Chapter10
British and AmericanEnglish
Noah Webster (1758-1843), American lexicographer, coined the termAmerican
English.
“The reasons for American English being different from BritishEnglish are simple: As an independent nation, our honor requires us to have asystem of our own, in language as well as in government.Great Britain, whose children weare, and whose language we speak, should no longer be our standard...”
1. Definition
–American Englishis the form ofEnglish used in the United States. It includes all English dialects used withinthe United States of America.
–British Englishis the form ofEnglish used in the United Kingdom. It includes all English dialects usedwithin the United Kingdom.
2.Characteristics of AmE
Creativeness
1)They also believe that buildingskyscrapershelps to solve theproblem of the growing scarcity of land in the city.
2)He wasfiredwithout reason.
Conservativeness(keeping the old usage of English)
1)Why are youmadat me?
2)What do you want to do nextfall?
3)Iguessthat you’ve seen Mary.
Heterogeneity—borrowing
1)Prairierefersto the Great Plains in North America. (French)
2)The American version of theSanta Clausfigure received itsinspiration and its name from the Dutch legend. (Dutch)
More examples:
Hamburger (Germany),pizza (Italian),jazz(African)
Popularityof slang
3.Differences between Br. E and Am. E
Due to the differences in the population structure, physicalenvironment, social and economic conditions, American English has divergedsomewhat from British English.
3.1Differences in pronunciation
ØAmE isrhotic, while BrE isnon-rhotic(that is, AmE has /r/ before a consonant).
e.g.,hard,fork,clerk,first,curb,surf…
ØThe letterabefore thephonemes/ө/, /s/, /m/, /n/,
/f/etc. is sounded/æ/in AmE, while/a:/in BrE.
e.g.,path, fast, grass, sample, command,answer, draft, laugh…
1)How to ask someone to dance at a formal ball–eHow. com
2)Half pastdead iswhat you'll feel likeafterenduringthis perfunctory picture, written and directed by Don Michael Paul.
ØMiscellaneouspronunciation differences
BrE
AmE
words
/i:/
/e/
epoch, evolution
/e/
/i:/
leisure, medieval
/ɪ/
/aɪ/
dynasty, privacy, vitamin, direct
/aɪ/
/i/
either, neither
/ɑ:/
/eɪ/
tomato, amen
…
…
……
Examples of otherregular and irregular differences:
1)What doyou know when you know a language?
2)I was anordinary advertisement clerk before.
3)He spenthis adult life inCanada.
4)An e-mailaddress identifies a location to which e-mail messages can be delivered.
5)The mission of a university is teaching andresearch.
3.2Differences in spelling
BrE
AmE
words
-our
-or
colour, flavour, honour
-re
-er
theatre, metre, fibre, sombre
-ise
-ize
organise, recognise, realise
-ogue
-og
catalogue, analogue,dialogue
-ll
-l
travelling, jeweller, skillful
…
…
…
Miscellaneous spelling differences
BrE
AmE
cheque
check
draught
draft
kerb
curb
sceptic
skeptic
a cosy little room
cozy
grey hair
gray
disc player
disk
In general, both American and Britishspelling are acceptable, but it is important to beconsistent, at leastwith the use of the same word -theatre or theater, but not both.
Work out theAmerican spelling of the following underlined words.
1)Sheenrolledin a night course inphotography.traveller/jewellery
2)Your fire will burn hot and efficientlyrather thansmoulderand generate wood smoke. flavour/labour/mould
3)Everyone appreciates a sincereacknowledgement.judgement/axe
4)Facialmasqueis designed to cleanse,nourish, and tighten one's face. cheque
5)Triangletyreis a world-leading tiremanufacturer.
6)Pyjamasare a form ofnightwear.
7)He did look around a bit as he stepped offthekerb, but seemed not to care that there was approaching traffic.
8)Bogga RoadGaolis the oldestsurviving jail in Queensland.
American English spelling seems to besimplerandmore
consistentwith the pronunciation than its English counterpart.
3.3Differences in grammar
The use ofsubjunctive
I suggest that the meetingshould bepostponed.
I suggest that the meetingbepostponed.
The treatment of arepeated subject after the indefinite pronounone.
One cannot succeed unlessonetries hard.
One cannot succeed unlesshetries hard.
Differences inprepositions
1)Maryaims
at becominga writer.
Maryaims
to becomea writer.
2)Let’sfill
inthe form.
Let’sfill
outthe form.
3)Hestarts his holidayson Friday.
He startshis holidaysFriday.
3.4Differences in vocabulary
Thedifferencesbetween American and British use ofwords are often found incolloquial English, whereas thedifference in thewritten languageis oftenslight. In practice,the coexistence of American and British terms places another group ofsynonymsat our service.
Differences invocabulary
Same words,different meanings
Same ideas, different words
Same words,different meanings
Word
American
British
bill
bank note
a demand for payment of a debt
public school
a municipally-run school
a private school
billon
1,000,000,000
1,000,000,000,000
veteran
an ex-service man of any age
an old soldier of long service
Common ideas, different words
American
British
alumnus
graduate
attorney
barrister
subway
underground/tube
bar
pub
can
tin
More examples:
flat—apartment, taxi—cab,
sweets—candy, lift—elevator, bathroom—toilet,
trousers—pants, rubber—eraser, maths—math,
holiday—vacation, lorry-truck, chips—French
fries, postman—mailman, cashier—teller,
football—soccer, torch—flashlight
Work out theAmerican equivalents of the underlined Briticisms.
1)Replace your sneakers every two to threemonths if you run or walk onpavementfor more than 20 miles.
Wait onsidewalkuntil bus comes to a full stop.
2)We provide this campus andcall boxmap to remind all members of our campus to travel safely.
Thoughthe movie claims that thistelephone boothwas the last one in New YorkCity, there are in fact several others still functioning in Manhattan.
3)The twoguerillas' corpses were stuffed in thebootof a blacksaloon.
trunk;sedan
4)The Britishpublic
schoolswere not "public" in the common sense of the word. Theywere not intended for the children of ordinary or common families; rather, theycatered to the British aristocracy and to affluent middle-class families.
private school
5)Make surethat the power supply is connected to the wallsocketwith the power cord.
outlet
6)Total 18courses were offered in 2005, which includes 7compulsorycourses, 3optionalcourses and …
required;elective
Skill of memorizinga word
to stamp a stamp on the stamp.
stamp on the stamp
1)Myhusband is a stamp collector.
2)The stampin your library book shows it must be returned tomorrow.
3)Stamp“paid” on a bill.
4)Theimmigration officer stamped my passport.
5)Shestamped on the insect and killed it.
FurtherReading
张韵斐. 2004.现代英语词汇学概论[M].北京师范大学出版社, p211-235.
