The English language is widely used in the Commonwealth, having largely been inherited through British colonisation. Varieties of English used in Commonwealth countries mostly share a set of word spellings, punctuation rules and grammatical conventions. The language forms part of the association's common culture and serves as the medium of intra-Commonwealth relations.[1][2]
The term Commonwealth English is sometimes used, with various meanings: interchangeably with British English,[3][4] to refer to English spoken in the Commonwealth outside of the UK,[5] or to mean English as a mother-tongue used outside Britain and the United States [6]
English's official status varies in Commonwealth countries.[citation needed]
Written English in current and former countries of the Commonwealth generally favours British English spelling as opposed to that of American English,[7] with some exceptions, particularly in Canada.[8]
See also
References
- ↑ "The Commonwealth". New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- ↑ "Joining the Commonwealth". Commonwealth Secretariat. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
- ↑ "Commonwealth English". Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
- ↑ Tirban, N (2012). "The Major Difference between British and American English in Written and Oral Communication" (PDF). Communication, Context, Interdisciplinarity (2012): 985–990. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 July 2022 – via Google Scholar.
- ↑ "Commonwealth English". Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
- ↑ Matthews, R. J. (December 1982). "New Zealand English: A Case Study". World Englishes. 2 (2): 75–80. doi:10.1111/j.1467-971X.1982.tb00525.x. ISSN 0883-2919.
- ↑ New Oxford Style Manual. Oxford University Press. 2016.
- ↑ Boberg, Charles (2004) Standard Canadian English Archived 11 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine." In Raymond Hickey. Standards of English: Codified Varieties Around the World. Cambridge University Press. p. 159.