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Modern Usage of English
English
is
the
second
or
third
most popular world language, as measured by the number of native speakers, which was around 402 million in 2002. It is also the most popular second and learning language in the world, as the cultural, economic, military, political and scientific importance of the United States of America and the United Kingdom for the last two centuries has given English pre-eminent status as a language of international communication. With such a wide geographical distribution and because of its use in academia and other specialized contexts, numerous distinct varieties and special jargons have emerged.
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English
is
the
first
language
of
a
large
majority
of
the
population
in
the
United
States
of
America,
United
Kingdom
of
Great
Britain
and
Northern Ireland
(including
England,
Scotland
and
Wales),
Ireland (Eire),
Australia,
Canada, New
Zealand,
the Bahamas,
Barbados,
Bermuda,
Guyana,
Jamaica,
Antigua,
Saint
Kitts
and
Nevis, and
Trinidad
and
Tobago.
There
are
also
significant
numbers
of
native
speakers
in
South Africa,
India,
Singapore,
and
Hong Kong.
English
is
also
one
of
the
primary
languages
of
Belize
(with
Spanish),
Cameroon
(with
French
and
African
languages),
Dominica,
St.
Lucia
and
Saint
Vincent
and
the
Grenadines
(with
French
Creole),
the
Federated
States
of
Micronesia,
and
Liberia
(with
African
languages).
It
is
an
official
language,
but
not
native
to
large
segments
of
the
population,
in
Fiji,
Ghana,
Gambia,
Kiribati,
Lesotho,
Kenya,
Namibia,
Nigeria,
Malta,
the
Marshall
Islands,
Pakistan,
Papua
New
Guinea,
the
Philippines,
the
Solomon
Islands,
Samoa,
Sierra
Leone,
Swaziland,
Tanzania,
Zambia
and
Zimbabwe.
It
is
the
most
commonly
used
unofficial
language
of
Israel
and
an
increasing
number
of
other
countries
such
as
Switzerland,
the
Netherlands,
Norway
and
Germany.
English
is
also
the
language
most
often
studied
as
a
foreign
language
in
Europe
(32.6%)
and
Japan,
followed
by
French,
German
and
Spanish.
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Because of the history and sheer number of people
who use English, there are many different varieties of
English. A variety can be thought of as a distinctive
kind of English, or more technically, a specific
linguistic system shared by a particular pool of users.
There are no sharp dividing lines between varieties, since people typically master more than one variety. Nevertheless, varieties can
be
described
in
terms
of
the
group
who most
uses
a
particular
variety
and
the
linguistic
properties
of
that
variety.
Varieties
can
be
identified in this way
by
geographical
groups,
social
groups,
or
particular
stylistic
or
usage
types.
A
dialect
is
a
variety
of
a
language
spoken
in
a
certain
geographical
area.
Because
of
the
wide
distribution
of
English
speakers,
a
number
of
distinct
dialects
have
emerged
over
the
course
of
history.
These
include
American
English,
Australian
English,
British
English,
Canadian
English,
South
African
English,
Caribbean
English,
Indian
English,
Jamaican
English,
Liberian
English,
New
Zealand
English,
Pakistani
English,
and
Singapore
English
among
others.
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Jargon is the specialised vocabulary of a profession or of some other activity to which a group of people dedicate significant parts of their lives (for instance, hobbies ). Technical terminology exists in a continuum of "formality." Precise technical terms and their definitions are formally recognised, documented, and taught by educators in the field, and are similar to slang . The boundaries between formal and slang jargon, as in general English, are quite fluid, with terms sliding in and out of recognition.
Technical terminology evolves due to the need for experts in a field to communicate with precision and brevity, and is thus unavoidable and desirable, but this often has the (usually) undesired effect of excluding those who are unfamiliar with the particular specialized language of the group. This can cause difficulties as, for example, when a patient is unable to follow the discussions of medical practitioners, and thus cannot understand their own condition and treatment. However the terms of technical terminology are used to express a great deal of information in a compact form. This makes it possible for professionals to speak to each other without having to exhaustively describe each concept; they can simply use the terms whose defintions are already known in the profession.
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Slang is the non-standard use of words in a language and sometimes the creation of new words or importation of words from another language. Slang terms are often particular to a certain subculture - such as skate boarders, surfers, musicians of particular types, or drug users. Slang is sometimes confused with jargon which is the collection of vocabulary specific to a profession: medical terminology for example. "Slang" generally implies playful, informal speech. Slang is often used to discuss taboo or semi-taboo subjects, such as drunkenness, sexual organs and activities (human sexuality), elimination and bodily wastes, recreational drugs, and illicit or criminal activities.
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Through slang and jargon, along with borrowing from other languages, new words are constantly entering the language. Examples of recent neologisms (from neo 'new' + log 'word') include punked, WMDs, and blog, among many others.
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