Other Englishes

US or American English is not the only special variety of English. Each area of the English-speaking world has developed its own special chara­cteristics. This is usually a matter of vocabulary and pronunciation.

Australian English is particularly interesting for its rich store of highly colloquial words and expressions. Australian colloquialisms of­ten involve shortening a word, e.g. beaut, short for beautiful, means great. Sometimes the ending о is added, e.g. smoko, from smoking, means a tea or coffee break. Because of the current popularity of Aus­tralian TV programmes and films, some of such words are now being used by British people too.

Indian English, on the other hand, is characterised by sounding more formal than British English It has retained in everyday usage words that are found more in the classics of nineteenth century literature than in contemporary English.

Black English is the term used to refer to the English which origi­nated in the Caribbean islands and has now spread to many parts of the UK, Canada and the USA. Listed below are some words which are characteristic of Black English but are also now used in other varities of English:

dreadlocks Rastafarian hairstyle

chick girl

jam improvise

dig understand

square dull

Culture

The word culture, from the Latin colo, -ere, with its root meaning 'to cultivate', generally refers to patterns of human activity and the sym­bolic structures that give such activity significance. Different definitions of culture reflect different theoretical bases for understanding, or crite­ria for evaluating, human activity.

In 1871 Sir Edward B. Tylor wrote that 'culture or civilization, taken in its wide ethnographic sense, is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.' While a 2002 document from the United Nations agency UNESCO states that 'culture is the set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group, and that it encom­passes, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living to­gether, value systems, traditions and beliefs.'

In 1952 Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of more than two hundred different definitions of 'culture' in their book Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions.

The two definitions stated above, as well as many others, offer a 'laundry list' of things or objects that culture comprises:

Language

The Arts (Literature, Theatre, Music, Broadcasting, Visual Art,

Architecture) Religion Food Education Sociological issues (Housing, Living Arrangements)

Sport

National costume

Naming convention

Cultural studies are now developing throughout the world. Most scholars see culture as a complex web of shifting patterns that link people in different locales and that link social formations of different scales. Ac­cording to this view, any group can construct its own cultural identity.