Содержание. Часть 2 > Английский язык
Do we really know the history of English?
V.B.:
The English speaking countries use different kinds of English, don"t they? What English do you think we should use?
Golubev:
Hello, Irina!
It’s really nice to see you on the forum. You are right. Thanks for bringing up this new challenging topic. More to the point, I would like to add: “Although the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have English as an official language, the United States does not have an official language. This is how it's possible to become a US citizen without speaking English. Canada also has French as an official language, though it is mostly spoken in the province of Quebec. Because many of the English speakers who originally inhabited Canada came from the US, there is little difference in the American and Canadian dialects of English. Similarly, Australian and New Zealand English have few differences, except Australia was originally settled as a penal colony and New Zealand was not. New Zealanders were more attached to the Received Pronunciation of the upper class in England, so their dialect is considered closer to British English.” (Source: A History of English by Barbara A. Fennell)
Best Regards,
Golubev Oleg
Irina:
English is mixing with and marrying other languages around the world. It's probably the most insatiable borrower. Words newly coined or in vogue in one language very often added to English as well. Imagine! There are words from 120 languages in vocabulary including Arabic, French, German, Greek, Italian, Russian and Spanish. For example, Russian words in English are: bistro, bliny, dacha, cosmonaut, steppe, taiga, perestrouka, tsar, tundra, pogrom, rouble, samovar, duma, troika...
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