Varieties of English

Types of VariationTypes of Variation

Region

Social Group

Field of Discourse

Medium

Attitude

Regional VariationRegional Variation

Geographical Dispersion

So distinct that we regard them as different languages

e.g. The Germanic Dialect

EnglishDutch

German

Swedish

Dialects

Social Variation

Social Variation

Uneducated Uneducated

Non-Standard regional dialectNon-Standard regional dialect

Educated Educated

British British American American

Standard EnglishStandard English

National Standards of English

National Standards of English

British British American American

Grammatically Grammatically

Lexically Lexically

Other National

Standards

Other National

Standards

Scots EnglishScots English

‘Lallans’ Scots‘Lallans’ Scots

Irish English

Irish English

Canadian English

Canadian English

South African English

South African English

Australian English

Australian English

New Zealand English

New Zealand English

Non-regional

Prestigious

Non-regional

Prestigious

PronunciationPronunciation Standard EnglishStandard English

Received Pronunciation

(RP)

Received Pronunciation

(RP)

andand

BrEBrE AmEAmE

VocabularyVocabulary

GrammarGrammar

Orthography Orthography

Varieties according to

Field of discourseField of

discourseMedium Medium

Manner of speaking

related to the situation

and /or context

Manner of speaking

related to the situation

and /or context

Spoken EnglishSpoken English

Written EnglishWritten English

Stress Stress

Rhythm Rhythm

Intonation Intonation

Explicit Explicit

e.g. Law, cookering

Varieties according to

Attitude Attitude

Formal Formal

Informal Informal

Relatively stiffRelatively stiff

Cold Cold

Polite Polite

Impersonal Impersonal

Relatively relaxedRelatively relaxed

Warm Warm

Casual Casual

Friendly Friendly