美式英语和英式英语对比小论文The Differences between British English and American English.doc

The Differences between British English and American English 11AbstractBritish English and American English are the two major varieties of English in the world at present and there are many differences between them. This paper talks about the differences between British English and American English. The paper mainly consists of five parts. The first part is introduction. I will introduce the origin and development of British English and American English. Part two is the main body, which can be divided into four chapters. The first three chapters of this paper is to introduce the specific differences between British English and American English in vocabulary, usage, expression etc. And then analyzing the main factors which cause the difference of English language. The final part of the article is conclusion. It summarizes the differences between the British English and American English and then talks about the significant of this paper.Key words: British English; American English; differences; usage; expression; pronunciation摘要英式英语和美式英语是目前世界上英语的主要两个种类，而两者之间又有许多差别。本文主要讲述英式英语和美式英语之间的区别。本文主要由五个部分组成。第一部分是引言，主要介绍英式英语和美式英语的起源和发展。第二部分是文章的主体，可以分为四个章节。前三章介绍英式英语和美式英语在词汇，用法，表达等方面的具体差异。第四章分析导致英式英语和美式英语产生差异的主要原因。最后一部分结论对文章进行总结，并阐释了本文的重要性。关键词：英式英语；美式英语；区别；用法；表达法；语音ContentsIntroduction.1Chapter One The Difference in Vocabulary.21.1 Differences in Pronunciation.21.1.1 Differences in Individual Sounds.21.1.2 Differences in Stress.31.2 Differences in Spelling.31.3 Different Words for the Same Meaning.41.4 One Same Word but Different Meanings.51.5 Simplify from British English to American English.51.6 Differences in Past Tense Forms.5Chapter Two Differences in Customary Usage and Expression.62.1 Differences in the Usage of Prepositions.62.2 Differences in the Usage of Idiom.62.3 Differences in Expressions.72.3.1 The Expression of Date.72.3.2 The Expression of numbers.7Chapter Three Other Differences.83.1 Differences in Characteristics.83.2 Differences in Tone.83.3 Different Conversation on the Phone.9Chapter Four Causing of the Differences.94.1 The Historical Factors Causing the Vocabulary Differences.94.1.1 The Same Origin of Two Variants of English Language.94.1.2 The Development and Changes of Vocabulary.94.2 The Geographical Factors Causing the Differences.104.3 Other Considerable Factors Causing the Differences.10Conclusion.11IntroductionThe early inhabitants of the island we now call England were Celts(also called Britons). In 55 B.C. Britain was invaded by the Roman conqueror Julius Caesar. Until 410 A.D. all the roman troops returned to the continent, thus ending the Roman occupation of Britain. Later on, three tribes from the Northern Europe invaded Britain and settled down on the island: Angles, Saxons and Jutes. The history of the English Language is divided into three periods:The period from 450 to 1150 is known as the Old English or Anglo-Saxon period. It is described as the period of full inflections, since during most of this period the case endings of the noun, the adjective, and the conjugation of the verb were not weakend.The period from 1150 to 1500 is known as the Middle English period. During this period the inflections, which had begun to break down towards the end of the Old English period, became greatly reduced, and it is known as the period of leveled inflections.The period from 1500 to the present day is called the modern English period. A large part of the oridinal inflectional system has disappeared, and it is known as the period of lost inflections.By the more than 1500 years changes, the English Language has developed from a local language spoken by a small number of people in Germanic tribes to its present position as a very important language spoken by a large numbers of people all over the world. The wide spread of English can due to the development of the politics, economy and the society. At the beginning of 17th century the English language was brought to North America by colonists from England. The British people used the language spoken in England, that is, Elizabethan English, the language used by Shakespeare and Milton and Bunyan. Since the seventeenth century, the time of American colonization, English has been the language of the United States. The development of the American English can be simply separated into three periods:The first period extends from the settlement of Jamestown in 1607 to the end of colonial times. This time may be put at 1787, or at 1790. In this period the population in America numbered about four million, 90 percent of whom came from British. The second period covers the expansion of the original thirteen colonies. This period was marked by the arrival of the new immigrants from Ireland and Germany. The third period, the period since the Civil War, is marked by an important change in the source