American and British English

AMERICAN ENGLISH AND BRITISH ENGLISH

Betty Sekarasih Hadi Yani, S.Pd

All languages change with time. With the touch of many factors such as the rapid growth of mass media, geographical aspect and social mobility, the languages in this world are constantly changing. It also happens to English. English which is the second most spoken language in the world has some development in it. It has been developed since the era of oldest English (Anglo-Saxon) in Britain. When English is brought to different area, it will have some variations. First, the people who speak it will develop the accents; next some vocabulary will change either due to influences of other languages or by natural processes. English which was introduced in America through British colonization in the early 17^th century, has been developed in many ways. Recently, the form of the language used in the Americas—especially in the United States—and that used in the United Kingdom and the British Islands have diverged in many ways, leading to the dialects now commonly referred to as American English and British English. Differences between the two include pronunciation, spelling,  grammar, vocabulary (lexis).

           

            Key words : language, language change, English, American English, British

                               English, variations, dialects

1. INTRODUCTION

            All languages are continually changing. Language change is the manner in which the phonetic, morphological, semantic, syntactic and other features of a language are modified overtime. The causes of language changes are many and varied. There are several causes such as the effectiveness of speaking, analogy, the growth of information and communication technology, social mobility and language contacts. Language change is an inevitable fact which happens in this growing era. This change also happens to English.

English has a huge variety within itself. English has been developed since the old English era in Britain and spread to all over the world. Through British colonization and British trade, English was introduced to America in the early 17^th century. Over the past 400 years, the form of the language used in the Americas—especially in the United States—and that used in the United Kingdom and the British Islands have diverged in many ways, leading to the dialects now commonly referred to as American English and British English in many ways, leading to the dialects now commonly referred to as American English and British English. Differences between the two include pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary (lexis), spelling, punctuations and numbers.

B.     DISCUSSION

1. AMERICAN ENGLISH

a. Terminology

American English is the form of English used in United States. It includes all English dialects used within the United States of America. English is the most common language in the United States. The term The American Language is admittedly the title of a famous book but it is an unnecessary exaggeration to claim (largely for patriotic reasons) that the English of the United States in any way represents a separate language from kinds of British English with which it is mutually intelligible.

There is a further complex of varieties which is a terminologically sensitive area: the English of the African American population. Obviously terms like Negro dialect or Negro English are unacceptable nowadays given the pejorative meaning of ‘negro’ today. American sociolinguists, active as of the mid sixties, came to use the term Black English (BE) or Black English Vernacular (BEV). With the advent of political correctness as a socio-political phenomenon the terminology had to be revised for fear of appearing discriminatory. Afro-American English was used but then the Afro- element was thought to be subordinate to American and so African American English (AAE) came to be employed and is current today, usually with the word Vernacular as an additional qualifier. Occasionally the term Ebonics (from ‘ebony’ where the color of the wood is sometimes associated with blacks) is found, particularly outside linguistic circles.

b. Divisions of American English

There are traditionally three main dialects areas in the United States (excluding Canada):

1.	Midland, West	(General American)
2	North	(coastal states on the Atlantic, New England)
3	South	(coastal states on South Atlantic + Gulf of Mexico)

The western section covers a vast area of land and has something of the character of a standard in the United States. It is variously called General American - or in a geographically less specific manner - Network English seeing as how it is used in public life, in the media, politics, etc. The remarks on linguistic structure below apply to General American unless otherwise specified.

The settlement history of America has led to sub varieties or groups of these arising within the United States. For instance the area of the Appalachian mountains, in the south-east somewhat in from the coast, shows a kind of English which is quite distinct from that of the adjoining flatlands, e.g. double modals as in I might could take a course in linguistics are common here. Such structures are only found elsewhere in the Anglophone world in Scotland and Ulster and it is known that large numbers of Scots and Ulster Scots settled in the region as of the late 17th century.

