ASPECTS OF AMERICAN ENGLISH: ECONOMY / RATIONALITY / STRAIGHTFORWARDNESS /
DEMOCRACY / CASUALNESS / INVENTIVENESS / IMAGINATIVENESS
10 Economy in AmE (simplicity: in spelling & in word forms, due to Puritan thriftiness)
10/1 The Historical Context (simplification as a conscious & planned process)
--Webster, Mencken + Jefferson (pol. & linguistic thru thriftiness & republicanism)
10/2 Spelling Reform (Ben Franklin, Noah Webster, Mark Twain)
--1788: Webster’s The American Spelling Book (several suggestions—few accepted: aluminum)
--1876: Spelling Reform Board (a list of 300 words—accepted: ax, judgment, catalog, etc.)
10/3 Economy (Webster’s principles: use as little form as possible & use forms you already have)
Spelling (kilogram, neighbor, mustache; medieval, fetus, maneuvre, ameba)
Words (math, overhead,toward; spark plug, sail boat; dump truck; music box; cook book)
Syntax (start Monday, stay home, do sg any way, come see, hang out granddad’s pajamas)
Literary Discourse (Hemingway’s “tip-of-the-iceberg” technique; Cooper’s indians)
11 Rationality in AmE (beside thriftiness and the democratic ideal)
11/1 What Is Rationality? (universal reason as the basis of our judgments)
--lg must be regular and based on analogy » uniformity (Webster)
11/2 Linguistic Economy: the Elimination of Redundancy
Sound & Spelling (program, color, wagon, counselor, dialog)
Meaning & Its Expression: Time (to work days & sleep at nights, Saturdays we go to town); Place (be home);
Manner (do it any way you like); Purpose (go fix sg, help do sg); Direction (want + off/out); Questions
(“uninverted response q-s: You will?, Oh, yeah?); “Present Perfect” (already/yet + Past)
11/3 Linguistic Economy: One Value, One Form (hand out Shaw-sheet)
Conventionality in Sound to Spelling Correspondence (defense, analyze, Jeff, plow, tho, thru, nite)
Syntax & Morphology: as...as construction (as long as); conditionals (If + would)
11/4 Regularity
Regular & Irregular Verbs (burn » burned, lean » leaned i.e. regularization of verb forms)
Central & Non-Central Verbs (I don`t need to, I didn`t dare to, Do you have? i.e centralization of ~)
Auxiliaries (shall » will, should » would, shall » should, ought to » should, used to » would, must » have to [in
“obligation” sense], need » have to)
Syntax: di-transitive verbs (Will you give it to me?); noun phrases w modifiers (the Hudson River, the River
Thames but Lake Ontario; next/last only in pre-nominal position; “appositive construction” Speaker of the House
Gingrich as opposed to Newt Gingrich, the Speaker of the House); articles (consistency in I saw him the next
day; Ukraine, Gambia)
Inversion (should anyone, had I would be less common in AmE » only in very formal contexts)
Further Construction (a week this Monday as BrE whereas a week from this Monday is AmE)
11/ Iconicity (simplicity as similarity between sound shape and written representation)
The Change from -re to -er (center) [spelling and pronunciation are similar or iconic]
The Marking of Stress (rebelling, traveling) [AmE seems to indicate the stress pattern via spelling]
12 The "straightforwardness" of AmE ("directness" as the general notion used for description)
--1 lg that is frank & to the point; 2 lg that is easy to understand & follow
—it seems that AmE is char-ed by more directness than BrE (altho by a narrow margin)
--2 principles: 1—"Say the truth & say what you mean (frankness/sincerity)
2—say what you want to say explicitly and in a short & clear way (clarity of expression)
12/1 Sincerity (outspoken/straightforward as opposed to phony/fake)
--hazard: when it is mistaken for bluntness (lack of sophistication or politeness, even rudeness) --Ben
Franklin's Autobiography w its 13 virtues: "Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly; and, if you
speak, speak accordingly."
12/2 Clear Lg ("Plain English" ag'st gobbledygook, doublespeak, double Dutch, mumbo jumbo, etc.) Various
Meanings of "Clear Lg" —Transparency of Meaning (pram vs. baby carriage); --Explicitness (A to Z vs. A
through Z); --Shortness of Expression (get in touch with vs. contact; reduction vs. cut; prepare/repair vs. fix)
Directness of Reference (to the speaker/writer: I/You as more frequent in AmE than in BrE) Generic
one and he/vou (Wherever one goes in Europe, you hear bullfinches.)
Tag-Questions (India is very different from Europe, isn't it? vs. India must be very different from Eu. You
haven't been round here, have you? vs. Have you been around here yet?)
12/3 The Causes of Directness (the Puritan heritage?)
