浅析英式英语与美式英语的差异

PAGEPAGE16中国某某某某学校学生毕业设计(论文)题目：浅析英式英语与美式英语的差异姓名：班级、学号：系(部)：经济管理系专业：商务英语指导教师：开题时间：完成时间：目录毕业设计任务书…………………1毕业设计成绩评定表……………2答辩申请书……………………3-4正文……………5-6答辩委员会表决意见……………7答辩过程记录表…………………8课题浅析英式英语与美式英语的差异课题(论文)提纲0.引言1.英式英语与美式英语的历史与演变1.1英式英语的历史1.2美式英语的历史1.3美式英语对英式英语的影响2.剖析英式英语与美式英语的不同2.1发音差异2.2词汇差异2.3拼写差异2.4语法差异3.英式英语与美式英语在实际应用中的差异3.1信件习惯上的不同3.2在人家交流中产生的歧异3.3行话差异4.英语的现状与未来5.结论二、内容摘要全球一体化的今天，英语作为世界通用语言，在人们的日常生活中，不论是民间交往或官方交流中扮演着极其重要的角色。由于美国已经处于国际上较高的地位，美式英语逐渐流行起来，美式英语与英式英语成为了英语语系中比较重要的两种。并且也已被一向高傲的英国人承认，而且英国人开始学习使用比较简单化的美式英语。虽然美式英语同英式英语一样都是英语，但是其不同之处甚多。英语在众多的英语国家中都有各自的方言，俗语层出不穷，当然误解意思的事情也经常发生。同时在现代的生活中，时间是每个现代人宝贵的财富，传统的英式英语相对复杂，而美式英语便捷实用，符合历史的潮流。英国，美国，加拿大等英语大国的学者也已经意识到这种趋势，并且从语法，词汇，使用等方面总结出两种语言的差异。关键词：英式英语；美式英语参考文献[1]AlbertCBaughandThomasCable,AHistoryoftheEnglishLanguage,Routlege,1993.[2]崔更国，英国英语和美国英语语言用法上的不同，石家庄铁路工程职业技术学院，2004.6，第3期。[3]DavidS.Jackson,流行美语，上海：上海世界图书出版公司，2004.[4]侯宁海，美语、英语分类对照手册，合肥：中国科学技术大学出版社，1997。[5]李赋宁，英语史，北京：商务印书馆，2004。

[6]林天送，21世纪英美文法，北京：中国国际广播出版社；（台湾）建宏出版社，1999。

[7]刘榕，试论英国英语和美国英语的词汇差异，宁德师专学报，2003，第2期。

[9]俞杰，英语的变易，北京：外语教学与研究出版社，2005。

ABriefAnalysisonDifferencesbetweenAmericanEnglishandBritishEnglish000000AbstractIntoday’sglobalintegration,English,asthecommonlanguageintheworld,playsaquiteimportantrolebothinciviliancommunicationandofficialcommunicationinourdailylife.OwingtotheUSistheoverlordinthisworld,soAmericanEnglishisgettingmorepopular.AmericanEnglishandBritishEnglishhavebecomethetworelativeimportantlanguagesinEnglishphylum.AndAmericanEnglishhasalreadybeenacceptedbyBritishpeoplewhoaretoploftyallthetime.Atthesametime,theBritishalsobegintolearnandusethissimplifiedlanguage.Although,AmericanEnglishisalmostthesameasBritishEnglish,theystillhavesomedifferences.TherearemanydifferentlocalismsoftheirownamongmanyEnglishcountriesandsuchlocalismsarealwaysemergingendlessly.Sometimes,ofcourse,misunderstandingbetweenthemisunavoidable.Meanwhile,thetimeisatreasureforpeopleinthemodernlife.AndthetraditionalBritishEnglishiscomparativelycomplicatedwhileAmericanEnglishisconvenientandpractical,becauseAmericanEnglishseemsmoreinaccordancewiththetideofhistory.ThescholarsofmanybigEnglish-speakingcountriessuchasBritain,AmericaandCanadahavebeenontothetrend.Theyhavealsosummedupthedifferencesbetweenthetwolanguagesfromthegrammar,vocabularyandusingetc.

