Standard English

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Standard English (often shortened to S.E. within linguistic circles) is a term generally applied to a form of the English language that is thought to be normative for educated users. There are no set rules or vocabulary for any putative "Standard English" because, unlike languages such as French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch or Danish, English does not have a governing body (see Académie française, Accademia della Crusca, Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española, Nederlandse Taalunie, Dansk Sprognævn) to establish usage.

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[edit] Definitions and controversy

The English language, although originating in England, is now spoken as a first language in many countries of the world, each of which may have developed one or more "national standards" of pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary. Furthermore, English has become the most widely used second language, [1] and is therefore subject to alteration by non-native speakers. Numerous "non-native dialects" are developing their own standards—those, for example, of English language publications published in countries where English is generally learned as a foreign language.

According to Peter Trudgill, "Standard English is that set of grammatical and lexical forms which is typically used in speech and writing by educated native speakers. It includes the use of colloquial and slang vocabulary, as well as swear words and taboo expressions." This definition is also often used by American linguists. Most linguists recognise that the notion of a standard English that covers all native speakers, educated or not, would be very difficult to articulate.

This definition refers to grammar and vocabulary and not to pronunciation. Trudgill claims that Standard English is only spoken by a very small part of the population of the British Isles (about 12-15%). Further, Standard English speakers often speak in regional and class accents. One might expect that Standard English speakers would use a particular pronunciation, for example Received Pronunciation (RP) in the UK, or General American in the US. In fact, less than a third of the speakers of UK Standard English have an RP accent, with the rest of the speakers using their own regional accents, which shows that standard dialect and regional accent do not exclude each other. In the US, regional variations in pronunciation are somewhat less than the UK; many Americans speak with a General American pronunciation. However regional dialect variations are intensifying according to the research of William Labov. Trudgill concludes in this matter, that "Standard English is a dialect that differs from the others in that it has greater prestige, does not have an associated accent and does not form part of a dialect continuum". Hence, Standard English is purely a social dialect.

As the result of historical migrations of English-speaking populations and colonisation, the predominant use of English as the international language of trade and commerce and its widespread use outside exclusively English-speaking countries, English has risen to the status of a global lingua franca. The effects of local native languages on the creation of creoles or pidgins have contributed the evolution of the many local and regional varieties of English.

[edit] See also

[edit] Literature

  • Wright, Laura (2000). The Development of Standard English, 1300 - 1800: Theories, descriptions, conflicts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521771145. 
  • Crowley, Tony (2003). Standard English and the Politics of Language, 2nd ed., Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0333990358. 
  • Mugglestone, Lynda (2006). The Oxford History of English. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199249318. 
  • Bex, Tony; Richard J. Watts (1999). Standard English: The widening debate. Routledge. ISBN 0415191629. 
  • Crystal, David (2006). The Fight for English: How language pundits ate, shot and left. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 019920764X. 
  • Coulmas, Florian; Richard J. Watts (2006). Sociolinguistics: The study of speaker's choices. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521836069. 
  • Gramley, Stephan; Kurt-Michael Pätzold (2004). A survey of Modern English. London: Routledg. ISBN 0415049571. 
  • Hudson, Richard A. (1996). Sociolinguistics, 2nd ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521565146. 
  • Freeborn, Dennis (2006). From Old English to Standard English: A Course Book in Language Variations Across Time, 3rd ed, Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1403998809. 
  • Hickey, Raymond (2004). Legacies of Colonial English. Essen University: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521830206. 
  • Jayne C. Harder, Thomas Sheridan: A Chapter in the Saga of Standard English, American Speech, Vol. 52, No. 1/2 (Spring - Summer, 1977), pp. 65-75.

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