from which the European immigrants came. Comparing with British English, American English is a specific definition which reflects American culture, history and society. It is not an independent language but a variety of English.Chapter one: The Difference in Vocabulary1.1 Differences in Pronunciation1.1.1 Differences in Individual SoundsAmericans retain the r at the end of the words car, etc. , or before consonants as in hard, etc. ; in British English the r is not pronounced, as in teacher ti: t.BrE star sta: car ka:AmE star str carstr In terms of the consonant, the most obvious systematic difference is the pronunciation of /r/ behind vowels in American English. But this pronunciation do not exist in British English. Here are some examples: AmE BrE door / d : r / /d :/ father / f a: r/ / f a: / pleasure / p l e r/ / p l e /The other important systematic is the pronunciation of / t/ between two vowels. It pronounced as / t/ in British English but pronounced as / d/ in American English.e.g.: butter better matter fatterAmericans prefer to use flat a similar to / /, in words path, grass, answer, etc. against the broad a currently used by Englishmen.The third obvious systematic difference is related to /l/. There is difference between clear /l/ and dark /l/ in British English but not in American English. Americans pronounced it as dark /l/ anytime.e.g.: calm /k a: l m/ /k a: m/The letter a in consonant combinations at, ask, ass, ath, alf and ance is pronounced as/ a:/ in British English, whereas a is pronounced as / / in American English.e.g.: after / a: f t / / f t / half / h a: f/ /h f/ / / in British English is pronounced as / / in American English.e.g.: cup / kp/ / k p/Diphthongs in British English are replaced by long vowels in American English.e.g.: / ei/ by / e/ / u/ by / / / by / e/ / i/ by / i/ j u:/ in British English pronounced as / u:/ after a dental in American English.e.g.: duke / d u: k/ / d j u: k/news / n u: z/ / n j u: z/1.1.2 Differences in Stress There is obvious change on stress in British English and American English. British English tends to stress strongly one syllable, usually the first and hurry over the rest of the word. American English tends to put the stress on the first syllable but also to put a secondary stress on the latter syllable and pronounces the remaining syllables more distinctly. (1)Words ended up with ate in American English always put the stress on the first syllable, but it was put on the last syllable in British English. Examples: like donate migrate vacate(2)Most words ended up with ary, -ery, -ory put the stress on the first syllable, in American English, a secondary stress will be put on the penultimate syllable. But in British English the penultimate vowel usually be lightened or omitted.1.2 Differences in SpellingThere are sets of regular spelling differences that exist between the BrE and AmE. Some are due to American innovations or to overt attempts at spelling regularization. Others simply reflect the fact that English spelling was variable in earlier times and the two varieties chose different varieties as their standard. Below is a list showing the major spelling differences. No attempt has been made to include every word falling under the particular spelling correspondence.(1)The aphonic suffix such as -me, -ue in the English words are deleted in the American spelling. nKilogramme kilogramncatalogue catalog (2)There are “our” at the end of the words and the aphonic letter “u” is deleted in the American spelling.nBehaviour behavior ncolour color (3)The suffix “re” which is read become “er”.nfibre fiber ntheatre theater (4)The suffix “ence” which is read ns become “ense”.ndefence defense nlicence license (5)The suffix “ise” becomes”ize” .ncriticise criticize nrecognise recognize (6)Double “L” in the British English words becomes “L” in the American English wordsncounsellor counselor nmarvellous marvelous ntravelling traveling 1.3 Different Words for the Same MeaningIn the daily speech of Britain and American, we usually find that they use the different word to express the same thing. A few examples are listed below so as to explain the differences.BrE AmE flat apartment sweets candy phone call bobby policeman ill sick lift elevator From the above passages, we can see there are many different words for the same meaning between British English and American English. But now there is a tendency that both British and American scholars are cooperating to bring the two vocabularies closely together.1.4 One Same Word but Different MeaningsQuite a number of words have different meaning on both sides of the Atlantic. Broadly speaking, they consist of three types: a)When the Americans needed to express a new object, one handy means was to give an existing word a new meaning. e.g. clout-power, influence, or prestige, esp. in politicsfamily-one of the operational unites of the