There are further minor varieties of English in America such as Gullah, a remnant of a negro creole spoken by small numbers on islands off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. French existed up to this century in Louisiana where it derives from former Louisiana French Creole. Various forms of Mexican Spanish have been spoken in those states adjoining on Mexico (above all in California). Chicano English is a term used for the type of English spoken by native speakers of Spanish in the south-west of the United States. Various immigrant groups have to a greater or lesser extent retained their original languages, e.g. Italians, Jews (Yiddish). Immigrants vary greatly in the degree of language maintenance they exhibit, the Estonians show a very high degree while the Ukrainians and the Irish have little or none. Of more recent origin are the many immigrants from Asiatic countries, for instance the large Chinese population in California.

c. American Orthography

The spelling of American English has been a matter of central interest since the late 18th century when Noah Webster, the father of American lexicography, brought out his Dissertations on the English Language (1789) in which he suggested separating America from Britain linguistically. Webster’s major work is his An American Dictionary of the English Language of 1828. With its 70,000 entries was larger than Samuel Johnson’s English Dictionary (1755). Certain spelling changes of Webster are older forms, such as -er for -re (cf. theater) or -or for -our (cf. honour). Many of the changes suggested by Webster were not adopted permanently into American English and he can not free himself entirely from the accusation of having tinkered with the language (e.g. in his proposal that one write oo for ou in words like soup, group). Note that the letter z is pronounced /zi:/ in American and /zed/ in British English.

The United States has it own conception of standard English which developed from supraregional forms of English outside the distinct dialect areas of the north-east and south. With the increasing economic power of the United States, particularly after the Second World War, the influence of the supraregional variety of American English has increased considerably in areas contiguous with the United States.

d. Phonology

1) Presence of (retroflex) syllable-final /r/ (in General American). This /r/ may be

    absent in the South and conservative varieties in the North East.

2) Raising, lengthening and frequent nasalisation of /æ/ is very common. The lexical

    distribution of /æ/ and /ɑ:/ is different from British English: e.g. cancel, dance,

    advance all have /æ/ in American English.

3) Lowering of /ɔ/ to /a/ as in pot /pat/.

4) Flapping of /t,d/ to /ſ/, e.g. writer /raiſər/.

5) Alveolar /l/ in syllable-final position, e.g. ill [ɪl]

6) Not so much diphthongisation of mid long vowels as in RP, e.g. home is

     pronounced /houm/ and not /həʊm/

7) Partial retention of /ʍ/ where RP has /w/, e.g. which /ʍɪtʃ/

8) Many cases of varying word stress compared with British English.

e. Morphology and Syntax

1) Increased use of adjectives for adverbs. He’s awful tall. That’s real funny. I near    finished it.

2) Strong verb forms which are either archaic or false generalisations from other strong verbs. do - done - done; get - got - gotten; see - seen - seen; bring - brang - brung (non-standard in the United States).

3) Use of do is widespread in American English for questions and negative sentences. Did he have a chance to do it? (Had he a chance to do it?) Have you enough money? No, I don’t (No, I haven’t) He hasn’t a driving licence, sure he doesn’t? (, hasn’t he?) Did he use to smoke (Used he to smoke?)

4) Suppression of verb leaving :

     a) a preposition The cat wants in. She wants off.

      b) a past participle He ordered him replaced. They wanted a conference held.

5) Large number of phrasal verbs in American English: hold off (= restrain); figure out (= understand); check out (= leave); get through (= finish); count in (= include); stop by (= visit briefly).

6) Differences among prepositions: aside from (= besides); in back of (= behind); for (= after), e.g The school was named for him. on (= in), e.g I live on George Street. in (= into), e.g. He ran in the kitchen. than (= from), e.g. She is different than her sister. through (= from ... to) Monday through Friday.

7) Lack of prepositions with expressions of time: I met him (on) Tuesday. I wrote (to) her last week.

8)  Pronominal usage: American English allows ‘he’ after ‘one’ which is not found in British English. One never does what he should. One always deceives himself.

2. BRITISH ENGLISH

a. Terminology

British English or UK English (BrE, BE, en-GB) is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere. The size of the British Isles often leads people to assume that the language spoken in its countries of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland is somewhat homogeneous and first time visitors are often surprised to find that they have difficulty in understanding the accents and dialects of certain regions. Even within the country of England alone there is great diversity of dialect both regionally and socially. Trudgill (1999) believes that for the majority of English people "where they are from" is very important to them. Accents are clues to where people were born and where they grew up. Although some people may change the way they speak during their lifetimes, most people "carry at least some trace" of their accent and dialect origins throughout their lives.

b. Sociolinguistic issues of British English:

