vowel Shift]] (1350–1700), inflectional simplification, and linguistic standardisation.
 
 
 
The Great Vowel Shift affected the stressed long vowels of Middle English. It was a [[chain shift]], meaning that each shift triggered a subsequent shift in the vowel system. [[Mid vowel|Mid]] and [[open vowel]]s were [[raising (phonology)|raised]], and [[close vowel]]s were [[vowel breaking|broken]] into [[diphthong]]s. For example, the word ''bite'' was originally pronounced as the word ''beet'' is today, and the second vowel in the word ''about'' was pronounced as the word ''boot'' is today. The Great Vowel Shift explains many irregularities in spelling, since English retains many spellings from Middle English, and it also explains why English vowel letters have very different pronunciations from the same letters in other languages.{{sfn|Lass|2000}}{{sfn|Görlach|1991|pp=66–70}}
 
 
 
English began to rise in prestige during the reign of [[Henry V of England|Henry V]]. Around 1430, the [[Court of Chancery]] in [[Westminster]] began using English in its [[writ|official documents]], and a new standard form of Middle English, known as [[Chancery Standard]], developed from the dialects of London and the [[East Midlands English|East Midlands]]. In 1476, [[William Caxton]] introduced the [[printing press]] to England and began publishing the first printed books in London, expanding the influence of this form of English.{{sfn|Nevalainen|Tieken-Boon van Ostade|2006|pages=274–79}} Literature from the Early Modern period includes the works of [[William Shakespeare]] and the [[King James Version|translation of the Bible]] commissioned by [[James VI and I|King James I]]. Even after the vowel shift the language still sounded different from Modern English: for example, the [[consonant cluster]]s {{IPA|/kn ɡn sw/}} in ''knight'', ''gnat'', and ''sword'' were still pronounced. Many of the grammatical features that a modern reader of Shakespeare might find quaint or archaic represent the distinct characteristics of Early Modern English.{{sfn|Cercignani|1981}}
 
 
 
In the 1611 King James Version of the Bible, written in Early Modern English, Matthew 8:20 says:
 
: ''The Foxes haue holes and the birds of the ayre haue nests''{{sfn|Lass|2006|pp=46–47}}
 
 
 
This exemplifies the loss of case and its effects on sentence structure (replacement with Subject-Verb-Object word order, and the use of ''of'' instead of the non-possessive genitive), and the introduction of loanwords from French (''ayre'') and word replacements (''bird'' originally meaning "nestling" had replaced OE ''fugol'').
 
 
 
=== Spread of Modern English ===
 
 
 
By the late 18th century, the [[British Empire]] had facilitated the spread of English through its colonies and geopolitical dominance. Commerce, science and technology, diplomacy, art, and formal education all contributed to English becoming the first truly global language. English also facilitated worldwide international communication.{{sfn|How English evolved into a global language|2010}}{{sfn|The Routes of English}} As England continued to form new colonies, these in turn became independent and developed their own norms for how to speak and write the language. English was adopted in North America, India, parts of Africa, Australasia, and many other regions. In the post-colonial period, some of the newly created nations that had multiple [[indigenous language]]s opted to continue using English as the official language to avoid the political difficulties inherent in promoting any one indigenous language above the others.{{sfn|Romaine|2006|p=586}}{{sfn|Mufwene|2006|p=614}}{{sfn|Northrup|2013|pp=81–86}} In the 20th century the growing economic and cultural influence of the United States and its status as a [[superpower]] following the Second World War has, along with worldwide broadcasting in English by the [[BBC]]<ref>{{cite web|last=Baker|first=Colin|title=''Encyclopedia of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education'', page CCCXI|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YgtSqB9oqDIC|date=August 1998|publisher=Multilingual Matters Ltd|accessdate=9 August 2015}}</ref> and other broadcasters, significantly accelerated the spread of the language across the planet.{{sfn|Graddol|2006}}{{sfn|Crystal|2003a}} By the 21st century, English was more widely spoken and written than any language has ever been.{{sfn|McCrum|MacNeil|Cran|2003|pp=9–10}}
 
 
 
A major feature in the early development of Modern English was the codification of explicit norms for standard usage, and their dissemination through official media such as public education and state sponsored publications. In 1755 [[Samuel Johnson]] published his ''[[A Dictionary of the English Language]]'' which introduced a standard set of spelling conventions and usage norms. In 1828, [[Noah Webster]] published the ''[[Webster's Dictionary|American Dictionary of the English language]]'' in an effort to establish a norm for speaking and writing American English that was independent from the British standard. Within Britain, non-standard or lower class dialect features were increasingly stigmatised, leading to the quick spread of the prestige varieties among the middle classes.{{sfn|Romaine|1999|pp=1–56}}
 
 
 
In terms of grammatical evolution, Modern English has now reached a stage where the loss of case is almost complete (case is now only found in pronouns, such as ''he'' and ''him'', ''she'' and ''her'', ''who'' and ''whom''), and where SVO word-order is mostly fixed.{{sfn|Romaine|1999|pp=1–56}} Some changes, such as the use of [[do-support]] have become universalised. (Earlier English did not use the word "do" as a general auxiliary as Modern English does; at first it was only used in question constructions where it was not obligatory.{{sfn|Romaine|1999|p=2|quote=Other changes such as the spread and regularisation of do support began in the thirteenth century and were more or less complete in the nineteenth. Although do coexisted with the simple verb forms in negative statements from the early ninth century, obligatoriness was not complete until the nineteenth. The increasing use of do periphrasis coincides with the fixing of SVO word order. Not surprisingly, do is first widely used in interrogatives, where the word order is disrupted, and then later spread to negatives.}} Now, do-support with the verb ''have'' is becoming increasingly standardised.) The use of progressive forms in ''-ing'', appears to be spreading to new constructions, and forms such as ''had been being built'' are becoming more common. Regularisation of irregular forms also slowly continues (e.g. ''dreamed'' instead of ''dreamt''), and analytical alternatives to inflectional forms are becoming more common (e.g. ''more polite'' instead of ''politer''). British English is also undergoing change under the influence of American English, fuelled by the strong presence of American English in the media and the prestige associated with the US as a world power. {{sfn|Leech|Hundt|Mair|Smith|2009|pp=18–19}}{{sfn|Mair|Leech|2006}}{{sfn|Mair|2006}}
 
 
 
== Geographical distribution ==
 
{{anchor|Geographic distribution}}
 
{{See also|List of territorial entities where English is an official language|List of countries by English-speaking population|English-speaking world}}
 
[[File:Map of English native speakers.png|upright=1.16|thumb|Percentage of English native speakers.]]
 
[[File:Percentage of English speakers by country as of 2014.png|upright=1.16|thumb|Percentage of English speakers by country.
 
{| border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="width:100%; background:none;"
 
|-
 
|style="vertical-align: top;"|
 
{{legend|#225500|80–100%}}
 
{{legend|#44aa00|60–80%}}
 
|style="vertical-align: top;"|
 
{{legend|#66ff00|40–60%}}
 
{{legend|#99ff55|20–40%}}
 
|style="vertical-align: top;"|
 
{{legend|#ccffaa|0–20%}}
 
{{legend|#b9b9b9|Not available}}
 
|}]]
 
 
 
As of 2016, 400 million people spoke English as their [[first language]], and 1.1 billion spoke it as a secondary language.<ref>{{cite web|title=Which countries are best at English as a second language?|url=https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/11/which-countries-are-best-at-english-as-a-second-language-4d24c8c8-6cf6-4067-a753-4c82b4bc865b|website=World Economic Forum|accessdate=29 November 2016}}</ref> English is probably the third largest language by number of native speakers, after [[Standard Chinese|Mandarin]] and [[Spanish language|Spanish]].{{sfn|Ethnologue|2010}} However, when combining native and non-native speakers it may, depending on the estimate used, be the most commonly spoken language in the world.{{sfn|McCrum|MacNeil|Cran|2003|pp=9–10}}{{sfn|Crystal|2003a|p=69}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/eng|title=English|newspaper=Ethnologue|access-date=2016-10-29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/cmn |title=Chinese, Mandarin |newspaper=Ethnologue |access-date=2016-10-29 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160926043620/http://www.ethnologue.com/language/CMN |archivedate=26 September 2016 |df= }}</ref> English is spoken by communities on every continent and on oceanic islands in all the major oceans.{{sfn|Crystal|2003b|p=106}}
 
 
 
The countries in which English is spoken can be grouped into different categories by how English is used in each country. The "inner circle"{{sfn|Svartvik|Leech|2006|p=2}} countries with many native speakers of English share an international standard of written English and jointly influence speech norms of English around the world. English does not belong to just one country, and it does not belong solely to descendants of English settlers. English is an official language of countries populated by few descendants of native speakers of English. It has also become by far the most important language of international communication when people who share no native language meet anywhere in the world.
 
 
 
=== Three circles of English-speaking countries ===
 
[[Braj Kachru]] distinguishes countries where English is spoken with a [[Three Circles of English|three circles model]].{{sfn|Svartvik|Leech|2006|p=2}} In his model, the "inner circle" countries are countries with large communities of native speakers of English, "outer circle" countries have small communities of native speakers of English but widespread use of English as a second language in education or broadcasting or for local official purposes, and "expanding circle" countries are countries where many learners learn English as a foreign language. Kachru bases his model on the history of how English spread in different countries, how users acquire English, and the range of uses English has in each country. The three circles change membership over time.{{sfn|Kachru|2006|p=196}}
 
 
 
[[File:Kachru's three circles of English.jpg|thumb|alt=Braj Kachru's Three Circles of English|Braj Kachru's Three Circles of English''.]]
 
Countries with large communities of native speakers of English (the inner circle) include Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand, where the majority speaks English, and South Africa, where a significant minority speaks English. The countries with the most native English speakers are, in descending order, the [[United States]] (at least 231 million),{{sfn|Ryan|2013|loc=Table 1}} the [[United Kingdom]] (60 million),{{sfn|Office for National Statistics|2013|loc=Key Points}}{{sfn|National Records of Scotland|2013}}{{sfn|Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency|2012|loc=Table KS207NI: Main Language}} Canada (19 million),{{sfn|Statistics Canada|2014}} [[Australia]] (at least 17 million),{{sfn|Australian Bureau of Statistics|2013}} South Africa (4.8 million),{{sfn|Statistics South Africa|2012|loc=Table 2.5 Population by first language spoken and province (number)}} [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] (4.2 million), and New Zealand (3.7 million).{{sfn|Statistics New Zealand|2014}} In these countries, children of native speakers learn English from their parents, and local people who speak other languages or new immigrants learn English to communicate in their neighbourhoods and workplaces.{{sfn|Bao|2006|p=377}} The inner-circle countries provide the base from which English spreads to other countries in the world.{{sfn|Kachru|2006|p=196}}
 
 
 
Estimates of the number of English speakers who are [[second language]] and foreign-language speakers vary greatly from 470 million to more than 1,000 million depending on how proficiency is defined.{{sfn|Crystal|2003b|pp=108–109}} Linguist [[David Crystal]] estimates that non-native speakers now outnumber native speakers by a ratio of 3 to 1.{{sfn|Crystal|2003a|p=69}} In Kachru's three-circles model, the "outer circle" countries are countries such as the [[Philippines]],{{sfn|Rubino|2006}} [[Jamaica]],{{sfn|Patrick|2006a}} India, Pakistan{{Citation needed|date=January 2016}}, Singapore,{{sfn|Lim|Ansaldo|2006}} and [[Nigeria]]{{sfn|Connell|2006}}{{sfn|Schneider|2007}} with a much smaller proportion of native speakers of English but much use of English as a second language for education, government, or domestic business,
 
and where English is routinely used for school instruction and official interactions with the government.{{sfn|Trudgill|Hannah|2008|p=5}}
 
 
 
Those countries have millions of native speakers of [[dialect continuum|dialect continua]] ranging from an [[English-based creole languages|English-based creole]] to a more standard version of English. They have many more speakers of English who acquire English in the process of growing up through day by day use and listening to broadcasting, especially if they attend schools where English is the medium of instruction. Varieties of English learned by speakers who are not native speakers born to English-speaking parents may be influenced, especially in their grammar, by the other languages spoken by those learners.{{sfn|Bao|2006|p=377}} Most of those varieties of English include words little used by native speakers of English in the inner-circle countries,{{sfn|Bao|2006|p=377}} and they may have grammatical and phonological differences from inner-circle varieties as well. The standard English of the inner-circle countries is often taken as a norm for use of English in the outer-circle countries.{{sfn|Bao|2006|p=377}}
 
 
 
In the three-circles model, countries such as Poland, China, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Indonesia, Egypt, and other countries where English is taught as a foreign language make up the "expanding circle".{{sfn|Trudgill|Hannah|2008|p=4}} The distinctions between English as a first language, as a second language, and as a foreign language are often debatable and may change in particular countries over time.{{sfn|Trudgill|Hannah|2008|p=5}} For example, in the [[Netherlands]] and some other countries of Europe, knowledge of English as a second language is nearly universal, with over 80 percent of the population able to use it,{{sfn|European Commission|2012}} and thus English is routinely used to communicate with foreigners and often in higher education. In these countries, although English is not used for government business, its widespread use puts them at the boundary between the "outer circle" and "expanding circle". English is unusual among world languages in how many of its users are not native speakers but speakers of English as a second or foreign language.{{sfn|Kachru|2006|p=197}}
 
 
 
Many users of English in the expanding circle use it to communicate with other people from the expanding circle, so that interaction with native speakers of English plays no part in their decision to use English.{{sfn|Kachru|2006|p=198}} Non-native varieties of English are widely used for international communication, and speakers of one such variety often encounter features of other varieties.{{sfn|Bao|2006}} Very often today a conversation in English anywhere in the world may include no native speakers of English at all, even while including speakers from several different countries.{{sfn|Trudgill|Hannah|2008|p=7}}
 
 
 
{{Pie chart
 
|caption=Pie chart showing the percentage of native English speakers living in "inner circle" English-speaking countries. Native speakers are now substantially outnumbered worldwide by second-language speakers of English (not counted in this chart).
 
|other=yes
 
|value1={{#expr:231/359*100 round 1}}
 
|label1=US
 
|color1=#BF0A30
 
|value2={{#expr:60/359*100 round 1}}
 
|label2=UK
 
|color2=#003399
 
|value3={{#expr:19/359*100 round 1}}
 
|label3=Canada
 
|color3=#FF0000
 
|value4={{#expr:17/359*100 round 1}}
 
|label4=Australia
 
|color4=#008751
 
|value5={{#expr:4.8/359*100 round 1}}
 
|label5=South Africa
 
|color5=#FCB514
 
|value6={{#expr:3.8/359*100 round 1}}
 
|label6=Ireland
 
|color6=#008000
 
|value7={{#expr:3.7/359*100 round 1}}
 
|label7=New Zealand
 
|color7=#000000
 
}}
 
 
 
=== Pluricentric English ===
 
 
 
English is a [[pluricentric language]], which means that no one national authority sets the standard for use of the language.{{sfn|Trudgill|Hannah|2008|p=2}}{{sfn|Romaine|1999}}{{sfn|Baugh|Cable|2002}}{{sfn|Trudgill|Hannah|2008|pp=8–9}} But English is not a divided language,{{sfn|Ammon|2008|p=1539}} despite a long-standing joke originally attributed to [[George Bernard Shaw]] that the United Kingdom and the United States are "two countries separated by a common language".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Marsh|first=David|title=Lickety splits: two nations divided by a common language |work=[[The Guardian]] (UK)|date=26 November 2010 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2010/nov/26/americanisms-english-mind-your-language |accessdate=26 December 2015}}</ref> Spoken English, for example English used in broadcasting, generally follows national pronunciation standards that are also established by custom rather than by regulation. International broadcasters are usually identifiable as coming from one country rather than another through their [[Accent (sociolinguistics)|accents]],{{sfn|Trudgill|2006}} but newsreader scripts are also composed largely in international [[standard written English]]. The norms of standard written English are maintained purely by the consensus of educated English-speakers around the world, without any oversight by any government or international organisation.{{sfn|Ammon|2008|pp=1537–1539}}
 
 
 
American listeners generally readily understand most British broadcasting, and British listeners readily understand most American broadcasting. Most English speakers around the world can understand radio programmes, television programmes, and films from many parts of the English-speaking world.{{sfn|Svartvik|Leech|2006|p=122}} Both standard and nonstandard varieties of English can include both formal or informal styles, distinguished by word choice and syntax and use both technical and non-technical registers.{{sfn|Trudgill|Hannah|2008|pp=5–6}}
 
 
 
The settlement history of the English-speaking inner circle countries outside Britain helped level dialect distinctions and produce [[Koiné language|koineised]] forms of English in South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.{{sfn|Deumert|2006|p=130}} The majority of immigrants to the United States without British ancestry rapidly adopted English after arrival. Now the majority of the United States population are monolingual English speakers,{{sfn|Deumert|2006|p=131}}{{sfn|Ryan|2013|loc=Table 1}} although English has been given official status by only 30 of the 50 state governments of the US.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.languagepolicy.net/archives/langleg.htm |title=Language Legislation in the U.S.A. |publisher=languagepolicy.net |date=1 February 2012 |author=Crawford, James |accessdate=29 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.us-english.org/view/13 |title=States with Official English Laws |publisher=us-english.org |accessdate=29 May 2013 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515100118/http://www.us-english.org/view/13 |archivedate=15 May 2013 |df= }}</ref>
 
 
 
=== English as a global language ===
 
{{See also|Foreign language influences in English|Study of global communication}}
 
English has ceased to be an "English language" in the sense of belonging only to people who are ethnically English.{{sfn|Romaine|1999|p=5}}{{sfn|Svartvik|Leech|2006|p=1}} Use of English is growing country-by-country internally and for international communication. Most people learn English for practical rather than ideological reasons.{{sfn|Kachru|2006|p=195}} Many speakers of English in Africa have become part of an "Afro-Saxon" language community that unites Africans from different countries.{{sfn|Mazrui|Mazrui|1998}}
 
 
 
As decolonisation proceeded throughout the British Empire in the 1950s and 1960s, former colonies often did not reject English but rather continued to use it as independent countries setting their own language policies.{{sfn|Mufwene|2006|p=614}}{{sfn|Northrup|2013|pp=81–86}}{{sfn|Mesthrie|2010|p=594}} For example, the view of the [[Indian English|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.{{sfn|Annamalai|2006}} English is also widely used in media and literature, and the number of English language books published annually in India is the third largest in the world after the US and UK.{{sfn|Sailaja|2009|pages=2–9}} However English is rarely spoken as a first language, numbering only around a couple hundred-thousand people, and less than 5% of the population speak fluent English in India.<ref>{{cite web|title = Indiaspeak: English is our 2nd language – The Times of India|url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Indiaspeak-English-is-our-2nd-language/articleshow/5680962.cms?referral=PM|website = The Times of India|accessdate = 5 January 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://ihds.umd.edu/IHDS_files/HumanDevelopmentinIndia.pdf |title=Human Development in India: Challenges for a Society in Transition |date=2005 |journal=Oxford University Press |doi= |pmid= |access-date=5 January 2016 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151211124532/http://www.ihds.umd.edu/IHDS_files/HumanDevelopmentinIndia.pdf |archivedate=11 December 2015 |df= }}</ref> David Crystal claimed in 2004 that, combining native and non-native speakers, India now has more people who speak or understand English than any other country in the world,{{sfn|Crystal|2004b}} but the number of English speakers in India is very uncertain, with most scholars concluding that the United States still has more speakers of English than India.{{sfn|Graddol|2010}}
 
 
 
Modern English, sometimes described as the first global [[lingua franca]],{{sfn|Graddol|2006}}{{sfn|Meierkord|2006|p=165}} is also regarded as the first [[world language]].{{sfn|Brutt-Griffler|2006|p=690–91}}{{sfn|Northrup|2013}} English is the world's most widely used language in newspaper publishing, book publishing, international telecommunications, scientific publishing, international trade, mass entertainment, and diplomacy.{{sfn|Northrup|2013}} English is, by international treaty, the basis for the required [[controlled natural language]]s{{sfn|Wojcik|2006|p=139}} [[Seaspeak]] and Airspeak, used as [[international auxiliary language|international languages]] of seafaring{{sfn|International Maritime Organization|2011}} and aviation.{{sfn|International Civil Aviation Organization|2011}} English used to have parity with French and German in scientific research, but now it dominates that field.{{sfn|Gordin|2015}} It achieved parity with [[French language|French]] as a language of diplomacy at the [[Treaty of Versailles]] negotiations in 1919.{{sfn|Phillipson|2004|p=47}} By the time of the foundation of the [[United Nations]] at the end of [[World War II]], English had become pre-eminent {{sfn|ConradRubal-Lopez|1996|p=261}} and is now the main worldwide language of diplomacy and international relations.{{sfn|Richter|2012|p=29}} It is one of six official languages of the United Nations.{{sfn|United Nations|2008}} Many other worldwide international organisations, including the [[International Olympic Committee]], specify English as a working language or official language of the organisation.
 
