Hong Kong English
| Hong Kong English | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 香港英文 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 港式英文 | ||||||||||
|
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Xiānggǎng yīngwén |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Jyutping | Hoeng1gong2 Jing1man4 |
Hong Kong English (Chinese: 香港英文) is the dialect of the English language used in Hong Kong. The dialect is a result of Hong Kong's British oversea territory history and the influence of native Cantonese speakers.
Hong Kong predominantly uses British spellings. Pronunciations and words are also predominantly British, although influences from American, Canadian and Australian English do exist as a result of western TV and internet culture.
Cantonese English, in theory, refers to the accent and characteristics of English spoken by native Hong Kongers and other Cantonese people. Overall, it is primarily spoken by native Hong Kong language (Cantonese) speakers. Therefore, although it is called Hong Kong English, it is not only spoken in Hong Kong. People who come from Macau, Guangzhou, or whose first language is Cantonese speak it.
Since many of the characteristics of Hong Kong English are perceived as erroneous, the term is often used by locals disparagingly rather than to describe a linguistic identity. The majority of Hong Kongers and Macau people with English proficiency tend to follow British English, American English or a mixture of the two.
English is one of the official languages in Hong Kong, and is used widely in the Government, academic circles, business and the courts. All road and government signs are bilingual and English is as equally valid as Chinese on legal and business standings.
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