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Different varieties of English are used in Great Britain, in the United States of America, in Australia, in New Zealand, in South Africa and in Canada.
If there are so many varieties of English, which one should we learn? Either American English or British English, as those are languages of the two countries that shape the life of our planet. What is American English, then?
We can start with looking at the question of whether American constitutes a separate language from English. Henry Louis Mencken wrote an interesting book called “The American Language”, first published in 1919. The book contains the most complete survey of what is called American English. H.L.Mencken regarded British- and American English as separate languages. His book demonstrates the distinctness of American English, and stresses American linguistic creativity and independence. In fact, however, he was leading an anti-colonialist campaign about the language Americans use. Although political independence from Britain had been gained more than a century before, the influence of accepted canons of usage was still felt to be imposed from London. Mencken told that Americans had no need to be modest about their own characteristic form of English. Once he had pointed this out, it was obvious to everyone that an American English tradition was clear, and by accepting this fact it was no longer necessary to press for the idea of a separate American English. I should add, that if we take into consideration the mobility of tourists, the exchange of literature, press, films, and TV then we will easily understand that British and American English mutually influence each other.
Is there such a thing as Standard British? There is! It is the language of the educated class of people centered in London and its vicinity, and spoken by BBC radio announcers. The differences between American English and British English are considerable. Different words are used for the same common objects, and they may be spelled differently, different phrases are used, and different sounds are heard in speech. I’ll illustrate the main groups of the differences:
The main groups of spelling differences
(1) The colo(u)r group. Most words of this type are from Latin or French:
arbo(u)r, armo(u)r, endeavo(u)r, favo(u)r, hono(u)r, humo(u)r, labo(u)r, odo(u)r, neighbo(u)r, rigo(u)r, savo(u)r, tumo(u)r, valo(u)r, vigo(u)r.
The ending -our becomes -or in American.
(2) The centre/center group. In words of this type British English has -re and American English -er, and the difference is exclusive. The chief members are of non-Germanic origin and are:
fibre/fiber, goitre/goiter, litre/liter, meagre/meager, mitre/miter, sabre/saber, sombre/somber, theatre/theater; centred/centered; centrefold/centerfold.
(1) The instil(l) group. In such words, British English has a single written vowel plus -l, and American English has a single written vowel plus -ll, and all disyllabic verbs stressed on the second syllable:
distil(l), enrol(l), fulfil(l), instil(l), etc.
Exceptionally, extol prevails in American English over extoll. In American English -l in a syllable that is not stressed is not doubled.
5)The -ize/-ise group. Some verbs can only have -ize: capsize, seize. In some, only -ise is possible: advise, surprise. In many, both -ise, -ize are possible, as in civilise/civilize, organise/organize. For such verbs American English has systematic, exclusive -ize, and British English has both -ize and -ise.
Conclusion. Where differences exist, American English spellings tend to be shorter than British English spellings:
5.1 Pronunciation
According to Tom Mcarthur there is no analogous basis for comparing British English and American English pronunciation.
(1) A few words have their stress on a different syllable:
AmE -----> BrE
address -- address
cigarette -- cigarette
detail -- detail
garage -- garage
laboratory -- laboratory
5.0.1 In American English 'r' occurs before vowels and before consonants, and also word-finally:
air, are, arm, bear, beer, more, care, deer, fear, hair, or, peer, pure, wear, work, etc.
5.0.1 In American English when 't' occurs between two vowel sounds it is pronounced as 'd':
bitter, catty, latter, utter, shutter, water, waiting, writer, etc.
Реферат опубликован: 19/10/2008