 
 
Many regional international organisations such as the [[European Free Trade Association]], [[Association of Southeast Asian Nations]] (ASEAN),{{sfn|Crystal|2003a}} and [[Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation]] (APEC) set English as their organisation's sole working language even though most members are not countries with a majority of native English speakers. While the European Union (EU) allows member states to designate any of the national languages as an official language of the Union, in practice English is the main working language of EU organisations.{{sfn|Ammon|2006|p=321}}
 
 
 
Although in most countries English is not an official language, it is currently the language most often taught as a [[foreign language]].{{sfn|Graddol|2006}}{{sfn|Crystal|2003a}} In the countries of the EU, English is the most widely spoken foreign language in nineteen of the twenty-five member states where it is not an official language (that is, the countries other than the UK, Ireland and [[Malta]]). In a 2012 official Eurobarometer poll, 38 percent of the EU respondents outside the countries where English is an official language said they could speak English well enough to have a conversation in that language. The next most commonly mentioned foreign language, French (which is the most widely known foreign language in the UK and Ireland), could be used in conversation by 12 percent of respondents.{{sfn|European Commission|2012|pp=21, 19}}
 
 
 
A working knowledge of English has become a requirement in a number of occupations and professions such as medicine{{sfn|Alcaraz Ariza|Navarro|2006}} and computing. English has become so important in scientific publishing that more than 80 percent of all scientific journal articles indexed by ''Chemical Abstracts'' in 1998 were written in English, as were 90 percent of all articles in natural science publications by 1996 and 82 percent of articles in humanities publications by 1995.{{sfn|Brutt-Griffler|2006|p=694–95}}
 
 
 
Specialised subsets of English arise spontaneously in international communities, for example, among international business people, as an [[International auxiliary language|auxiliary language]]. This has led some scholars to develop the study of English as an auxiliary languages. [[Globish (Nerriere)|Globish]] uses a relatively small subset of English vocabulary (about 1500 words with highest use in international business English) in combination with the standard English grammar. Other examples include [[Simple English Wikipedia|Simple English]].
 
 
 
The increased use of the English language globally has had an effect on other languages, leading to some English words being assimilated into the vocabularies of other languages. This influence of English has led to concerns about [[language death]],{{sfn|Crystal|2002}} and to claims of [[linguistic imperialism]],{{sfn|Jambor|2007}} and has provoked resistance to the spread of English; however the number of speakers continues to increase because many people around the world think that English provides them with opportunities for better employment and improved lives.{{sfn|Svartvik|Leech|2006|loc=Chapter 12: English into the Future}}
 
 
 
Although some scholars mention a possibility of future divergence of English dialects into mutually unintelligible languages, most think a more likely outcome is that English will continue to function as a [[Koiné language|koineised]] language in which the standard form unifies speakers from around the world.{{sfn|Crystal|2006}} English is used as the language for wider communication in countries around the world.{{sfn|Brutt-Griffler|2006}} Thus English has grown in worldwide use much more than any [[constructed language]] proposed as an [[international auxiliary language]], including [[Esperanto]].{{sfn|Li|2003}}{{sfn|Meierkord|2006|p=163}}
 
 
 
== Phonology ==
 
{{Main article|English phonology}}
 
The [[phonetics]] and [[phonology]] of the English language differ from one dialect to another, usually without interfering with mutual communication. Phonological variation affects the inventory of [[phoneme]]s (i.e. speech sounds that distinguish meaning), and phonetic variation is differences in pronunciation of the phonemes. {{sfn|Wolfram|2006|pp=334–335}} This overview mainly describes the [[standard language|standard pronunciations]] of the [[United Kingdom]] and the [[United States]]: [[Received Pronunciation]] (RP) and [[General American]] (GA) (See [[English language#Dialects, accents, and varieties|Section below on "Dialects, accents and varieties"]]).
 
 
 
The phonetic symbols used below are from the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] (IPA).{{sfn|Carr|Honeybone|2007}}{{sfn|Bermúdez-Otero|McMahon|2006}}{{sfn|MacMahon|2006}}
 
 
 
=== Consonants ===
 
{{Main article|English phonology#Consonants}}
 
 
 
Most English dialects share the same 24{{nbsp}}consonant phonemes. The consonant inventory shown below is valid for Californian American English,{{sfn|International Phonetic Association|1999|pages=41–42}} and for RP.{{sfn|König|1994|page=534}}
 
 
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
 
|-
 
|+ Consonant phonemes
 
!
 
! colspan="2" | [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
 
! colspan="2" | [[Interdental consonant|Dental]]
 
! colspan="2" | [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
 
! colspan="2" | [[Postalveolar consonant|Post-<br />alveolar]]
 
! colspan="2" | [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
 
! colspan="2" | [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
 
! colspan="2" | [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
 
|-
 
! [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
 
| style="border-right: 0;" | || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|m}}
 
| colspan="2" |
 
| style="border-right: 0;" | || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|n}}
 
| colspan="2" |
 
| colspan="2" |
 
| style="border-right: 0;" | || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|ŋ}}
 
| colspan="2" |
 
|-
 
! [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
 
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|p}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|b}}
 
| colspan="2" |
 
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|t}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|d}}
 
| colspan="2" |
 
| colspan="2" |
 
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|k}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|ɡ}}
 
| colspan="2" |
 
|-
 
! [[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
 
| colspan="2" |
 
| colspan="2" |
 
| colspan="2" |
 
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|tʃ}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|dʒ}}
 
| colspan="2" |
 
| colspan="2" |
 
| colspan="2" |
 
|-
 
! [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
 
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|f}} || style="border-left: 0;"  | {{IPAlink|v}}
 
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|θ}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|ð}}
 
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|s}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|z}}
 
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|ʃ}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|ʒ}}
 
| colspan="2" |
 
| colspan="2" |
 
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|h}} || style="border-left: 0;" |
 
|-
 
! [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
 
| colspan="2" |
 
| colspan="2" |
 
| style="border-right: 0;" | || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|l}}
 
| style="border-right: 0;" | || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|ɹ}}*
 
| style="border-right: 0;" | || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|j}}
 
| style="border-right: 0;" | || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPA link|w}}
 
| colspan="2" |
 
|}
 
<small><nowiki>*</nowiki> Conventionally transcribed {{IPA|/r/}}.</small>
 
 
 
In the table, when [[obstruent]]s (stops, affricates, and fricatives) appear in pairs, such as {{IPA|/p b/}}, {{IPA|/tʃ dʒ/}}, and {{IPA|/s z/}}, the first is [[fortis and lenis|fortis]] (strong) and the second is lenis (weak). Fortis obstruents, such as {{IPA|/p tʃ s/}} are pronounced with more muscular tension and breath force than lenis consonants, such as {{IPA|/b dʒ z/}}, and are always [[voicelessness|voiceless]]. Lenis consonants are partly [[voice (phonetics)|voiced]] at the beginning and end of utterances, and fully voiced between vowels. Fortis stops such as {{IPA|/p/}} have additional articulatory or acoustic features in most dialects: they are [[aspirated consonant|aspirated]] {{IPA|[pʰ]}} when they occur alone at the beginning of a stressed syllable, often unaspirated in other cases, and often unreleased {{IPA|[p̚ ]}} or pre-glottalised {{IPA|[ˀp]}} at the end of a syllable. In a single-syllable word, a vowel before a fortis stop is shortened: thus ''nip'' has a noticeably shorter vowel (phonetically, but not phonemically) than ''nib'' {{IPA|[nɪˑp̬]}} ([[#Vowels|see below]]).{{sfn|Collins|Mees|2003|pages=47–53}}
 
* lenis stops: ''bin'' {{IPA|[b̥ɪˑn]}}, ''about'' {{IPA|[əˈbaʊt]}}, ''nib'' {{IPA|[nɪˑb̥]}}
 
* fortis stops: ''pin'' {{IPA|[ˈpʰɪn]}}, ''spin'' {{IPA|[spɪn]}}, ''happy'' {{IPA|[ˈhæpi]}}, ''nip'' {{IPA|[ˈnɪp̚ ]}} or {{IPA|[ˈnɪˀp]}}
 
 
 
In RP, the lateral approximant {{IPA|/l/}}, has two main [[allophone]]s (pronunciation variants): the clear or plain {{IPA|[l]}}, as in ''light'', and the dark or [[velarized alveolar lateral approximant|velarised]] {{IPA|[ɫ]}}, as in ''full''.{{Sfn|Trudgill|Hannah|2008|p=13}} GA has dark ''l'' in most cases.{{Sfn|Trudgill|Hannah|2008|p=41}}
 
* clear ''l'': RP ''light'' {{IPA|[laɪt]}}
 
* dark ''l'': RP and GA ''full'' {{IPA|[fʊɫ]}}, GA ''light'' {{IPA|[ɫaɪt]}}
 
 
 
All [[sonorant]]s (liquids {{IPA|/l, r/}} and nasals {{IPA|/m, n, ŋ/}}) devoice when following a voiceless obstruent, and they are syllabic when following a consonant at the end of a word.{{sfn|Brinton|Brinton|2010|pages=56–59}}
 
* voiceless sonorants: ''clay'' {{IPA|[ˈkl̥ɛɪ̯]}} and ''snow'' {{IPA|[ˈsn̥oʊ]}}
 
* syllabic sonorants: ''paddle'' {{IPA|[pad.l̩]}}, and ''button'' {{IPA|[bʌt.n̩]}}
 
 
 
=== Vowels ===
 
{{Main article|English phonology#Vowels}}
 
 
 
The pronunciation of vowels varies a great deal between dialects and is one of the most detectable aspects of a speaker's accent. The table below lists the vowel [[phoneme]]s in Received Pronunciation (RP) and General American (GA), with examples of words in which they occur from [[lexical set]]s compiled by linguists. The vowels are represented with symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet; those given for RP are standard in British dictionaries and other publications.
 
 
 
{|
 
|-
 
| style="vertical-align: top;" |
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
 
|+ monophthongs
 
|-
 
![[Received Pronunciation|RP]] !! [[General American|GA]] !! word
 
|-
 
| {{IPA link|iː}}  || {{IPA|i}} || n'''ee'''d
 
|-
 
| colspan="2" | {{IPA link|ɪ}} || b'''i'''d
 
|-
 
| {{IPA link|e}} || {{IPA|ɛ}} || b'''e'''d
 
|-
 
| colspan="2" | {{IPA link|æ}}<!-- Pronunciation differs between RP and GA, but until we use separate symbols, these cells will be merged. --> || b'''a'''ck
 
|}
 
| style="vertical-align: top;" |
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
 
|+ monophthongs
 
|-
 
![[Received Pronunciation|RP]] !! [[General American|GA]] !! word
 
|-
 
| ({{IPA|ɪ}}) || {{IPA link|ɨ}} || ros'''e'''s
 
|-
 
| colspan="2" | {{IPA link|ə}} || comm'''a'''
 
|-
 
| {{IPA link|ɜː}} || {{IPA|ɜr}} || b'''ir'''d
 
|-
 
| colspan="2" | {{IPA link|ʌ}} || b'''u'''t
 
|}
 
| style="vertical-align: top;" |
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
 
|+ monophthongs
 
|-
 
![[Received Pronunciation|RP]] !! [[General American|GA]] !! word
 
|-
 
| {{IPA link|uː}} || {{IPA|u}} || f'''oo'''d
 
|-
 
| colspan="2" | {{IPA link|ʊ}}<!-- Pronunciation differs between RP and GA, with GA probably closer to {{IPA|[ɵ]}}, but until we use separate symbols, these cells will be merged. --> || g'''oo'''d
 
|-
 
| {{IPA link|ɔː}} || rowspan="2" | {{IPA|ɔ}} || p'''aw'''
 
|-
 
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA link|ɒ}} || cl'''o'''th
 
|-
 
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|ɑ}} || b'''o'''x
 
|-
 
| {{IPA link|ɑː}} || br'''a'''
 
|}
 
| style="vertical-align: top;" |
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
 
|+ diphthongs
 
|-
 
![[Received Pronunciation|RP]] !! [[General American|GA]] !! word
 
|-
 
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|eɪ}} || b'''ay'''
 
|-
 
| {{IPA|əʊ}} || {{IPA|oʊ}} || r'''oa'''d
 
|-
 
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|aɪ}} || cr'''y'''
 
|-
 
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|aʊ}} || c'''ow'''
 
|-
 
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|ɔɪ}} || b'''oy'''
 
|}
 
|}
 
 
 
In RP, vowel length is phonemic; [[vowel length|long vowels]] are marked with a [[triangular colon]] {{angbr|{{IPA|ː}}}} in the table above, such as the vowel of ''need'' {{IPA|[niːd]}} as opposed to ''bid'' {{IPA|[bɪd]}}. GA does not have long vowels.
 
 
 
In both RP and GA, vowels are phonetically [[clipping (phonetics)|shortened before fortis consonants]] in the same [[syllable]], like {{IPA|/t tʃ f/}}, but not before lenis consonants like {{IPA|/d dʒ v/}} or in open syllables: thus, the vowels of ''rich'' {{IPA|[rɪ̆tʃ]}}, ''neat'' {{IPA|[niˑt]}}, and ''safe'' {{IPA|[sĕɪ̆f]}} are noticeably shorter than the vowels of ''ridge'' {{IPA|[rɪdʒ]}}, ''need'' {{IPA|[niːd]}}, and ''save'' {{IPA|[seɪv]}}, and the vowel of ''light'' {{IPA|[lăɪ̆t]}} is shorter than that of ''lie'' {{IPA|[laɪ]}}. Because lenis consonants are frequently voiceless at the end of a syllable, vowel length is an important cue as to whether the following consonant is lenis or fortis.{{sfn|Collins|Mees|2003|pp=46–50}}
 
 
 
The vowels {{IPA|/ɨ ə/}} only occur in unstressed syllables and are a result of [[vowel reduction]]. Some dialects do not distinguish them, so that ''roses'' and ''comma'' end in the same vowel, a dialect feature called [[weak-vowel merger]]. GA has an unstressed ''r''-coloured schwa {{IPA|/ɚ/}}, as in ''butter'' {{IPA|[ˈbʌtɚ]}}, which in RP has the same vowel as the word-final vowel in ''comma''.
 
 
 
=== Phonotactics ===
 
 
 
An English syllable includes a syllable nucleus consisting of a vowel sound. Syllable onset and coda (start and end) are optional. A syllable can start with up to three consonant sounds, as in ''sprint'' {{IPA|/sprɪnt/}}, and end with up to four, as in ''texts'' {{IPA|/teksts/}}. This gives an English syllable the following structure, (CCC)V(CCCC) where C represents a consonant and V a vowel. The consonants that may appear together in onsets or codas are restricted, as is the order in which they may appear. Onsets can only have four types of consonant clusters: a stop and approximant, as in ''play''; a voiceless fricative and approximant, as in ''fly'' or ''sly''; ''s'' and a voiceless stop, as in ''stay''; and ''s'', a voiceless stop, and an approximant, as in ''string''.{{sfn|Brinton|Brinton|2010|page=60}} Clusters of nasal and stop are only allowed in codas. Clusters of obstruents always agree in voicing, and clusters of sibilants and of plosives with the same point of articulation are prohibited. Furthermore, several consonants have limited distributions: {{IPA|/h/}} can only occur in syllable initial position, and {{IPA|/ŋ/}} only in syllable final position.{{sfn|König|1994|pages=537–538}}
 
 
 
=== Stress, rhythm and intonation ===
 
{{See also|Stress and vowel reduction in English|Intonation in English}}
 
 
 
[[stress (linguistics)|Stress]] plays an important role in English. Certain [[syllable]]s are stressed, while others are unstressed. Stress is a combination of duration, intensity, vowel quality, and sometimes changes in pitch. Stressed syllables are pronounced longer and louder than unstressed syllables, and vowels in unstressed syllables are frequently [[vowel reduction|reduced]] while vowels in stressed syllables are not.{{sfn|International Phonetic Association|1999|page=42}} Some words, primarily short function words but also some modal verbs such as ''can'', have [[weak and strong forms in English|weak and strong forms]] depending on whether they occur in stressed or non-stressed position within a sentence.
 
 
 
Stress in English is [[phoneme|phonemic]], and some pairs of words are distinguished by stress. For instance, the word ''contract'' is stressed on the first syllable ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɒ|n|t|r|æ|k|t}} {{respell|KON|trakt}}) when used as a noun, but on the last syllable ({{IPAc-en|k|ə|n|ˈ|t|r|æ|k|t}} {{respell|kən|TRAKT|'}}) for most meanings (for example, "reduce in size") when used as a verb.{{sfn|Oxford Learner's Dictionary|2015|loc=Entry "contract"}}{{sfn|Merriam Webster|2015|loc=Entry "contract"}}{{sfn|Macquarie Dictionary|2015|loc=Entry "contract"}} Here stress is connected to [[vowel reduction]]: in the noun "contract" the first syllable is stressed and has the unreduced vowel {{IPA|/ɒ/}}, but in the verb "contract" the first syllable is unstressed and its vowel is reduced to {{IPA|/ə/}}. Stress is also used to distinguish between words and phrases, so that a compound word receives a single stress unit, but the corresponding phrase has two: e.g. ''to búrn óut'' versus ''a búrnout'', and ''a hótdog'' versus ''a hót dóg''.{{sfn|Brinton|Brinton|2010|page=66}}
 
 
 
In terms of [[rhythm]], English is generally described as a [[stress-timed]] language, meaning that the amount of time between stressed syllables tends to be equal. Stressed syllables are pronounced longer, but unstressed syllables (syllables between stresses) are shortened. Vowels in unstressed syllables are shortened as well, and vowel shortening causes changes in [[vowel quality]]: [[vowel reduction]].
 
