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.