Directions: Read the following essay and answer the comprehension questions.
Historical and Cultural Development of the English Language:
British and American English differentiated in terms of vocabulary, phonemes, stress/accent, and
intonation
By Phillip J.J. Scheir
"The Americans are identical to the British in all respects except, of course, language,"
- Oscar Wilde, British Author
Oscar Wilde was making a popular sarcastic joke about how Americans had developed
English into a language that is different in sound and form from the English of its origins, British
English. Of course Americans are very different from the British in ways other than language
including cultural, political and in ideological differences; although Wilde was correct that
American English has developed into a language very different from its British origins. American
English started changing from the moment the first English colonists arrived in the Americas
because the colonists stopped having frequent communication with the people back in England
and the colonists had many new things to talk about and new words to learn.1 American English,
like all varieties of English around the world, originated from England.2 As children grow older,
make new friends and develop on their own, they develop their own personality and style.
Likewise, American English has grown up and grown away from British English. Experiences
have made Americans different from the British. This paper addresses the differences between
British English and American English in terms of vocabulary and idioms, phonemes,
stress/accent and intonation.
Vocabulary is the total sum of words used in a language. British English (BrE) and
American English (AmE) differ in two ways concerning vocabulary. The first difference is
1
Gulistan State University. (200-2010)."6.2.1 American English is 'Very Corrupting,'" Ministry of Higher and
Secondary Special Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan, The English and Literature Department
Retrieved online May 17, 2010 from <http://revolution.allbest.ru/languages/00093679_0.html>
2
The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21).Volume XIV. The Victorian
Age, Part Two. "The world-wide expansion of the English language". Retrieved online May 12, 2010 from
<http://www.bartleby.com/224/1501.html>
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obvious when speaking, which is that BrE and AmE have many "false-friends," or words that
look and sound alike between two languages, but have different meanings in the separate
languages. Words can be spelled and pronounced the same way in BrE and AmE, but have
different meanings. An example of this is the word "wicked." In American English "wicked," is
used as an adjective to refer to morally corrupt behavior such as in "The wicked man stole the
children's ice-cream." While in British English the word "wicked" is an adjective that refers to
something being amazing such as in "His wicked soccer skills, being able to control the ball and
kick with power, won us the game." Another homophone between the lexicons of BrE and AmE
is "chemist." In BrE a "chemist," refers to a person who prepares and sells prescription drugs.
While in AmE a "chemist" refers to someone who studies the relation and reaction of chemical
elements to each other. In AmE a person who prepares and sells drugs is referred to as a
"pharmacist." There are also words that exist in BrE that do not exist in AmE. In BrE the word
"lorry" has the same meaning as "elevator," in AmE. In BrE the word "shiff" has the same
meaning as "a thief who sells things he steals from others." AmE does not have the words "lorry
and "shiff." Likewise there are words in AmE that do not exist in BrE, such as "shank" meaning
"knife," and "buckaroo," meaning "chum or close traveling companion and friend" in BrE. In
addition to homophones being used between the two languages, the vocabulary in BrE and AmE
can be spelled differently. In AmE, words that end in an unstressed"-or," (color, flavor. honor,
labor, neighbor, rumor) are spelled in BrE ending in "-our" (colour, flavour. honour, labour,
neighbour, rumour). The difference is due to AmE following Latin spelling rules while BrE is
following French spelling rules. Dictionaries teach people what is thought to be the one true
correct spelling of any word. Dr. Johnson's Dictionary published in 1755 and used in BrEat
Britain only showed the –"our" ending spelling as being correct. Much later in the Americas,
Noah Webster's Dictionary which was America's first dictionary, published 1828 taught people in
North America that the "-or" spelling was the only correct spelling.3 Interestingly, BrE and AmE
3
Scragg, Donald (1974). "A History of English Spelling," Manchester, England: Manchester University Press.