 
 
=== Regional variation ===
 
 
 
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="min-width:40em"
 
! colspan=11 | Varieties of Standard English and their features{{sfn|Trudgill|Hannah|2002|pp=4–6}}
 
|-
 
! Phonological<br />features !! [[American English|United<br />States]] !! [[Canadian English|Canada]] !! [[Hiberno-English|Republic<br />of Ireland]] !! [[Ulster English|Northern<br />Ireland]] !! [[Scottish English|Scotland]] !! [[English language in England|England]] !! [[Welsh English|Wales]] !! [[South African English|South<br />Africa]] !! [[Australian English|Australia]] !! [[New Zealand English|New<br />Zealand]]
 
|-
 
! [[father-bother merger|''father''–''bother'' merger]]
 
| yes || yes || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"|
 
|-
 
! {{IPAc-en|ɒ}} is [[unrounded]]
 
| yes || yes || yes || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"|
 
|-
 
! {{IPAc-en|ɜr}} is pronounced {{IPA|[ɚ]}}
 
| yes || yes || yes || yes || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"|
 
|-
 
! [[cot-caught merger|''cot''–''caught'' merger]]
 
| possibly || yes || possibly || yes || yes || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"|
 
|-
 
! [[Full–fool merger|''fool''–''full'' merger]]
 
| style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || yes || yes || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"|
 
|-
 
! {{IPAc-en|t|,|d}} [[flapping]] (''latter-ladder merger'')
 
| yes || yes || possibly || often || rarely || rarely || rarely || rarely || yes || often
 
|-
 
! [[trap-bath split|''trap''–''bath'' split]]
 
| style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || possibly || possibly || style="background:lightgrey;"| || yes || yes || yes || often || yes
 
|-
 
! [[rhoticity in English|non-rhotic]] ({{IPAc-en|r}}-dropping after vowels)
 
| style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || yes || yes || yes || yes || yes
 
|-
 
! close vowels for {{IPA|/æ, ɛ/}}
 
| style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || yes || yes || yes
 
|-
 
! {{IPAc-en|l}} can always be pronounced {{IPA|[ɫ]}}
 
| yes || yes || style="background:lightgrey;"| || yes || yes || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || yes || yes
 
|-
 
! {{IPA|/ɑːr/}} is [[fronted (phonetics)|fronted]]
 
| style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || possibly || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || style="background:lightgrey;"| || yes || yes
 
|}
 
{|class="wikitable" style="float: right;"
 
|+ Dialects and low vowels
 
! word !! RP || GA !! Can !! sound change
 
|-
 
! {{sc|thought}}
 
| {{IPA|/ɔ/}} || rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/ɔ/}} or {{IPA|/ɑ/}} || rowspan="4" | {{IPA|/ɑ/}} || [[Cot–caught merger|''cot''–''caught'' merger]]
 
|-
 
! {{sc|cloth}}
 
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/ɒ/}} || [[Lot–cloth split|''lot''–''cloth'' split]]
 
|-
 
! {{sc|lot}}
 
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/ɑ/}} || rowspan="2" | [[Father–bother merger|''father''–''bother'' merger]]
 
|-
 
! {{sc|palm}}
 
| rowspan="3" | {{IPA|/ɑː/}}
 
|-
 
! {{sc|plant}}
 
| rowspan="3" | {{IPA|/æ/}} || rowspan="3" | {{IPA|/æ/}} || rowspan="3" | [[Trap–bath split|''trap''–''bath'' split]]
 
|-
 
! {{sc|bath}}
 
|-
 
! {{sc|trap}}
 
| {{IPA|/æ/}}
 
|}
 
Varieties of English vary the most in pronunciation of vowels. The best known national varieties used as standards for education in non English-speaking countries are British (BrE) and American (AmE). Countries such as [[Canadian English|Canada]], [[Australian English|Australia]], [[Hiberno English|Ireland]], [[New Zealand English|New Zealand]] and [[South African English|South Africa]] have their own standard varieties which are less often used as standards for education internationally. Some differences between the various dialects are shown in the table "Varieties of Standard English and their features".{{sfn|Trudgill|Hannah|2002|pp=4–6}}
 
 
 
English has undergone many [[Phonological history of English|historical sound changes]], some of them affecting all varieties, and others affecting only a few. Most standard varieties are affected by the [[Great Vowel Shift]], which changed the pronunciation of long vowels, but a few dialects have slightly different results. In North America, a number of chain shifts such as the [[Northern Cities Vowel Shift]] and [[Canadian Shift]] have produced very different vowel landscapes in some regional accents.
 
 
 
Some dialects have fewer or more consonant phonemes and [[phone (phonetics)|phones]] than the standard varieties. Some conservative varieties like Scottish English have a [[voicelessness|voiceless]] {{IPAblink|ʍ}} sound in ''whine'' that contrasts with the voiced {{IPA|[w]}} in ''wine'', but most other dialects pronounce both words with voiced {{IPA|[w]}}, a dialect feature called [[wine–whine merger|''wine''–''whine'' merger]]. The unvoiced velar fricative sound {{IPA|/x/}} is found in Scottish English, which distinguishes ''loch'' {{IPA|/lɔx/}} from ''lock'' {{IPA|/lɔk/}}. Accents like [[Cockney]] with "''h''-dropping" lack the glottal fricative {{IPA|/h/}}, and dialects with [[th-stopping|''th''-stopping]] and [[th-fronting|''th''-fronting]] like [[African American Vernacular English|African American Vernacular]] and [[Estuary English]] do not have the dental fricatives {{IPA|/θ, ð/}}, but replace them with dental or alveolar stops {{IPA|/t, d/}} or labiodental fricatives {{IPA|/f, v/}}.{{sfn|Roach|2009|p=53}}{{sfn|Giegerich|1992|page=36}} Other changes affecting the phonology of local varieties are processes such as [[Yod-dropping|''yod''-dropping]], [[yod-coalescence|''yod''-coalescence]], and reduction of consonant clusters.
 
 
 
[[General American]] and [[Received Pronunciation]] vary in their pronunciation of historical {{IPA|/r/}} after a vowel at the end of a syllable (in the [[syllable coda]]). GA is a [[rhotic and non-rhotic accents|rhotic dialect]], meaning that it pronounces {{IPA|/r/}} at the end of a syllable, but RP is non-rhotic, meaning that it loses {{IPA|/r/}} in that position. English dialects are classified as rhotic or non-rhotic depending on whether they elide {{IPA|/r/}} like RP or keep it like GA.{{sfn|Lass|2000|p=114}}
 
 
 
There is complex dialectal variation in words with the [[Phonological history of English short A|open front]] and [[Phonological history of English low back vowels|open back vowels]] {{IPA|/æ ɑː ɒ ɔː/}}. These four vowels are only distinguished in RP, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. In GA, these vowels merge to three {{IPA|/æ ɑ ɔ/}},{{sfn|Wells|1982|pages=xviii-xix}} and in Canadian English they merge to two {{IPA|/æ ɑ/}}.{{sfn|Wells|1982|page=493}} In addition, the words that have each vowel vary by dialect. The table "Dialects and open vowels" shows this variation with [[lexical set]]s in which these sounds occur.
 
 
 
== Grammar ==
 
{{Main article|English grammar}}
 
As is typical of an Indo-European language, English follows [[Nominative–accusative language|accusative]] [[morphosyntactic alignment]]. Unlike other Indo-European languages though, English has largely abandoned the inflectional [[case system]] in favor of [[analytic language|analytic]] constructions. Only the [[personal pronouns]] retain morphological case more strongly than any other [[word class]]. English distinguishes at least seven major word classes: verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, determiners (i.e. articles), prepositions, and conjunctions. Some analyses add pronouns as a class separate from nouns, and subdivide conjunctions into subordinators and coordinators, and add the class of interjections.{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|page=22}} English also has a rich set of auxiliary verbs, such as ''have'' and ''do'', expressing the categories of mood and aspect. Questions are marked by [[do-support]], [[wh-movement]] (fronting of question words beginning with ''wh''-) and word order [[Subject–auxiliary inversion|inversion]] with some verbs.
 
 
 
Some traits typical of Germanic languages persist in English, such as the distinction between irregularly inflected [[strong inflection|strong]] stems inflected through [[ablaut]] (i.e. changing the vowel of the stem, as in the pairs ''speak/spoke'' and ''foot/feet'') and weak stems inflected through affixation (such as ''love/loved'', ''hand/hands''). Vestiges of the case and gender system are found in the pronoun system (''he/him, who/whom'') and in the inflection of the copula verb ''to be''.
 
 
 
The seven word classes are exemplified in this sample sentence:{{sfb|Aarts|Haegeman|2006|page=118}}
 
{| style="text-align: center;"
 
|-
 
| ''The'' || ''chairman'' || ''of'' || ''the'' || ''committee'' || ''and'' || ''the'' || ''loquacious'' || ''politician'' || ''clashed'' || ''violently'' || ''when'' || ''the'' || ''meeting'' || ''started''.
 
|-
 
| Det. || Noun || Prep. || Det. || Noun || Conj. || Det. || Adj. || Noun || Verb || Advb. || Conj. || Det. || Noun || Verb
 
|}
 
 
 
=== Nouns and noun phrases ===
 
 
 
English nouns are only inflected for number and possession. New nouns can be formed through derivation or compounding. They are semantically divided into [[proper nouns]] (names) and common nouns. Common nouns are in turn divided into concrete and abstract nouns, and grammatically into [[count noun]]s and [[mass nouns]].{{sfn|Payne|Huddleston|2002}}
 
 
 
Most count nouns are inflected for plural number through the use of the plural [[suffix]] -''s'', but a few nouns have irregular plural forms. Mass nouns can only be pluralised through the use of a count noun classifier, e.g. ''one loaf of bread'', ''two loaves of bread''.{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|page=56–57}}
 
 
 
Regular plural formation:
 
: Singular: ''cat, dog''
 
: Plural: ''cats, dogs''
 
 
 
Irregular plural formation:
 
: Singular: ''man, woman, foot, fish, ox, knife, mouse''
 
: Plural: ''men, women, feet, fish, oxen, knives, mice''
 
 
 
Possession can be expressed either by the possessive [[enclitic]] -''s'' (also traditionally called a genitive suffix), or by the preposition ''of''. Historically the -s possessive has been used for animate nouns, whereas the ''of'' possessive has been reserved for inanimate nouns. Today this distinction is less clear, and many speakers use -''s'' also with inanimates. Orthographically the possessive -s is separated from the noun root with an apostrophe.
 
 
 
Possessive constructions:
 
: With -s: ''The woman's husband's child''
 
: With of: ''The child of the husband of the woman''
 
 
 
Nouns can form [[noun phrase]]s (NPs) where they are the syntactic head of the words that depend on them such as determiners, quantifiers, conjunctions or adjectives.{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|page=55}} Noun phrases can be short, such as ''the man'', composed only of a determiner and a noun. They can also include modifiers such as adjectives (e.g. ''red'', ''tall'', ''all'') and specifiers such as determiners (e.g. ''the'', ''that''). But they can also tie together several nouns into a single long NP, using conjunctions such as ''and'', or prepositions such as ''with'', e.g. ''the tall man with the long red trousers and his skinny wife with the spectacles'' (this NP uses conjunctions, prepositions, specifiers and modifiers). Regardless of length, an NP functions as a syntactic unit. For example, the possessive enclitic can, in cases which do not lead to ambiguity, follow the entire noun phrase, as in ''The President of India's wife'', where the enclitic follows ''India'' and not ''President''.
 
 
 
The class of determiners is used to specify the noun they precede in terms of [[definiteness]], where ''the'' marks a definite noun and ''a'' or ''an'' an indefinite one. A definite noun is assumed by the speaker to be already known by the interlocutor, whereas an indefinite noun is not specified as being previously known. Quantifiers, which include ''one'', ''many'', ''some'' and ''all'', are used to specify the noun in terms of quantity or number. The noun must agree with the number of the determiner, e.g. ''one man'' (sg.) but ''all men'' (pl.). Determiners are the first constituents in a noun phrase.{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|pages=54–5}}
 
 
 
==== Adjectives ====
 
 
 
Adjectives modify a noun by providing additional information about their referents. In English, adjectives come before the nouns they modify and after determiners.{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|page=57}} In Modern English, adjectives are not inflected, and they do not [[agreement (linguistics)|agree]] in form with the noun they modify, as adjectives in most other Indo-European languages do. For example, in the phrases ''the slender boy'', and ''many slender girls'', the adjective ''slender'' does not change form to agree with either the number or gender of the noun.
 
 
 
Some adjectives are inflected for [[comparison (grammar)|degree of comparison]], with the positive degree unmarked, the suffix ''-er'' marking the comparative, and ''-est'' marking the superlative: ''a small boy'', ''the boy is smaller than the girl'', ''that boy is the smallest''. Some adjectives have irregular comparative and superlative forms, such as ''good'', ''better'', and ''best''. Other adjectives have comparatives formed by [[periphrasis|periphrastic constructions]], with the adverb ''more'' marking the comparative, and ''most'' marking the superlative: ''happier'' or ''more happy'', ''the happiest'' or ''most happy''.{{sfn|König|1994|page=540}} There is some variation among speakers regarding which adjectives use inflected or periphrastic comparison, and some studies have shown a tendency for the periphrastic forms to become more common at the expense of the inflected form.{{sfn|Mair|2006|pages=148–49}}
 
 
 
==== Pronouns, case and person ====
 
 
 
English pronouns conserve many traits of case and gender inflection. The personal pronouns retain a difference between subjective and objective case in most persons (''I/me, he/him, she/her, we/us, they/them'') as well as a gender and animateness distinction in the third person singular (distinguishing ''he/she/it''). The [[subjective case]] corresponds to the Old English [[nominative case]], and the [[objective case]] is used both in the sense of the previous [[accusative case]] (in the role of patient, or direct object of a transitive verb), and in the sense of the Old English dative case (in the role of a recipient or [[indirect object]] of a transitive verb).{{sfn|Leech|2006|page=69|quote="Nominative is a traditional name for the subjective case"}}{{sfn|O'Dwyer|2006|quote="English has subjective, objective and possessive cases."}} Subjective case is used when the pronoun is the subject of a finite clause, and otherwise the objective case is used.{{sfn|Greenbaum|Nelson|2002}} While grammarians such as [[Henry Sweet]]{{sfn|Sweet|2014|page=52|quote=But in that special class of nouns called personal pronouns we find a totally different system of case-inflection, namely, a '''nominative''' case (he) and an '''objective''' case (him)}} and [[Otto Jespersen]]{{sfn|Jespersen|2007|173=185}} noted that the English cases did not correspond to the traditional Latin based system, some contemporary grammars, for example {{harvcoltxt|Huddleston|Pullum|2002}}, retain traditional labels for the cases, calling them nominative and accusative cases respectively.
 
 
 
Possessive pronouns exist in dependent and independent forms; the dependent form functions as a determiner specifying a noun (as in ''my chair''), while the independent form can stand alone as if it were a noun (e.g. ''the chair is mine'').{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|page=425–26}} The English system of grammatical person no longer has a distinction between formal and informal pronouns of address, and the forms for 2nd person plural and singular are identical except in the reflexive form. Some dialects have introduced innovative 2nd person plural pronouns such as ''y'all'' found in [[Southern American English]] and [[African American Vernacular English|African American (Vernacular) English]] or ''youse'' and ''ye'' found in Irish English.
 
 
 
{| class="wikitable"
 
|-
 
|+ English personal pronouns
 
|-
 
! scope="col" | Person
 
! scope="col" | Subjective case
 
! scope="col" | Objective case
 
! scope="col" | Dependent possessive
 
! scope="col" | Independent possessive
 
! scope="col" | Reflexive
 
|-
 
! scope="row" | 1st p. sg.
 
| ''I'' || ''me'' || ''my'' || ''mine'' || ''myself''
 
|-
 
! scope="row" | 2nd p. sg.
 
| ''you'' || ''you'' || ''your'' || ''yours'' || ''yourself''
 
|-
 
! scope="row" | 3rd p. sg.
 
| ''he/she/it'' || ''him/her/it'' || ''his/her/its'' || ''his/hers/its'' || ''himself/herself/itself''
 
|-
 
! scope="row" | 1st p. pl.
 
| ''we'' || ''us'' || ''our'' || ''ours'' || ''ourselves''
 
|-
 
! scope="row" | 2nd p. pl.
 
| ''you'' || ''you'' || ''your'' || ''yours'' || ''yourselves''
 
|-
 
! scope="row" | 3rd p. pl
 
| ''they'' || ''them'' || ''their'' || ''theirs'' || ''themselves''
 
|}
 
 
 
Pronouns are used to refer to entities [[Deixis|deictically]] or [[Anaphoric reference|anaphorically]]. A deictic pronoun points to some person or object by identifying it relative to the speech situation — for example the pronoun ''I'' identifies the speaker, and the pronoun ''you'', the addressee. Anaphorical pronouns such as ''that'' refer back to an entity already mentioned or assumed by the speaker to be known by the audience, for example in the sentence ''I already told you that''. The reflexive pronouns are used when the oblique argument is identical to the subject of a phrase (e.g. "he sent it to himself" or "she braced herself for impact").{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|page=426}}
 
 
 
==== Prepositions ====
 
 
 
Prepositional phrases (PP) are phrases composed of a preposition and one or more nouns, e.g. ''with the dog'', ''for my friend'', ''to school'', ''in England''. Prepositions have a wide range of uses in English. They are used to describe movement, place, and other relations between different entities, but they also have many syntactic uses such as introducing complement clauses and oblique arguments of verbs. For example, in the phrase ''I gave it to him'', the preposition ''to'' marks the recipient, or Indirect Object of the verb ''to give''. Traditionally words were only considered prepositions if they governed the case of the noun they preceded, for example causing the pronouns to use the objective rather than subjective form, "with her", "to me", "for us". But some contemporary grammars such as that of {{harvcoltxt|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|pp=598–600}} no longer consider government of case to be the defining feature of the class of prepositions, rather defining prepositions as words that can function as the heads of prepositional phrases.
 
 
 
=== Verbs and verb phrases ===
 
 
 
English verbs are inflected for tense and aspect, and marked for agreement with third person singular subject. Only the copula verb ''to be'' is still inflected for agreement with the plural and first and second person subjects.{{sfn|König|1994|page=540}} Auxiliary verbs such as ''have'' and ''be'' are paired with verbs in the infinitive, past, or progressive forms. They form [[periphrasis|complex]] tenses, aspects, and moods. Auxiliary verbs differ from other verbs in that they can be followed by the negation, and in that they can occur as the first constituent in a question sentence.{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|page=51}}{{sfn|König|1994|page=541}}
 
 
 
Most verbs have six inflectional forms. The primary forms are a plain present, a third person singular present, and a preterite (past) form. The secondary forms are a plain form used for the infinitive, a gerund–participle and a past participle.{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|page=50}} The copula verb ''to be'' is the only verb to retain some of its original conjugation, and takes different inflectional forms depending on the subject. The first person present tense form is ''am'', the third person singular form ''is'' and the form ''are'' is used second person singular and all three plurals. The only verb past participle is ''been'' and its gerund-participle is ''being''.
 
