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Divided By A Common Language: A Comparison Of Nigerian, American And British English, Farooq A. Kperogi Ph.D.

Farooq A. Kperogi

We all know that there is such a thing as British English; it is the progenitor of all subsequent “Englishes” (as professional linguists awkwardly call national and sub-regional varieties of the English language) in the world. And we do, of course, know that there is American English, not only because it is the earliest national variety to rebel against some of the quirky conventions of British English—a fact that inspired the celebrated Irish writer George Bernard Shaw to famously remark that “England and America are two countries divided by a common language”— but also because America’s current preeminent position in …