411 REFERENCE · Wiktionary
Commonwealth English
Reference material by Wiktionary contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
English
Noun
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en uncommon The generalised variety of English spoken and written primarily in the United Kingdom and its former colonies, sometimes excluding Canada (especially in the context of pronunciation); always excluding the United States of America. (i.e. non-American English)
en 2006 Namrata Palta Preparing for Call Center Interviews 80–81 http://books.google.com/books?id=pPjtYYCFITAC&pg=PA84 8183821065 The written form of the language universally taught in schools is Commonwealth English with a slight emphasis on a few words which might be more common in the specific areas than others.
2008, Icon Group International staff, Disturbances: Webster’s Quotations, Facts and Phrases, Icon Group International, p 384 *
Amnesia (or amnaesia in Commonwealth English) is a condition in which memory is disturbed.
* entry adapted from: en Amnesia 24227472 2005
en rare The group of varieties of English used in the ex-colonial member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, in distinction to the varieties used in Britain itself
en 1954 J.A. Sheard The Words We Use http://books.google.com/books?id=wAE1AAAAMAAJ There are also other reasons to account for differences between British English on the one hand and American and Commonwealth English on the other.
en 1966 John A. Nist A Structural History of English http://books.google.com/books?id=4oV4AAAAIAAJ St. Martin's Press. New York 17: The three major forms of Modern English—British, American, and Commonwealth—are very nearly identical on the printed page, a great source of the linguistic unity and cultural solidarity of the Anglo-Saxon civilization.25: Commonwealth English is very young in the prestige of its independent status.
en 2006 Larry Beason Eyes Before Ease: The Unsolved Mysteries and Secret Histories of Spelling 164: For instance, the terms “United Kingdom spellings,” “English spellings,” and “Commonwealth spellings” are not synonymous, and many of the so-called American spellings will frequently be found as alternate choices in other countries.169–70: Across the world, many former U.K. colonies use English as a major language, and their standard resembles the British standard more than the American. The term “Commonwealth English” is a general term used to refer to this variety of English, which in theory differs little from “British English” as used in Great Britain. ¶ Australia is the best-known example, but even in nations where English is not the official or most widely used language, Commonwealth English is extremely important in commerce and government—as is the case in Nigeria, Pakistan, and India, which is the second-most-populated country in the world.
Quotations
en
Synonyms
variety of English used in the UK and former colonies en British English
Antonyms
variety of English used in the UK and former colonies, excluding North America en North American English Canada and U.S., en American English U.S. variety of English used in the U.S.
en Dialects