 
 
{| class="wikitable"
 
|-
 
|+ English inflectional forms
 
|-
 
! scope="col" | Inflection
 
! scope="col" | Strong
 
! scope="col" | Regular
 
|-
 
! scope="row" | Plain present
 
| ''take'' || ''love''
 
|-
 
! scope="row" | 3rd person sg.<br />present
 
| ''takes'' || ''loves''
 
|-
 
! scope="row" | Preterite
 
| ''took'' || ''loved''
 
|-
 
! scope="row" | Plain (infinitive)
 
| ''take'' || ''love''
 
|-
 
! scope="row" | Gerund–participle
 
| ''taking'' || ''loving''
 
|-
 
! scope="row" | Past participle
 
| ''taken'' || ''loved''
 
 
|}
 
|}
 
+
<!--       TODAY'S FEATURED LIST        --><!-- CONDITIONAL SHOW -->{{#switch:{{CURRENTDAYNAME}}|Monday|Friday=
==== Tense, aspect and mood ====
+
<div id="mp-middle" class="MainPageBG" style="margin-top:4px; border:1px solid #f2cedd; background:#fff5fa; overflow:auto;">
 
+
<div id="mp-center">
English has two primary tenses, past (preterit) and non-past. The preterit is inflected by using the preterit form of the verb, which for the regular verbs includes the suffix ''-ed'', and for the strong verbs either the suffix ''-t'' or a change in the stem vowel. The non-past form is unmarked except in the third person singular, which takes the suffix ''-s''.{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|page=51}}
+
<h2 id="mp-tfl-h2" style="margin:0.5em; background:#f2cedd; font-family:inherit; font-size:120%; font-weight:bold; border:1px solid #bfa3af; color:#000; padding:0.2em 0.4em">From today's featured list</h2>
 
+
<div id="mp-tfl" style="padding:0.3em 0.7em;">{{#ifexist:Wikipedia:Today's featured list/{{#time:F j, Y}}|{{Wikipedia:Today's featured list/{{#time:F j, Y}}}}|{{TFLempty}}}}</div>
{| class="wikitable"
+
</div>
|-
+
</div>|}}<!-- END CONDITIONAL SHOW -->
|+
+
<!--        TODAY'S FEATURED PICTURE        -->
|-
+
<div id="mp-lower" class="MainPageBG" style="margin-top:4px; border:1px solid #ddcef2; background:#faf5ff; overflow:auto;">
! scope="col" |
+
<div id="mp-bottom">
! scope="col" | Present
+
<h2 id="mp-tfp-h2" style="margin:0.5em; background:#ddcef2; font-family:inherit; font-size:120%; font-weight:bold; border:1px solid #afa3bf; color:#000; padding:0.2em 0.4em">{{#ifexist:Template:POTD protected/{{#time:Y-m-d}}|Today's featured picture | Featured picture&ensp;<span style="font-size:85%; font-weight:normal;">(Check back later for today's.)</span>}}</h2>
! scope="col" | Preterite
+
<div id="mp-tfp" style="margin:0.1em 0.4em 0.6em;">{{#ifexist:Template:POTD protected/{{#time:Y-m-d}}|{{POTD protected/{{#time:Y-m-d}}}}|{{POTD protected/{{#time:Y-m-d|-1 day}}}}}}</div>
|-
+
</div>
! scope="row" | First person
+
</div>
| ''I run'' || ''I ran''
+
<!--        SECTIONS AT BOTTOM OF PAGE        -->
|-
+
<div id="mp-other" style="padding-top:4px; padding-bottom:2px;">
! scope="row" | Second person
+
== Other areas of Wikipedia ==
| ''You run'' || ''You ran''
+
{{Other areas of Wikipedia}}
|-
+
</div><div id="mp-sister">
! scope="row" | Third person
+
== Wikipedia's sister projects ==
| ''John runs'' || ''John ran''
+
{{Wikipedia's sister projects}}
|}
+
</div><div id="mp-lang">
 
+
== Wikipedia languages ==
English does not have a morphologised future tense.{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|pages=208–210}} Futurity of action is expressed periphrastically with one of the auxiliary verbs ''will'' or ''shall''.{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|page=51–52}} Many varieties also use a near future constructed with the phrasal verb ''be going to''.{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|pages=210–11}}
+
{{Wikipedia languages}}
 
+
</div>
{| class="wikitable"
+
<!--        INTERWIKI STRAPLINE        -->
|-
+
<noinclude>{{Main Page interwikis}}{{noexternallanglinks}}{{#if:{{Wikipedia:Main_Page/Tomorrow}}||}}</noinclude>__NOTOC____NOEDITSECTION__
|+
 
|-
 
! scope="col" |
 
! scope="col" |Future
 
|-
 
! scope="row" | First person
 
| ''I will run''
 
|-
 
! scope="row" | Second person
 
| ''You will run''
 
|-
 
! scope="row" | Third person
 
| ''John will run''
 
|}
 
 
 
Further aspectual distinctions are encoded by the use of auxiliary verbs, primarily ''have'' and ''be'', which encode the contrast between a perfect and non-perfect past tense (''I have run'' vs. ''I was running''), and compound tenses such as preterite perfect (''I had been running'') and present perfect (''I have been running'').{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|page=50–51}}
 
 
 
For the expression of mood, English uses a number of modal auxiliaries, such as ''can'', ''may'', ''will'', ''shall'' and the past tense forms ''could'', ''might'', ''would'', ''should''. There is also a subjunctive and an imperative mood, both based on the plain form of the verb (i.e. without the third person singular ''-s''), and which is used in subordinate clauses (e.g. subjunctive: ''It is important that he run every day''; imperative ''Run!'').{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|page=51–52}}
 
 
 
An infinitive form, that uses the plain form of the verb and the preposition ''to'', is used for verbal clauses that are syntactically subordinate to a finite verbal clause. Finite verbal clauses are those that are formed around a verb in the present or preterit form. In clauses with auxiliary verbs they are the finite verbs and the main verb is treated as a subordinate clause. For example, ''he has to go'' where only the auxiliary verb ''have'' is inflected for time and the main verb ''to go'' is in the infinitive, or in a complement clause such as ''I saw him leave'', where the main verb is ''to see'' which is in a preterite form, and ''leave'' is in the infinitive.
 
 
 
==== Phrasal verbs ====
 
 
 
English also makes frequent use of constructions traditionally called [[phrasal verb]]s, verb phrases that are made up of a verb root and a preposition or particle which follows the verb. The phrase then functions as a single predicate. In terms of intonation the preposition is fused to the verb, but in writing it is written as a separate word. Examples of phrasal verbs are ''to get up'', ''to ask out'', ''to back up'', ''to give up'', ''to get together'', ''to hang out'', ''to put up with'', etc. The phrasal verb frequently has a highly [[English-language idioms|idiomatic]] meaning that is more specialised and restricted than what can be simply extrapolated from the combination of verb and preposition complement (e.g. ''lay off'' meaning ''terminate someone's employment'').{{sfn|Dixon|1982}} In spite of the idiomatic meaning, some grammarians, including {{harvcoltxt|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|page=274}}, do not consider this type of construction to form a syntactic constituent and hence refrain from using the term "phrasal verb". Instead they consider the construction simply to be a verb with a prepositional phrase as its syntactic complement, i.e. ''he woke up in the morning'' and ''he ran up in the mountains'' are syntactically equivalent.
 
 
 
==== Adverbs ====
 
 
 
The function of adverbs is to modify the action or event described by the verb by providing additional information about the manner in which it occurs. Many adverbs are derived from adjectives with the suffix ''-ly'', but not all, and many speakers tend to omit the suffix in the most commonly used adverbs. For example, in the phrase ''the woman walked quickly'' the adverb ''quickly'' derived from the adjective ''quick'' describes the woman's way of walking. Some commonly used adjectives have irregular adverbial forms, such as ''good'' which has the adverbial form ''well''.
 
 
 
=== Syntax ===
 
 
 
[[File:Constituent structure analysis English sentence.svg|right|thumb|In the English sentence ''The cat sat on the mat'', the subject is ''the cat'' (a NP), the verb is ''sat'', and ''on the mat'' is a prepositional phrase (composed of an NP ''the mat'', and headed by the preposition ''on''). The tree describes the structure of the sentence.]]
 
 
 
Modern English syntax language is moderately [[Isolating language|analytic]].{{sfn|McArthur|1992|pp=64, 610–611}} It has developed features such as [[English modal verb|modal verbs]] and [[word order]] as resources for conveying meaning. [[Auxiliary verb]]s mark constructions such as questions, negative polarity, the [[Grammatical voice|passive voice]] and progressive [[grammatical aspect|aspect]].
 
 
 
==== Basic constituent order ====
 
 
 
English word order has moved from the Germanic [[V2 word order|verb-second (V2) word order]] to being almost exclusively [[subject–verb–object]] (SVO).{{sfn|König|1994|page=553}} The combination of SVO order and use of auxiliary verbs often creates clusters of two or more verbs at the centre of the sentence, such as ''he had hoped to try to open it''.
 
 
 
In most sentences English only marks grammatical relations through word order.{{sfn|König|1994|page=550}} The subject constituent precedes the verb and the object constituent follows it. The example below demonstrates how the grammatical roles of each constituent is marked only by the position relative to the verb:
 
 
 
{| style="text-align: center;"
 
|-
 
| ''The dog'' || ''bites'' || ''the man''
 
|-
 
| S || V || O
 
|-
 
| ''The man'' || ''bites'' || ''the dog''
 
|-
 
| S || V || O
 
|}
 
 
 
An exception is found in sentences where one of the constituents is a pronoun, in which case it is doubly marked, both by word order and by case inflection, where the subject pronoun precedes the verb and takes the subjective case form, and the object pronoun follows the verb and takes the objective case form. The example below demonstrates this double marking in a sentence where both object and subject is represented with a third person singular masculine pronoun:
 
 
 
{| style="text-align: center;"
 
|-
 
| ''He'' || ''hit'' || ''him''
 
|-
 
| S || V || O
 
|}
 
 
 
[[Indirect object]]s (IO) of ditransitive verbs can be placed either as the first object in a double object construction (S V IO O), such as ''I gave <u>Jane</u> the book'' or in a prepositional phrase, such as ''I gave the book <u>to Jane</u>'' {{sfn|König|1994|page=551}}
 
 
 
==== Clause syntax ====
 
{{Main article|English clause syntax}}
 
 
 
In English a sentence may be composed of one or more clauses, that may in turn be composed of one or more phrases (e.g. Noun Phrases, Verb Phrases, and Prepositional Phrases). A clause is built around a verb, and includes its constituents, such as any NPs and PPs. Within a sentence one clause is always the main clause (or matrix clause) whereas other clauses are subordinate to it. Subordinate clauses may function as arguments of the verb in the main clause. For example, in the phrase ''I think (that) you are lying'', the main clause is headed by the verb ''think'', the subject is ''I'', but the object of the phrase is the subordinate clause ''(that) you are lying''. The subordinating conjunction ''that'' shows that the clause that follows is a subordinate clause, but it is often omitted.{{sfn|Miller|2002|pages=60–69}} [[Relative clause]]s are clauses that function as a modifier or specifier to some constituent in the main clause: For example, in the sentence ''I saw the letter that you received today'', the relative clause ''that you received today'' specifies the meaning of the word ''letter'', the object of the main clause. Relative clauses can be introduced by the pronouns ''who'', ''whose'', ''whom'' and ''which'' as well as by ''that'' (which can also be omitted.){{sfn|König|1994|page=545}} In contrast to many other Germanic languages there is no major differences between word order in main and subordinate clauses.{{sfn|König|1994|page=557}}
 
 
 
==== Auxiliary verb constructions ====
 
{{Main article|Do-support|Subject–auxiliary inversion}}
 
 
 
English syntax relies on auxiliary verbs for many functions including the expression of tense, aspect and mood. Auxiliary verbs form main clauses, and the main verbs function as heads of a subordinate clause of the auxiliary verb. For example, in the sentence ''the dog did not find its bone'', the clause ''find its bone'' is the complement of the negated verb ''did not''. [[Subject–auxiliary inversion]] is used in many constructions, including focus, negation, and interrogative constructions.
 
 
 
The verb ''do'' can be used as an auxiliary even in simple declarative sentences, where it usually serves to add emphasis, as in "I ''did'' shut the fridge." However, in the negated and inverted clauses referred to above, it is used because the rules of English [[syntax]] permit these constructions only when an auxiliary is present. [[Modern English]] does not allow the addition of the negating adverb ''not'' to an ordinary [[finite verb|finite]] lexical verb, as in ''*I know not''—it can only be added to an auxiliary (or [[copular verb|copular]]) verb, hence if there is no other auxiliary present when negation is required, the auxiliary ''do'' is used, to produce a form like ''I do not (don't) know.'' The same applies in clauses requiring inversion, including most questions—inversion must involve the subject and an auxiliary verb, so it is not possible to say ''*Know you him?''; grammatical rules require ''Do you know him?''{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|page=114}}
 
 
 
Negation is done with the adverb ''not'', which precedes the main verb and follows an auxiliary verb. A contracted form of not ''-n't'' can be used as an enclitic attaching to auxiliary verbs and to the copula verb ''to be''. Just as with questions, many negative constructions require the negation to occur with do-support, thus in Modern English ''I don't know him'' is the correct answer to the question ''Do you know him?'', but not ''*I know him not'', although this construction may be found in older English.{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|pages=786–790}}
 
 
 
Passive constructions also use auxiliary verbs. A passive construction rephrases an active construction in such a way that the object of the active phrase becomes the subject of the passive phrase, and the subject of the active phrase is either omitted or demoted to a role as an oblique argument introduced in a prepositional phrase. They are formed by using the past participle either with the auxiliary verb ''to be'' or ''to get'', although not all varieties of English allow the use of passives with ''get''. For example, putting the sentence ''she sees him'' into the passive becomes ''he is seen (by her)'', or ''he gets seen (by her)''.{{sfn|Miller|2002|pages=26–27}}
 
 
 
==== Questions ====
 
 
 
Both [[yes–no question]]s and [[wh-question|''wh''-questions]] in English are mostly formed using [[subject–auxiliary inversion]] (''Am I going tomorrow?'', ''Where can we eat?''), which may require [[do-support|''do''-support]] (''Do you like her?'', ''Where did he go?''). In most cases, [[interrogative word]]s (''wh''-words; e.g. ''what'', ''who'', ''where'', ''when'', ''why'', ''how'') appear in a [[Wh-movement|fronted position]]. For example, in the question ''What did you see?'', the word ''what'' appears as the first constituent despite being the [[grammatical object]] of the sentence. (When the ''wh''-word is the subject or forms part of the subject, no inversion occurs: ''Who saw the cat?''.) [[Prepositional phrases]] can also be fronted when they are the question's theme, e.g. ''To whose house did you go last night?''. The personal interrogative pronoun ''[[who (pronoun)|who]]'' is the only interrogative pronoun to still show inflection for case, with the variant ''whom'' serving as the objective case form, although this form may be going out of use in many contexts.{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|pp=7-8}}
 
 
 
==== Discourse level syntax ====
 
While English is a subject-prominent language, at the discourse level it tends to use a [[Topic and comment|topic-comment]] structure, where the known information (topic) precedes the new information (comment). Because of the strict SVO syntax, the topic of a sentence generally has to be the grammatical subject of the sentence. In cases where the topic is not the grammatical subject of the sentence, frequently the topic is promoted to subject position through syntactic means. One way of doing this is through a passive construction, ''the girl was stung by the bee''. Another way is through a [[cleft sentence]] where the main clause is demoted to be a complement clause of a copula sentence with a [[dummy subject]] such as ''it'' or ''there'', e.g. ''it was the girl that the bee stung'', ''there was a girl who was stung by a bee''.{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|pages=1365–70}} Dummy subjects are also used in constructions where there is no grammatical subject such as with impersonal verbs (e.g., ''it is raining'') or in existential clauses (''there are many cars on the street''). Through the use of these complex sentence constructions with informationally vacuous subjects, English is able to maintain both a topic-comment sentence structure and a SVO syntax.
 
 
 
[[Focus (linguistics)|Focus constructions]] emphasise a particular piece of new or salient information within a sentence, generally through allocating the main sentence level stress on the focal constituent. For example, ''the girl was stung by <u>a bee</u>'' (emphasising it was a bee and not for example a wasp that stung her), or ''<u>The girl</u> was stung by a bee'' (contrasting with another possibility, for example that it was the boy).{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|page=1370}} Topic and focus can also be established through syntactic dislocation, either preposing or postposing the item to be focused on relative to the main clause. For example, ''That girl over there, she was stung by a bee'', emphasises the girl by preposition, but a similar effect could be achieved by postposition, ''she was stung by a bee, that girl over there'', where reference to the girl is established as an "afterthought".{{sfn|Huddleston|Pullum|2002|page=1366}}
 
 
 
[[Cohesion (linguistics)|Cohesion]] between sentences is achieved through the use of deictic pronouns as [[anaphora (linguistics)|anaphora]] (e.g. ''that is exactly what I mean'' where ''that'' refers to some fact known to both interlocutors, or ''then'' used to locate the time of a narrated event relative to the time of a previously narrated event).{{sfn|Halliday|Hasan|1976}} [[Discourse marker]]s such as ''oh'', ''so'' or ''well'', also signal the progression of ideas between sentences and help to create cohesion. Discourse markers are often the first constituents in sentences. Discourse markers are also used for [[Stance (linguistics)|stance taking]] in which speakers position themselves in a specific attitude towards what is being said, for example, ''no way is that true!'' (the idiomatic marker ''no way!'' expressing disbelief), or ''boy! I'm hungry'' (the marker ''boy'' expressing emphasis). While discourse markers are particularly characteristic of informal and spoken registers of English, they are also used in written and formal registers.{{sfn|Schiffrin|1988}}
 
 
 
== Vocabulary ==
 
English is an immensely rich language in terms of vocabulary, containing more [[synonym]]s than any other language.{{sfn|HowManyWords|2015}} There are words which appear on the surface to mean exactly the same thing but which, in fact, have a slightly different shade of [[Meaning (linguistics)|meaning]] and must be used appropriately if a speaker wants to convey precisely the message they intend to convey.{{sfn|Jambor|2007}} It is generally stated that English has around 170,000 words, or 220,000 if [[obsolete word]]s are counted; this estimate is based on the last full edition of the Oxford English Dictionary from 1989.<ref>https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/explore/how-many-words-are-there-in-the-english-language How many words are there in the English language?, Oxford Dictionaries</ref> Over half of these words are nouns, a quarter adjectives and a seventh verbs. There is one count that puts the English vocabulary at about 1 million words{{snd}}but that count presumably includes words such as Latin [[species name]]s, [[scientific terminology]], [[prefix]]ed and [[suffix]]ed words, [[jargon]], foreign words of extremely limited English use and technical [[acronym]]s.{{sfn|Algeo|1999}}
 
 
 
Due to its status an international language, English is expeditious when it comes adopting foreign words, and borrows vocabulary from a large number of other sources. Early studies of English vocabulary by [[Lexicography|lexicographers]], the scholars who formally study vocabulary, compile dictionaries, or both, were impeded by a lack of comprehensive data on actual vocabulary in use from good-quality [[Corpus linguistics|linguistic corpora]],{{sfn|Leech|Hundt|Mair|Smith|2009|pp=24–50}} collections of actual written texts and spoken passages. Many statements published before the end of the 20th century about the growth of English vocabulary over time, the dates of first use of various words in English, and the sources of English vocabulary will have to be corrected as new computerised analysis of linguistic corpus data becomes available.{{sfn|Algeo|1999}}{{sfn|Kastovsky|2006}}
 
 
 
=== Word formation processes ===
 
 
 
English forms new words from existing words or roots in its vocabulary through a variety of processes. One of the most productive processes in English is conversion,{{sfn|Crystal|2003b|p=129}} using a word with a different grammatical role, for example using a noun as a verb or a verb as a noun. Another productive word-formation process is nominal compounding,{{sfn|Algeo|1999}}{{sfn|Kastovsky|2006}} producing compound words such as ''babysitter'' or ''ice cream'' or ''homesick''.{{sfn|Crystal|2003b|p=129}} A process more common in Old English than in Modern English, but still productive in Modern English, is the use of derivational suffixes (''-hood'', ''-ness'', ''-ing'', ''-ility'') to derive new words from existing words (especially those of Germanic origin) or stems (especially for words of Latin or Greek origin).
 
 
 
Formation of new words, called [[neologisms]], based on Greek or Latin roots (for example ''television'' or ''optometry'') is a highly productive process in English and in most modern European languages, so much so that it is often difficult to determine in which language a neologism originated. For this reason, lexicographer Philip Gove attributed many such words to the "[[international scientific vocabulary]]" (ISV) when compiling [[Webster's Third New International Dictionary]] (1961). Another active word-formation process in English is acronyms,{{sfn|Crystal|2003b|pp=120–121}} words formed by pronouncing as a single word abbreviations of longer phrases (e.g. ''NATO'', ''laser'').
 
