Difference between Australian English, American English and British English
As we all know, English is considered to be a universal language. It is the official language in about seventy countries and is the medium of communication used around the globe. It is a language that can be understood in all countries among educated people as it is taught to students regardless of where they are residing. But what exactly does the English language have to offer that makes it an internationally recognized language? To begin with, English has one of the shortest alphabets required to formulate words. It makes use of Latin alphabets consisting of only 26 basic letters. Plus it is easy to write and comprehend as the alphabets are not written in a complicated script nor do they require any change in one's tone of voice.
An Influential Language
Each country has their own national language and dialects, but almost all countries share one common language which is English. How has this become so? I've narrowed it down to two words for you. British Colonization. Now I don't really have a complete handle on the all the facts, but what I do know is that sometime during the sixteenth century the British Empire was colonizing lands like crazy and thus they imposed their culture and language in many countries today. Not to mention the fact that the world’s current superpower, United States, has greatly influenced aspiring countries with a western culture as it dominates in economic and political aspects around the world. Add to this the fact that American movies are just amazingly sought after globally. Thus, the English language has spread far and wide like water.
Major Classifications
The English Language is fairly a simple one as stated above. 26 letters, no scripts and no change in voice necessary. Yet there are times that two persons who know English perfectly well may tend to misunderstand each other. And sometimes they also have a hard time making out what the other individual is saying. Ever heard of the two ways the word tomato can be pronounced? You can say it as "Toh-may-toh" or "Toh-mah-toh" and still be correct. This is because English can be classified as American, British and Australian. American English is the form and dialect used in the United States, British in the United Kingdom and Australian in Australia.
Let's start with the two major classifications, namely the American and the British. One of the simple differences between the two is how nouns are used. For example, in British English, the sentence "Blink182 are a famous rock band" is correct. But in American English, the sentence goes something like "Blink 182 is a famous rock band". This difference occurs with general terms and proper nouns. But if the proper noun was in plural form, then there is no difference. In Australian English, they basically have the same grammatical rules followed by the British. The aspect that makes Australian English original from the two are Australian dialects, slang and pronunciation which are a bit strong and hard to comprehend the first time. You see, Australian English rules are governed by the rules on one of either American English or British English. After all, Australia has much stronger ties to the British culturally.
Fun Facts
As I mentioned earlier in this article, the western culture of the United States has influenced many countries to learn and understand the universal language of English. And in doing so, around seventy countries have declared English to be their national language. But truth is The United States itself does not consider English to be the sole national language. English is just a language strongly used in the U.S. Now how about that? The USA is a country influencing others to learn the English language but has yet to declare it as its own.
Summary
- British Colonization was the start of English being widely used globally
- English is considered to be the universal language of the world.
- American, British and Australian are varieties of English with their own pronunciations.
