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Inland North American English appears in all these states, especially in areas along the Great Lakes The recent Northern cities vowel shift , beginning only in the twentieth century, now affects much of the North away from the Atlantic coast, occurring specifically at its geographic center: the Great Lakes region.
North American English (NAmE) encompasses the English language as spoken in both the United States and Canada. Because of their related histories and cultures, [ 2 ] plus the similarities between the pronunciations (accents), vocabulary, and grammar of U.S. English and Canadian English , linguists often group the two together.
Colonization efforts began in the late 16th century with failed attempts by England to establish permanent colonies in the North. The first of the permanent English colony in the Americas was established in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. Colonies were established in North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.
The map above shows the major regional dialects of American English (in all caps) plus smaller and more local dialects, as demarcated primarily by Labov et al.'s The Atlas of North American English, [105] as well as the related Telsur Project's regional maps. Any region may also contain speakers of a "General American" accent that resists the ...
The first free taxpayer-supported public school in North America, the Mather School, was opened in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1639. [106] [107] New England had a long emphasis on literacy in order that individuals could read the Bible. Harvard College was founded by the colonial legislature in 1636, and named after an early benefactor.
As of 2016, 400 million people spoke English as their first language, and 1.1 billion spoke it as a secondary language. [70] English is the largest language by number of speakers. English is spoken by communities on every continent and on islands in all the major oceans. [71]
British English and North American English, the two major varieties of the language, are together spoken by 400 million people. The total number of English speakers worldwide may exceed one billion. [32] There have been attempts to predict future English evolution, though they have been met with skepticism. [33]
English has become increasingly common; when the United States was founded, just 40% of Americans spoke English. [72] [better source needed]. In 2002, 87% of Americans spoke English as their first language. [73] [74] It serves as the de facto national language, the language in which government business is carried out. According to the U.S ...