 
 
=== Word origins ===
 
{{Main article|Lists of English loanwords by country or language of origin}}
 
[[File:Origins of English PieChart.svg|thumb|right|Source languages of English vocabulary<ref name=Wolff/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/0029344700 |title=Joseph M. Willams, Origins of the English Language at |publisher=Amazon.com |accessdate=2010-04-21}}</ref>]]
 
 
 
English, besides forming new words from existing words and their roots, also borrows words from other languages. This process of adding words from other languages is commonplace in many world languages, but English is characterised as being especially open to borrowing of foreign words throughout the last 1,000 years.{{sfn|Denning|Kessler|Leben|2007|p=7}} The most commonly used words in English are West Germanic.{{sfn|Nation|2001|p=265}} The words in English learned first by children as they learn to speak, particularly the grammatical words that dominate the word count of both spoken and written texts, are the Germanic words inherited from the earliest periods of the development of Old English.{{sfn|Algeo|1999}}
 
 
 
But one of the consequences of long language contact between French and English in all stages of their development is that the vocabulary of English has a very high percentage of "Latinate" words (derived from French, especially, and also from Latin or from other Romance languages). French words from various periods of the development of French now make up one-third of the vocabulary of English.{{sfn|Gottlieb|2006|p=196}} Words of Old Norse origin have entered the English language primarily from the contact between Old Norse and Old English during colonisation of eastern and [[northern England]]. Many of these words are part of English core vocabulary, such as ''egg'' or ''knife''.{{sfn|Denning|Kessler|Leben|2007}}
 
 
 
English has also borrowed many words directly from Latin, the ancestor of the Romance languages, during all stages of its development.{{sfn|Kastovsky|2006}}{{sfn|Algeo|1999}} Many of these words were earlier borrowed into Latin from Greek. Latin or Greek are still highly productive sources of stems used to form vocabulary of subjects learned in higher education such as the sciences, philosophy, and mathematics.{{sfn|Romaine|1999|p=4}} English continues to gain new loanwords and [[calques]] ("loan translations") from languages all over the world, and words from languages other than the ancestral Anglo-Saxon language make up about 60 percent of the vocabulary of English.{{sfn|Fasold|Connor-Linton|2014|p=302}}
 
 
 
English has formal and informal [[Register (sociolinguistics)|speech registers]], and informal registers, including child directed speech, tend to be made up predominantly of words of Anglo-Saxon origin, while the percentage of vocabulary that is of Latinate origin is higher in legal, scientific, and academic texts.{{sfn|Crystal|2003b|pp=124–127}}{{sfn|Algeo|1999|pp=80–81}}
 
 
 
=== English loanwords and calques in other languages ===
 
 
 
English has a strong influence on the vocabulary of other languages.{{sfn|Gottlieb|2006|p=196}}{{sfn|Brutt-Griffler|2006|p=692}} The influence of English comes from such factors as opinion leaders in other countries knowing the English language, the role of English as a world lingua franca, and the large number of books and films that are translated from English into other languages.{{sfn|Gottlieb|2006|p=197}} That pervasive use of English leads to a conclusion in many places that English is an especially suitable language for expressing new ideas or describing new technologies. Among varieties of English, it is especially American English that influences other languages.{{sfn|Gottlieb|2006|p=198}} Some languages, such as Chinese, write words borrowed from English mostly as [[calque]]s, while others, such as Japanese, readily take in English loanwords written in sound-indicating script.{{sfn|Gottlieb|2006|p=202}} Dubbed films and television programmes are an especially fruitful source of English influence on languages in Europe.{{sfn|Gottlieb|2006|p=202}}
 
 
 
== Writing system ==
 
{{See also|English alphabet|English braille|English orthography}}
 
 
 
Since the ninth century, English has been written in a [[Latin alphabet]] (also called Roman alphabet). Earlier Old English texts in [[Anglo-Saxon runes]] are only short inscriptions. The great majority of literary works in Old English that survive to today are written in the Roman alphabet.{{sfn|Gneuss|2013|p=23}} The modern English alphabet contains 26 letters of the [[Latin script]]: [[a]], [[b]], [[c]], [[d]], [[e]], [[f]], [[g]], [[h]], [[i]], [[j]], [[k]], [[l]], [[m]], [[n]], [[o]], [[p]], [[q]], [[r]], [[s]], [[t]], [[u]], [[v]], [[w]], [[x]], [[y]], [[z]] (which also have [[Letter case|capital]] forms: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z).
 
 
 
The spelling system, or [[orthography]], of English is multi-layered, with elements of French, Latin, and Greek spelling on top of the native Germanic system.{{sfn|Swan|2006|p=149}} Further complications have arisen through [[sound change]]s with which the orthography has not kept pace.{{sfn|Lass|2000}} Compared to European languages for which official organisations have promoted spelling reforms, English has spelling that is a less consistent indicator of pronunciation and standard spellings of words that are more difficult to guess from knowing how a word is pronounced.{{sfn|Mountford|2006}} There are also systematic [[American and British English spelling differences|spelling differences between British and American English]]. These situations have prompted proposals for spelling reform in English.{{sfn|Neijt|2006}}
 
 
 
Although letters and speech sounds do not have a one-to-one correspondence in standard English spelling, spelling rules that take into account syllable structure, phonetic changes in derived words, and word accent are reliable for most English words.{{sfn|Daniels|Bright|1996|p=653}} Moreover, standard English spelling shows etymological relationships between related words that would be obscured by a closer correspondence between pronunciation and spelling, for example the words ''photograph'', ''photography'', and ''photographic'',{{sfn|Daniels|Bright|1996|p=653}} or the words ''electricity'' and ''electrical''. While few scholars agree with Chomsky and Halle (1968) that conventional English orthography is "near-optimal",{{sfn|Swan|2006|p=149}} there is a rationale for current English spelling patterns.{{sfn|Abercrombie|Daniels|2006}} The standard orthography of English is the most widely used writing system in the world.{{sfn|Mountford|2006|p=156}} Standard English spelling is based on a graphomorphemic segmentation of words into written clues of what meaningful units make up each word.{{sfn|Mountford|2006|pp=157–158}}
 
 
 
Readers of English can generally rely on the correspondence between spelling and pronunciation to be fairly regular for letters or [[Digraph (orthography)|digraphs]] used to spell consonant sounds. The letters ''b, d, f, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, y, z'' represent, respectively, the phonemes {{IPA|/b, d, f, h, dʒ, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, j, z/}}. The letters ''c'' and ''g'' normally represent {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}}, but there is also a [[soft c|soft ''c'']] pronounced {{IPA|/s/}}, and a [[Hard and soft G|soft ''g'']] pronounced {{IPA|/dʒ/}}. The differences in the pronunciations of the letters ''c'' and ''g'' are often signalled by the following letters in standard English spelling. Digraphs used to represent phonemes and phoneme sequences include ''ch'' for {{IPA|/tʃ/}}, ''sh'' for {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, ''th'' for {{IPA|/θ/}} or {{IPA|/ð/}}, ''ng'' for {{IPA|/ŋ/}}, ''qu'' for {{IPA|/kw/}}, and ''ph'' for {{IPA|/f/}} in Greek-derived words. The single letter ''x'' is generally pronounced as {{IPA|/z/}} in word-initial position and as {{IPA|/ks/}} otherwise. There are exceptions to these generalisations, often the result of loanwords being spelled according to the spelling patterns of their languages of origin{{sfn|Daniels|Bright|1996|p=653}} or proposals by pedantic scholars in the early period of Modern English to mistakenly follow the spelling patterns of Latin for English words of Germanic origin.{{sfn|Daniels|Bright|1996|p=654}}
 
 
 
For the vowel sounds of the English language, however, correspondences between spelling and pronunciation are more irregular. There are many more vowel phonemes in English than there are vowel letters (''a'', ''e'', ''i'', ''o'', ''u'', ''w'', ''y''). As a result of a smaller set of single letter symbols than the set of vowel phonemes, some "[[Vowel length#Short and long vowels in English|long vowels]]" are often indicated by combinations of letters (like the ''oa'' in ''boat'', the ''ow'' in ''how'', and the ''ay'' in ''stay''), or the historically based [[silent e|silent ''e'']] (as in ''note'' and ''cake'').{{sfn|Abercrombie|Daniels|2006}}
 
 
 
The consequence of this complex orthographic history is that learning to read can be challenging in English. It can take longer for school pupils to become independently fluent readers of English than of many other languages, including Italian, Spanish, or German.{{sfn|Dehaene|2009}} Nonetheless, there is an advantage for learners of English reading in learning the specific sound-symbol regularities that occur in the standard English spellings of commonly used words.{{sfn|Daniels|Bright|1996|p=653}} Such instruction greatly reduces the risk of children experiencing reading difficulties in English.{{sfn|McGuinness|1997}}{{sfn|Shaywitz|2003}} Making primary school teachers more aware of the primacy of morpheme representation in English may help learners learn more efficiently to read and write English.{{sfn|Mountford|2006|pp=159}}
 
 
 
English writing also includes a system of [[punctuation]] that is similar to the system of punctuation marks used in most alphabetic languages around the world. The purpose of punctuation is to mark meaningful grammatical relationships in sentences to aid readers in understanding a text and to indicate features important for reading a text aloud.{{sfn|Lawler|2006|p=290}}
 
 
 
== Dialects, accents, and varieties ==
 
{{Main article|List of dialects of the English language|World Englishes|regional accents of English}}
 
 
 
Dialectologists identity many [[List of dialects of the English language|English dialects]], which usually refer to regional varieties that differ from each other in terms of patterns of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. The pronunciation of particular areas distinguishes dialects as separate [[Regional accents of English|regional accents]]. The major native dialects of English are often divided by linguists into the two extremely general categories of [[British English]] (BrE) and [[North American English]] (NAE).{{sfn|Crystal|2003b|p=107}} There also exists a third common major grouping of English varieties: Southern Hemisphere English, the most prominent being [[Australian English|Australian]] and [[New Zealand English]].
 
 
 
=== United Kingdom and Ireland ===
 
{{See also|English language in England|Northern England English|Scots language|Scottish English|Welsh English|Estuary English|Ulster English|Hiberno-English}}
 
 
 
[[File:Dialects of English in UK and Ireland.svg|thumb|left|Map showing the main dialect regions in the UK and Ireland]]
 
 
 
As the place where English first evolved, the British Isles, and particularly England, are home to the most diverse dialects. Within the United Kingdom, the [[Received Pronunciation]] (RP), an educated dialect of [[South East England]], is traditionally used as the broadcast standard, and is considered the most prestigious of the British dialects. The spread of RP (also known as BBC English) through the media has caused many traditional dialects of rural England to recede, as youths adopt the traits of the prestige variety instead of traits from local dialects. At the time of the [[Survey of English Dialects]], grammar and vocabulary differed across the country, but a process of lexical attrition has led most of this variation to disappear.{{sfn|Trudgill|2000|p=125}}
 
 
 
Nonetheless this attrition has mostly affected dialectal variation in grammar and vocabulary, and in fact only 3 percent of the English population actually speak RP, the remainder speaking regional accents and dialects with varying degrees of RP influence.{{sfn|Hughes|Trudgill|1996|page=3}} There is also variability within RP, particularly along class lines between Upper and Middle class RP speakers and between native RP speakers and speakers who adopt RP later in life.{{sfn|Hughes|Trudgill|1996|page=37}} Within Britain there is also considerable variation along lines of social class, and some traits though exceedingly common are considered "non-standard" and are associated with lower class speakers and identities. An example of this is [[H-dropping]], which was historically a feature of lower class London English, particularly Cockney, and can now be heard in the local accents of most parts of England — yet it remains largely absent in broadcasting and among the upper crust of British society.{{sfn|Hughes|Trudgill|1996|page=40}}
 
 
 
{{listen|filename=Russell brand bbc radio4 desert island discs 21 07 2013.flac|title=Speech example|description=An example of an [[Essex]] male with a working-class Estuary accent (entertainer [[Russell Brand]])}}
 
{{listen|filename=RenfrewshireAccent.ogg|title=Speech example|description=An example of a Scottish male with a middle-class [[Renfrewshire]] accent}}
 
{{listen|filename=Recording of speaker of British English (Received Pronunciation).ogg|title=Speech example|description=An example of an English female with a [[received pronunciation]] accent, which is also known as [[Standard English]] or 'BBC English'.}}
 
 
 
[[English language in England|English in England]] can be divided into four major dialect regions, [[West Country dialects|Southwest English]], South East English, Midlands English, and [[Northern England English|Northern English]]. Within each of these regions several local subdialects exist: Within the Northern region, there is a division between the Yorkshire dialects, and the [[Geordie]] dialect spoken in Northumbria around Newcastle, and the Lancashire dialects with local urban dialects in [[Liverpool]] ([[Scouse]]) and [[Manchester]] ([[Manchester dialect|Mancunian]]). Having been the centre of Danish occupation during the Viking Invasions, Northern English dialects, particularly the Yorkshire dialect, retain Norse features not found in other English varieties.{{sfn|Hughes|Trudgill|1996|p=31}}
 
 
 
Since the 15th century, southeastern England varieties centred around London, which has been the centre from which dialectal innovations have spread to other dialects. In London, the [[Cockney]] dialect was traditionally used by the lower classes, and it was long a socially stigmatised variety. The spread of Cockney features across the south-east led the media to talk of Estuary English as a new dialect, but the notion was criticised by many linguists on the grounds that London had influencing neighbouring regions throughout history.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/estuary/ee-faqs-jcw.htm |title=Estuary English Q and A - JCW |publisher=Phon.ucl.ac.uk |date= |accessdate=2010-08-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Roach|first1=Peter|title=English Phonetics and Phonology|date=2009|publisher=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-71740-3|page=4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
 
|last=Trudgill
 
|first=Peter
 
|year=1999
 
|page=80
 
|title=The Dialects of England
 
|edition=2nd
 
|ISBN=0-631-21815-7
 
}}</ref> Traits that have spread from London in recent decades include the use of [[Linking and intrusive R|intrusive R]] (''drawing'' is pronounced ''drawring'' {{IPA|/ˈdrɔːrɪŋ/}}), [[t-glottalization|''t''-glottalisation]] (''Potter'' is pronounced with a glottal stop as ''Po'er'' {{IPA|/poʔʌ/}}), and the pronunciation of ''th-'' as {{IPA|/f/}} (''thanks'' pronounced ''fanks'') or {{IPA|/v/}} (''bother'' pronounced ''bover''). {{sfn|Trudgill|2000|pages=80–81}}
 
 
 
[[Scots language|Scots]] is today considered a separate language from English, but it has [[History of the Scots language|its origins]] in early Northern Middle English{{sfn|Aitken|McArthur|1979|page=81}} and developed and changed during its history with influence from other sources, particularly [[Scots Gaelic]] and Old Norse. Scots itself has a number of regional dialects. And in addition to Scots, [[Scottish English]] are the varieties of Standard English spoken in Scotland, most varieties are Northern English accents, with some influence from Scots.{{sfn|Romaine|1982}}
 
 
 
In [[Ireland]], various forms of English have been spoken since the [[Norman invasion of Ireland|Norman invasions]] of the 11th century. In [[County Wexford]], in the area surrounding [[Dublin]], two extinct dialects known as [[Forth and Bargy dialect|Forth and Bargy]] and [[Fingallian]] developed as offshoots from Early Middle English, and were spoken until the 19th century. Modern [[Hiberno-English|Irish English]], however has its roots in English colonisation in the 17th century. Today Irish English is divided into [[Ulster English]], the Northern Ireland dialect with strong influence from Scots, as well as various dialects of the Republic of Ireland. Like Scottish and most North American accents, almost all Irish accents preserve the rhoticity which has been lost in the dialects influenced by RP.{{sfn|Barry|1982|pp=86–87}}{{sfn|Hickey|2007}}
 
 
 
=== North America ===
 
{{Main article|American English|General American|African American Vernacular English|Southern American English|Canadian English}}
 
{{listen|filename=Response to the Lewinsky Allegations (1-26-98, WJC).ogg|title=Speech example|description=An example of a southwestern [[Arkansas]] male with a rhotic accent ([[Bill Clinton]]).}}
 
[[File:Non-RhoticityUSA.png|thumb|left|[[Rhoticity in English|Rhoticity]] dominates in [[North American English]]. The ''[[Atlas of North American English]]'' found over 50% ''non''-rhoticity, though, in at least one local white speaker in each U.S. metropolitan area designated here by a red dot. Non-rhotic [[African American Vernacular English]] pronunciations may be found among [[African Americans]] regardless of location.]]
 
 
 
American English is fairly homogeneous compared to British English. Today, American accent variation is often increasing at the regional level and decreasing at the very local level,{{sfn|Labov|2012}} though most Americans still speak within a phonological continuum of similar accents,{{sfn|Wells|1982|page=34}} known collectively as [[General American]] (GA), with differences hardly noticed even among Americans themselves (such as [[Midland American English|Midland]] and [[Western American English]]).{{sfn|Rowicka|2006}}{{sfn|Toon|1982}}{{sfn|Cassidy|1982}} In most American and Canadian English, [[rhoticity in English|rhoticity]] (or ''r''-fulness) is dominant, with non-rhoticity (''r''-dropping) becoming associated with lower prestige and social class especially after World War II; this contrasts with the situation in England, where non-rhoticity has become the standard.{{sfn|Labov|1972}}
 
 
 
Separate from GA are American dialects with clearly distinct sound systems, historically including [[Southern American English]], English of the coastal Northeast (famously including [[Eastern New England English]] and [[New York City English]]), and [[African American Vernacular English]], all of which are historically non-rhotic. [[Canadian English]], except for the [[Atlantic provinces]] and perhaps [[Quebec]], may be classified under GA as well, but it often shows [[Canadian raising|raising of certain vowels]], {{IPAc-en|aɪ}} and {{IPAc-en|aʊ}}, before [[voiceless consonants]], as well as distinct norms for written and pronunciation standards.{{sfn|Boberg|2010}}
 
 
 
In [[Southern American English]], the largest American "accent group" outside of GA,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/speak/ahead/|title=Do You Speak American: What Lies Ahead|accessdate=15 August 2007|publisher=[[PBS]] }}</ref> rhoticity now strongly prevails, replacing the region's historical non-rhotic prestige.<ref>{{citation|title=Rural White Southern Accents|first=Erik R.|last=Thomas|publisher=[[Mouton de Gruyter]]|work=Atlas of North American English (online)|year=2003|postscript=. [Later published as a chapter in: Bernd Kortmann and Edgar W. Schneider (eds) (2004). ''A Handbook of Varieties of English: A Multimedia Reference Tool.'' New York: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 300-324.]|url=http://www.atlas.mouton-content.com/secure/generalmodules/varieties/unit0000/virtualsession/vslessons/thomas.pdf|page=16}}</ref>{{sfn|Levine|Crockett|1966}}{{sfn|Schönweitz|2001}} Southern accents are colloquially described as a "drawl" or "twang,"{{sfn|Montgomery|1993}} being recognised most readily by the Southern Vowel Shift that begins with [[monophthong|glide-deleting]] in the {{IPA|/aɪ/}} vowel (e.g. pronouncing ''spy'' almost like ''spa''), the "Southern breaking" of several front pure vowels into a gliding vowel or even two syllables (e.g. pronouncing the word "press" almost like "pray-us"),{{sfn|Thomas|2008|page=95–96}} the [[pin–pen merger]], and other distinctive phonological, grammatical, and lexical features, many of which are actually recent developments of the 19th century or later.{{sfn|Bailey|1997}}
 
 
 
Today spoken primarily by working- and middle-class [[African Americans]], African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is also largely non-rhotic and likely originated among enslaved Africans and African Americans influenced primarily by the non-rhotic, non-standard English dialects of the [[Old South]]. A minority of linguists,<ref name="Word on the Street">{{cite book|title=Word on the Street: Debunking the Myth of a "Pure" Standard English|last=McWhorter|first=John H.|authorlink=John McWhorter|publisher=Basic Books|year=2001|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Edt7yUD6PkMC&dq|page=162}}</ref> contrarily, propose that AAVE mostly traces back to African languages spoken by the slaves who had to develop a [[pidgin]] or [[Creole English]] to communicate with slaves of other ethnic and linguistic origins.{{sfn|Bailey|2001}} AAVE shares important commonalities with [[older Southern American English]] and so probably developed to a highly coherent and homogeneous variety in the 19th or early 20th century. AAVE is commonly stigmatised in North America as a form of "broken" or "uneducated" English, also common of modern Southern American English, but linguists today recognise both as fully developed varieties of English with their own norms shared by a large speech community.{{sfn|Green|2002}}{{sfn|Patrick|2006b}}
 
