Free Essay Example: Global English

South African, British, and American cultures have different social organizations, environments, economies, and histories. Although South African, British, and American English are mutually intelligible, many differences cause misunderstandings or a complete failure of communication (Scotto di Carlo 62). British English is used in its former colonies, such as South Africa, but disputes are possible, which need awareness between speakers. Commonness and separation are the critical keywords, which can be used to describe the relationship among South Africa, The United States and Britain English that has a common nature of the South African divergence from its colonialist, Great Britain and the American characteristics of continuity from Great Britain. The separation of America from England was characterized by the violent rejection of English tyranny while the South African English was influenced by the Settlers who came to the Eastern Cape who spoke m English dialects and large settlement from Britain, which gave rise to pronunciation variables of the north and Midlands of England (Scotto di Carlo 61). While South African, American, and British English show some similarities and differences in vocabulary linked to transport, food, shopping, and housing, the languages are moving closer to each other despite the different geographical boundaries, culture, environment, and people. The paper aims at comparing and contrasting how English is officially spoken and written in South Africa, The United States, and Britain. It looks at the lexical differences among the English spoken in the three countries.

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Historical Context

Britain and the United States

The differences between English used in the United States and Great Britain have a nationalistic and historical origin. The American Revolution led to a racial divergence between the mother country and the new world. The new circumstances called for the transfer of old words to new words and new phrases that formed the new American dialect. The first American dictionary was published in 1806 by Noah Webster, discussing the importance of the American language since Great Britain was far away to be used as a model (Bauer 67). Independence from the British led to the creation of an independent dialect to include both spoken and written English in the United States.

The language change was critical for the affirmation of national unity and identity. For example, the editor of the Quarterly Review, William Gifford, confirmed that there was a plan to abandon English as a national language and substitute it with either Greek or Hebrew. At the start of American conquest, settlers used their dialects, some, which still influence the American language today. Most British immigrants settled in America in 1620 but stayed in touch with England, which influenced all changes in the English dialect (Scotto di Carlo 64). The Western Africans came to the Americas in 1619 as slaves with their dialects and languages (Scotto di Carlo 64). However, slave traders used pidgins as the appropriate language to communicate with the Europeans. Yet, their colony did not exist for a long time, but they left traces of language in Brooklyn. Besides, the French community settled in the 17th century, but the British bought the colony (Scotto di Carlo 64).

In the 18th century, a wave of about 275,000 immigrants into the Americas resulted in a blur in dialect (Scotto di Carlo 65). During the time, Europeans fleeing from famine, poverty and failed 1848 revolutions, especially Italians, Germans, and Irish settled in America (Scotto di Carlo 65). Thus, the English dialect in the US is different from Britain's English because the separation of the cultures is not complete since independence.

Britain and South Africa

The history of English in South Africa is traced back to 1806 when the British arrived in Cape Town. English was brought in the 19th century by fortune seekers, settlers, missionaries, and soldiers (Hickey 35). It developed as a South African language in Eastern Cape, Natal, Kimberly, and Witwatersrand and has evoked different reactions in the country. English was imposed on Cape Town, and there were attempts to make it the primary language of education and law to even Dutch/Afrikaans-speaking rural areas leading to resentments that can still be felt today. In the War of 1899–1902, the hostility towards English made it become the language of the enemy (Hickey 35).

In the 19th century, English was introduced in black communities by missionaries. The missionaries had codified Xhosa and other South African languages. In mission schools, English was the primary language that led to the development of Black ministers, writers, and educators who were fluent in English (Hickey 58). As a result, English came to be considered the lingua franca of the elite. While it was received as a language of empowerment and aspiration, most Afrikaners received it with hostility. However, during Independence in 1948, English became the national language (Hickey 58). The government businesses and other administrative services were conducted in Afrikaans. English was given a lesser status, and more resources were used to develop Afrikaans. Despite the treatment of English, it was too powerful and retained its dominance as the language of technology, science, commerce, higher education, and as the international language of communication (Hickey 38). However, the English spoken is influence by their multi-cultural and multilingual environment.

The accents in South African society influence the English spoken by native speakers. Today, most South Africans use English so extensively to allow them to be entrenched into the community. The native English accent came from the children of settlers in the Eastern Cape (Hickey 28). The pronunciations characteristics that survive are from England with Cockney linkages. Some historians argue that the interaction with Xhosa people entirely influences the English dialect and the vocabulary in the Eastern and Central Cape.

Lexical Differences in South African, American and British English

When the British, South African, and American people meet, the first noticeable difference is their accent and pronunciation of English words. The differences in vocabulary offer an opportunity to treat the three varieties as totally different languages. It is common to see one word used differently to mean the same thing. Sometimes words are used, but their meaning are obvious such as in America “luggage,” South Africa, and Britain “Baggage. (Scotto di Carlo 66).” Besides, there are words that are common in the United States and rare in Britain or South Africa. For example, sloppy and row are uncommon American words but listed in the American dictionaries but quite well known in South Africa and Britain (Ellefson et al. 335). Some words have been dropped by Americans but still adopted by Britain, such as constable and fortnight. There are also English words that are no longer used in Britain but used overwhelm in America, such as sick, fall, and mad. South Africa has even abandoned some English words commonly used in America and Britain, such as robots for traffic lights, Kak for crap, baba for father or dad, and many more.

Language cannot be preserved and passed from one generation to another, like culture. Youths have been instrumental in the transformation and evolution of English in South Africa, America, and Britain. They have placed slang, expressions, idioms, and deviant spellings that eventually become part of the language (Ellefson et al. 335). Studies have also shown that isolation contributes to differences in languages. For example, there exist different dialects in South Africa, America, and Britain die to the geographical features that separate the regions geographically. Universities primarily teach British English; however, there is also an option of studying American English. South Africans also learn British English in their schools, but there is always an option to learn either British or American English.

Classification of US/SA/UK Lexical Differences

The differences in English in South Africa, the United States, and the United Kingdom are found in ordinary speech. There are useful comparisons of American and British English in James Smith’s American to British Dictionary and the Macmillan English Dictionary Magazine 2004 (Bauer 87). However, some people believe that there are no differences apart from pronunciations in these countries. For example, more considerable attention needs to be paid to false cognates.

The awareness of the lexical differences is not for linguistic curiosity. The process of globalization has increased interaction between people across the world that has led to a high demand for professional translators. Thus, Scotto di Carlo describe everyday language as part of lexical differences in food, shopping, transport, and housing fields will be critical in the following section.

Housing Vocabulary

There is a straightforward translation for some terms, but sometimes there are no American or South African equivalent for British words. In the US, a row house, duplex, condominium, and apartment house are equivalent of terraced houses, semi-detached houses, owner-occupied flats, and blocks of flats in Britain. However, in South Africa, this is equivalent to cluster houses, townhouses, cottages, flats, and farms. As regards, rooms, South African, British, and American English have many common word.

The word cupboard is used as a storage of all sorts of things in Britain. In contrast, Americans consider it primarily in the kitchen and would be surprised to be told to put their stuff in the cupboard because they are used to the closet as it is a wardrobe in South Africa. When cleaning the dishes, Americans do the dishes, the British do the washing up, and the South Africans wash the dishes. Therefore, Tourists always have to deal with differences between South Africa, UK, and US English when communicating with the locals. For example, the description of the ground floor is usually the level another the entrance point in a building in Great Britain and South Africa. In contrast, in America, the entrance floor is always considered on the first floor.