   #copyright

British English

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Languages

   Diagram showing the geographical locations of selected languages and
   dialects of the British Isles.(dubious; discuss) The map is approximate
   and the areas for the Welsh and Scottish Gaelic languages are larger
   than on the map. Putting Scottish and Irish Gaelic as a single group is
   disputed.
   Enlarge
   Diagram showing the geographical locations of selected languages and
   dialects of the British Isles.^ The map is approximate and the areas
   for the Welsh and Scottish Gaelic languages are larger than on the map.
   Putting Scottish and Irish Gaelic as a single group is disputed.

   British English (BrE) is a term used to distinguish the form of the
   English language used in the British Isles from forms used elsewhere.
   It includes all the varieties of English used within the Isles,
   including those found in England, Scotland, Wales, and the island of
   Ireland. Though the term is standard, some find it inappropriate as
   logically Scottish English is included in British English, implying the
   existence of English as spoken in England as a category, but " English
   English" is cumbersome, and suggests that English refers to the
   language as spoken in England. The term British English is used
   especially by those outside the British Isles, as well as by linguists
   and lexicographers; British people themselves generally use the term
   'Standard English' or merely 'English'.

   As with English around the world, the English language as used in the
   United Kingdom and Ireland is governed by convention rather than formal
   code: there is no equivalent body to the Académie française, and the
   authoritative dictionaries (e.g. Oxford English Dictionary, Longman
   Dictionary of Contemporary English, Chambers Dictionary, Collins
   Dictionary) record usage rather than prescribe it. As a result there is
   significant variation in grammar, usage, spelling, and vocabulary. In
   addition, vocabulary and usage change with time; words are freely
   borrowed from other languages and other strains of English, and
   neologisms are frequent.

   While there is a meaningful degree of uniformity in formal written
   English in the UK and Ireland, the forms of spoken English used vary
   considerably more than in most other areas of the world where English
   is spoken, both geographically and socially, so the concept of "British
   English" is difficult to apply to the spoken language. Dialects and
   accents vary not only between the nations of the British Isles, for
   example in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, but also within these
   countries themselves. There are also differences in the English spoken
   by different socio-economic groups in any particular region. The
   written form of the language, as taught in schools, is the same as in
   the rest of the English-speaking world (except North America), with a
   slight emphasis on words whose usage varies amongst the different
   regions of the UK. For example, although the words " wee" and "little"
   are interchangeable in some contexts, one is more likely to see "wee"
   written by a Scottish or Northern Irish person than by an English
   person. In publishing, English English norms tend to be used.

   For historical reasons dating back to the rise of London in the 9th
   century, the form of language spoken in London and the East Midlands
   became standard English within the Court, and ultimately became the
   basis for generally accepted use in the law, government, literature and
   education within the British Isles. To a great extent, modern British
   spelling was standardised in Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the
   English Language ( 1755), although previous writers had also played a
   significant role in this and much has changed since 1755. Scotland,
   which only underwent parliamentary union in 1707, still has a few
   independent aspects of standardisation, especially within its
   autonomous legal system.

   The widespread usage of English across the world is partly attributable
   to the former power of the British Empire, and this is reflected in the
   use of British written forms in many parts of the world. The most
   common form of English used by the British ruling class is that of
   south-east England (the area around the capital, London, and the
   ancient English university towns of Oxford and Cambridge). This form of
   the language is associated with Received Pronunciation (RP), which is
   still regarded, incorrectly, by many people outside the UK as "the
   British accent". However, only approximately 5 percent of Britons speak
   RP, and it has evolved quite markedly over the last 40 years. Moreover,
   there is much more tolerance of variation than there was in the past.

   From the second half of the 20th century to the present day, the
   preeminence of the English language has been augmented by the economic,
   military, political and cultural dominance of the United States in
   world affairs. Nevertheless, the British Isles retains a major cultural
   influence in particular on the English used, as a first or additional
   language, in some Commonwealth countries and former British colonies
   (including influence to a greater degree in India, South Africa, New
   Zealand and Hong Kong, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, but to a lesser
   degree in Australia, and only to a limited extent in Canada).

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_English"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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