British English

British English (BrE) is a term used to differentiate between the form of the English language used in the United Kingdom and those used elsewhere. It includes all the varieties of English used within the UK, including England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Definition

There is no formal definition of British English other than that it is a term used (especially by Americans) to describe English as used in the United Kingdom (the term is not used by native Britons). As with many other aspects of British culture, the language 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, Chambers Dictionary, Collins Dictionary) record usage rather than prescribe it. As a result there is significant variation in grammar, usage, spelling, and vocabulary within English as used in the UK, and lively, idiomatic uses of the language are commonplace. 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 United Kingdom, the forms of spoken English used vary considerably more than in most other areas of the world where English is spoken. Dialects and accents vary not only within regions of the UK, for example in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, but also within England itself. The written form of the language, as taught in schools, is universally Commonwealth English, with a slight emphasis on words whose usage varies amongst the different regions of the UK. For example, although the words "wee" and "small" are interchangeable, one is more likely to see "wee" written by a Scot than by a Londoner.

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 thus the form generally accepted for use in the law, government, literature and education within the British Isles. Although British English is often used in the United States to denote the English spelling and lexicon used outside the US, the term Commonwealth English is more accurate for this purpose. The British spellings were most famously recorded in Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language (1755).

Historically, the widespread usage of English across the world is attributed to the former power of the British Empire, and hence the most common form of English used by the British ruling class 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 by many people outside the UK (especially in the United States) as "the British accent". However, even RP has evolved quite markedly over the last 40 years.

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 and political dominance of the United States in world affairs. Indeed, American English is often regarded as the most prominent form of English in the world today, a fact reinforced by the large amount of U.S. cultural products (including films) in global circulation.

The form of English spoken and written in the United Kingdom still has a major cultural influence, in particular on the English used in many Commonwealth countries (including Australia, South Africa, and India), as well as in the European Union. Although British English is taught and used in People's Republic of China and the former British colonies of Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, American English is often taught in Korean and Japanese schools, and in other schools throughout Asia.

See also

• English English
• American English
• Scottish English
• Welsh English
• Mid Ulster English
• Hiberno-English
• International English
• American and British English differences
• American and British English spelling differences
• List of dialects of the English language
• Standard English
• British Isles (terminology)

References

• Bragg, M. (2004) 'The Adventure of English', Sceptre. ISBN 0340829931