Комитет образования администрации

                                     Балаковского  муниципального образования Саратовской области

                                                                          МАОУ СОШ №19

Различия в Американском и Британском английском языке

                                                                     Проект подготовила

                                                                     ученица 9а класса

                                                                     Ионкина Анастасия Сергеевна

                                                                               Руководитель проекта

                                                                    учитель английского языка

                                                                    Коновалова С.Ю.

Балаково 2020

Содержание

     1.  Введение 

2. Основная часть:

1. История американского английского
2. Различия в лексике  в британском и американском вариантах языка
3. Различия в написании слов
4. Грамматические различия в американском и британском английском

3. Исследовательская часть: опрос среди одноклассников

     3. Заключение

     4. Список литературы и интернет ресурсов

The history of American English

   The English language was first introduced to the Americas by British colonization, beginning in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The language also spread to numerous other parts of the world as a result of British trade and colonisation and the spread of the former British Empire, which, by 1921, included about 470–570 million people, about a quarter of the world's population. Written forms of British and American English as found in newspapers and textbooks vary little in their essential features, with only occasional noticeable differences.

   Over the past 400 years, the forms of the language used in the Americas—especially in the United States—and that used in the United Kingdom have diverged in a few minor ways, leading to the versions now often referred to as American English and British English. Differences between the two include pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary (lexis), spelling, punctuation, idioms, and formatting of dates and numbers.

    However, the differences in written and most spoken grammar structure tend to be much less than in other aspects of the language in terms of mutual intelligibility. A few words have completely different meanings in the two versions or are even unknown or not used in one of the versions.

   One particular contribution towards formalizing these differences came from Noah Webster, who wrote the first American dictionary (published 1828) with the intention of showing that people in the United States spoke a different dialect from those spoken in the UK, much like a regional accent.  

   This divergence between American English and British English has provided opportunities for humorous comment: e.g. in fiction George Bernard Shaw says that the United States and United Kingdom are "two countries divided by a common language"; and Oscar Wilde says that "We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, the language" (The Canterville Ghost, 1888).

   Henry Sweet incorrectly predicted in 1877 that within a century American English, Australian English and British English would be mutually unintelligible (A Handbook of Phonetics). Perhaps increased worldwide communication through radio, television, the Internet and globalization has tended to reduce regional variation. This can lead to some variations becoming extinct (for instance the wireless being progressively superseded by the radio) or the acceptance of wide variations as "perfectly good English" everywhere.

  So these differences in language have their own rich history,     which gave such an unexpected effect. Now at the moment, there is more than one version of the English language.

                                             Spelling differences

  Those who complain about the difficulty of learning German do not even know how lucky they are, because they only have to learn one language. Of course, there are various dialects in German-speaking countries, but those who have learned standard literary German (Hochdeutsch) will not experience problems and will be easily understood by residents of Germany, Austria or Switzerland.

   The difficulty for those who study English is that there is no standard in this language. You have to learn two options: British English and American (even if you do not take into account the Australian, Indian, South African dialects, etc.). Despite the mutual intercultural influence, it seems that the vocabulary, spelling and pronunciation of British and American English are becoming more and more different every year.

   To adhere to any one option and, more importantly, to be correctly understood, you need to know what words differ in meaning and pronunciation in America and in the UK. This is important not only for simple communication, but also in order to avoid embarrassing situations.

   For example, if a woman from London says to a New Yorker: “I have left my child's dummy in the pram and his nappy in the boot”, the answer will be only a puzzled look. If a New Yorker tells her, “You have nice pants,” she can easily find it an insult.

   In Britain, the baby's nipple is called dummy, in America - the pacifier, the diapers in the first case - nappies, in the second - diapers. The British call the pram pram, the Americans call baby carriage. What boot (trunk) is for the British is trunk for Americans. In America, the word pants means pants, while in Britain it means underwear (underpants).

   Vocabulary is a major difference between American and British English. Some words have different meanings in American English and British English; for example:

Closet

In American English: A cabinet or wardrobe            In British English:  Any

                                                                                       small room                                                                                        

Rubber

In American English: condom                                      In British English: eraser

   The differences between such terms are usually indicated in dictionaries. There are also occasions where one term is preferred over the other in one variety; for example,  the term ‘bonnet’ in British English is equivalent to ‘hood’ in American English. The following table gives some examples of such words.

Spelling differences

   Regarding the spelling of British English (BrE) and American (AmE), we can say that in Americans adhere to a more economical and phonetic spelling. Unpronounceable letters are skipped, and words are written closer to their sound. The most obvious example is the lack of the letter u in such American words as color, neighbor, honor, etc.

   Compare also the words traveling, jewelry and program with their British equivalents - traveling, jewelery and program. However, this rule is not always valid. You might think that skilful is written in America and skillful in Britain, but in fact the opposite is true!

   When learning English, many of us noticed inconsistencies in writing the most simple at first glance words in different sources. For example, how is it possible to spell “color” or “color”? The answer is simple: “color” is American English, and “color” is British.

