Geographical expansion of English

From the 11th to the 16th century the English language spread to the whole of the British Isles. At the end of the 16th c. England founded its first colonies abroad: Newfoundland was captured in 1583. The conquest of the West Indies began about the same time and extended over a hundred years. The 17th c. saw the English colonization of the New World (North America). It began with the famous voyage of the Mayflower in 1620, which carried the first settlers to Massachusetts. Many colonists arrived from Ireland and Scotland. The English dialects of all these areas formed the basis of American English, which has now become a second standard form of English.

In the 18th c. the main issues in the colonial struggle were India and America. The British conquest of India had been prepared by the East Indian Trading Company which was founded as early as the 17th century and had monopolized the trade with India. In the 18th century the British secured partial control over the administration of many provinces in India. Under the treaty of Paris after the Seven Years’ War (1763) England got many disputed territories from France: Canada became an English dominion, Senegal was transferred to England, England’s position in India was further strengthened.

Australia was the last continent to be discovered and colonized by the Europeans. Beginning with 1786 English convicts began to be sent to Australia and other settlers came as well. In every area English has developed some specific features differing from those of Standard English in Britain, which are due either to the original dialect of the settlers or to the new developments in the areas concerned (sometimes under the influence of the native tongues).