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Differences between American English & British EnglishLily Chang 97501015English Department1OutlineA. Differences between A.E. and B.E.SpellingVocabularyGrammarPronunciation & accentSpeechB. Backgrounds leading to the differencesGeographic separationNational identitySpelling reformC. Conclusion & future developmentDifferences between A.E. and B.E.The Americans are identical to the British in all respects except, of course, . ~ Oscar Wilde

languageDifferences: spellingExamples (A.E. / B.E.): color / colourtraveling / travellingtheater / theatrecheck / chequetire / tyre AE is more economically and phonetically spelled.Exception (A.E. / B.E.): skillful / skilful

Differences: vocabulary -1Examples: potato chips / crisps

gasoline (gas) / petrolelevator / liftfirst floor / ground floor / panda car

/ nappy / coach / rubber

police patrol cardiaperintercity buseraserDifferences: vocabulary -2The differences can sometimes cause embarrassment and even misunderstanding! Examples:pants trousers in A.E. BUT underwear in B.E.Date: A.E.12/21/2012 B.E.21/12/2012Number: billion A.E. a thousand million B.E. a million millionExpiration: 9/1/2013Differences: vocabulary -3Slangs & Dialogue One day, a blighter called Tom went to a noshery to have a nosh-up with his parents because the nosh there was fantastic. Because he liked to have banger very much, he argued to his parents.Tom: Id like to try all kinds of banger in this noshery!Parents: Dont talk balls! Its too expensive to do that! Tom: Why not? Its not cricket! My friend, Tony, has tried all of them! Not cricket, not cricket, not cricket!!!Parents: (narked) Belt up! Ive heard that, too. But do you know that contributed a lot to his weight, too?

annoying boyrestaurantmealsausagefoodsausagerestaurantnonsensefairfairfairfairannoyedShut upDifferences: grammarUse of subjunctiveAE: It is important that she be told.BE: It is important that she is told.

Quotation marksAE: Do you want to have lunch together in the new cafe called Light House with me?BE: Do you want to have lunch together in the new caf called Light House with me?

Differences: pronunciation & accent -1Stress: stress on different syllables (A.E. / B.E.): garage / garage advertisement / advertisementstress on different vowels (A.E. / B.E.): vase [ves]/ vase [vz] leisure [li.] / leisure [le.r]

Retroflex (A.E. / B.E.): clerk [klk] / clerk [klrk] Differences: pronunciation & accent -1

Accent: How British People Sound to Americans Differences: speechA.E.: more general B.E.: care about nuances of meaningReason: British peoples emphasis on social statusA.E.: more hyperbole B.E.: more understatementExample: A.E. grab some foodReason: Americans are more influenced by exaggerations of the media.A.E.: disobey grammatical rules more often B.E.: obey grammatical rulesExample: AE: author a book

Backgrounds leading to the differencesBackground: geographic separationThe populations in the US and UK are divided. Americans and British people have interactions with different people.

Noah Webster: These causes will produce in the course of time a language in North America as different from the future language of England as the modern Dutch, Danish and Swedish are from German or from one another.

Background: National identityNoah Websters American Dictionary of the English Language Purpose: to have cultural independence from BritainPrinciple: Words should be spelled more like they sound.Reform of English spelling: 10 classes"-our" to "-or" (colour color)"-re" to "-er" (centre center)dropping final "k" (publick public)changing "-ence" to "-ense" (defence defense)use single "l" in inflected forms (travelled traveled)use double "l" in some words (fulfil fulfill)"-or" to "-er" (visiter visitor)drop final "e" (axe ax)use single "f" at the end (plaintiff plaintif) ~ failed"-ise" to "-ize" (realise realize)Background: spelling reformBackground: start from the mid-1870sThe American Philosophical Association adopted 11 new spellings.ar, catalog, definit, gard, giv, hav, infinit, liv, tho, thru, wisht

Advocators: Noah WebsterBenjamin FranklinAndrew CarnegiePresident Theodore RooseveltBackground: spelling reformOpposition to the spelling reform

Mark Twain: For example, in Year 1 that useless lettercwould be dropped to be replased either bykors, and likewisexwould no longer be part of the alphabet. The only kase in whichcwould be retained would be thechformation, which will be dealt with later.Year 2 might reformw spelling, so thatwhichandonewould take the same konsonant, wile Year 3 might well abolishyreplasing it withiand Iear 4 might fiks theg/janomali wonse and for all.Jenerally, then, the improvement would kontinue iear bai iear with Iear 5 doing awai with useless double konsonants, and Iears 6-12 or so modifaiing vowlz and the rimeining voist and unvoist konsonants.Bai Iear 15 or sou, it wud fainali bi posibl tu meik ius ov thi ridandant letezc,yandx bai now jast a memori in the maindz ov ould doderez tu riplaisch,sh, andthrispektivli.Fainali, xen, aafte sam 20 iers ov orxogrefkl riform, wi wud hev a lojikl, kohirnt speling in ius xrewawt xe Ingliy-spiking werld.ConclusionDifference: spelling, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation & accent, speechBe careful of the differences when talking with English speakers.

Future development: Difference between A.E. and B.E. will decrease.Increasing transatlantic travel and tradeMass media: TV, Hollywood filmsAmerican GIs during WWII

ConclusionReferenceshttp://iteslj.org/Articles/Barton-UK-USwords.htmlhttp://www.bu.edu/mfeldman/Slang/glossary.htmlhttp://www.davidappleyard.com/english/britishglossary/N.htmhttp://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/regionalisms.aspxhttp://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/british-american-english-differences.aspxhttp://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/through-threw-thru.aspxhttp://esl.fis.edu/grammar/easy/aebe.htm#8http://www.projectbritain.com/langdiffer.htmhttp://www.barnsdle.demon.co.uk/spell/histsp.htmlhttp://history1900s.about.com/od/1900s/qt/trspelling.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplified_Spelling_Boardhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12qqU9wkzzY

Thank you for your attention!