Educational Galaxy

Global English — EG's own notes, in simple English

Book: Rainbow Bhag-1 (Purani pustak — 2025 se pehle wali) — Story of English (BSTBPC, Class 11)  |  Story of English 3  |  Type: Story of English

This page carries Educational Galaxy's own original notes — a summary in simple English in EG's own words, not a copy of the textbook. No official textbook PDF is given here.

Diagram (labels are printed on the image): The Well of English: words poured in from Latin, Spanish, Italian, French, Hindi, Arabic, Malay and more, and the spread gave two effects — new national varieties and 'New Englishes'.

People of many countries talking in a market — a general picture of a world language in use.

What the chapter is about

English developed from the speech of the Anglo-Saxons into a single, standard 'Queen's English'. Standard British English speech came to be known as RP, or 'Received Pronunciation'. Along its way to becoming a standard language for England, English borrowed freely from languages that its speakers came in contact with through trade, the spread of learning, new foreign invasions and so on. At first the new words came mainly from European languages: Latin gave adapt, crisis, exist, fact, skeleton, temperature, vacuum, virus and more; Spanish gave apricot, banana, guitar, mosquito, Negro, potato, tobacco and more; Italian gave balcony, ballet, design, giraffe, Lottery, opera, rocket, violin and more; French gave anatomy, chocolate, detail, invite, muscle, passport, tomato and more. This borrowing habit of English has made it 'the most gloriously impure language'.

By the 18th century England had become a very powerful nation. It was said that the sun never sets in the British Empire, because more than half the world — from Australia through Asia and Africa to parts of America, both north and south — was under British rule. As the British empire grew, so did the language, English. It absorbed words and phrases from the languages of all the countries that were colonised by the British. The chapter pictures this as 'The Well of English': Afrikaans gave trek; Dutch gave cruise and ease; Turkish gave coffee and fez; Hindi gave guru, blighty and thug; Swahili gave safari; Malay gave ketchup and bamboo; Persian gave bazaar, caravan, sofa and more; Arabic gave harem, Sultan, hashish and algebra; Tamil gave curry and pariah; American Indian gave moose, moccasin and squaw. Words began pouring into the English language from all directions, giving it a more and more global shape.

There were two main effects of this worldwide spread of English. First, new national varieties of English, like American English, Australian English, Canadian English and others, came into being. Second, 'New Englishes' — new varieties of English — developed in countries where English was not a mother tongue, for example Indian English and Nigerian English.

As soon as English began to spread across the world, it began to change. The first changes were seen in the different ways in which English began to be used in America. After America became free of British rule, the Americans were eager to show their distinct identity as a free country and began to call their variety of English 'American English'. Today American English, like British English, is recognised as a 'world language', though there are many differences between them. In words: British ground floor, rubbish, petrol, trousers against American first floor, garbage, gas, pants. In grammar: British 'Have you got...?', 'Really good', 'It's quarter to seven' against American 'Have you gotten...?', 'Real good', 'It's quarter of seven'. In spelling: British cheque, defence, colour against American check, defense, color.

The second effect of the spread of English was the development of 'new Englishes' like Indian English and Nigerian English. Like American English, these varieties differ in some respects from standard British English. However, they are closer to British English than to American English. Indian English, for example, has developed a distinct set of words and sentence patterns that do not exist in British English — the chapter's table gives 'Family member: a member of the family' and 'Match box: a box of matches'. The chapter illustrates Indian English with Nissim Ezekiel's poem 'Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S.', with its lines 'in two three days', 'we are meeting today to wish her bon voyage' and 'In Bulsar or Surat, I am not remembering which place...' — English shaped by Indian speech habits.

What you should learn

English went global by borrowing from everywhere and then splitting into varieties: national varieties where it is a mother tongue, and 'New Englishes' where it is not.

Chart / Table

Practice set (try on your own)

1. What is RP?
   Hint: Think about standard British speech and its short name.
2. Why is English called 'the most gloriously impure language'?
   Hint: Think about borrowing from every language it met.
3. Name the two effects of the worldwide spread of English.
   Hint: Think about new nations and new Englishes.
4. Give one word-difference and one spelling-difference between British and American English.
   Hint: Think about the chapter's table.
5. What makes Indian English different from British English?
   Hint: Think about its own words and sentence patterns.

