Kachru’s Three Circles of English

Braj Kachru

 He was an Indian linguist.

 The most important contribution in sociolinguistics is the concentric circles of the English
language.

 Kachrus model was the first introduced with the term World Englishes.

• To better understand the use of English and the domains of language use in different countries, Kachru
(1992) conceived the idea and devised a model of three concentric circles of the language. Bhatt (2001)

DOMAINS OF LANGUAGE USE

1) The Inner Circle:

• Refers to English as it originally took shape and was spread across the world in the first diaspora.

• The Inner Circle thus represents the traditional historical and sociolinguistic bases of English in regions
where it is now used as a primary language: the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, New
Zealand, Ireland, anglophone Canada and South Africa, and some of Caribbean territories.

• English is the native language or mother tongue of most people in these countries. The total number of
English speakers in the inner circle is as high as 380 million, of whom some 120million are outside the
United States.

2) The Outer Circle:

• In this English was produced by the second diaspora of English, which spread the language through
imperial expansion by Great Britain in Asia and Africa.

• In these regions, English is not the native tongue, but serves as a useful lingua franca between ethnic
and language groups. Higher education, the legislature and judiciary, national commerce and so on may
all be carried out predominantly in English.

• This circle includes India, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia, Tanzania, Kenya, non-Anglophone
South Africa, the Philippines (colonized by the US) and others.

• The total number of English speakers in the outer circle is estimated to range from 150 million
to 300 million.

3) The Expanding Circle:

• It encompasses countries where English plays no historical or governmental role, but where it is
nevertheless widely used as a medium of international communication.

• This includes much of the rest of the world's population not categorized above: China, Russia, Japan,
most of Europe, Korea, Egypt, Indonesia, etc.

• The total in this expanding circle is the most difficult to estimate, especially because English may be
employed for specific, limited purposes, usually business English. The estimates of these users range
from 100 million to one billion.
Phonology and it's Features

Phonology

• study of the patterns of sounds in a language and across languages

• study of sound patterns that occur within languages

• study of how sounds are organized and used in natural language

Phonological Features:

1. Phonology finds the systematic ways in which the forms differ and explains them.

2. Phonology studies abstract mental entities, such as structures and processes. This contrasts with
phonetics, which deals with the actual production and acoustics of the sounds of language.

3. Phonology looks at what sounds/sound combinations are accepted and why.

4. With the use of phonological trees, syllables are broken up more easily. Syllables are made up of a
rhyme and an onset (any consonants before the rhyme). The rhyme made-up of a nucleus (the vowel
sound(s) in the syllable, the key component of all syllables) and a coda (any consonants following the
nucleus).

5. Phonology identifies differences in languages.

PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

PHONETICS

• It is the study of SPOKEN language the consonants and vowels, and the melodies and rhythms, of
speech.

• Although these aspects of language can be studied by measuring sound waves, mouth movements, or
hearing capabilities, one of the earliest and most prevalent tools of phonetic study is impressionistic
phonetic transcription.

• One of the most interesting aspects of phonetics is figuring out which sounds are possible in speech.

• Phonetics seeks to understand why some mouth noises exist in language while others do not. What
seems possible or natural in speech is often influenced by our native language.

• It concerns itself with the ways in which languages make use of sounds to distinguish words from each
other.

PHONOLOGY

• Two languages can have all the same phones and yet the languages may not sound the same.

• The explanation lies in each language's use of its INVENTORY OF SOUNDS.

• It INVESTIGATES the organization of speech sounds in a particular language. In phonology,

Phonology Vs Pronunciation

• Phonology is a linguistics term. It is the study of the sounds and relationships between sounds that
exists in a language. Different languages have different phonologies, and linguists have generally come
to consensus on what they are.

• Pronunciation is the way in which these sounds are spoken. I can pronounce a word carefully, slowly,
quickly, etc. I can use the wrong sounds and pronounce something badly. Pronunciation is phonology in
action.

• Phonology is what the sounds are in a language.

• Pronunciation is how we say them.

Articulation vs. Pronunciation

Articulation - refers to the physical production of speech sounds. It involves the movement of the
tongue, lips, jaw, and other speech organs (collectively known as articulators) to form sounds, words,
and sentences.
Key Components of Articulation Include:

1. Articulators: These are the movable parts of the vocal tract used to produce speech sounds. They
include the tongue, lips, teeth, alveolar ridge, hard palate, velum, uvula, and glottis.

2. Manner of articulation: This refers to how the articulators come together to shape the vocal tract and
create different sounds. There are different manners for consonants and vowels. For consonants, it
describes how the airflow is obstructed (plosives like "p" and "b," fricatives like "f" and "v," etc.). For
vowels, it describes the tongue shape and position (high vowels like "ee" and "i," low vowels like "ah"
and "u").

3. Place of articulation: This describes where in the vocal tract the articulators come together to create
a sound. For consonants, it describes which parts touch or come close together (bilabial like "p" and "b,"
alveolar like "t" and "d," etc.). Vowels are also described by tongue placement (front vowels like "i" and
"e," back vowels like "u" and "o").

4. Phonation: This refers to the vibration of the vocal cords, which creates the voiced quality of sound.
Vowels are typically voiced, while some consonants are voiced (like "z") and some are voiceless (like
"s").

5. Speech Clarity: This refers to how well your speech is understood by others. Precise movements of
the articulators, along with proper use of prosody, all contribute to clear and intelligible speech.

Pronunciation - involves the way in which words are spoken, including the intonation, stress, and
rhythm of speech. It is not just about producing individual sounds correctly but also about saying entire
words and sentences in a manner that is understood by listeners.
Key Aspects of Pronunciation Include:

1. Phonemes: These are the smallest units of sound in a language that can differentiate meaning. For
example, the words "bat" and "pat" differ by only one phoneme (/b/ vs /p/).

2. Stress: This refers to the emphasis placed on certain syllables within a word. Stress can change the
meaning of a word (e.g., "record" vs. "reCORD").

3. Intonation: This describes the rise and fall in pitch of your voice across phrases and sentences.
Intonation can convey emotions, questions, and different types of emphasis (e.g., a statement vs. a
question).

4. Rhythm: This refers to the timing and pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables, along with
pauses, in spoken language. Rhythm creates a sense of naturalness and helps listeners group words
together for meaning.

Reference:

Kachru, B. (1992). The Other Tongue: English across cultures. University of Illinois Press.

Kachru, Y. (2006). World Englishes in Asian Contexts. (Larry E. SmithEds.) Hong Kong: Hong Kong
University Press

Kachru, B. (1992). World Englishes: approaches, issues and resources. Language Teaching, 25: 1-14.
Cambridge UP.

https://www.scribd.com/presentation/430195179/2-Three-Circles-of-English

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