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Go to a pub quiz, and you’ll learn that Mandarin Chinese is the most spoken native language in the world. However, English is still the most spoken language if you count non-native speakers. In fact, there are over twice as many non-native speakers as native speakers.
For those interested in the numbers, around 370 million people speak English as their native language, while 978 million people use it as a second, third, or even fourth language. Therefore, it’s possible to claim English as the most spoken language in the world.
Although there are many differences between English and other languages, one of the most important (and enjoyable!) is the sheer range of dialects within native speakers. There are so many different English dialects that it’s impossible to get an exact number. According to many sources, the best estimate is around 160 dialects, with 40 major dialects in the UK alone.
Naturally, dialects also occur in other English-speaking countries such as Australia, the United States, Jamaica, and others.
What’s a Dialect?
Though people worldwide using English might be speaking the same language, they don’t necessarily use it in the same way. Over the years, different regions of the English-speaking world have deviated in terms of delivery, word structure, pronunciation, and other factors. Each variation is known as a dialect.
Generally speaking, dialects tend to come from specific locations. For example, people in Texas have a different accent to somebody from Boston, Massachusetts in the United States. Meanwhile, people in London have a different dialect from people in the north of England. Even in the north of England, dialects can change within just a few miles on the motorway.
In Australia, things are slightly different because there are three accepted dialects: general, broad, and cultivated. Each dialect has its own character, and there are subtleties to pick up between them. There are online courses offered by companies like Dymocks HSC tutoring that will teach you the english language, and depending on the teacher, you may have their dialect influence the way you learn.
Why So Many Dialects?
Why are there so many dialects of the same language around the world? Traditionally, dialects developed when groups of people using the same language lived in isolation. Before the internet, before cars, before easy travel around the country (and the world), people would speak the English language without contact from other groups speaking the language. Of course, this was also a time before mass media and movies/TV.
Although it seems inconceivable now, people living in one region would only hear the people within the same region. Over time, the language evolved, and each region of the English-speaking world developed a character that imparted onto the dialect.
Historically, migration and invasion have also impacted dialects over the years. As an example, the Vikings ruled the East Midlands in the UK for a period. In the Danish language, the suffix ‘by’ meant ‘town.’ As a result, lots of towns in this region, even today, have ‘by’ at the end. Examples would be Derby, Whitby, and Selby. In Yorkshire alone, you’ll find 210 towns and villages ending in ‘by.’
Meanwhile, in the West Midlands, the Vikings didn’t take over from the Saxons, and this is why the dialect is slightly different. It doesn’t have the Danish affectations of elsewhere in the Midlands.
One of the reasons why Australia and the United States have fewer variations is that the language doesn’t have as much history in these countries. While English arrived in Australia around 200 years ago, the origins of English in the UK can be traced back to the 5th century.
There you have it, dialects developed in isolation and were influenced by external factors such as migration and invasion.