--Moral: opposition to ornamental or "flowery" (insincere) lg
--Democratic: opposition to pomposity (anti-aristocratic/anti-intellectual)
--Pragmatic/Utilitarian: (black bird, mockingbird, etc.) [to call a spade a spade ! as black as the ace] 12/4
Business Talk (rational & goal-oriented qualities reflected in Id use)
--the 2 principles + "John Wayne style" (Shoot first, ask questions later; Lay your cards on the table)
12/5 The Tension 'tween Plain & "unplain" lg (in education: essay evaluations + technical terms)
13 The democratic nature of of AmE (mass scale democracy » democratization of lg) 1—the broadening
of the meaning of words (gentleman/lady) [Cooper's opinion]
2—new words replacing some usage of
old words (master/servant » boss/help)
3—disposal of foreign-based spelling (errour » error)
[Webster's role]
13/1 Standardization
--Academy: no Academy (in the US or in Britain)
--Webster: attempts to standardize YET a good part of his efforts kept at bay
--The acceptance of standardization in Britain and in America: Am-s are less respectful of authority in
general than the British (including linguistic authority)
13/2 Availability of Standard American English (SAE)
--while the lack of accent in Br. is associated with superior social status and is readily available to a small
section of the population, in Am. a large percentage of the population speak the standard » Am-s are less
divided by lg. in social terms
--The accent of American presidents (several had a local accent: JFK, Carter, Clinton) (YET no British
Prime Minister would be acceptable with a strong regional accent)
13/3 Tolerance (of professionals and of lay speakers)
--American dictionaries: Webster's Third New International Dictionary as a turning point before it:
prescriptive (w labels like informal, colloquial, often interpreted as pejorative) after it: descriptive (w
labels like nonstandard for words like irregardless; or including items like ain't)
--Usage panels: a large number of (exemplary) "good writers" [see Am. Heritage] to legislate over linguistic
issues in a democratic way / experts who are invested with the power of making decisions for those who do not
use the lg professionally
--What should determine linguistic usage?: (reason ) common usage vs. authority of experts & conventions ('cos
people talk like that, Papp Fetyka, New Jersey "Bözsi ángyom" dial.)
--The linguistic tolerance of speakers
--Some pilot studies of ling-ic tolerance can illustrate that the Am-s are more divided on particular questions of
usage » less governed by prescriptive rules » more tolerant on usage --Prescriptivism vs. descriptivism in
writing: writing prescriptions appear to play a greater role in Br. genres than in the corresponding Am. genres
--The acceptance of the "other's" English (premise: AmE uses more neologisms than BrE) --some older
generation Brits may have reservations about this innovative char. of AmE --some Am-s may look at BrE
as conservative
13/4 Antisexism in Am.: The linguistic fight ("s~ refers to a bias through which patterns and references of
male usage are taken to be normative, superordinate, and positive while those of women are taken to be deviant,
subordinate, and negative" Oxf. Comp. to the K Lg) --Examples of sexist usage in E (man, girl, lady; excl.
naming: Prof John Doe & Mrs. Doe) --Changes in sexist usage (Ms.; "Hurricane lg": flirting w the coast;
Generic pronouns: they, his/her, h'orsh'it; chair, anchor, weatherdude; etc.)
--Further readings:
The Nonsexist Word Finder; The Official Sexually Correct Dictionary and Handbook; etc.
14 The "casualness" of AmE (formality vs. informality)
14/1 The Beginnings of Am Informality (early 19th c. w mass democracy becoming salient) -maintenance of regional folk dialects; use of slang; directness/bluntness » a combination of informality
and "refined speech" (as propagated by schools)
14/2 Forms of Address (FN—First Name; TLN--Title + Last Name; KT—Kinship Terms) --to go on
a first name basis (Bill Clinton; name tags: John) » greater informality in AmE 14/3 Some Informal
Speech Acts
--Introductions (Pleased to meet you/Hi); --Letters to the Editor (Dear Editor:/-); Greetings (How are
you?/Howdy, John); --Thanking (You're welcome/Ah-ha); --Familiar Conversation (ag'st distance) 14/4
Informality in Pronunciation & Spelling (explained as more effortless » informal --Am. Nasality
(twang), Drawl, the "flap" (latter-ladder, hurting-herding, futile feudal), Post-nasal /t/ (winter-winner,
intercity- innercity, candidate- *cannidate), Phonetic Spelling (thruway, hi-fi) 14/5 Style Mixing (resulting
in "the vigor of AmE")
The Use of Slang (to dust the court w sy; kick ass, etc., used in relatively formal registers) Use of
Informal Words (Toilet engaged vs. Lavatory occupied; whilst » while, etc.) Adverbs (You did that
real good)
Use of Non-Standard Forms (ain't; past tense forms like sprung, rung shrunk, stunk, etc.)
14/6
Informality in Writing (Am-s employ a more informal style of writing than the British) --also in letters, e.g.
(Dear) John:
15 The prudish nature of AmE (AmE contains more verbal prudery/propriety than BrE)
1—
"the use of certain words and phrases falls under social sanction, i.e. their use is forbidden" 2—
"pretentiousness and euphemism" (Fussell, BAD 101)
3—"primarily applied to domains that have to do w sexuality or human biological functions" BUT NOT
ONLY: swearing, death, etc. (taboo-evasion in everyday discourse + the media)
15/1 The social and historical context
--Historical: 1830s/40s (dubbed the "peak" by Mencken) overlapping the Victorian period (18371901) [see
also "Sex and Other Distractions" in Made in America by Bill Bryson]
--Victorian values coupled and reinforced by the strong Puritan heritage in the US > The Sc. Letter
--Who use verbal prudery?: "Nowhere do citizens appear so insignificant as in a democratic nation."
