Editing English

'''English''' is an [[Indo-European language|Indo-European]] [[Germanic language|Germanic]] language that is lightly [[Inflection | inflected]],  [[stress-timed]] [[language]].

It is the subject that [[TEFL]] teachers [[teach]].  There are many varieties of English, including, but not limited to, [[American English]] (AmE), [[Australian English]] (AuE), [[British English]] (BrE), Indian English, South African English, [[Canadian English]], [[Chinese English]] and so on. This wide-ranging reality has led to most specialists now preferring to use the term '''the English languages''' or '''Englishes'''.

Within the UK itself, regional varieties abound, such as [[Cockney]] and [[Estuary English]] in London or [[Scottish English]] (with variants such as Glaswegian) with major differences in the spoken language, and teachers must be aware of such differences when working on [[pronunciation]].

== Number of speakers of English ==
''See main article [[Number of speakers of English]]''

For various reasons it is difficult to be exact about the total number of native speakers of English but estimates vary from three hundred and nine million to three hundred and forty one million. This would rank English fourth in number of native speakers after Mandarin Chinese, Hindi/Urdu and [[Spanish]].<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers wikipedia - languages by native speaker]</ref>

On the other hand, if one were to attempt to include the number of individuals who speak English as a second language then the number becomes something in the order of one thousand five hundred million people - a larger number than that of any other language. A 2012 article in ''[[English Today]]'' by Bolton and Graddol, quoting a ''China Daily'' article, states that around 400 million people in China, approximately a third of the population, are currently learning English.<ref>[http://cup.linguistlist.org/2012/09/the-great-china-english-puzzle/ Graddol, D. "The great China English puzzle"] [[Cambridge University Press]]. Retrieved 6th October 2012.</ref><ref>[http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=6&fid=8691693&jid=ENG&volumeId=28&issueId=03&aid=8691692&bodyId=&membershipNumber=&societyETOCSession=&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S0266078412000223 Bolton, K. and Graddol, D. "English in China today" in ''English Today'' Volume 28, Issue 03, Sept. 2012, pp 3-9] ''[[English Today]]''. Retrieved 6th October 2012.</ref> A more precise figure, that of 390.16 million people who ''had learnt English'' i.e. studied it at school as a foreign language, is quoted by Wei and Su in the same issue.<ref>[http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=6&fid=8691696&jid=ENG&volumeId=28&issueId=03&aid=8691695&bodyId=&membershipNumber=&societyETOCSession=&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S0266078412000235 Wei, R. and Su, J. "The statistics of English in China: An analysis of the best available data from government sources" in ''English Today '', Volume 28, Issue 03, Sept. 2012, pp 10-14] ''[[English Today]]''. Retrieved 6th October 2012. (Available free of charge until the 31st October 2012.)</ref>

Additionally English is used in international trade and industry to a greater extent than other languages. English is the only language for international air transport communications.

== History of English ==
''See main article [[History of the English languages]]''

Notwithstanding its many varieties, English has a long and varied history which is, not unnaturally, bound up with the history of [[Britain]], the British Isles and its peoples.

Modern English is the product of various Germanic invasions, the Norman conquest, the British Empire and much else.

== The structure of English ==

===Vocabulary===

''See main article [[Number of words in English]]''

As we saw above, by the end of the Old English (Anglo-Saxon) period the size of the lexicon was around 50,000 different words. By the end of the Middle English period (1100-1500), that figure had doubled and during the Early Modern English period (1500-1700) it doubled yet again to 200,000 lexemes. And just for the record, partly as a result of the Industrial Revolution which started in the late 18th century, and twentieth-century global expansion, it would double once more to the approximately 400,000 lexemes of [[Modern English]] (1700 to the present).

== References ==
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/which-english David Crystal on English as a Global Language] [[David Crystal]] (interview on video)
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZI1EjxxXKw&feature=channel Global English with David Crystal] [[David Crystal]] (interview on video)
*[http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/ar-eng1.htm "English is difficult"] [[World Wide Words]]


[[Category:Languages]]