World Englishes

10 ways speakers of World English are changing the language

When people think of world varieties of English and their contribution to the language, they tend to think in terms of unusual loanwords that conjure visions of exotic, faraway lands. Indeed, in countries such as India, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, where English is primarily used as a second or even third language alongside local vernaculars, borrowing remains the biggest source of new words.

However, lexical innovation in World Englishes is far from being limited to direct borrowing. The following are some ways in which speakers of emerging varieties of English all over the world shape the vocabulary of the language, illustrated by entries from the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).

1. By adding affixes

presidentiable, noun

2. By combining English words to create compounds

batchmate, noun

3. By combining two words from different languages to create hybrid compounds

balikbayan box, noun

4. By shortening words

mani-pedi, noun

5. By making up an initialism

KKB, interjection and adjective

6. By making an analogy with another English word

carcade, noun

7. By translating a word or expression from a local language 

go down, verb

8. By continuing to use words that have fallen out of use in standard British or American English

comfort room, noun

9. By changing a proper noun to a common noun

Suzie Wong, noun

10. By changing the meanings of words

gimmick, noun  


Ünzile Arslan