KeyWords:BritishEnglish;AmericanEnglish0.IntroductionForthe21stcenturytoday,theworldisbecomingsmallerandsmallerastothedevelopmentofhigh-tech.Theworldtransformedcountriesonebyoneintoaglobalvillagefromthenavigationcenturytothehighspeedconveyanceatpresent.Inthishugevillage,therearemanypeoplewithdifferentcomplexion;differentagnateanddifferenttonguelived.Afterlengthyyears,Englishbecametheprimarylanguageinthisbigfamily.AndthedifferentiationappearedintheevolvementofEnglishitself,itdividedintoBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglish.ThefollowingarticlewillanalyzethedifferencesofthetwoEnglishphyla.1.ThehistoryandevolvementsofBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglishIt’sgoodtocomprehendnowadaysforstudyforetime,butthedeeplyknowledgeofnowadaysisalsothepreconditionofcomputeforetimeexactly.ThisarticlewilltrytocastbackthecontextofBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglish.Andinnowadays,theAmericanEnglishistakingtheleadingplaceofBritishEnglish.1.1.ThehistoryofBritishEnglish\o"Englishlanguage"Englishisa\o"WestGermaniclanguages"WestGermaniclanguagethatoriginatedfromthe\o"Anglo-Frisian"Anglo-Frisian\o"Dialect"dialectsbroughtto\o"GreatBritain"Britainby\o"Germanictribes"Germanicinvadersfromvariouspartsofwhatisnownorthwest\o"Germany"Germanyandthe\o"Netherlands"Netherlands.Initially,\o"OldEnglish"OldEnglishwasadiversegroupofdialects,reflectingthevariedoriginsofthe\o"Anglo-Saxons"Anglo-SaxonKingdomsofEngland.Oneofthesedialects,\o"LateWestSaxon"LateWestSaxon,eventuallycametobedominated.Theoriginal\o"OldEnglishlanguage"OldEnglishlanguagewastheninfluencedbytwofurtherwavesofinvasion:thefirstbyspeakersoftheScandinavianbranchoftheGermaniclanguagefamily,whoconqueredandcolonizedpartsofBritaininthe8thand9thcenturies;thesecondbythe\o"Normans"Normansinthe11thcentury,whospoke\o"OldNorman"OldNormanandultimatelydevelopedanEnglishvarietyofthiscalled\o"Anglo-Normanlanguage"Anglo-Norman.ThesetwoinvasionscausedEnglishtobecome“mixed”tosomedegree.CohabitationwiththeScandinaviansresultedinasignificantgrammaticalsimplificationandlexicalenrichmentofthe\o"Anglo-Frisianlanguages"Anglo-FrisiancoreofEnglish;thelaterNormanoccupationledtothegraftingontothatGermaniccoreofamoreelaboratelayerofwordsfromtheRomancelanguages.ThisNormaninfluenceenteredEnglishlargelythroughthecourtsandgovernment.Thus,Englishdevelopedintoa\o"Loanword"“borrowing”languageofgreatflexibility,resultinginanenormousandvaried\o"Vocabulary"vocabulary.1.2.ThehistoryofAmericanEnglishAmericanEnglishisasetof\o"Dialect"dialectsofthe\o"Englishlanguage"Englishlanguageusedmostlyinthe\o"UnitedStates"UnitedStates.Approximatelytwothirdsof\o"Firstlanguage"nativespeakersofEnglishliveinthe\o"UnitedStates"UnitedStates.EnglishisthemostcommonlanguageintheUnitedStates.ThoughtheU.S.\o"FederalgovernmentoftheUnitedStates"federalgovernmenthasnoofficiallanguage,Englishisconsideredthe\o"Defacto"defacto,“inpracticebutnotnecessarilyordainedbylaw”,languageoftheUnitedStatesbecauseofitswidespreaduse.Englishhasbeengivenofficialstatusby30ofthe50stategovernments.TheuseofEnglishintheUnitedStateswasinheritedfrom\o"BritishcolonizationoftheAmericas"Britishcolonization.ThefirstwaveofEnglish-speakingsettlersarrivedinNorthAmericainthe17thcentury.Duringthattime,therewerealsospeakersinNorthAmericaof\o"Spanishlanguage