   Such spelling differences stem from Noah Webster's work on the American English Dictionary, in which he enshrines the common standards for American English.

   The common spelling differences between American and British English fall under the following categories.

–or (American) = –our (British)

Ex: color/colour , favorite/ favourite

–er (American) = –re (British)

Ex: meter/ metre, theater/theatre

–se (American) = –ce (British)

Ex: license/licence, defense/defence

–ize (American) = –ise (British)

Ex: globalize/globalise, agonize/agonise

–yze (American) = –yse (British)

Ex: analyze/analyse, recognize/recognise

–og (American) = –ogue (British)

Ex: dialog/dialogue, analog/ analogue

                                         Grammar differences

  Aside from spelling and vocabulary, there are certain grammar differences between British and American English. For instance, in American English, collective nouns are considered singular (e.g. The band is playing). In contrast, collective nouns can be either singular or plural in British English, although the plural form is most often used (e.g. The band are playing).

 The fact is that in American English such nouns are usually used with verbs in the singular, and in British English it is possible to use collective nouns in both the plural and the singular, depending on what is meant: a group of people as a whole , or a group of individuals.

For example:

The government has cut spending. - American English

Tom’s family is / are coming to visit. - British English

Features of the past tense of the verb

   When it comes to the past tense, the British can use two ways to indicate this in written language.

For example: learned - learnt, burned - burnt, dreamed - dreamt, etc. True, they do not say - smelt, leapt, but only smelled, leaped.

Whereas Americans tend to use the –ed ending almost always, with the exception of the verbs drea (dreamt) and smell (smelt).

Using Past Participle

   In American English, Past Partriciple, that is, the past participle of the verb get, for example, can be expressed in two ways: got / gotten. While in British English, the use of the gotten form is acceptable, but using the got form will be grammatically correct.

For instance:

I’ve gotten a headache. - American English (talking about past events in general)

I’ve had a headache. - British English.

   The British are also more likely to use formal speech, such as ‘shall’, whereas Americans favour the more informal ‘will’ or ‘should’.  

   Americans, however, continue to use ‘gotten’ as the past participle of ‘get’, which the British have long since dropped in favour of ‘got’.

   ‘Needn’t’, which is commonly used in British English, is rarely, if at all used in American English. In its place is ‘don’t need to’.

   In British English, ‘at’ is the preposition in relation to time and place. However, in American English, ‘on’ is used instead of the former and ‘in’ for the latter.

Survey among classmates and survey results

   I decided to conduct a survey among my classmates and ask them a few questions:

1. Do you know about differences in British and American English?

2. Which of two variants do you like the most?

3. Would you like to learn American English at school?

   After interviewing 25 people from my class, I made a schedule of their answers.

The first question was 29 percent positive and 71 percent negative.

    Almost all the students answered  the second question vaguely. So 93 per cent could not give an exact answer. 7 per cent people like British English.

    The last third question was 14 percent positive,  36 negative  answers  and 50 percent found it difficult to answer.

Conclusion

   In conclusion, I want to say that English is quite diverse and has its own long history. While there may be certain differences between British and American English, the key takeaway is that the two have more similarities. Accidentally using one instead of the other will not automatically lead to miscommunication. Americans and Brits can usually communicate with each other without too much difficulty, so don’t be too hard on yourself if you are unable to memorise the nuances of  both languages.  

As the most-spoken second language on the planet, English has to be flexible. After all, it’s not solely spoken in the countries we’ve detailed above. So whether you speak English like a Brit or like an American, this shouldn’t be an obstacle when communicating with people on the opposite side of the pond, or anywhere else in the world.

   When learning or speaking English, most people do not realise the vast differences between American and British versions of the language. Though the original 'correct' grammar originally comes from old British English, grammar is constantly changing and many new ways of using grammar are coming from across the pond from American influence through the media and internet.

   Over the last few decades, British English has come under increasing influence from American English. This is because the majority of television programmes, films and music are exported to the UK from the States and people pick up words and expressions they are commonly exposed to, thus bringing them into general usage. Conservatives argue this is damaging British English, while liberals say it is a natural process of language evolution and change. Whichever side you are on, the fact remains that American is the dominant form of  English in the world and has the greatest influence on its other varieties through the mass media and popular culture.

Examples of Americanisms in modern British English:

Can I get a… (Brit. Can I have a…)

Two times (Brit. Twice)

On the weekend (Brit. At the weekend)

I’m good (Brit. I’m fine/well)

Period (Brit. Full stop)

Write me (Brit. Write to me, write me an email)

Movie (Brit. Film)

Take a shower (Brit. Have a shower)

To be fair, it’s not all one-way traffic and some British expressions have entered American English (among Britpop fans and certain social groups), but for those who are not so familiar with British English, here’s a funny guide.

   Both types of language structure can be considered right, though in British and American education systems there are different rules depending on which English is being taught. There are various differences in spelling and punctuation, but this does not affect the spoken language as the grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation differences do.

                  List of used literature and Internet resources