In Britain, "people are often able to make instant and unconscious judgements about a stranger’s class affiliation on the basis of his or her accent." (Wells 1982a) Both the words and pronunciation of many individuals reflect that person’s social position. It is agreed that in England, the "phonetic factors assume a predominating role which they do not generally have in North America" (Wells 1982a).Traditionally, it has been acknowledged that in England, the relation between social and regional accents can be diagrammed as follows:

 

Geographical variation is represented along the broad base of the pyramid while the vertical dimension exhibits social variation. It can be seen that working class accents display a good deal of regional variety, but as the pyramid narrows to its apex, up the social scale, it’s also apparent that upper class accents exhibit no regional variation. (Wells 1982a). Thus by definition, any regional accent would not be considered upper-class and the more localizable the accent, the more it will described as a "broad" accent. Wells (1982a) purports that broad accents reflect:

• regionally, the highest degree of local distinctiveness
• socially, the lowest social class
• linguistically, the maximal degree of difference from RP.

A 1972 survey carried out by National Opinion Polls in England, provides an example of how significantly speech differences are associated with social class differences. (Wells 1982a) The following question was asked:
"Which of the these [eleven specified factors] would you say are most important in being able to tell which class a person is?" Respondents were randomly chosen from the British public. The factor that scored the highest was "the way they speak" followed by "where they live." At the bottom of the list was "the amount of money they have." All this is evidence that then, and to some degree even now, "speech is regarded as more indicative of social class than occupation, education and income."

c. Dialects

Dialects and accents vary not only among the nations of Britain, but also within the countries themselves. There are also differences in the English spoken by different socio-economic groups in any particular region. The major divisions are normally classified as English English (or English as spoken in England, which comprises Southern English dialects, Midlands English dialects and Northern English dialects), Welsh English, Scottish English and the closely related dialects of the Scots language. The various British dialects also differ in the words that they have borrowed from other languages. The Scottish and Northern English dialects include many words originally borrowed from Old Norse and a few borrowed from Gaelic. The spread of the English dialect can be shown in the following maps:

1. London and the home countries

2.  The South-West

3. The Midlands

4. Merseyside

5. Yorkshire

6. The North-West

 

6. Tyneside

 

7. East Anglia

 

d. Accents within England

The form of English most commonly associated with educated speakers in the southern counties of England is called the "Received Standard", and its accent is called Received Pronunciation (RP). It derives from a mixture of the Midland and Southern dialects which were spoken in London during the Middle Ages and is frequently used as a model for teaching English to foreign learners. Although educated speakers from elsewhere within the UK may not speak with an RP accent it is now a class-dialect more than a local dialect. The best speakers of Standard English are those whose pronunciation, and language generally, least betray their locality. It may also be referred to as "the Queen's (or King's) English", "Public School English", or "BBC English" as this was originally the form of English used on radio and television, although a wider variety of accents can be heard these days. Only approximately two percent of Britons speak RP, and it has evolved quite markedly over the last 40 years.

Even in the South East there are significantly different accents; the London Cockney accent is strikingly different from RP and its rhyming slang can be difficult for outsiders to understand.

Estuary English has been gaining prominence in recent decades: it has some features of RP and some of Cockney. In London itself, the broad local accent is still changing, partly influenced by Caribbean speech. Communities migrating to the UK in recent decades have brought many more languages to the country. Surveys started in 1979 by the Inner London Education Authority discovered over 100 languages being spoken domestically by the families of the inner city's school children. As a result, Londoners speak with a mixture of accents, depending on ethnicity, neighbourhood, class, age, upbringing, and sundry other factors.

e. British English (Received Pronunciation English)

The term of British English always associated with RP English, which is widely accepted in England and considered as neutral and often correct accent. People usually compared this accent to the other English. RP is also the accent that Americans and possibly other foreigners would likely refer to as the typical British accent. It should also be noted that there is no single accent whose role and status in the United States correspond to that of RP in England. (Wells 1982a). RP is only really associated with England and not the other countries of Great Britain. However, it is not associated with any particular location within England. Because it is what might be thought of as an "educated accent" it appears characteristically in upper and upper middle class speakers and is more sociologically defined rather than geographically defined.

