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Varieties of English
GREENBAUM, S & QUIRK, R. (1990) A
Student’s Grammar of the English Language.London:
pearson English Language Teaching
Analysed by
Mariana Alarcón G.
Sep 27 th 2008
Types of Variation

In the text five types variations are mentioned, and
classified in two groups:
Regional variation
Social variation
Relate to the language user
Varieties according to field of discourse
Varieties according to medium
Varieties accroding to attitude.
Relate to the
language
use



A common core refers to the root or heart of the
language that is present in all the varieties.
Inside the Regional Variety, the authors mentioned the
use of dialects.
Dialects: popular and technical use of language of
geographical region.
the use of dialects is the most noticeable example of
regional variation, this means in terms of the language
user.
The second variety related to language user is the Social
variety. In this variety, the authors mentione a
considerable variation in speech according to education,
socioeconomic group and ethnic group.
There is an important polarity between uneducated
and educated speech, the 2 social variations
mentioned by the authors.
Educated English, tends to be given the additional
prestige of any institution which must attempt to
address itself to a public beyond the smalledt
dialectal community.
Educated English, it comes to be referred to as
Standard English while forms associated with
uneducated are called nonstandard.

The degree of acceptance of a single standard of
English throughout the world is a truly remarkable
phenomenon: Uniformity.
Uniformity is greatest in otrhography. There is basically
a single spelling and punctuation system throughout with
two minor subsystem:
The subsystem with British orientation.
For example:
Colour – Centre
• The subsystem with American orientation.
For example:
Color - Center
•
The uniformity is especially close in neutral or formal
styles of written English.
For example:
realize – realise
judgment – judgement
 National standard should be seen as distinct from the
standard English.
There are two predominant national varieties:
• American English
AmE
• British English
BrE
Grammatical differences are few, the most known is
that AmE has two past participles for get and BrE only
one. Another difference is that in BrE either a singular
or plural verb may be used with a singular collective
noun.
For example:
The government is in favour of economic sanctions
are
Lexical differences are far more numerous, but many of
these are familiar to users of both standards.
For example:
AmE
BrE
Radio sets have had… Tubes Valves

Besides of AmE and BrE, there are other national
standards.
The idea of these is to establish an independence of
BrE and AmE in spite of the differences in grammar
and vocabulary are rather few, like in the case of Scots.
In the text, five national standards are mentioned:
• Hiberno-English or Irish English: has a little
development of a separate grammar and vocabulary.
• Canadian English: is very similar to AmE. This
standard receives an enormous influence from
United States in terms of Linguistic, economy, social
and intellectual matters.
South african English: virtually with BrE but with
some considerable differences in vocabulart
developed under the influence of the official
language of the country, Afrikaans.
• New Zealand English: Similar to BrE.
• Australian English: influences in Britain. What is
distinctive in Australian English is related with
grammar features.
Pronunciation is a special case in that it distinguishes
one national standard from another.
in BrE exists one type of pronunciation called
“Received Pronunciation” RP. This type of
pronunciation is related with the accent associated with
the older schools and universities of England.
•

RP has the unique authority for teaching the British
variety of English as a foreign language, seen from
dictionaries and textbooks intended for countries that
teach BrE.

The first type of variation related with the language in
terms of use is “the field of discourse”.
The field of discourse is the type of activity engaged in
through language, this means that it is relates to the
activity in which people are engaged.

There is a second type of variation related with the
language in terms of use, and is the “medium”.
This type of variation refers to the way in which the
speaker communicate with others whether spoken or
written English, depending on the proximity of the
participants in the communication.