Euro English


Euro English or European English, less commonly known as EU English and EU Speak, is a pidgin dialect of English based on the technical jargon of the European Union and the native languages of its non-native English speaking staff. It is mostly used among EU staff, young international travelers, diplomats, and sometimes by other non-native English speaking Continental Europeans.

History

The usage of the English language in Europe progressed through the 19th century, when the British Empire inherited colonies in mainland Europe such as Malta, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Menorca, Heligoland, and the Ionian Islands, the latter two in modern-day Germany and Greece respectively.
The term "Euro English" was first used by Carstensen in 1986 to denote the adoption of anglicisms in Europe.
The enlargement of the European Union over several decades gradually diminished the influence of two of the EU's working languages. The development of the Erasmus Programme created a new class of mobile Europeans who needed a lingua franca to communicate across Europe.
The question whether the appropriation of English by non-native speakers in Continental Europe is giving rise to a potential European variety of English has not yet been resolved. Mollin rejected Euro-English as a variety of English. According to Forche, many of the features suggested to be characteristic of Euro-English could be identified as learners’ mistakes, although there are some nativization tendencies.
Euro-English was heavily influenced and dominated by British English, due to the United Kingdom having been an EU member state since 1973. However, the UK's withdrawal from the EU in early 2020 has mostly reduced the Union's scope of native English speakers to Irish English, which one source believes allows room for Romance languages to become more influential.

Euro English in computers

The Unicode Common Locale Data Repository Project had drafted/defined "en-150" for English in Europe.

Influences

There are two influences in Euro English: top-down and bottom-up.
The top-down influence comes from institutions such as the English Style Guide, issued by the European Commission, which recommends ways to use English in written official documents. "On the whole it follows standard British English usage, but in cases where British English has alternatives, it makes decisions—such as recommending the spelling judgment, not judgement.".
The bottom-up influence comes from the preferences of the people.
Some words are given a plural with a final 's' in Euro-English, such as 'informations' and 'competences', to match similar words in European languages while this might be seen as incorrect in British or American English.
Some words such as 'actor,' 'axis' or 'agent' are given a meaning as wide as in European languages while their meaning would keep a narrower range in native English.

EU DGT style guide

The Directorate-General for Translation of the EU has a style guide for English language to help write clear and readable regular English. This guide is based on the English spoken in Ireland and Great Britain, known as British English.
It does not consider itself EU English being different from real English but help to address specific EU terminology needs related to the way it works.
It prefers British English to American English but recommends avoiding very colloquial British usage.
This style guide defines the thousand separator as space or as a comma, the plural of euro as euro.
It also provides accuracy, for instance the word Brexit refers to the withdrawal of the UK from the EU, and not to a day of a referendum: since the Brexit referendum does not have the same meaning as since Brexit.

EU glossary

The many years of the EU's existence have led to the appearance of EU-specific vocabulary.

Grammar

Non-native English speakers frequently drop the third person singular's suffix. For example: he often call meetings.

Vocabulary

Standard EnglishEuro EnglishOrigin
, used attributivelyTouristic is not commonly used to describe places catering to tourism, unlike its cognates in other European languages.
Last October I had the :wikt:opportunity|opportunity to attend a workshop.Last October I had the :wikt:possibility|possibility to attend a workshop.Used in Romance languages but comes from possibilité in French, which can mean "opportunity"; and the etymology of the English word possibility comes from the French one.
That Mercedes is my dentist's car.That Mercedes is the car of my dentist.Possessive in Romance languages. For instance: La voiture de mon dentiste in French, L'auto del mio dentista in Italian, O carro do meu dentista in Portuguese, El coche de mi dentista in Spanish.
The English adjective actual has undergone semantic shift and is now a false friend.
The English adjective eventual has undergone a semantic widening.
To ,, To French prévoir, Italian prevedere, Dutch voorzien, German vorsehen
We are ing a challenging position in our unit.We a challenging position in our unit.proposer in French and proporre in Italian mean "to offer" or "to suggest".
were two of us at the party. were two at the party.The personal pronoun we is used in Latin languages, and required in Slavic languages.
is it called?; do you call it? is it called?; do you call it?Many European languages use how rather than what in their equivalent constructions: Italian Come si chiama?, German Wie heißt es?, French Comment ça s'appelle?, Polish Jak to się nazywa?.
Please, your PIN code below.Please, your PIN code below.introduire in French can mean "to insert" or "to type in", the same in Portuguese with "introduzir" or in Spanish with "introducir".
I am staying in France. I am staying in France.Finally is not commonly used to describe an ultimate decision. Spanish Finalmente, French Finalement, Italian Finalmente.
Commonly used by Latin languages speakers. Also compare Swedish å andra sidan
to or Precisare in Italian.
To or. ofHave one's disposal means have free use of. Of unknown origin, known usage: Essere a disposizione in Italian.
or Latin languages speakers commonly use Important meaning large or significant.
Commonly known asProbably from German sogenannt.
Being or Opportunity means "the quality of being ".
or Punctual is used to mean point-by-point or from time to time.
Areas of Latin languages speakers often add an "s" at the end of uncountable nouns.
Contrôler in French.
To Assister in French, Asistir in Spanish.
Unknown origin, known usage: Incitare in Italian.
the principle that legal decrees should be enacted as close to people as possibleNot known yet.
Not known yet.
Used in European languages.
Six monthsUsed in European languages.
He has retired to his He has retired to his Unknown: In French language, the word cabinet used to mean a small room away from a bigger one. The French word cabinet coming from the French word cabine of uncertain eventually English origin eventually linked to the French word cabane.
Unknown: eventually from the French délai used in the civil code to give a period to compute a time limit. The word délai was used in French by Chrétien de Troyes, sans délai meaning without deadline, the noun is based on the verb délaier previously used in Couronnement Louis.

However Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union in its English version neither use the word deadline nor the word delay nor the expression time limit: it just says More specifically when the French original version contains the word délai, the english original version contains the word period.
From planify + ation.
It was formed from the misspelled stem and the suffix ology/logy meaning the science of or the study of.
One who performs an act.
Quality of being an Actor + ness.
To from doing somethingTo Used in Nordic European countries.
To be To be Used in Nordic European countries
To To Used in Nordic countries.
Used to distinguish trade within the EU from trade within the member state. The internal market of the EU is known as single market. The French word domestique is avoided in French language due to some pejorative meanings.
Make sure someone has what is needed. The French word garantie has a specific legal meaning in the French civil code.
Better explanation of the role.
I from SpainI am from SpainEnglish's grammar changed in Continental Europe
Treat InviteUsed in European languages.

The English plural of the word euro was first defined as euro without final s, before becoming euros with a final s.