Mafiawindow-short for launch windowb)Some meanings that were once current in England have becom obsolete but survived in America. For example, get, got, gotten. In the past, BrE used gotten as the past participle of verb get. Nowadays, AmE retain the usage gotten, but British English speakers often use got.c)A number of English words simply changed their maening in the United States. Be as follows:creek - a small arm of the sea BrE - any small stream AmEbakery - the craft of the baker, or the place for making bread BrE - the place where baked goods are available to the consumer AmEgrocery - the merchandise(in the fifteenth century)BrE - a retail establishment(in the seventeenth century)AmE1.5 Simplify from British English to American English Some phrase in American English is simplified from British English. BrE AmEwant to do wanna do try to do try do go to do go do come to do come do1.6 Differences in Past Tense FormsBelow is a table showing verbs which have different simple past and past participle forms in American and British English. Note that the irregular past forms burnt, dreamt and spoilt are possible in American English, but less common than the forms ending in -ed.infinitive simple past (Br) simple past (Am) past participle (Br) past participle (Am)burn burned/burnt burned/burnt burned/burnt burned/burntbust bust busted bust busteddive dived dove/dived dived diveddream dreamed/dreamt dreamed/dreamt dreamed/dreamt dreamed/dreamtget got got got gottenlean leaned/leant leaned leaned/leant leanedChapter Two Differences in Customary Usage and Expression2.1 Differences in the Usage of Prepositions The phrase different from is used for both American and British English. Some British English speakers say “different to” such as “He is different to me”. Some American English speakers say “different than”.In American English the word home is uesd without the preposition at as an adverbial of place, but British English requires the phrase at home, not home alone.British English requires the proposition on before a day of the work or a specific date, while American English does without the preposition on before it,e.g.The new term begines on Septemper 1.( BrE)The new term begines Septemper 1.( AmE)I will see you on Sunday. ( BrE)I will see you on Sunday. ( AmE)2.2 Differences in the Usage of IdiomAmerican English observe the grammar regulation strictly when they use the idioms, but usually in British English the natural order is considered firstly. He did not need to look around to know from whom it came. In this sentence, American speakers rigidly adhere to use whom, to make sure that objective case is following the preposition. On the contary, British English speakers use who, the sentence is “He did not need to look around to know who it came from”.The majority of American English speakers use the phrase “you and I” as both subject and object, whereas many British English speakers would say “you and me ” when the phrase is used as an object or complement.A number of English idioms that have essentially the same meaning show lexical differences between the British and the American version.British EnglishAmerican Englishsweep under the carpetsweep under the rugtouch woodknock on woodsee the wood for the treessee the forest for the treesskeleton in the cupboardskeleton in the closeta home from homea home away from homea drop in the oceana drop in the bucket2.3 Differences in ExpressionsThe expression of some words and phrases is different in American English and British Englisn in daily life. Here are some examples.2.3.1 The Expression of DateThe expression of date is different in British English and American English. In British English. Date is in the first place and ten the month, while in American English it is on the contrary. Take 1996.3.2 for an example: 2nd March,1996 (BrE) March 2nd,1996 (AmE)Besides, we dont use 1st, 2nd, 3rd in American English, and we dont read it in the same way in British English, it reads “the twentieth, nineteen eighty-seven”.2.3.2 The Expression of numbersThe oral expression of numbers also has great differences between the two countries. $175 in British English we read “a(one) hundred and seventy five dollars” and in American English we read “one hundred seventy five dollars”. When expressing the same numbers, British English use “double” or “triple”.e.g. 320112: three two zero, double one two (BrE) three two zero one one two(BrE) 60009: six triple one nine(BrE) six one one one nine；six three ones nine(BrE)Chapter Three: Other Differences3.1 Differences in Characteristics American English is more heterogeneous than British English. Isreal Zangwill took the term the melting pot refer to USA. It means there are many races of men in USA. In the field of language, it can also be said that American English is a linguistic melting pot. American English has adoped more foreign words from many other languag