 
 
=== Australia and New Zealand ===
 
{{Main article|Australian English|New Zealand English}}
 
{{listen|filename=AustraliaPart2.ogg|title=Speech example|description=An example of an Australian male with a general Australian accent.}}
 
Since 1788, English has been spoken in [[Oceania]], and [[Australian English]] has developed as a first language of the vast majority of the inhabitants of the Australian continent, its standard accent being [[General Australian]]. The [[New Zealand English|English of neighbouring New Zealand]] has to a lesser degree become an influential standard variety of the language.{{sfn|Eagleson|1982}} Australian and New Zealand English are each other's closest relatives with few differentiating characteristics, followed by [[South African English]] and the English of southeastern England, all of which have similarly non-rhotic accents, aside from some accents in the [[South Island]] of New Zealand. Australian and New Zealand English stand out for their innovative vowels: many short vowels are fronted or raised, whereas many long vowels have diphthongised. Australian English also has a contrast between long and short vowels, not found in most other varieties. Australian English grammar aligns closely to British and American English; like American English, collective plural subjects take on a singular verb (as in ''the government is'' rather than ''are'').{{sfn|Trudgill|Hannah|2002|pages=16–21}}{{sfn|Burridge|2010}} New Zealand English uses front vowels that are often even higher than in Australian English.{{sfn|Trudgill|Hannah|2002|pages=24–26}}{{sfn|Maclagan|2010}}{{sfn|Gordon|Campbell|Hay et al.|2004}}
 
 
 
=== Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia ===
 
{{See also|South African English|Caribbean English|Indian English}}
 
{{listen|filename=South African English.ogg|title=Speech example|description=An example of a [[Bantu peoples|black male]] with a South African accent.}}
 
English is spoken widely in South Africa and is an official or co-official language in several countries. In [[South Africa]], English has been spoken since 1820, co-existing with [[Afrikaans language|Afrikaans]] and various African languages such as the [[Khoe languages|Khoe]] and [[Bantu languages]]. Today about 9 percent of the South African population speak [[South African English]] (SAE) as a first language. SAE is a non-rhotic variety, which tends to follow RP as a norm. It is alone among non-rhotic varieties in lacking intrusive r. There are different L2 varieties that differ based on the native language of the speakers.{{sfn|Lanham|1982}} Most phonological differences from RP are in the vowels.{{sfn|Lass|2002}} Consonant differences include the tendency to pronounce /p, t, t͡ʃ, k/ without aspiration (e.g. ''pin'' pronounced {{IPA|[pɪn]}} rather than as {{IPA|[pʰɪn]}} as in most other varieties), while r is often pronounced as a flap {{IPA|[ɾ]}} instead of as the more common fricative.{{sfn|Trudgill|Hannah|2002|pages=30–31}}
 
 
 
Several varieties of English are also spoken in the Caribbean Islands that were colonial possessions of Britain, including Jamaica, and the [[Leeward Islands|Leeward]] and [[Windward Islands]] and [[Trinidad and Tobago]], [[Barbados]], the [[Cayman Islands]], and [[Belize]]. Each of these areas are home both to a local variety of English and a local English based creole, combining English and African languages. The most prominent varieties are [[Jamaican English]] and [[Jamaican English Creole|Jamaican Creole]]. In Central America, English based creoles are spoken in on the Caribbean coasts of Nicaragua and Panama. {{sfn|Lawton|1982}} Locals are often fluent both in the local English variety and the local creole languages and [[code-switching]] between them is frequent, indeed another way to conceptualise the relationship between Creole and Standard varieties is to see a spectrum of social registers with the Creole forms serving as "basilect" and the more RP-like forms serving as the "acrolect", the most formal register.{{sfn|Trudgill|Hannah|2002|page=115}}
 
 
 
Most Caribbean varieties are based on British English and consequently most are non-rhotic, except for formal styles of Jamaican English which are often rhotic. Jamaican English differs from RP in its vowel inventory, which has a distinction between long and short vowels rather than tense and lax vowels as in Standard English. The diphthongs {{IPA|/ei/}} and {{IPA|/ou/}} are monophthongs {{IPA|[eː]}} and {{IPA|[oː]}} or even the reverse diphthongs {{IPA|[ie]}} and {{IPA|[uo]}} (e.g. ''bay'' and ''boat'' pronounced {{IPA|[bʲeː]}} and {{IPA|[bʷoːt]}}). Often word final consonant clusters are simplified so that "child" is pronounced {{IPA|[t͡ʃail]}} and "wind" {{IPA|[win]}}.{{sfn|Trudgill|Hannah|2002|pages=117–18}}{{sfn|Lawton|1982|page=256–60}}{{sfn|Trudgill|Hannah|2002|pages=115–16}}
 
 
 
As a historical legacy, [[Indian English]] tends to take RP as its ideal, and how well this ideal is realised in an individual's speech reflects class distinctions among Indian English speakers. Indian English accents are marked by the pronunciation of phonemes such as {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/d/}} (often pronounced with retroflex articulation as {{IPA|[ʈ]}} and {{IPA|[ɖ]}}) and the replacement of {{IPA|/θ/}} and {{IPA|/ð/}} with dentals {{IPA|[t̪]}} and {{IPA|[d̪]}}. Sometimes Indian English speakers may also use spelling based pronunciations where the silent {{angbr|h}} found in words such as ''ghost'' is pronounced as an Indian [[Breathy voice|voiced aspirated]] stop {{IPA|[ɡʱ]}}.{{sfn|Sailaja|2009|pages=19–24}}
 
 
 
== References ==
 
{{reflist|30em}}
 
 
 
== Bibliography ==
 
<!-- The entries in the bibliography are in alphabetical order. Comments show names of named references -->
 
{{refbegin|indent=yes|30em}}
 
<!-- AartsHaegeman2006-->
 
: {{cite book |first1=Bas |last1=Aarts |first2=Liliane |last2=Haegeman |date=2006 |chapter=6. English Word classes and Phrases |title=The Handbook of English Linguistics |editor1-last=Aarts |editor1-first=Bas |editor2-first=April |editor2-last=McMahon |publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- AbercrombieDaniels2006 -->
 
: {{cite encyclopedia |last1=Abercrombie |first1=D. |last2=Daniels |first2=Peter T. |title=Spelling Reform Proposals: English |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542048781 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/04878-1 |page= |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- AitkenMcArthur1979 -->
 
: {{cite book |editor1-last=Aitken |editor1-first=A. J. |editor2-last=McArthur |editor2-first=Tom |date=1979 |title=Languages of Scotland |location=Edinburgh |publisher=Chambers |series=Occasional paper – Association for Scottish Literary Studies; no. 4 |isbn=978-0-550-20261-1 |ref=harv}}
 
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: {{cite encyclopedia |last1=Alcaraz Ariza |first1=M. Á. |last2=Navarro |first2=F. |title=Medicine: Use of English |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542023518 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/02351-8 |pages=752–759 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- Algeo1999 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Algeo |first=John |chapter=Chapter 2:Vocabulary |title=Cambridge History of the English Language |volume=IV: 1776–1997 |editor-last=Romaine |editor-first=Suzanne |pages=57–91 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=1999 |isbn=978-0-521-26477-8 |doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521264778.003 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Ammon2006 -->
 
: {{cite journal |last=Ammon |first=Ulrich |title=Language Conflicts in the European Union: On finding a politically acceptable and practicable solution for EU institutions that satisfies diverging interests |journal=International Journal of Applied Linguistics
 
|volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=319–338 |date=November 2006 |doi=10.1111/j.1473-4192.2006.00121.x |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Ammon2008 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Ammon |first=Ulrich |chapter=Pluricentric and Divided Languages |editor1-last=Ammon |editor1-first=Ulrich N. |editor2-last=Dittmar |editor2-first=Norbert |editor3-last=Mattheier |editor3-first=Klaus J. |display-editors = 3 |editor4-last=Trudgill |editor4-first=Peter |title=Sociolinguistics: An International Handbook of the Science of Language and Society / Soziolinguistik Ein internationales Handbuch zur Wissenschaft vov Sprache and Gesellschaft |volume=2 |date=2008 |edition=2nd completely revised and extended |publisher=de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-019425-8 |url=http://www.degruyter.com/view/product/19739 |accessdate=19 December 2014 |series=Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science / Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft 3/2 |via=[[De Gruyter]] |subscription=yes |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Annamalai2006 -->
 
: {{cite encyclopedia |last=Annamalai |first=E. |title=India: Language Situation |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542046113 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/04611-3 |pages=610–613 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
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: {{cite web|author=Australian Bureau of Statistics |title=2011 Census QuickStats: Australia |date=28 March 2013 |url=http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2011/quickstat/0 |accessdate=25 March 2015 |ref=harv |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151106221006/http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2011/quickstat/0 |archivedate=6 November 2015 |df= }}
 
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: {{cite book |last=Bailey |first=Guy |chapter=Chapter 3: The relationship between African American and White Vernaculars |editor-last=Lanehart |editor-first=Sonja L. |title=Sociocultural and historical contexts of African American English |date=2001 |pages=53–84 |publisher=John Benjamins |series=Varieties of English around the World |isbn=978-1-58811-046-6 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Bailey1997 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Bailey |first=G. |date=1997 |chapter=When did southern American English begin |title=Englishes around the world |pages=255–275 |editor=Edgar W. Schneider |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Bammesberger1992 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Bammesberger |first=Alfred |date=1992 |chapter=Chapter 2: The Place of English in Germanic and Indo-European |title=The Cambridge History of the English Language |volume=1: The Beginnings to 1066 |editor-last=Hogg |editor-first=Richard M. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-26474-7 |pages=26–66 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Bao2006 -->
 
: {{cite encyclopedia |last=Bao |first=Z. |title=Variation in Nonnative Varieties of English |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542042577 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/04257-7 |pages=377–380 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- Barry1982 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Barry |first=Michael V. |chapter=English in Ireland |editor1-last=Bailey |editor1-first=Richard W. |editor2-last=Görlach |editor2-first=Manfred |title=English as a World Language |pages=84–134 |date=1982 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-3-12-533872-2 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- BauerHuddleston2002 -->
 
: {{cite book |last1=Bauer |first1=Laurie |last2=Huddleston |first2=Rodney |chapter=Chapter 19: Lexical Word-Formation |editor1-last=Huddleston |editor1-first=Rodney |editor2-last=Pullum |editor2-first=Geoffrey K. |title=The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language |date=15 April 2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-43146-0 |url=http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/languages-linguistics/grammar-and-syntax/cambridge-grammar-english-language |accessdate=10 February 2015 |pages=1621–1721 |laysummary=http://www.ling.ohio-state.edu/~culicove/Publications/CGEL_Review.pdf |laydate=10 February 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- BaughCable2002 -->
 
: {{cite book |last1=Baugh |first1=Albert C. |last2=Cable |first2=Thomas |title=A History of the English Language |edition=5th |publisher=Longman |date=2002 |isbn=978-0-13-015166-7 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Bermudez-OteroMcMahon2006 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Bermúdez-Otero |first=Ricardo |first2=April |last2=McMahon |date=2006 |chapter=Chapter 17: English phonology and morphology |editor1=Bas Aarts |editor2=April McMahon |title=The Handbook of English Linguistics |location=Oxford |publisher=Blackwell |isbn=978-1-4051-6425-2 |url=http://www.blackwellreference.com/public/uid=3/tocnode?id=g9781405113823_chunk_g978140511382318 |accessdate=2 April 2015 |doi=10.1111/b.9781405113823.2006.00018.x |pages=382–410 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- BlenchSpriggs1999 -->
 
: {{cite book |last1=Blench |first1=R. |last2=Spriggs |first2=Matthew |title=Archaeology and Language: Correlating Archaeological and Linguistic Hypotheses |pages=285–286 |date=1999 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-11761-6 |url=https://books.google.com/?id=DWMHhfXxLaIC&pg=PA286 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Boberg2010 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Boberg |first=Charles |date=2010 |title=The English language in Canada: Status, history and comparative analysis |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-49144-0 |series=Studies in English Language |laysummary=http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/cjl/summary/v056/56.2.brock.html |laydate=2 April 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- BosworthToller1921 -->
 
: {{cite web |last1=Bosworth |first1=Joseph |authorlink1=Joseph Bosworth |last2=Toller |first2=T. Northcote |title=Engla land |work=[[An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary]] (Online) |date=1921 |url=http://bosworth.ff.cuni.cz/009427 |accessdate=6 March 2015 |publisher=[[Charles University]] |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- BrintonBrinton2010 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Brinton |first=Laurel J. |last2=Brinton |first2=Donna M. |date=2010 |title=The linguistic structure of modern English |publisher=John Benjamins |isbn=978-902728824-0 |url=https://benjamins.com/#catalog/books/z.156/main |accessdate=2 April 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
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: {{cite encyclopedia |last=Brutt-Griffler |first=J. |title=Languages of Wider Communication |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542006441 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00644-1 |pages=690–697 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- Burridge2010 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Burridge |first=Kate |chapter=Chapter 7: English in Australia |editor-last=Kirkpatrick |editor-first=Andy |date=2010 |title=The Routledge handbook of world Englishes |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-62264-6 |pages=132–151 |laysummary=http://linguistlist.org/pubs/reviews/get-review.cfm?SubID=4525181 |laydate=29 March 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Campbell1959 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Campbell |first=Alistair |authorlink=Alistair Campbell (academic) |title=Old English Grammar |location=[[Oxford]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=1959 |isbn=0-19-811943-7 |ref=harv}}
 
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: {{cite journal |last=Carr |first=Philip |last2=Honeybone |first2=Patrick |date=2007 |title=English phonology and linguistic theory: an introduction to issues, and to 'Issues in English Phonology' |journal=Language Sciences |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=117–153 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0388000106000787 |accessdate=2 April 2015 |doi=10.1016/j.langsci.2006.12.018 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- Cassidy1982 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Cassidy |first=Frederic G. |chapter=Geographical Variation of English in the United States |editor1-last=Bailey |editor1-first=Richard W. |editor2-last=Görlach |editor2-first=Manfred |title=English as a World Language |pages=177–210 |date=1982 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-3-12-533872-2 |ref=harv}}
 
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: {{cite book |last=Cercignani |first=Fausto |title=Shakespeare's works and Elizabethan pronunciation |date=1981 |publisher=Clarendon Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_JBlAAAAMAAJ |accessdate=14 March 2015 |laysummary=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3728688 |laydate=15 March 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
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: {{cite book |last1=Collingwood |first1=Robin George |authorlink=R. G. Collingwood |last2=Myres |first2= J. N. L. |chapter=Chapter XX. The Sources for the period: Angles, Saxons, and Jutes on the Continent |title=Roman Britain and the English Settlements |volume=Book V: The English Settlements |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford, England |date=1936 |lccn=37002621 |laysummary=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2143838 |laydate=15 March 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
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: {{cite book |last1=Collins |first1=Beverley |last2=Mees |first2=Inger M. |year=2003 |orig-year=First published 1981 |title=The Phonetics of English and Dutch |edition=5th |place=Leiden |publisher=Brill Publishers |isbn=9004103406 |url=http://npu.edu.ua/!e-book/book/djvu/A/iif_kgpm_Collins_Phonetics_of_English_and_Dutch_pdf.pdf |ref=harv}}
 
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: {{cite encyclopedia |last=Connell |first=B. A. |title=Nigeria: Language Situation |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542016552 |accessdate=25 March 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/01655-2 |pages=88–90 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- ConradRubal-Lopez1996 -->
 
: {{cite book |last1=Conrad |first1=Andrew W. |last2=Rubal-Lopez |first2=Alma |title=Post-Imperial English: Status Change in Former British and American Colonies, 1940–1990 |date=1 January 1996 |publisher=de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-087218-7 |url=http://www.degruyter.com/viewbooktoc/product/143492 |accessdate=2 April 2015 |page=261 |via=[[De Gruyter]] |subscription=yes |ref=harv}}
 
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: {{cite book |last=Crystal |first=David |authorlink=David Crystal |title=Language Death |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |date=2002 |url=http://ebooks.cambridge.org/ebook.jsf?bid=CBO9781139106856 |accessdate=25 February 2015 |doi=10.1017/CBO9781139106856 |isbn=978-1-139-10685-6 |ref=harv}}
 
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: {{Cite book |last=Crystal |first=David |title=English as a Global Language |author-link=David Crystal |edition=2nd |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=69 |date=2003a |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d6jPAKxTHRYC |accessdate=4 February 2015 |isbn=978-0-521-53032-3 |laysummary=http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam041/2003282119.pdf |laysource=Library of Congress (sample) |laydate=4 February 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- CrystalEncyclopedia2003b -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Crystal |first=David |title=The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language |author-link=David Crystal |edition=2nd |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2003b |isbn=0-521-53033-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A3b3ngEACAAJ |accessdate=4 February 2015 |laysummary=http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/languages-linguistics/english-language-and-linguistics-general-interest/cambridge-encyclopedia-english-language-2nd-edition |laydate=4 February 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
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: {{cite news |last=Crystal |first=David |title=Subcontinent Raises Its Voice |year=2004 |url=http://education.guardian.co.uk/tefl/story/0,,1355064,00.html |accessdate=4 February 2015 |newspaper=The Guardian |ref=harv}}
 
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: {{cite book |last=Crystal |first=David |chapter=Chapter 9: English worldwide |title=A History of the English language |editor1-last=Denison |editor1-first=David |editor2-last=Hogg |editor2-first=Richard M. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2006 |isbn=978-0-511-16893-2 |pages=420–439 |ref=harv}}
 
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: {{cite book |editor1-last=Daniels |editor1-first=Peter T. |editor2-last=Bright |editor2-first=William |title=The World's Writing Systems |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=621jAAAAMAAJ |accessdate=23 February 2015 |date=6 June 1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-507993-7 |laysummary=http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780195079937.do |laydate=23 February 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
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: {{cite book |last=Dehaene |first=Stanislas |title=Reading in the Brain: The Science and Evolution of a Human Invention |date=2009 |publisher=Viking|isbn=978-0-670-02110-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Z2hjwEACAAJ |accessdate=3 April 2015 |laysummary=http://readinginthebrain.pagesperso-orange.fr/intro.htm |laydate=3 April 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- DenisonHogg2006 -->
 
: {{cite book |last1=Denison |first1=David |last2=Hogg |first2=Richard M. |chapter=Overview |editor1-last=Denison |editor1-first=David |editor2-last=Hogg |editor2-first=Richard M. |title=A History of the English language |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2006 |isbn=978-0-521-71799-1 |pages=30–31 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- DenningKesslerLeben2007 -->
 
: {{cite book |last1=Denning |first1=Keith |last2=Kessler |first2=Brett |last3=Leben |first3=William Ronald |title=English Vocabulary Elements |date=17 February 2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-516803-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jz76l9RAccQC |accessdate=25 February 2015 |laysummary=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/english-vocabulary-elements-9780195168037?cc=us&lang=en& |laydate=25 February 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- UKMinorityProtectionReport2007 author is Department for Communities and Local Government -->
 
: {{cite report |author=Department for Communities and Local Government (United Kingdom) |date=27 February 2007 |title=Second Report submitted by the United Kingdom pursuant to article 25, paragraph 1 of the framework convention for the protection of national minorities |url=https://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/minorities/3_FCNMdocs/PDF_2nd_SR_UK_en.pdf |publisher=Council of Europe |docket=ACFC/SR/II(2007)003 rev<sup>1</sup> |accessdate=6 March 2015 |ref={{harvid|UKMinorityProtectionReport|2007}} |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924020227/http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/minorities/3_FCNMdocs/PDF_2nd_SR_UK_en.pdf |archivedate=24 September 2015 |df=dmy-all }}
 