3. The Difference between American English and British English

A porter in a British hotel comes upon an American tourist impatiently jabbing at the button for the lift. "Sir, the lift will be here in a moment." "Lift? Lift?" replies the American. "Oh, you mean the elevator." "No sir, here we call it a lift." "Well, as it was invented in the United States, it’s called an elevator." "Yes sir, but as the language was invented here, it’s called a lift." from The Reader’s Digest

From the situation above we may infer that both speakers are using different names for the same thing. And it is also clear that the difference occurs since they have American English and British English at the other side. Geographically separated from its origin, American English which was originated from British English has got some changes that may be different from its origin. The difference takes place in some aspects of language such as spelling, pronunciation, lexicon, and grammars.

a. Pronunciation

            The British usually speak with more tensions in their voices than do Americans and through a smaller opening in their mouths or vocal sound boxes. As a result, in British English the vowels in words like blast, fast and half are pronounced farther back in the mouth than is usual in American English. The final /r/ of British English in words such as bark, brother, core, father, fork and rather is barely pronounced, more like the pronunciation in Eastern New England and the South than in most other regions of the United states.

b. Spelling

There are a number of differences between British and American spelling. For example, the British spell a bank check with cheque. The British play chequers on a chequerboard, American play checkers on checkerboard. In words ending –re, which English took from French such as centre, metre and theatre, British spelling retains the French –re ending, while in America they are usually spelled center, meter, theater. British spelling uses c instead of s in the words which American spell defense and offense ( British defence and offence). In such words as reveler, traveler, and wagon, British spelling doubles a consonant: reveller, traveller, waggon. American spelling has dropped the u in the –our ending of a number words which the British spell, for example, colour, honour and saviour  (American color, honor, savior).

c. Vocabulary

American words often become familiar to Britishers when they read American books or see American films. British words often become familiar to Americans when they read British books or British films. Differences between American English and English vocabulary do however remain. Here are a few of the more common words which are different in American and British English. This is only meant to highlight some of the variety which exists within English.

Definition	UK word	USA word
11th June 1998	11/06/98	06/11/98
the dot at the end of a sentence	full stop	Period
unit of paper currency	Note	Bill
mathematics	Maths	Math
the season after summer	Autumn	Fall
day when offices are closed	bank holiday	legal holiday
small pointed thing used to pin papers onto walls	drawing pin	thumb tack
mark made when something is correct or selected	Tick	Check
the name of the final letter of the alphabet	Zed	Zee
angry	pissed off	Pissed
third piece of a male's suit that goes between the jacket and the shirt	waist coat	Vest
what women wear over their legs	Tights	(panty) hose
what men wear over their legs	Trousers	Pants
a type of soft shoe used in sports or for casual wear	trainers, plimsolls	Sneakers
strap to hold up a man's trousers / pants	Braces	Suspenders
item to hold up stockings	Suspenders	Garters
item of clothing worn in house at night	dressing gown	Bathrobe
a thin cloth from Arabia	Muslin	Cheesecloth
large bag carried by females	hand bag	Purse
container carried by females for money	Purse	pocket book
what you put in a baby's mouth	Dummy	Pacifier
what you put around a baby's bottom	Nappy	Diaper
the area next to a street where pedestrians walk	Pavement	sidewalk
place to cross a street on foot	pedestrian crossing	crosswalk
place from where goods are bought	Shop	store
place from where medicines are bought	Chemist	drug store
payment in a restaurant	Bill	check
place where alcoholic drinks are bought	off licence	liquor store
shop / store selling metal goods and tools	Ironmonger	hardware store
the business part of a city	town centre	downtown
law enforcement officer	Copper	cop
what there was before email	Post	mail
code used when sorting mail / post	Postcode	zip code
telephone call where the person called pays	reverse charge	collect call
free telephone call paid by company	free phone	toll free
company on the WWW	.co.uk	.com
four wheeled private vehicle	car	automobile
front of a car / automobile	bonnet	hood
rear compartment of a car / automobile	boot	trunk
metal plate with number on a vehicle	number plate	license plate
long piece of metal used for radio reception	aerial	antenna
metal tool for tightening nuts and bolts	spanner	wrench
glass in front of a car	windscreen	windshield
metal over the wheel to keep mud off	mud guard (wing)	fender
multi-lane road for cars	motorway	freeway
road passing over another	flyover	overpass
heavy goods vehicle	lorry	truck
fuel for vehicles	petrol	gasoline
place to buy fuel	petrol station	gas station
area to stop off a major road	lay-by	pull-off
metal container in street for unwanted items	skip	dumpster
ticket for one journey	single	one way
ticket for two journeys: out and back	return	round trip
type of transport run on metal rails	railway	railroad
a beam supporting railway / railroad tracks	sleeper	tie
what you eat with milk, tea or coffee	biscuit	cookie
what you put on bread	jam	jelly
a gelatinous dessert	jelly	jell-O
crunchy thin-sliced fried potatoes	crisps	chips
fried stick-shaped potatoes	chips	french fries
a large vessel for juice or water	jug	pitcher
sweet things given to children to rot their teeth	sweets	candy
rolled up cake with jam / jelly in the middle	Swiss roll	jelly roll
a sugary liquid like honey	treacle	molasses
flavoured ice on a stick	lolly	popsicle
soft long green vegetable	marrow	squash
meat passed through a device that breaks it up into little pieces	mince	ground meat
cereal made from oats, sugar and milk	porridge	oatmeal
Swiss cereal made from oats	muesli	granola
fluffy sweet item for children	candy floss	cotton candy
arthropod with six legs	insect	bug
red insect / bug with black spots	ladybird	ladybug
dwelling in a large building	flat	apartment
device for obtaining water	tap	faucet
container for household waste	rubbish bin	trash can
portable battery-operated light source	torch	flashlight
the floor of a building that is level with the ground	ground floor	first floor
the floor of a building that is one level above the ground	first floor	second floor
device for carrying people between floors of a building	lift	elevator
place where films / movies can be seen	cinema	movie theater

