ABSTRACT
This chapter starts with a short sketch of settlement history of Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, which provides the background to the establishment of English as a local language. Mention is also made of the number of speakers of English and other important languages as well as official language policies and the status of English. Following this there is a characterization of English in these countries, taking into consideration vocabulary (with emphasis on differences in the natural world of flora, fauna, and topography and the sociopolitical world and its national institutions), pronunciation, grammar, as well as social, regional, and ethnic variation, especially the coexistence of the English and the languages of the autochthonous populations of these three countries.