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: {{cite encyclopedia |last=Deumert |first=A. |title=Migration and Language |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542012943 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/01294-3 |pages=129–133 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- Dixon 1982-->
 
: {{cite journal |last=Dixon|first= R. M. W. |date=1982 |title=The grammar of English phrasal verbs |journal=Australian Journal of Linguistics |volume=2 |issue=1|doi=10.1080/07268608208599280 |ref=harv |pages=1–42}}
 
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: {{cite book |last=Donoghue |first=D. |title=Old English Literature: A Short Introduction |publisher=Wiley |date=2008 |isbn=978-0-631-23486-9 |url=http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/book/10.1002/9780470776025 |accessdate=16 March 2015 |doi=10.1002/9780470776025 |ref=harv}}
 
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: {{cite encyclopedia |last=Durrell |first=M. |title=Germanic Languages |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542021891 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/02189-1 |pages=53–55 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- Eagleson1982 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Eagleson |first=Robert D. |chapter=English in Australia and New Zealand |editor1-last=Bailey |editor1-first=Richard W. |editor2-last=Görlach |editor2-first=Manfred |title=English as a World Language |pages=415–438 |isbn=978-3-12-533872-2 |date=1982 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Ethnologue -->
 
: {{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/statistics/size |title=Summary by language size |accessdate=10 February 2015 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=Ethnologue: Languages of the World |ref={{harvid|Ethnologue|2010}}}}
 
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: {{cite report|author=European Commission |title=Special Eurobarometer 386: Europeans and Their Languages |date=June 2012 |series=Eurobarometer Special Surveys |url=http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_en.pdf |accessdate=12 February 2015 |laysummary=http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_sum_en.pdf |laydate=27 March 2015 |ref=harv |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106183351/http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_en.pdf |archivedate= 6 January 2016 |df= }}
 
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: {{cite book |editor1-last=Fasold |editor1-first=Ralph W. |editor2-last=Connor-Linton |editor2-first=Jeffrey |title=An Introduction to Language and Linguistics |edition=Second |date=2014 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-316-06185-5 |ref=harv}}
 
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: {{cite book |last1=Fischer |first1=Olga |last2=van der Wurff |first2=Wim |chapter=Chapter 3: Syntax |editor1-last=Denison |editor1-first=David |editor2-last=Hogg |editor2-first=Richard M. |title=A History of the English language |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2006 |isbn=978-0-521-71799-1 |pages=109–198 |ref=harv}}
 
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: {{cite book |title=English Phonology: An Introduction |first=Heinz J. |last=Giegerich |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=1992 |isbn=978-0-521-33603-1 |series=Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics |ref=harv}}
 
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: {{cite book |last=Gneuss |first=Helmut |chapter=Chapter 2: The Old English Language |editor1-last=Godden |editor1-first=Malcolm |editor2-last=Lapidge |editor2-first=Michael |date=2013 |title=The Cambridge companion to Old English literature |edition=Second |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-15402-4 |pages=19–49 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Görlach1991 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Görlach |first=Manfred |title=Introduction to Early Modern English |date=1991 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-32529-3 |ref=harv }}
 
<!-- Gordin2015 -->
 
: {{cite web |last=Gordin |first=Michael D. |title=Absolute English |url=http://aeon.co/magazine/science/how-did-science-come-to-speak-only-english/ |accessdate=16 February 2015 |work=[[Aeon (digital magazine)|Aeon]] |date=4 February 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
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: {{cite book |last1=Gordon |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Campbell |first2= Lyle |last3=Hay |first3=Jennifer |last4=Maclagan |first4= Margaret |last5=Sudbury |first5=Angela |last6=Trudgill |first6=Peter |date=2004 |title=New Zealand English: its origins and evolution|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-10895-9 |series=Studies in English Language |ref={{harvid|Gordon|Campbell|Hay et al.|2004}}}}
 
<!-- Gottlieb2006 -->
 
: {{cite encyclopedia |last=Gottlieb |first=H. |title=Linguistic Influence |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542044552 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/04455-2 |pages=196–206 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- Graddol2006 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Graddol |first=David |title=English Next: Why global English may mean the end of 'English as a Foreign Language' |authorlink=David Graddol |url=http://englishagenda.britishcouncil.org/sites/ec/files/books-english-next.pdf |accessdate=7 February 2015 |date=2006 |publisher=The British Council |laysummary=http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org/content/61/1/81.extract |laysource=ELT Journal |laydate=7 February 2015 |ref=harv |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212042939/http://englishagenda.britishcouncil.org/sites/ec/files/books-english-next.pdf |archivedate=12 February 2015 |df=dmy-all }}
 
<!-- Graddol2010 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Graddol |first=David |title=English Next India: The future of English in India |authorlink=David Graddol |url=http://englishagenda.britishcouncil.org/sites/ec/files/books-english-next-india-2010.pdf |accessdate=7 February 2015 |date=2010 |publisher=The British Council |isbn=978-0-86355-627-2 |laysummary=http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org/content/65/3/356.extract |laysource=ELT Journal |laydate=7 February 2015 |ref=harv |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212042654/http://englishagenda.britishcouncil.org/sites/ec/files/books-english-next-india-2010.pdf |archivedate=12 February 2015 |df=dmy-all }}
 
<!-- GraddolLeithSwann et al.2007 -->
 
: {{cite book |editor1-last=Graddol |editor1-first=David |editor2-last=Leith |editor2-first=Dick |editor3-last=Swann |editor3-first=Joan |editor4-last=Rhys |editor4-first=Martin |editor5-last=Gillen |editor5-first=Julia |title=Changing English  |url=http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415376792/ |accessdate=11 February 2015 |date=2007 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-37679-2 |page= |laysummary=|laydate= |ref={{harvid|Graddol|Leith|Swann et al.|2007}}}}
 
<!--Green2002-->
 
: {{cite book |last=Green |first=Lisa J. |date=2002 |title=African American English: a linguistic introduction |publisher=Cambridge University Press |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Greenbaum -->
 
: {{cite book |last1=Greenbaum |first1=S. |last2=Nelson |first2=G. |title=An introduction to English grammar |date=1 January 2002 |edition=Second |publisher=Longman |isbn=978-0-582-43741-8 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Halliday & Hasan 1976-->
 
: {{cite book|last=Halliday|first=M. A. K.|last2=Hasan|first2=Ruqaiya|date=1976|title=Cohesion in English|publisher=Pearson Education ltd.|ref=harv}}
 
<!-- HancockAngogo1982 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Hancock |first=Ian F. |last2=Angogo |first2=Rachel |chapter=English in East Africa |editor1-last=Bailey |editor1-first=Richard W. |editor2-last=Görlach |editor2-first=Manfred |title=English as a World Language |isbn=978-3-12-533872-2 |pages=415–438  |date=1982 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Harbert2006 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Harbert |first=Wayne |title=The Germanic Languages |url=http://ebooks.cambridge.org/ebook.jsf?bid=CBO9780511755071 |accessdate=26 February 2015 |date=2007 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-01511-0 |series=Cambridge Language Surveys |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511755071 |laysummary=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40492966 |laysource=Language (journal of the Linguistic Society of America) |laydate=26 February 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Hickey 2007 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Hickey |first=R. |date=2007 |title=Irish English: History and present-day forms |publisher=Cambridge University Press |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Hickey 2005 -->
 
: {{cite book|editor-last=Hickey|editor-first=R. |date=2005|title=Legacies of colonial English: Studies in transported dialects|publisher=Cambridge University Press|ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Hogg1992 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Hogg |first=Richard M. |chapter=Chapter 3: Phonology and Morphology |editor-last=Hogg |editor-first=Richard M. |title=The Cambridge History of the English Language |volume=1: The Beginnings to 1066 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=1992 |isbn=978-0-521-26474-7 |doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521264747 |pages=67–168 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Hogg2006 -->
 
: {{cite book |last1=Hogg |first1=Richard M. |chapter=Chapter7: English in Britain |editor1-last=Denison |editor1-first=David |editor2-last=Hogg |editor2-first=Richard M. |title=A History of the English language |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2006 |isbn=978-0-521-71799-1 |pages=360–61 |ref=harv}}
 
<!--How English evolved into a global language-->
 
: {{cite web|title=How English evolved into a global language|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12017753 |date=20 December 2010 |publisher=BBC |accessdate=9 August 2015 |ref={{harvid|How English evolved into a global language|2010}}}}
 
<!-- HowManyWords2015 -->
 
: {{cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=How many words are there in the English language? |work=Oxford Dictionaries Online |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2015 |url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/page/howmanywords |accessdate=2 April 2015 |quote='''How many words are there in the English language?''' There is no single sensible answer to this question. It's impossible to count the number of words in a language, because it's so hard to decide what actually counts as a word. |ref={{harvid|HowManyWords|2015}}}}
 
<!-- HuddlestonPullum2002 -->
 
: {{cite book |last1=Huddleston |first1=Rodney |last2=Pullum |first2=Geoffrey K. |title=The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language |date=15 April 2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-43146-0 |url=http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/languages-linguistics/grammar-and-syntax/cambridge-grammar-english-language |accessdate=10 February 2015 |page= |laysummary=http://www.ling.ohio-state.edu/~culicove/Publications/CGEL_Review.pdf |laydate=10 February 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Hughes & Trudgill 1996 -->
 
: {{cite book |first1=Arthur |last1=Hughes |last2=Trudgill |first2=Peter |date=1996 |title=English Accents and Dialects |edition=3rd |publisher= Arnold Publishers |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- International Civil Aviation Organization -->
 
: {{cite web |author=International Civil Aviation Organization |title=Personnel Licensing FAQ |url=http://www.icao.int/safety/airnavigation/pages/peltrgfaq.aspx#anchor14 |accessdate=16 December 2014 |publisher=International Civil Aviation Organization – Air Navigation Bureau |date=2011 |at=In which languages does a licence holder need to demonstrate proficiency? |quote=Controllers working on stations serving designated airports and routes used by international air services shall demonstrate language proficiency in English as well as in any other language(s) used by the station on the ground. |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- International Maritime Organization -->
 
: {{cite web |author=International Maritime Organization |title=IMO Standard Marine Communication Phrases |date=2011 |url=http://www.imo.org/OurWork/Safety/Navigation/Pages/StandardMarineCommunicationPhrases.aspx |accessdate=16 December 2014 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- International Phonetics Association 1999-->
 
: {{Cite book |last=International Phonetic Association |authorlink=International Phonetic Association |date=1999 |title=Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet |location=Cambridge |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=0-521-65236-7 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Jambor2007 -->
 
: {{cite journal |last=Jambor |first=Paul Z. |title=English Language Imperialism: Points of View |journal=Journal of English as an International Language |date=December 2007 |volume =2 |pages=103–123 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Jespersen 2007 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Jespersen |first=Otto |title=The Philosophy of Grammar |chapter=Case: The number of English cases |publisher=Routledge |origyear=1924 |date=2007 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Kachru2006 -->
 
: {{cite encyclopedia |last=Kachru |first=B. |title=English: World Englishes |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542006453 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00645-3 |pages=195–202 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- Kastovsky2006 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Kastovsky |first1=Dieter |chapter=Chapter 4: Vocabulary |editor1-last=Denison |editor1-first=David |editor2-last=Hogg |editor2-first=Richard M. |title=A History of the English language |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2006 |isbn=978-0-521-71799-1 |pages=199–270 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- KönigvanderAuwera1994 -->
 
: {{cite book |editor1-last=König |editor1-first=Ekkehard |editor2-last=van der Auwera |editor2-first=Johan |title=The Germanic Languages |date=1994 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-28079-2 |series=Routledge Language Family Descriptions |url=http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415280792/ |accessdate=26 February 2015 |laysummary=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4176538 |laydate=26 February 2015 |ref=harv}} The survey of the Germanic branch languages includes chapters by Winfred P. Lehmann, Ans van Kemenade, John Ole Askedal, Erik Andersson, Neil Jacobs, Silke Van Ness, and Suzanne Romaine.
 
<!-- König 1994 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=König |first=Ekkehard |chapter=17. English |pages=532–562 |editor1-last=König |editor1-first=Ekkehard |editor2-last=van der Auwera |editor2-first=Johan |title=The Germanic Languages |date=1994 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-28079-2 |series=Routledge Language Family Descriptions |url=http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415280792/ |accessdate=26 February 2015 |laysummary=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4176538 |laydate=26 February 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Labov 1972 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Labov |first=W. |date=1972 |title=Sociolinguistic patterns |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |chapter= 13. The Social Stratification of (R) in New York City Department Stores |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Labov 2012 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Labov |first=W. |date=2012|title=Dialect Diversity in America: The Politics of Language Change|publisher=University of Virginia Press |chapter= 1. About Language and Language Change |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- LabovAshBoberg2006 named reference was ANAE -->
 
: {{cite book |last1=Labov |first1=William |authorlink1=William Labov |last2=Ash |first2=Sharon |last3=Boberg |first3=Charles |date=2006 |title=The Atlas of North American English |location=Berlin |publisher=de Gruyter |isbn=3-11-016746-8 |url=http://www.degruyter.com/view/product/178229?rskey=eUyN34&result=2 |accessdate=2 April 2015 |via=[[De Gruyter]] |subscription=yes |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Lanham 1982 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Lanham |first=L. W. |chapter=English in South Africa |editor1-last=Bailey |editor1-first=Richard W. |editor2-last=Görlach |editor2-first=Manfred |title=English as a World Language |pages=324–352 |date=1982 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-3-12-533872-2 |ref=harv}}
 
<!--Lass 1992 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Lass |first=Roger |chapter=2. Phonology and Morphology |editor1-last=Blake |editor1-first=Norman |title=Cambridge History of the English Language |volume=II: 1066–1476 |pages=103–123 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=1992 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Lass2000 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Lass |first=Roger |chapter=Chapter 3: Phonology and Morphology |editor-first=Roger |editor-last=Lass |title=The Cambridge History of the English Language, Volume III: 1476–1776 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |date=2000 |pages=56–186 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Lass 2002-->
 
: {{citation |last=Lass |first=Roger |chapter=South African English |editor-last=Mesthrie |editor-first=Rajend |date=2002 |title=Language in South Africa |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-79105-2}}
 
<!-- Lass2006 -->
 
: {{cite book |last1=Lass |first1=Roger |chapter=Chapter 2: Phonology and Morphology |editor1-last=Denison |editor1-first=David |editor2-last=Hogg |editor2-first=Richard M. |title=A History of the English language |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2006 |isbn=978-0-521-71799-1 |pages=46–47 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Lawler2006 -->
 
: {{cite encyclopedia |last=Lawler |first=J. |title=Punctuation |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542045739 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/04573-9 |pages=290–291 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- Lawton 1982 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Lawton |first=David L. |chapter=English in the Caribbean |editor1-last=Bailey |editor1-first=Richard W. |editor2-last=Görlach |editor2-first=Manfred |title=English as a World Language |pages=251–280 |date=1982 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-3-12-533872-2 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Leech 2006 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Leech |first=G. N. |date=2006 |title=A glossary of English grammar |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- LeechHundtMairSmith2009 -->
 
: {{cite book |url=http://english.fullerton.edu/publications/clnarchives/2012winter/angus-chng%20contemp_eng.pdf  |last1=Leech |first1=Geoffrey |last2=Hundt |first2=Marianne |last3=Mair |first3=Christian |last4=Smith |first4=Nicholas |title=Change in contemporary English: a grammatical study |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=22 October 2009 |isbn=978-0-521-86722-1 |laysummary=http://english.fullerton.edu/publications/clnarchives/2012winter/angus-chng%20contemp_eng.pdf |laydate=29 March 2015 |ref=harv|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402140536/http://english.fullerton.edu/publications/clnarchives/2012winter/angus-chng%20contemp_eng.pdf |archivedate=2 April 2015 |accessdate=22 September 2016}}
 
<!-- LevineCrocket1966 -->
 
: {{cite journal |last1=Levine |first1=L. |last2=Crockett |first2=H. J. |date=1966 |title=Speech Variation in a Piedmont Community: Postvocalic r*|journal=Sociological Inquiry |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=204–226 |ref=harv |doi=10.1111/j.1475-682x.1966.tb00625.x}}
 
<!-- Li2003 -->
 
: {{cite journal |last1=Li |first1=David C. S. |title=Between English and Esperanto: what does it take to be a world language? |journal=International Journal of the Sociology of Language |volume=2003 |issue=164 |pages=33–63 |date=2003 |issn=0165-2516 |url=http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/ijsl.2003.2003.issue-164/ijsl.2003.055/ijsl.2003.055.xml?format=INT |accessdate=27 March 2015 |doi=10.1515/ijsl.2003.055 |via=[[De Gruyter]] |subscription=yes |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- LimAnsaldo2006 -->
 
: {{cite encyclopedia |last1=Lim |first1=L. |last2=Ansaldo |first2=U. |title=Singapore: Language Situation |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542017016 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/01701-6 |pages=387–389 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- Maclagan 2010 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Maclagan |first=Margaret |chapter=Chapter 8: The English(es) of New Zealand |editor-last=Kirkpatrick |editor-first=Andy |date=2010 |title=The Routledge handbook of world Englishes |publisher=Routledge |pages=151–164 |isbn=978-0-203-84932-3 |laysummary=http://linguistlist.org/pubs/reviews/get-review.cfm?SubID=4525181 |laydate=29 March 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!--MacMahon 2006 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=MacMahon |first=M. K. |date=2006 |chapter=16. English Phonetics |editor1=Bas Aarts |editor2=April McMahon |title=The Handbook of English Linguistics |location=Oxford |publisher=Blackwell |pages=359–382 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Macquarie Dictionary2015 -->
 
: {{cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |url=https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/ |title=Macquarie Dictionary |website=Australia's National Dictionary & Thesaurus Online &#124; Macquarie Dictionary |date=2015 |publisher=Macmillan Publishers Group Australia |accessdate=15 February 2015 |registration=yes |ref={{harvid|Macquarie Dictionary|2015}}}}
 
<!-- Mair & Leech 2006 -->
 
: {{cite book |last1=Mair |first1=C. |last2=Leech |first2=G. |date=2006 |chapter=14 Current Changes in English Syntax |title=The handbook of English linguistics |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Mair 2006-->
 
: {{cite book |last=Mair |first=Christian |date=2006 |title=Twentieth-century English: History, variation and standardization |publisher=Cambridge University Press |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- MazruiMazrui1998 was refMazrui1998 -->
 
: {{cite book |last1=Mazrui |first1=Ali A. |last2=Mazrui |first2=Alamin |title=The Power of Babel: Language and Governance in the African Experience |date=3 August 1998 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-51429-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6lQTPxdYx8kC |accessdate=15 February 2015 |laysummary=http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo3618917.html |laydate=15 February 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- McArthur1992 -->
 
: {{cite book |editor-last=McArthur |editor-first=Tom |title=The Oxford Companion to the English Language |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=1992 |isbn=978-0-19-214183-5 |laysummary=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192800619.001.0001/acref-9780192800619 |laydate=15 February 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- McCrumMacNeilCran2003 -->
 
: {{Cite book |last1=McCrum |first1=Robert |last2=MacNeil |first2=Robert |last3=Cran |first3=William |title=The Story of English |location=London |date=2003 |edition=Third Revised |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-200231-5 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- McGuinness1997 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=McGuinness |first=Diane |title=Why Our Children Can't Read, and what We Can Do about it: A Scientific Revolution in Reading |authorlink=Diane McGuinness |date=1997 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-684-83161-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F-q02ZBKh3wC |accessdate=3 April 2015 |laysummary=http://fee.org/freeman/detail/why-our-children-cant-read-and-what-we-can-do-about-it |laydate=3 April 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Meierkord2006 -->
 
: {{cite encyclopedia |last=Meierkord |first=C. |title=Lingua Francas as Second Languages |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542006416 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00641-6 |pages=163–171 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- MerriamWebster2015 -->
 