"Spanish,\o"Frenchlanguage"French,\o"Dutchlanguage"Dutch,\o"Germanlanguage"German,\o"Norwegianlanguage"Norwegian,\o"Swedishlanguage"Swedish,\o"Scotslanguage"Scots,\o"Welshlanguage"Welsh,\o"Irishlanguage"Irish,\o"ScottishGaeliclanguage"ScottishGaelic,\o"Finnishlanguage"Finnish,\o"Russianlanguage"Russian(\o"Alaska"Alaska)andnumerous\o"NativeAmericanlanguages"NativeAmericanlanguages.1.3.TheimpactofAmericanEnglishonBritishEnglishWhileBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglishbelongtothesamephylum,butduringthethreehundredyearsafterthefirstgroupofEuropeimmigrant,thetwolanguagesweregoingtheirownway.AmericanEnglishhasdevelopedanewmethodoftalk,partlyisduetothedifferencesofconditionoflivingandtheotherpartabsorbedthelanguageofotherimmigrant.ThechiefdifferencesbetweenBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglisharetheintonationoftalkandrhythm.Andtherearealsomanydifferencesinvocabulary.Forexample,politicianhasaderogatorysenseinAmericanEnglishbutnotinBritishEnglish.InAmericanEnglishsolicitormeanssalesmanorbeggarbutitmeanslawyerinBritishEnglish.Nearthefewtenyears,becausethedevelopmentoftrade,militaryaffairsandtechnologyhasmadeAmericabecomemoreandmorestrongandimportantintheworld.AstotheAmericanfilmisverypopular,theslanginAmericapenetratetotheSpokenEnglish.Nowadays,peoplewhoaccepttheAmericanEnglishmostquicklyaretheyoungerinBritish,andthetendencyisimproving.Obviously,theoriginofAmericanEnglishdevelopmentistheAmericanfilm,TVprogram,mediaandmusicandsoon.ForexampletheRAPmusic,manyyoungpeoplelikethatanditisverypopular.AmericanEnglishhasalsoinfluencedthehideboundBritishEnglishintrope.AmericanEnglishismoreacceptablebyneoteric.2.ThespecificdifferencesbetweenBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglishThevarietyofEnglishthatwasspokenintheUSAiscalledAmericanEnglish.AmericanEnglishgrewoutofBritishEnglishofthe17thcentury.WiththefurthergrowthoftheUnitedStates,AmericanEnglishhasevolvedfroma“colonialbranch”toavariantornationalstandardofEnglish.ThecharacteristicsofAmericanEnglisharemarkedbyapparentcontradictions:creativenessinenrichingthelanguageversusconservativenessinpreservinganumberofarchaicfeatures;theuseofshortandpoignantexpressions,includingslang,versusfondnessofbigwords;homogeneitymanifestedbyheavyborrowingsfromothertonguesversusrelativeuniformitywhichis,inasense,closetohomogeneity;andtheuseofverbosestyleinofficialpapersversusplainlanguageinpopularwriting.ThesepropertiescombinetomakeAmericanEnglishadistinctivevarietyoftheEnglishlanguage.2.1.DifferencesinpronunciationOnawhole,thesimilaritiesbetweenthetwokindsofpronunciationaregreaterthantheotherdifferences.ThenatureofthedifferencesinpronunciationbetweenGeneralAmericanandStandardBritishEnglishhasbeendiscussedbymanyauthorities,therearemanychiefdifferencesinvowel、diphthongssuchasfast:|fa:st|(BritishEnglish)|fest|(AmericanEnglish);want|wכnt|(BritishEnglish)|want|(AmericanEnglish)andsoon.Astoconsonants,inBritishEnglishtheletter“r”isnotpronouncedbeforeaconsonant;attheendofaword,rispronouncedifthenextwordbeginswithavowelsuchas:farm|fa:m|,door|dכ:|.Thedigraph“wh”ispronounced|w|inBritishEnglish,but|hw|inAmericanEnglish.Forexample,whenwhichinBritishEnglish,|wen|;AmericanEnglish,|hwen|.Further,differentphonemesmaybeusedinthesameword.Thisisfoundonlywithindividualwords.Forexamples:ate|