Abstract
Kachru (1994) provided a model to categorize the three concentric circles of World Englishes: ‘Inner circle’, ‘Outer circle’ and ‘Expanding circle’ (Bauer, 2002). In the Inner circle, English is the language of identity for its native speakers. However, when transferred to countries in the Outer and Expanding circles, English becomes an alien form of expression with different structural properties and a different vocabulary to organize experience (Doms, 2005). This study analyzed 40 selected research papers from professional language and linguistic academic journals to picture the differences between Englishes in the Outer Circle. The selected Outer Circle Englishes include those of Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Malaysia, the Philippines, India, Nigeria, and Singapore. The research papers were examined under lexical and grammatical features, alongside with the following linguistic features: syntax and lexical semantics. Results revealed the unique and prominent lexical, grammatical, and linguistic features through table and textual analyses, illustrated from the most to least dominant linguistic elements. Occurrences of localized spellings, syntax, and innovated lexical items were observed. In addition, comparative analyses were done to distinguish the features of each of the selected Englishes. Hence, the findings impart insights that the ‘Outer Circle’ Englishes will continue to evolve from the International English as their cultural diversity continue to affect their linguistic features.
Author Information
Orlyn Joyce Esquivel, University of the Philippines Diliman, Philippines
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