Designating English as the official language of the United States Research Paper

Designating English as the official language of the United States - Research Paper Example More than with the English people, the English language has come to be regarded as synonymous with the American people. There is, in fact, some truth to this. Given how well-regarded the American people are for their general fluency in the English language, it is not altogether surprising that some have begun to consider it as being the USA’s national language. In fact, Feder (2007) has noted how at least 28 American states have come to consider the English language as their official language, while a survey by the US Census Bureau (2007) shows how over 225.5 million American citizens actually regard it as their only language. Another, earlier report from this same source (2000) pegged this number as 231.7 million. Specifically, 86% had been shown to claim the English language as their mother tongue, while 96% attested that they spoke English very well. The remaining 14% whose first language is not the English language serve as proof that while American English is the predomin ant language in the United States, it is far from being the only spoken language there. At the same time, though, the overwhelming majority of fluent English speakers residing in America all but dictated that that particular language would be considered the de facto national language of the United States of America. ... Thanks in part to British trade and colonization, the English language spread not only to America, but also to other parts of the world. The huge British population at the time also helped; by 1921, the then-British Empire was slated to have at least 470 million people – easily a quarter of the entire global population. Since then, both variants of the English language have diverged, evolving and developing on their own. Today, American and British English are said to differ on points including, but not limited to, spelling, grammar, punctuation and expressions. Crystal (1997) has noted that over 66% of all English speakers living worldwide reside in the United States. This being the case, it should no longer be surprising that, as mentioned above, the American variant of the English language has come to be considered as the USA’s de facto national language. That is, while the federal government itself has not issued any directives as to the USA’s national langua ge, 28 out of all 50 states have already adopted American English as their respective official languages. American English is known for possessing greater homogeneity than the variant spoken in England (Lass, 1990), and is mostly rhotic in nature. Certain letters are pronounced and enunciated differently between the two languages, and there are even sounds that are exclusive to one of them. All in all, certain words have begun to be spoken and pronounced differently depending on whether American English or the Queen’s English is being used. Spelling has also been known to deviate between the two variants. Among the most triumphant examples of these are certain words which may or may not be spelled certain letters such as mold/mould, honor/honour, realize/realise, and others. Additionally,