: {{cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=English |publisher=Merriam-webster.com |date=26 February 2015 |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/English |accessdate=26 February 2015 |ref={{harvid|Merriam Webster|2015}}}}
 
<!-- Methrie2006 -->
 
: {{cite journal |last=Mesthrie |first=Rajend |title=New Englishes and the native speaker debate |journal=Language Sciences |date=2010 |issn=0388-0001 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0388000110000549 |accessdate=17 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/j.langsci.2010.08.002 |pages=594–601 |ref=harv |volume=32}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- Miller 2002 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Miller |first=Jim |date=2002 |title=An Introduction to English Syntax |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Montgomery -->
 
: {{cite journal |last=Montgomery |first=M. |date=1993 |title=The Southern Accent—Alive and Well |journal=Southern Cultures |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=47–64 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Mountford2006 -->
 
: {{cite encyclopedia |last=Mountford |first=J. |title=English Spelling: Rationale |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542050185 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/05018-5 |pages=156–159 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- Mufwene2006 -->
 
: {{cite encyclopedia |last=Mufwene |first=S. S. |title=Language Spread |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542012918 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/01291-8 |pages=613–616 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- Nation2001 needs more verification -->
 
: {{Cite book |last=Nation |first=I. S. P. |title=Learning Vocabulary in Another Language |authorlink= Paul Nation |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=15 March 2001 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sKqx8k8gYTkC |accessdate=4 February 2015 |page=477 |isbn=0-521-80498-1 |laysummary=http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam031/2001269892.pdf |laydate=4 February 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- National Records of Scotland2013 official census data for Scotland -->
 
: {{cite web |author=National Records of Scotland |title=Census 2011: Release 2A |series=Scotland's Census 2011 |date=26 September 2013 |url=http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/news/census-2011-release-2a |accessdate=25 March 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Neijt2006 -->
 
: {{cite encyclopedia |last=Neijt |first=A. |title=Spelling Reform |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542045740 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/04574-0 |pages=68–71 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- NevalainenTieken-Boon van Ostade2006 -->
 
: {{cite book |last1=Nevalainen |first1=Terttu |last2=Tieken-Boon van Ostade |first2=Ingrid |chapter=Chapter 5: Standardization |editor1-last=Denison |editor1-first=David |editor2-last=Hogg |editor2-first=Richard M. |title=A History of the English language |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2006 |isbn=978-0-521-71799-1 |pages= |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency2012 -->
 
: {{cite web|author=Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency |title=Census 2011: Key Statistics for Northern Ireland December 2012 |periodical=Statistics Bulletin |date=11 December 2012 |url=http://www.nisra.gov.uk/Census/key_report_2011.pdf |accessdate=16 December 2014 |at=Table KS207NI: Main Language |ref=harv |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121224033625/http://www.nisra.gov.uk/Census/key_report_2011.pdf |archivedate=24 December 2012 |df= }}
 
<!-- Northrup2013 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Northrup |first=David |title=How English Became the Global Language |date=20 March 2013 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-137-30306-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YPAlPeB6IvQC |accessdate=25 March 2015 |laysummary=http://www.palgrave.com/page/detail/how-english-became-the-global-language-david-northrup/?K=9781137303066 |laydate=25 March 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- O'Dwyer 2006-->
 
: {{cite book |first=Bernard |last=O'Dwyer |title= Modern English Structures, second edition: Form, Function, and Position |publisher=Broadview Press |date=2006 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Office for National Statistics official census figures for England and Wales -->
 
: {{cite web |author=Office for National Statistics |title=Language in England and Wales, 2011 |date=4 March 2013 |periodical=2011 Census Analysis |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census-analysis/language-in-england-and-wales-2011/rpt---language-in-england-and-wales--2011.html |accessdate=16 December 2014 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- OxfordLearner'sDictionary -->
 
: {{cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Oxford Learner's Dictionaries |url=http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/ |accessdate=25 February 2015 |publisher=Oxford|ref={{harvid|Oxford Learner's Dictionary|2015}}}}
 
<!-- Patrick2006aJamaica -->
 
: {{cite encyclopedia |last=Patrick |first=P. L. |title=Jamaica: Language Situation |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006a |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542017600 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/01760-0 |pages=88–90 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- Patrick2006bAAVE -->
 
: {{cite encyclopedia |last=Patrick |first=P. L. |title=English, African-American Vernacular |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006b |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542050926 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/05092-6 |pages=159–163 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- Payne & Huddleston 2002 -->
 
: {{cite book |last1=Payne |last2=Huddleston |first1=John |first2=Rodney |chapter=5. Nouns and noun phrases |editor1-last=Huddleston |editor2-last=Pullum |editor1-first=R. |editor2-first=G. K. |date=2002 |title=The Cambridge Grammar of English |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=323–522 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Phillipson2004 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Phillipson |first=Robert |title=English-Only Europe?: Challenging Language Policy |date=28 April 2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-44349-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9HiCAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA47 |accessdate=15 February 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Richter2012 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Richter |first=Ingo |chapter=Introduction |editor1-last=Richter |editor1-first=Dagmar |editor2-last=Richter |editor2-first=Ingo |editor3-last=Toivanen |editor3-first=Reeta |display-editors = 3 |editor4-last=Ulasiuk |editor4-first=Iryna |title=Language Rights Revisited: The challenge of global migration and communication |date=1 January 2012 |publisher=BWV Verlag |isbn=978-3-8305-2809-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3u9kBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA29 |accessdate=2 April 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Roach 1991-->
 
: {{cite book |last=Roach |first=Peter |date=1991 |title=English Phonetics and Phonology |edition=2nd |publisher=Cambridge University Press |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Roach1999 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Roach |first=Peter |title=English Phonetics and Phonology |date=2009 |publisher=Cambridge |edition=4th |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Robinson1992 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Robinson |first=Orrin |title=Old English and Its Closest Relatives: A Survey of the Earliest Germanic Languages |publisher=Stanford University Press |date=1992 |isbn=978-0-8047-2221-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xAeJoF55hhsC |accessdate=5 April 2015 |laysummary=http://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=3026 |laydate=5 April 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Romaine1982 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Romaine |first=Suzanne |chapter=English in Scotland |editor1-last=Bailey |editor1-first=Richard W. |editor2-last=Görlach |editor2-first=Manfred |title=English as a World Language |pages=56–83 |date=1982 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-3-12-533872-2 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Romaine1999 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Romaine |first=Suzanne |chapter=Chapter 1: Introduction |title=Cambridge History of the English Language |volume=IV: 1776–1997 |editor-last=Romaine |editor-first=Suzanne |pages=1–56 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=1999 |isbn=978-0-521-26477-8 |doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521264778.002 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Romaine2006 -->
 
: {{cite encyclopedia |last=Romaine |first=S. |title=Language Policy in Multilingual Educational Contexts |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542006465 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00646-5 |pages=584–596 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- Routes of English-->
 
: {{cite web |title=The Routes of English |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/routesofenglish/storysofar/programme4_6.shtml |date=1 August 2015 |ref={{sfnref|ref=harvid|The Routes of English}}}}
 
<!-- Rowicka2006 -->
 
: {{cite encyclopedia |last=Rowicka |first=G. J. |title=Canada: Language Situation |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542018484 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/01848-4 |pages=194–195 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- Rubino2006 -->
 
: {{cite encyclopedia |last=Rubino |first=C. |title=Philippines: Language Situation |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542017363 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/01736-3 |pages=323–326 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- Ryan2013 an official report of the United States Census -->
 
: {{cite web |last=Ryan |first=Camille |title=Language Use in the United States: 2011 |periodical=American Community Survey Reports |date=August 2013 |page=1 |url=http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acs-22.pdf |accessdate=16 December 2014 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Sailaja 2009 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Sailaja |first=Pingali |title=Indian English |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |date=2009 |isbn=978-0-7486-2595-6 |series=Dialects of English |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ntxWxuoRBiwC |accessdate=5 April 2015 |laysummary=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/indian-english-9780748625949?cc=us&lang=en& |laydate=5 April 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Schiffrin 1988 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Schiffrin |first=Deborah |date=1988 |title=Discourse Markers |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-35718-0 |series=Studies in Interactional Sociolinguistics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hs7J-WqPtPAC |accessdate=5 April 2015 |laysummary=http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/languages-linguistics/sociolinguistics/discourse-markers |laydate=5 April 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Schneider2007 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Schneider |first=Edgar |title=Postcolonial English: Varieties Around the World |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2007 |isbn=978-0-521-53901-2 |url=https://books.google.com/?id=QIE6zGSd8okC |accessdate=5 April 2015 |laysummary=http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/languages-linguistics/sociolinguistics/postcolonial-english-varieties-around-world |laydate=5 April 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Schonweitz2001-->
 
: {{cite journal |last=Schönweitz |first=Thomas |title=Gender and Postvocalic /r/ in the American South: A Detailed Socioregional Analysis |journal=American Speech |volume=76 |issue=3 |date=2001 |pages=259–285 |ref=harv |doi=10.1215/00031283-76-3-259}}
 
<!-- Shaywitz2003 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Shaywitz |first=Sally E. |title=Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-based Program for Reading Problems at Any Level |date=2003 |publisher=A.A. Knopf |isbn=978-0-375-40012-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hXbZ1QInSF0C |accessdate=3 April 2015 |laysummary=http://dyslexia.yale.edu/book_Overcoming.html |laydate=3 April 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Sheidlower2006 -->
 
: {{cite web |last=Sheidlower |first=Jesse |title=How many words are there in English? |date=10 April 2006 |url=http://www.slate.com/id/2139611/ |accessdate=2 April 2015 |quote=The problem with trying to number the words in any language is that it's very hard to agree on the basics. For example, what is a word? |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Scheler1977 -->
 
*{{cite book|last=Scheler|first=Manfred|year=1977|title=Der englische Wortschatz [English Vocabulary]|location=Berlin|publisher=E. Schmidt|language=German|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GchZAAAAMAAJ|isbn=978-3-503-01250-3|ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Smith2009 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Smith |first=Jeremy J. |title=Old English: a linguistic introduction |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2 April 2009 |isbn=978-0-521-86677-4 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Statistics Canada2014 official census of Canada -->
 
: {{cite web |author=Statistics Canada |title=Population by mother tongue and age groups (total), 2011 counts, for Canada, provinces and territories |date=22 August 2014 |url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/hlt-fst/lang/Pages/highlight.cfm?TabID=1&Lang=E&Asc=0&PRCode=01&OrderBy=2&View=1&tableID=401&queryID=1&Age=1#TableSummary |accessdate=25 March 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Statistics New Zealand2014 official census of New Zealand -->
 
: {{cite web |author=Statistics New Zealand |title=2013 QuickStats About Culture and Identity |date=April 2014 |url=http://www.stats.govt.nz/~/media/Statistics/Census/2013%20Census/profile-and-summary-reports/quickstats-culture-identity/quickstats-culture-identity.pdf |page=23 |accessdate=25 March 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Statistics South Africa2012 official census of South Africa -->
 
: {{cite book|publisher=Statistics South Africa |title=Census 2011: Census in Brief |id=Report No. 03‑01‑41 |date=2012 |isbn=978-0-621-41388-5 |url=http://www.statssa.gov.za/census/census_2011/census_products/Census_2011_Census_in_brief.pdf |archive-date=13 November 2015 |chapter=Population by first language spoken and province |ref=harv |page=23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151113164744/http://www.statssa.gov.za/census/census_2011/census_products/Census_2011_Census_in_brief.pdf |dead-url=no |chapter-url=http://www.statssa.gov.za/census/census_2011/census_products/Census_2011_Census_in_brief.pdf#page=28 |editor-first=Pali |editor-last=Lehohla |location=Pretoria |format=PDF |df= }}
 
<!-- SvartikLeech2006 -->
 
: {{cite book |last1=Svartvik |first1=Jan |last2=Leech |first2=Geoffrey |title=English – One Tongue, Many Voices |date=12 December 2006 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-4039-1830-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UqZsQgAACAAJ |accessdate=5 March 2015 |laysummary=http://linguistlist.org/pubs/reviews/get-review.cfm?SubID=116884 |laydate=16 March 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Swan2006 -->
 
: {{cite encyclopedia |last=Swan |first=M. |title=English in the Present Day (Since ca. 1900) |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542050586 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/05058-6 |pages=149–156 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- Sweet1892 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Sweet |first=Henry |title=A New English Grammar |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2014 |origyear=1892 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Thomas 2008-->
 
: {{cite book |last=Thomas |first=Erik R. |date=2008 |chapter=Rural Southern white accents |title=Varieties of English |volume=2: The Americas and the Caribbean |pages=87–114 |editor=Edgar W. Schneider |publisher=de Gruyter |url=http://www.degruyter.com/view/books/9783110208405/9783110208405.1.87/9783110208405.1.87.xml |accessdate=2 April 2015 |via=[[De Gruyter]] |subscription=yes |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- ThomasonKaufman1988 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Thomason |first=Sarah G. |authorlink=Sarah Thomason |last2=Kaufman |first2=Terrence |authorlink2=Terrence Kaufman |title=Language Contact, Creolization and Genetic Linguistics |publisher=University of California Press |date=1988 |isbn=978-0-520-91279-3 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Todd1982 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Todd |first=Loreto |chapter=The English language in West Africa |editor1-last=Bailey |editor1-first=Richard W. |editor2-last=Görlach |editor2-first=Manfred |title=English as a World Language |pages=281–305 |date=1982 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-3-12-533872-2 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Toon1982 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Toon |first=Thomas E. |chapter=Variation in Contemporary American English |editor1-last=Bailey |editor1-first=Richard W. |editor2-last=Görlach |editor2-first=Manfred |title=English as a World Language |pages=210–250 |date=1982 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-3-12-533872-2 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Toon1992 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Toon |first=Thomas E. |chapter=Old English Dialects |editor-last=Hogg |editor-first=Richard M. |title=The Cambridge History of the English Language |volume=1: The Beginnings to 1066 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=1992 |isbn=978-0-521-26474-7 |pages=409–451 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- TraskTrask2010 -->
 
: {{cite book |last1=Trask |first1=Larry |last2=Trask |first2=Robert Lawrence |title=Why Do Languages Change? |date=January 2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-83802-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9qoZzBgCmFMC |accessdate=5 March 2015 |laysummary=|laydate= |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Trudgill 1999 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Trudgill |first=Peter |date=2000 |title=The Dialects of England |edition=2nd |publisher=Blackwell |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-631-21815-9 |laysummary=http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0631218157.html |laydate=27 March 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Trudgill2006 -->
 
: {{cite encyclopedia |last=Trudgill |first=P. |title=Accent |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542015066 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/01506-6 |page=14 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- Trudgill & Hannah 2002 replace with 2008 5th edition -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Trudgill |first=Peter |first2=Jean |last2=Hannah |date=2002 |title=International English: A Guide to the Varieties of Standard English |edition=4th |location=London |publisher=Hodder Education |isbn=0-340-80834-9 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Trudgill & Hannah 2008 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Trudgill |first=Peter |first2=Jean |last2=Hannah |date=1 January 2008 |title=International English: A Guide to the Varieties of Standard English |edition=5th |location=London |publisher=Arnold |isbn=978-0-340-97161-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e8u8MR8MNaEC |accessdate=26 March 2015 |laysummary=http://www.tandf.net/books/details/9780340971611/ |laydate=26 March 2015 |ref=harv|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402131243/http://www.tandf.net/books/details/9780340971611/|archive-date=2 April 2015}}
 
<!-- United Nations2008 -->
 
: {{cite web |author=United Nations |title=Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the United Nations |date=2008 |url=https://www.un.org/wcm/webdav/site/visitors/shared/documents/pdfs/Pub_United%20Nations_Everything%20U%20Always%20wanted%20to%20know.pdf |accessdate=4 April 2015 |quote=The working languages at the UN Secretariat are English and French. |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Wardhaugh2010 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Wardhaugh |first=Ronald |title=An Introduction to Sociolinguistics |edition=Sixth |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |date=2010 |isbn=978-1-4051-8668-1 |series=Blackwell textbooks in Linguistics; 4 |ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Watts2011 -->
 
: {{cite book |last=Watts |first=Richard J. |title=Language Myths and the History of English |date=3 March 2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-532760-1 |url=http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195327601.001.0001/acprof-9780195327601 |accessdate=10 March 2015 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195327601.001.0001 |laysummary=http://linguistlist.org/pubs/reviews/get-review.cfm?SubID=4544145 |laydate=10 March 2015 |ref=harv}}
 
<!--Wells 1982 -->
 
: {{cite book|last=Wells|first=J.C.|year=1982|title=Accents of English, I, II, III|publisher=Cambridge University Press|ref=harv}}
 
<!-- Wojcik2006 -->
 
: {{cite encyclopedia |last=Wojcik |first=R. H. |title=Controlled Languages |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542050811 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/05081-1 |pages=139–142 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv}}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
<!-- Wolfram2006 -->
 
: {{cite encyclopedia |last=Wolfram |first=W. |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of language & linguistics |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080448542042565 |accessdate=6 February 2015 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/04256-5 |pages=333–341 |laysummary=http://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-language-and-linguistics-14-volume-set/brown/978-0-08-044854-1 |laydate=6 February 2015 |ref=harv|chapter=Variation and Language: Overview |title=Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics }}{{Subscription or libraries|sentence|via=[[ScienceDirect]]}}
 
{{refend}}
 
 
 
== External links ==
 
 
 
{{wikimedia|collapsible=true|commons=Category:English language|b=Subject:English language|v=Topic:English Language|n=no|s=no|species=no|voy=no|d=Q1860|wikt=Category:English language}}
 
* [http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/research/gsound/Eng/Database/Phonetics/Englishes/Home/HomeMainFrameHolder.htm Accents of English from Around the World (University of Edinburgh)] Sound files comparing how 110 words are pronounced in 50 English accents from around the world
 
*[http://www.dialectsarchive.com/ International Dialects of English Archive - recordings of English dialects and international L2 accents]
 
 
 
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[[Category:Languages of Namibia]]
 
[[Category:Languages of Nauru]]
 
[[Category:Languages of New Zealand]]
 
[[Category:Languages of Nigeria]]
 
[[Category:Languages of Niue]]
 
[[Category:Languages of Pakistan]]
 
[[Category:Languages of Palau]]
 
[[Category:Languages of Papua New Guinea]]
 
[[Category:Languages of Rwanda]]
 
[[Category:Languages of Saint Kitts and Nevis]]
 
[[Category:Languages of Saint Lucia]]
 
[[Category:Languages of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines]]
 
[[Category:Languages of Samoa]]
 
[[Category:Languages of Seychelles]]
 
[[Category:Languages of Sierra Leone]]
 
[[Category:Languages of Singapore]]
 
[[Category:Languages of South Africa]]
 
[[Category:Languages of South Sudan]]
 
[[Category:Languages of Sudan]]
 
[[Category:Languages of Swaziland]]
 
[[Category:Languages of the Bahamas]]
 
[[Category:Languages of the British Virgin Islands]]
 
[[Category:Languages of the Cayman Islands]]
 
[[Category:Languages of the Marshall Islands]]
 
[[Category:Languages of the Philippines]]
 
[[Category:Languages of the Pitcairn Islands]]
 
[[Category:Languages of the Solomon Islands]]
 
[[Category:Languages of the United Kingdom]]
 
[[Category:Languages of the United States Virgin Islands]]
 
[[Category:Languages of the United States]]
 
[[Category:Languages of Tokelau]]
 
[[Category:Languages of Trinidad and Tobago]]
 
[[Category:Languages of Uganda]]
 
[[Category:Languages of Vanuatu]]
 
[[Category:Languages of Zambia]]
 
[[Category:Languages of Zimbabwe]]
 
[[Category:Stress-timed languages]]
 
[[Category:Subject–verb–object languages]]
 
[[Category:Cultural globalization]]
 

Revision as of 19:38, 26 September 2017

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