c. Grammar

1) Use of the Present Perfect

In British English the present perfect is used to express an action that has occurred in the recent past that has an effect on the present moment. For example:

I've lost my key. Can you help me look for it?
In American English the following is also possible:
I lost my key. Can you help me look for it?
In British English the above would be considered incorrect. However, both forms are generally accepted in standard American English. Other differences involving the use of the present perfect in British English and simple past in American English include already, just and yet.
British English:
I've just had lunch
I've already seen that film
Have you finished your homework yet?
American English:
I just had lunch OR I've just had lunch
I've already seen that film OR I already saw that film.
Have your finished your homework yet? OR Did you finish your homework yet?
2) The Verb Get

The past participle of the verb get is gotten in American English. Example He's gotten much better at playing tennis. British English - He's got much better at playing tennis.

3) Prepositions
There are also a few differences in preposition use including the following:

• American English - on the weekend
  British English - at the weekend
• American English - on a team
  British English - in a team
• American English - please write me soon
  British English - please write to me soon

4) Past Simple/Past Participles

The following verbs have two acceptable forms of the past simple/past participle in both American and British English, however, the irregular form is generally more common in British English (the first form of the two) and the regular form is more common to American English.

• Burn
  Burnt OR burned
• Dream
  dreamt OR dreamed
• Lean
  leant OR leaned
• Learn
  learnt OR learned
• Smell
  smelt OR smelled
• Spell
  spelt OR spelled
• Spill
  spilt OR spilled

5) Verbal auxiliaries

• Shall (as opposed to will) is more commonly used by the British than by Americans. Shan't is seldom used in AmE (almost invariably replaced by won't or am not going to), and very much less so amongst Britons. American grammar also tends to ignore some traditional distinctions between should and would; however, expressions like I should be happy are rather formal even in BrE.
• The periphrastic future (be going to) is about twice as frequent in AmE as in BrE.^]

C. CLOSING WORDS

            As time goes by, the language will change and has variation in it. It also happens to English. Because of British colonization and trade, English is spread to all over the world and it becomes the second most spoken language in the world. When America was colonized by British, English became widely spoken there. At the beginning, the English spoken in America and Britain was alike. With the touch of human civilization and some reasons the language, then, modified. In some aspects, American English is different from British English. The variation is interesting subject to study.

            In respect to ELT, it is important for English teachers to introduce both American English and British English to the students. By introducing this, it is expected that the student will not be confused which words, or phrases to be used when they are in American or British setting. However, it is not necessary for us to force them to know both deeply. We only need to be able to use global English.

Rerefences

http://www.krysstal.com/ukandusa.html accessed on March 24 2009

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_differences

http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwesl/egw/grlists.htm

http://www.xomba.com/the_differences_between_american_and_british_english

http://www.uni-due.de/SVE/