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Hong Kong English (traditional Chinese: 港式英語, 港式英文, 香港英語, 香港英文) may refer to two different concepts. The first is the variation or dialect of the English language used in Hong Kong. The second concept is the accent and elements as a result of its use by Cantonese speakers. For the first meaning, 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 large numbers of returnees. But there are also words not from the British Isles, such as 'chop', 'shroff', 'nullah' and 'godown'. These vocabularies are usually of Indian or Malay origins, following expansion of the British Empire in the 19th century. The second meaning, which is also called Cantonese English, in theory, refers to the accent and characteristics of English spoken by native Hong Kongers and other Cantonese speakers. Overall, it is primarily spoken by native Cantonese speakers. Therefore, although it is called as Hong Kong English, it is not only spoken in Hong Kong. People, such as people who come from Macau, Canton (now commonly known as Guangzhou) or those whose first language is Cantonese, speak it. It is often considered, especially by the locals, as the Hong Kong variant of Chinglish. Since many of the 'characteristics' in Hong Kong English are perceived as erroneous, the term is often used by locals as a disparagement 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. ==Background== 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. People with higher education, past experience of living in English-speaking countries, or who constantly interact with Hong Kong's English-speaking expatriate communities, generally speak an acquired form of English. Accent and spelling preference may vary from person to person, depending on the people they have interacted with and the country they have studied in. For most ordinary local Hong Kongers however, the English spoken is generally typical of foreign language learners: Cantonese-influenced pronunciation with some acquired Received Pronunciation characteristics, and with vocabularies and sentence structure generally more formal than those of native speakers. For instance, contractions and slang are not used, and many idioms are alien to Hongkongers as they do not pertain to English-speaking countries' cultures. The falling English proficiency of local English teachers has come under criticism.〔 〕 English in Hong Kong remains primarily a second language, in contrast to Singapore where English has been shifting toward being a first language. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hong Kong English」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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