et|(BritishEnglish)-|eit|(AmericanEnglish).IdenticalsystemsofstressandrhythmareusedbyBritishandAmericanEnglish.Thereare,however,afewwordsthathavetheirstressonadifferentsyllable.Forsomeexamples:ad'dress(BritishEnglish-′address(AmericanEnglish),advertisement(BritishEnglish)-adver′tisement(AmericanEnglish).Finally,intonationdifferences,AsforthemajordifferencesinintonationbetweenBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglish,someobserversreportthat,totheirears,EnglishmencoverawiderrangeoftoneinspeakingandcarryithigherthanAmericans,whileAmericanspitchtheirvoiceswithinaverynarrowrangeandtheyareinthehabitofspeakingdrawlinglyandclearly,thatis,Americansspeakflatter,slower,andclearerthanEnglishmen.StatisticstellusthattherateofutteranceforaverageEnglishmenis220syllablesperminute,whilethatforordinaryAmericansis150-175syllables.That’swhy,tomostpeople,spokenAmericanEnglishseemseasiertounderstandthanspokenBritishEnglish.2.2.DifferencesinVocabularyThedifferencesbetweenBritishandAmericanEnglishinvocabularycanbegroupedintothefollowingthreetypes:1).Wordswithoutcounterparts:WhentheEnglishcolonistssettledinAmerica,theymadeandborrowedalotofwordsandexpressionstonametheplants,animals,featuresoflandscapeandlifenewtothem.Thesewordstogetherwiththosecomingintoexistencelater,esp.sinceindependence,constituteapartofthevocabularyofAmericanEnglish2).Asamewordhasdifferentmeanings:Forthesakeofconvenienceofexpressions,theearlysettlersinAmericaoftengaveanexistingwordanewmeaning.Further,somemeaningsofwordshavebecomeobsoleteinBritain,butsurvivedinAmerica.Moreover,agroupofwordssimplychangedtheirmeaningsintheUSA.AllthesecombinedtoaccountforthefactthatquiteanumberofsamewordshavedifferentmeaningsonbothsidesoftheAtlantic.Thefollowingexamplesmaybeusedtoillustratethepoint:Theword“lumber”,whichoriginallymeant“disusedgoods”inBritain,wasgiventhenewsenseof“timber”;theword“mad”wasusedinthesenseof“angry”inShakespearetime,laterthissensebecameobsoleteandacquiredthemeaningof“insane”inBritain,butAmericanscontinuetousethewordintheoldsense;thenumeral“billion”means“amillionmillions”inBritishEnglish,butAmericanshavechangedittomean“athousandmillion”intheUnitedStates.TheAmericanshavealsochangedthemeaningof“bill,enjoin,guy,pressman,veteran,table,”sothesewordshavedifferentmeaningsinthetwocountries.3).Thesameideasorobjectsexpressedbydifferentwords.ThemostnoticeabledifferenceinvocabularyisthattheBritishandAmericansusedifferentwordstoexpressthesameideaorobject.Thisdifferencecoversaverywiderangeofvocabulary.Hereareonlysomeexamples:TheBritishEnglishwords,“trousers,biscuit,flat,cupboard”arerespectivelyequaltotheAmericanEnglishwords:“pants,cracker,apartment,closet”.2.3.DifferencesinspellingGenerallyspeaking,thedifferencesinspellingbetweenAmericanandBritishEnglishwerebroughtaboutbytwofactors:1).TheEnglishwhichthecolonistsbroughttothenewcontinentallowedgreatvariationinspelling,sometimesthevariantwhichbecamestandardizedinAmericawasdifferentfromthatusedinEngland;2).NoahWebsterandeminentpersonslikeBenjaminFranklinproposednumerousreformsonspellingamongwhichsomeweregenerallyacceptedandbecametheformspeculiartoAmericanEnglish.TheAmericanandBritishsystemsareessentiallythesame,exceptthat,asthefollowingdifferencesshow,theAmericanvariantissimplerthanitsEnglishcounterpart:our-or,colour-color;ou-o,mould-mold;re-ercentre-center;gue-g,dialogue-dialogandsoon.Therearealsosomespecialcasessuchascheque-check,cigarette-cigaretteandstorey-story.Allinall,theBritishandAmericanspellingsystemsareessentiallythesameexceptthattheAmericanspellinghassomesimplifiedway.NowadayshundredsofAmericanspellingshavewonacceptanceinBritishEnglish.2.4.DifferencesingrammarOnthewhole,AmericanandBritishEnglishusethesamegrammarsystem.Therearefewdifferencesinnumberandtriflinginnature.Thefollowingaresomemaindivergences:(1).Ontheverbphrase，AmericanEnglishprefersto“havegot”forpossession(Doyouhavethetime?VsHaveyougotthetime?);answersalsotendtovary(Idon’tVsIhaven’t);AmericanEnglishpreferssuchformsandtherearesomespecialpasttenseforms;AmericanEnglishalsosometimesusesasimplepasttensewhileBritishEnglishuseapresentperfect(IjustateVsI’vejusteaten).(2)Inthenounphrasetherearesomedifferencesinwordorder(e.g.HudsonRiverVsRiverThames,ahalfhourVshalfanhour)andtheuseofarticle“the”(inthefutureVsinfuture,inthehospitalVsinhospital);AmericanEnglishpreferscollectivenounsinthesingular(thegovernmentis),whereasBritishEnglishallowspluralalso(thegovernmentare).(3).Clausalpatternssometimesdiffer,asinAmericanEnglish(cometakealookVscomeandtake);AmericanEnglishalsomakesmoreuseofthesubjective,asin(IaskedthathegoVsIaskedhimtogo)andprefersweretowasinsuchsentencesasIwishshewerehere.(4).Severaldifferencesareexistedinprepositionsandadverbsforexample,AmericanEnglish(It’stwentyoffourVsit’stwentytofour).3.TherearealsosomedifferencesbetweenAmericanEnglishandBritishEnglishinpracticalapplication.3.1.DifferencesinletterTherearesomedifferencesinlettercommunicationbetweenthetwolanguages.ItisacommaaftertheformofaddressandunderwroteyoursfaithfullyinBritishEnglish,butitisasemicolonandendedbytrulyyoursinAmericanEnglish.3.2.DivergenceinintercommunionThedifferenceofintercommunionisusuallyfoundintheinternationaltravel.Thetravelerandbusinessmenalwaysmakemanymistakesandjokesbecauseofthedifferencesofvocabularyandusage.Inaddition,thereisalsolittledifferencewhenpeoplemakephones.3.3.DifferencesinlingoEveryvocationhasadifferentuniversaltermforcommunicationsuchasthetypeofequipment,andpeoplemustabidebythebylaw,method,terms.Itwillmakelotsofmistakesifpeopledon’tknowaboutthedifferences.4.ThestatusandfutureoftheEnglishlanguageEnglishlanguageisoneofthemostwidespreadlanguagesintheworld.ThecountofEnglishspeakerisjustlessthantheChinesemandarinspeaker.In1970s,therewere280,000,000personusedEnglishasthenativelanguage.Inaddition,therewere120,000,000personusedEnglishasthesecondlanguage.Nowadaysthecountisgettingtoexceedtheactualcount.ThecountofpeopleuseEnglishasaforeignlanguageisincreasingdaybyday,sowestillhavenostatistic.PeopleregardEnglishasasecondlanguagemeansEnglishisanofficiallanguageforthegovernmentdealwithdailycivilservice.Atthesametimeitisalsoalanguageforstudyingandteachingeveryday.PeopleregardEnglishasaforeignlanguageinordertocommunicatewellinpoliticsinterlocution,commerce,economiccooperationandculturecommunicationpeopleregardEnglishasaforeignlanguage.AndregardEnglishasforeignlanguagetodealwithscientificresearch,trade,tour,enjoyliteratureandinventionandsoon.Atthesametime,owingtothestateofAmericaisgettingstrongerandstrongerthanGreatBritainintheworld,andtogetherwiththeAmericanEnglishuseconvenientlyandthegrammariseasytounderstand.Forthepopulartrendatthepresent