2
often use very different idioms to express the same meaning In BrE the idiom meaning you will
have an easy time of doing something is, "Bob's your uncle" while the same meaning is expressed
in AmE, with the idiom "You've got it made." In BrE the idiom meaning something is very
surprising is "Gordon Bennett" while in AmE the corresponding idiom is, "by golly." And in BrE
the idiom that means an action taken seems characteristic of a particular person is, "if the cap fits
wear it" while in AmE it's a "if the shoe fits wear it."4
Phonemes are the units of sound which are the building blocks of words. Like vocabulary,
phonemes in AmE and BrE are also sometimes different. Perhaps the biggest difference in
phonemic pronunciation is that BrE is non-rhotic, meaning that BrE does not always pronounce
the phoneme /r/, while AmE is rhotic meaning that AmE always pronounces the [r] in words.
People who speak BrE only pronounce [r] when the letter is immediately followed by a vowel.
They also have what is referred to as an Intrusive-r, which means BrE pronounces [r] at the end
of most vowels. Also BrE uses an r-colored vowel meaning that when they do pronounce the rcolored-vowel the [r] is said at the beginning as well as at the end of any vowel. However, AmE
pronounces [r] at the beginning of words and when it is followed by a vowel. All of AmE's
vowels are open back vowels, but BrE only has one or two.5 An open back vowel means that the
tongue of the speaker is positioned as far back in the mouth as far back as possible without
making the vowel into a consonant.6 A t-flap, or flapping is pronounced when AmE and
Australian English pronounce a double "t" such as in "butter," "better," "bitter," "ditty," and
"otter" to name only a few examples, the double "t" is pronounced as a "d" to sound like
"budder," bedder," "Bidder" "diddy," and "odder."7 Another phoneme that is different is that
AmE has what is called "Happy Tensing" a linguistic term made by John C. Wells to define a
4
Barrow, Mandy (2010). "British Sayings and Proverbs," Woodlands Junior School, Hunt Road Tonbridge Kent
Retrieved online May 17, 2010 from <http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/sayings.html>
5
Vulf Plotkin, "The Dynamics of the English Phonological System," Mouton, The Hague, 1972.
6
Shosted, Ryan K.; Vakhtang, Chikovani (2006), "Standard Georgian", Journal of the International Phonetic
Association
7
Schuh, Russell G. "Flapping and Other Fates of /t/ and /d/ in North American English," UCLA Retrieved online
May 17, 2010 from <http://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/people/schuh/lx120A/PDF_files/
English_Flapping.pdf>
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tense [i] that is pronounced at the end of words ending in /y/ such as "sorry," "cry," and "happy."
The [i] sound is higher and prolonged than the average [i] sound.8 There are other phoneme
differences between BrE and AmE that are currently developing as the languages continue to
change.9
Stress accent is when syllables are said with greater force than the accompanying
syllables in the same word.10 There are three types of stress (accent) differences between AmE
and BrE. The first difference in stress is "French Stress," which is when British English copied
the stress in loan words English took from French. French Stress first developed in the English
Language as a result of French influence based on the relationship and close proximity of English
speakers with French speakers.11 BrE tends to put stress on the first syllable of a word, while
AmE tends to put stress on the last syllable. The cause of this is said to be a result of French
influence which came directly to England as a result of the Norman Conquest. The next kind of
stress (accent) difference between AmE and BrE is when the suffixes"–ate" and "-atory" are
added to a two syllable verb. In AmE adding "-ate, or "-atory" will result in the first syllable
stress in AmE and second syllable stress accent in BrE, such as in the words "translate," "dictate,"
"vibrate," and "mandatory."12 The third difference in stress is miscellaneous stress. This is when
stress falls upon a word for no apparent reason but the stress is consistent.
Intonation is the rise and fall of voice pitch/tone. Pitch helps tell the listener what kind of
sentence is being spoken, such as a statement, a question, a demand, or sarcasm.13 Pitch can also
be different even for the same type of sentence in some cultures. Intonation spoken in a sentence
can start low and end high, this is called low-rising. Intonation can also start low and end low;
8
John C. Wells (1982). "Accents of English,". Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Peter Trudgill, "The Dialects of England," Blackwell, Oxford, 2002.