Core Questions with Answers — from the book's exercises

These answer the chapter's own exercise questions, one by one, in EG's own words.

1. True or False: There is no difference between American English and British English.
   FALSE — there are many differences between them, in words, grammar and spelling, as the chapter's table shows.
2. True or False: Indian English is closer to American English.
   FALSE — Indian English and the other new varieties are closer to British English than to American English.
3. True or False: Indian English has developed a distinct set of words and sentence patterns that do not exist in British English.
   TRUE — the chapter says exactly this, and gives 'Family member' and 'Match box' as examples.
4. Which speech came to be known as 'Received Pronunciation'?
   Standard British English speech — it came to be known as RP, or 'Received Pronunciation'.
5. What has made English 'the most gloriously, impure language'?
   Its borrowing habit — English borrowed freely from languages its speakers came in contact with through trade, the spread of learning, new foreign invasions, and then the empire, pouring words in from all directions.
6. Name two effects of the worldwide spread of English.
   First, new national varieties of English came into being, like American, Australian and Canadian English. Second, 'New Englishes' developed in countries where English was not a mother tongue, like Indian and Nigerian English.

Extension Questions with Answers

1. How did the British Empire change the English vocabulary?
   As the empire grew, English absorbed words and phrases from every colonised country's language — the chapter's 'Well of English': trek from Afrikaans, safari from Swahili, guru and thug from Hindi, ketchup and bamboo from Malay, bazaar and sofa from Persian, algebra from Arabic, moose and moccasin from American Indian, and many more.
2. Why did Americans start calling their English 'American English'?
   After America became free of British rule, Americans were eager to show their distinct identity as a free country, so they named their variety American English. It is now recognised as a 'world language' in its own right, like British English.
3. What does the Ezekiel poem in the chapter prove about Indian English?
   That Indian English is not broken English but a living variety with its own sentence patterns — 'in two three days', 'we are meeting today to wish her bon voyage', 'I am not remembering which place' — English shaped by Indian speech habits, yet fully able to express Indian life.
4. Why is 'impure' a praise word for English in this chapter?
   Because borrowing is what made English rich and global. A language that refuses foreign words stays narrow; English took words from all directions and became, in the chapter's phrase, the most gloriously impure — and therefore the most widely useful — language.

Board-pattern Questions with Answers

1. Short: What is meant by 'Queen's English' and RP?
   'Queen's English' is the single standard form English developed into from Anglo-Saxon speech. RP, or 'Received Pronunciation', is the name for standard British English speech.
2. Short: Distinguish national varieties from 'New Englishes'.
   National varieties, like American, Australian and Canadian English, grew where English is a mother tongue and the people claimed a distinct identity. 'New Englishes', like Indian and Nigerian English, grew where English was not a mother tongue but became a national variety all the same.
3. Long: How did borrowing make English a global language?
   English borrowed at every stage of its journey to becoming standard: first mainly from European languages — Latin, Spanish, Italian and French — through trade, learning and invasions. Then, as the British Empire grew to cover more than half the world, it absorbed words from every colonised country, pictured as 'The Well of English'. Words poured in from all directions, giving English a more and more global shape. This borrowing habit made it, in the chapter's words, 'the most gloriously impure language' — rich enough to serve the whole world.
4. Long: Compare British, American and Indian English as the chapter presents them.
   British and American English are both recognised as 'world languages', but they differ in words (ground floor/first floor, rubbish/garbage, petrol/gas, trousers/pants), grammar (Have you got/Have you gotten, Really good/Real good, quarter to/quarter of seven) and spelling (cheque/check, defence/defense, colour/color). Indian English differs from standard British English too, but it is closer to British than to American English, and it has developed its own words and sentence patterns, like 'Family member' for a member of the family and 'Match box' for a box of matches, as Ezekiel's poem illustrates.

How to use this page: First read the summary, say the key terms in your own words, then try the practice set without looking. Finally check yourself with the questions and answers. Get your answers checked by your teacher or parents.