English Characteristics

The willingness and facility of English, especially American English, to adopt words and expressions not only from the most widely spoken languages and from languages brought in by various immigrant groups, but also from other languages including many strange and exotic ones, has given it a large and extensive vocabulary, of which about 80% is foreign.

English doesn’t seem to meet words it doesn’t like. This is one reason for the durability, flexibility, richness, vitality, and popular appeal of English and why English has become the fastest growing and the richest language in words.

The fact that English has no genders, uncomplicated noun and pronoun cases, few endings, and simple verb forms makes it an easy language to get by in. But prepositions and many exceptions and inconsistencies have always made English a difficult language to speak well.

The Oxford English Dictionary claims that more than 90 000 new words have entered English since 1900.

According to Michael Quinion of World Wide Words, about 3,500 new words connected with biotechnology, electronics, politics, telecommunications, etc. have been added in the past decade. And because English has become the lingua franca of the Internet, more English words are being created and non-English words co-opted than ever before. Today, reasonable estimates of the number of words in English range from 500 000 to 900 000.

An average native speaker’s active or speaking vocabulary ranges between 15,000 and 30,000 words. But the words one recognizes or understands (Passive Vocabulary) can exceed 100,000 items.

 International English

 In 1988 David Crystal wrote "We may, in due course, all need to be in control of two standard Englishes—the one which gives us our national and local identity, and the other which puts us in touch with the rest of the human race. In effect, we may all need to become bilingual in our own language.

There are many different English dialects within English speaking countries and there are also a variety of local or regional dialects among non-native English speakers.

International English is the accent of a non-native speaker and often has some or all of the following characteristics

1. Culturally neutral: not associated with one specific country or culture.
2. Smaller vocabulary,easier words, and no localisms
3. Shorter sentences and in some cases approaching what native speakers would refer to as ‘broken English’
4. Simple explanations and minimally creative
5. No schwa (the vowel sound 'uh' in unstressed syllables)
6. No stress timed rhythm
7. 'th' replaced by 't' or 'd' or 's'
8. Sensitivity to different cultures

Thanks to television programs via satellite, Globalization, CNN, the Internet, International Business and tourism, International English is forcing native speakers to learn to adapt their own language patterns so non-native speakers can understand and communicate with them and vice versa.