Differences between British English and American English 英语词汇学论文.doc

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1、Differences between British English and American EnglishAbstract: I want to explain the differences in the following aspects: pronunciation, spelling, meaning, vocabulary and usage. I will compare these two languages in theory and use some examples. I think we can learn more through this kind of res

2、earch.Key words: differences, American English, British English, pronunciation, spelling, meaning, use.English is one of the most important languages in the world. It is important because of its worldwide use. Large numbers of people in the world speak and write English as a foreign language for the

3、 purpose of science, technology, and international communication. It is apparently that English is the most studied and used language in the world.English is unmistakably one language but can be grouped into two major varieties, British and American English which have their own character. Grammatica

4、l differences between British English and American English are few. What I want to explain in my thesis is mainly about lexical.I want to explain the differences in the following aspects: pronunciation, spelling, meaning, vocabulary and usage. I will compare these two languages in theory and use som

5、e examples. I think we can learn more through this kind of research. Differences in Pronunciation：differences in individual sounds： Americans 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 s

6、tar 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: /

7、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 fatter Americans prefer to use flat a similar to / /, in words path, grass, ans

8、wer, 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 let

9、ter 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/ Diph

10、thongs in British English are replaced by long vowels in American English./ ei/ by / e/ / u/ by / / by / e/ / i/ by / i/ / j u:/ in British English pronounced as / u:/ after a dental in American English.duke / d u: k/ / d j u: k/ news / n u: z/ / n j u: z/differences in stress There is obvious chang

11、e 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 t

12、he remaining syllables more distinctly. Loan words from French in American English usually put the stress on the last syllable and this is absolutely different from British English. e.g.: attach / t ei/ / t ei/ ballet / b l ei/ / b l ei/ Words ended up with ate in American English always put the str

13、ess on the first syllable, but it was put on the last syllable in British English. Examples: like donate migrate vacate 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 Engli

14、sh the penultimate vowel usually be lightened or omitted. In a word, there are a lot of changes on stress in British English and American English. Compared with American English, changes on stresses in British English is more complex. Now American pronunciation of the stress in popular with the Engl

15、ish people too, especially among the young generation. Differences in spellingMost vocabularys spelling in the two languages are the same, but there are few words spelling have obvious differences. Some of the differences are the result of the development of American English, especially in the 19th

16、century when Doctor Webster put the American characters into British English spelling. The other part reflected the different choices of British English and American English on the spelling of old English. Anyway, there are regularity in the different spelling of American English and British English

17、.In a word, American spelling differs in small sides from rhat customary in English. American spelling always more adjusted to the spelling regularity and pronunciation than British English. The most typical example in American English in use or or er instead of our or -re. e.g.: color colour center

18、 centre humor hunour kilometer kilometre American spelling always avoid the repetition of the letter of consonant. Generally, l is not doubled in American English. e.g.: canceled canceling cancelled cancelling marveled marveling marvelled marveling American spelling always simplified some letter com

19、pound like e -ae oe -o -ou e.g.: esthetic aesthetic mold mould American spelling always omit the un-pronounced letters.e.g.: catalog catalogue ax axe dialog dialogue good-by good-bye Differences in vocabulary and meaning Due to the differences in the population structure, physical environment, socia

20、l and economic conditions, American English has diverged somewhat from British English. Most vocabulary in American English and British English have the same meaning. Few words reflect the differences in vocabulary and meaning. The differences can be divide in to four parts. Different words of the s

21、ame meaning待添加的隐藏文字内容3Using different words to describe one meaning is the most obvious difference between British English and American English. Some synonyms only can be used in one country. Words like emcee, faucet, muffler, rookie sophomore, washcloth are only familiar with the Americans. These w

22、ords in British English are compeer, tap, silencer, first year member, second year student, face-flannel. Words like dynamo, hire purchase, naught, queue, spanner, treacle are only familiar with British people. These words in American English are generator, installment buying, zero, line, monkey wre

23、nch, molasses.There are other synonyms used in one country, but people in the other country also know its meaning. British people say phone while the Americans say call. Other examples like these are can and tin, davenport and sofa, match and game, gas and petrol.A typical example is flat and apartm

24、ent. American use apartment house to represent a building containing several individual apartment, while British people use block of flats to express the same meaning in the two languages. Here are some aspects and examples:AmE BrEto broil to grillcrepe pancake One word in different meanings Some vo

25、cabulary developed individually in the two languages. This phenomenon make the words lost their basic meaning and gradually obtained some new meanings. This finally changed the meaning of the vocabulary in the two languages. Subway as the meaning of a passage under something gradually disappeared. I

26、n American English subway means the train under the ground, while it means pavement under the ground in British English. We must pay special attention on this kind of words. Other examples: billion, wash up, .ect. Words of cross meaning It is a special phenomenon between the two former differences.

27、A word may have different meanings in British English and American English. But it may have the same meaning in its modification with another words modification. Biscuit in British English means cookie in American English, while biscuit in American English means scone. It is very interesting that de

28、ssert in American English means pudding in British English, while pudding in American English means custard in British English. This kind of phenomenon is also very common in clothing. Words have new meaningsIn addition to the former three phenomena in British English and American English, there are

29、 words have practical differences. The other part of the words are the same. This is mainly because while the words keeping their basic meanings, the modifications give them new meanings. A typical word is tube. It has the new meaning of pope in the two modifications. But it means subway in British

30、English and television in American English.Sometimes, the new meaning only happens in one modification. Let us take dumb as an example. It means unable to speak in British English, but it means stupid in American English. One countrys specific vocabularyThere are words applied specifically only in o

31、ne country in English. American English has its specific vocabulary to describe its special geography and animals. But these words are unfamiliar with British people. Let us take some words for example.e.g.: everglades caribou canyon bankroll interstate There are also many words can only be used in

32、British English. e.g.: wicket bowler prince duke marquis Differences in uses This kind of difference means that vocabularys different uses in different aspects in British English and American English. One word or a pair of words may have different vocabulary collocation and frequency of using them i

33、n British English and American English. In a survey, we can see the big difference in the two language. Vocation and holiday have the same meaning. In American English, these two words appear 71 times in every million words, while in British English they appear 143.6 times. Whats more, vocation appe

34、ars 42 times in the 72 times in American English, while holiday appears 142 times in the 143.6 times. This example can obvious show the big difference in the frequency of using words in the two language. There are many other examples like perhaps and maybe. Compared with the differences on pronuncia

35、tion, spelling, and meaning, differences on uses are always not that obvious. But it is very important to us to learn English well.It is very important to us to know the differences between British English and American English. If we can clearly distinguish them, it must be very useful to us.References:1. 林承璋，英语词汇学引论 武汉大学出版社，19972. 张克定，李关学，冀慧颖，现代语言学 中国人民出版社，20003. 汪榕培，王之江， 英语词汇学 上海外语教育出版社，20084. 戴炜栋，何兆熊，新编简明英语语言学教程 上海外语教育出版社，2010