Non-standard English includes dialects and incorrect grammar/usage. English has no universal standard, but Queen’s English is the standard in Britain. English has no academic body to oversee rules, allowing for more evolution. English has rich dialects, but mass communication devices have reduced their prevalence. The distinction between standard and non-standard English is blurred by modern technology.
Non-standard English refers to any English that is considered to be outside the mainstream. There are two meanings for non-standard: first, dialects other than standard English, and second, incorrect English in grammar and usage. The slang is also considered non-standard English and is treated as a social dialect rather than a regionalism.
English is an ever-evolving language. It has spread all over the world and is the native language of over 100 countries. It is also the second most popular language in the world. The language was formed from the amalgamation of four Germanic dialects: Angle, Saxon, Jute and Frisian.
In the 11th century, the upper levels of English-speaking society were removed and replaced with French-speaking ones. This has led to the language being a bottom-up language. There were no rules and no concept of standard English until the 17th century, when the upper classes all spoke English as their mother tongue and intellectuals tried to apply the rules of Latin grammar to it.
Standard and non-standard English is a controversial topic. There is no universal standard for the language like there is for French, Japanese and Mandarin. Neither English-speaking country can impose its standards on the other. The safest definition of standard, therefore, is the school taught or the most common dialect or any English-speaking country. In Britain, this means that Queen’s English, a variant of Southern or London English, is the standard.
Due to its fragmented nature, English has no academic body that sets standards and oversees the rules of the language. Many other nations have such a body, for example the French Academy. English, therefore, has more freedom to evolve and more fluency to ignore the rules. For example, the Oxford English Dictionary in Great Britain and Webster’s Dictionary in America define which words and spellings constitute standard and non-standard English.
English is rich in dialects. The largest number of dialects are found in Great Britain, with its longest history of semi- or complete isolation. This has resulted in dialects such as Lowland Scots, Scouse, Geordie and Cockney. America and other former British colonies developed their own languages as mass communication devices such as radios and televisions became more popular. Such devices have been accused of reducing the prevalence of dialects in the English-speaking world.
The other form of non-standard English is the use of incorrect English. The dialectal words and phrases are not misspelled; they are only rare or localized. Incorrect usage means that a person does not understand the true meaning of a word or the correct grammar/syntax of a sentence. Such mistakes are often due to poor education, deprivation, or learning disabilities.
The distinction between standard and non-standard English for English speakers has been blurred by modern technology. Australians, South Africans and the British watch nearly as many American television programs as Americans, leading those people to feel perfectly comfortable with, what is to them, non-standard English. The same can be said for books that are not edited to fit a nation’s standard English and the rise of non-standard English-speaking personalities and writers.
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