10
Constable, John. (June 10, 2002). "Accent (Stress)". The Literary Encyclopedia. Retrieved online May 17, 2010
from <http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=13>
11
Global Oneness, "American and British English pronunciation differences – Stress, Retrieved online May 17,
2010, from "http://www.experiencefestival.com/american_and_british_english_pronunciation_differences__stress>
12
Wells, John C. (1982). "Accents of English," Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
13
Farlex, Inc. (2010). "The Free Dictionary: Intonation" Retrieved online May 17, 2010 from
<http://www.thefreedictionary.com/intonation>
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this is called low-rising. For AmE a yes/no question has a high-rising intonation. Yet, for BrE a
yes/no question has a low- rising intonation.14 For making statements in BrE the intonation starts
high and remains high throughout the sentence, but in AmE, while the intonation will remain the
same throughout the statement it will start midrange and continue through the same midrange.
Generally BrE sentences are high-low falling. Generally in AmE, low-high rising intonation
expresses doubt on the part of the speaker during a conversation and this type of intonation is
usually done by American women. British men and women use low-drop intonation when
speaking to express hostility and high drop intonation to express involvement in an action they
are talking about. However in American English these intonations to express these feelings are
generally only true for women. The low drop intonation in AmE is often exhibited by the speaker
to express a pleasant feeling, without negative the implications that BrE attaches to the same low
drop intonation. In American male speech an upglided nucleus is rare, yet it is more common in
American female speech. It is believed that since it is common for BrE to exhibit the rising
nuclei intonation in both men's and women's speech, that could account for the fact that British
men often sound effeminate to Americans. These are differences in intonation which could
interfere with communication between AmE and BrE.15 Steady even pitch is also an indication of
how AmE and BrE feel during conversation. Pitch is used by both men and women who speak
AmE to relay feelings. A very high pitch may indicate feeling surprised. A very low pitch may
indicate the AmE speaker is angry. A very neutral to flat pitch can indicate that the AmE speaker
is bored of uninterested in the conversation.16 These expressions are not the same for BrE for
14
John M. Levis, John M. (2003)."The Intonation and Meaning of Normal Yes/No Questions," Foreign Languages
and Literatures, North Carolina State University, USA. Retrieved online May 17, 2010, from
<http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119076595/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0>
15
Drend, Ruth M. (August 1977). "A Comparison of Male and Female Intonation in American
and British Speech," ERIC (Education Resource Information Center), Retrieved online May 17, 2010 from
<http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERI
CExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED154622&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED154622>
16
Ryan, Susan M. (2006-2008). "American English Pronunciation - Sentence Intonation Patterns," Learning English
Board. Retrieved online May 17, 2010 from <http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgi-bin/english/
index.pl?read=2179>
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whom very low pitch indicates that the speaker wants to ask questions but is reluctant to do so,
while a very flat pitch from a BrE means they are intently focused on the conversation. 17
American English originated from British English, but it has grown considerably since the
time when the first colonists came to make America their home. The native people and the
environment of America helped to shape American English into the language it has developed
into being today. Speakers of the American variety of English are able to speak with their distant
lingual cousins, and maybe when they do come into contact with each other each one can learn a
little more about themselves by seeing how both languages have changed so much with the words
both groups of people use, their different accents today and even the way they consciously and
unconsciously communicate through the melody of their conversations. Are British and
Americans all really identical, except for their language? No, both nations and the people
composing those respective nations have changed but it is their common language as well as their
shared origin that binds both groups of people together even though they have changed so much
and grown apart.
17
Bolinger, D. Edward (1989). "Intonation and its Uses. Melody in Grammar and Discourse," London: Arnold.
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Answer the questions with the information provided in the reading.
1. When did American English start to change from British English?
2. Concerning vocabulary, in what two ways is British English different from American English?
3. What are “phonemes”?
4. What is the difference between vowels spoken in American English and British English?
5. What is “stress” in words?
6. How is stress in American English usually different from stress in British English?
7. What is “intonation”?
8. How is intonation in American English usually different from intonation in British English?
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9. Are speakers of American English able to communicate with speakers of British English?
10. What is the difference of the [i] sound between American English and in British English?
11. How did the Norman Conquest influence English language?
Application and critical thinking.
12. How come people who speak American English and British English can understand each
other despite differences in the two language dialects?
13. Are there any “false-friends” between your native language and American English?
14. Do you think dictionaries are important? Why or why not?
15. Do you know any English idioms? Write one here and give its meaning.
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