(Tocqueville) » middle class (ling. insecurity & hypercorrection)
15/2 Swearing (profanity: religious » sacrilegious) [accounts for 13% of all adult conversation]
--near-swearing (hitting two birds with one stone): darn, shoot, sugar, doggone it, gee whiz, etc..
corresponding to basszuskulcs, lapát kaszát, etc. in Hung. [euphemistic expletives in Bryson 378]
--abbreviations: SNAFU, etc., corresponding to LFS, OTP, etc. in Hung. [distorted acronyms]
15/3 Death and some related areas
--Death: Am-s are notorious for their desire to prolong life and their varied "avoidance mechanisms": coffin,
undertaker, mortuary replaced by burial casket, mortician/funeral director, funeral parlor (compare beauty
parlor, ice-cream parlor), "Grandma passed away" instead of She died, The old bag kicked the bucket/croaked
+ perpetual rest consultants, eternal condominium, etc. ("Bad Advertising" in BAD by Fussell)
--Old age: old folks' home » nursing home, old farts » senior citizens (discount!), cell drop out & decreased
propensity for cell replication (medical terms/doctors' lg.) > PC-terms
--War and death: war» campaign (or Operation Desert Storm for the Gulf' War); Dept/Secretary of Defense;
suppress a target, friendly casualties, KIA [Orwell, "Politics & the English Language"]
15/4 The human body
--body parts participating in or used to perform taboo activities (sexual activities and emptying the body of
waste materials)
--historical: leg, feet » limb (chicken legs » drumsticks/joints); breasts » bosoms (chicken breast white meat)
--thing (micsoda), backside (ülep), etc.
15/5 Body wastes
--water closet » toilet/restroom/washroom/bathroom; comfort station, powder room, facilities, little boys /girls'
room
--portable toilet » Potty Queen / Por-to-let / Sani-John
--kids' lg: poo, to go potty, number 1 / number 2, pee-pee, etc.
15/6 Sexuality
--undergarments, unmentionables, inexpressibles
--going to bed » retire; cock » rooster, haycock » haystack; bull » male cow
15/7 Prostitution
--whorehouse » assignation house / call house /fancy house / cat house / house of ill fame --whore »
prostitute / pro / call girl / available casual indigenous female companions
Misc.: house » home; travel » tourism; community (senior ~, the gay ~, the world ~)
17 Inventiveness as a major property of AmE (producing new words)
--the Jefferson-Franklin debate (for & against respectively)
--the locus of inventiveness: vocab (neologisms), spelling
--What counts as Am-isms?:
1 coined in the US;
2 has a uniquely Am meaning;
3 its use is more typical/frequent in the US
--sources of Am-isms: 1 archaic words (fall)
2 objects/circumstances not found in E (squash) 3
independent development of technologies (switch)
4 institutions/practices developed in the US (Congressional)
17/2 Making new words in AmE (6 basic ways in the order of their productivity)
--combining, shifting, shortening, blending, borrowing, creating
--Combining: compounding (milk shake; mockingbird; corn belt; dark horse; soap opera; sales clerk;
quarterback) and derivation (prefixing: semi-truck; antifreeze and suffixing: counterclockwise; draftee + Prefix
words: no name and suffix words: trigger-happy; short-change artist)
--Shifting: N»V (to host; to microwave; to barhop); V»N (strike, cut, countdown); Proper N» Common N
(Miranda, Oscar); N»Adj (key; blue collar): Adj»V (to belittle); Changes of meaning (specialization,
generalization, adding new meaning, metaphor, and metonymy » virus)
--Shortening: backformation (reune; bulldoze); clipping (gym, movie, Chi, LA)
--Blending: motel; Reaganomics
--Creating: fun, pun (advertising)
17/3 The causes of American inventiveness
--the need to adapt lg to the new circumstances = a matter of survival
--spirit of freedom = a matter of desire
18/1 The nature of imaginativeness
--historically dated (colonist, frontier, etc.)
--linked with humor
18/2 Why items are borrowed from AmE?
--more imaginative (rise » skyrocket); easier to understand (test » try-out); the meaning may become richer
(simple » foolproof) or more transparent (pram » baby buggy)
18/3 Informality-- the lg of sports used for other walks of life (to play hard ball; strike out)
18/4 Verbal Prudery--restroom, washroom, to retire
18/5 Tall talk--a great dining experience; timepiece
18/6 Some major metaphorical domains in AmE--source domains: sports (politics, business, love and sex, life
in general); the frontier (cowboys, gambling, mining, etc.); the automobile (give it some juice); drug culture
(mind-blowing; space out); and target domains: immigration (flood; deluge; wave); America (melting pot; salad
bowl)