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British English versus American English
A Comparative Study
13/12/16
Submitted by: Sawsan Fawzy
Term Paper
Sociolinguistics Course
MA Program, Cairo University
Page 1 of 20
Introduction
The question whether American English is a dialect of English, an accent of
it or a separate language is one that is always being asked (Romaine, 2000, p. 17).
Suzan Romaine said the answer depends on one's point of view. Then she cited
varied perceptions of the relationship between the two "codes" (Wardhaugh, 1986,
p. 89). The term "code" is "useful" because it is "neutral;" it is not "inclined to
arouse emotions" such as the terms "dialect, language, standard language and
variety" (Wardhaugh, 1986, p. 89). "Code" can refer simply to "any language or a
variety of a language" that is "a system that two or more people employ for
communication." As for terms such as "language, dialect or variety," I am not
certain which one of these may suit British English code and American English
code.
Among the varied views Romaine cited was the well-known one of George
Bernard Show who ironically "characterized England and America as two nations
divided by a common language" (p. 17). Romaine said that perceiving British
English and American English as two separate languages suggested by, for
example, H. L. Mencken's book title The America Language is for political
purposes; it was to indicate political independence of America through linguistic
independence (p. 17). The term "language" here is to arouse the sense of
independence (Wardhaugh, 1986, p. 89). Similarly, when Noah Webster
"authored his dictionary of American English and consciously employed spellings
for certain words which were different from British English norms," he was trying
to assert political independence of America through linguistic independence (p.
18). On the contrary, when England wanted to cooperate politically with America,
the former British Margret Thatcher conceded, in an interview, that Shakespeare
belonged as much to the Americans as to the British in emphasizing the existence
of a "special relationship" between the US and The UK. Changing stances and "all
that talk about language was really about politics" (Romaine, 2000, p. 18).
Page 2 of 20
Hypothesis
Linguistically, some linguists use the term "accent" to define a language
variety that has special way of pronunciation distinguished from pronunciation of
other varieties of the same language (Romaine, 2000, p. 19). In respect of this
definition, it can be hypothesized that British English and American English are
different accents.
As for the term "dialect," some linguists use it to refer to a variety that is
different from other varieties, dialects, of the same language "simultaneously on at
least three levels of organization: pronunciation, grammar or syntax and
vocabulary" (Romaine, 2000, p. 18). Thus, it can be hypothesized that British
English and American English are two dialects of the same language.
This paper investigates the linguistics features of British English and
American English to discover whether they are "accents" or "dialects" of the same
language (Romaine, 2000, p. 18).
Political, historical and social backgrounds of linguistic differences
"How did British and American English become so different?" In his book
Divided by a Common Language, Christopher Davis suggested some historical
and political answers to this question (p. 1).
Division of language began when the early inhabitants of the US had no
verbal contact with the British. On the other hand, they had contact with the
Europeans who were immigrating to the US bringing their languages with them.
Although English remained the dominant languages, it was affected by contact
with different languages in America. However, the books imported from England
until 1900s kept American English form straying too far (Davis, 2005, p. 3).
Wolfram and Schilling talked about similar sociohistorical explanations of
migration, settlement and languages contact that played roles in the development
of American English (pp. 28-30).
Afterwards, Industrial Revolution brought with it the need for coinage of
hundreds of terms to describe inventions in each country. There were no common
standards to follow when coining terms. The two countries were apart, and
creations were being given different terms by designers of each country (Davis,
Page 3 of 20
2005, p. 3). As time went on, the difference increased, and no great effort was
made to unify terms.
Politically, great efforts were made to assert the linguistic independence of
America. Noah Webster, the well-known American lexicographer, initiated some
of the biggest changes in American spelling through his best-selling American
Speller published in 1783 and his American Dictionary of the English Language
that has become "the standard for spelling and word usage in America" (Davis,
2005, p. 2). "British and American English reached their greatest divergence just
before the Second World War, and since that time have been getting closer"
(Davis, 2005, p. 2). It seems that it was political cooperation that could produce
that linguistic consequence.
I Pronunciation level
According to Hastings (2011), the differences in pronunciation on either
side of the Atlantic have been very well known since Hollywood highlighted these
differences. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers sang "Let’s Call the Whole Thing
Off" in the 1937 film Shall We Dance. The iconic American dance partners sang:
"You say neither and I say neither... let’s call the whole thing off."
This section consults Snezhina Dimitrova's pronunciation
guide entitled British and American Pronunciation published in
2010 on University of Reading website and a research paper
published in 2015 in Journal of Language Teaching and Research.
The section also consults other guides and papers referenced in the
above-mentioned paper that adopted the same comparative
method of analysis of Dimitrova's guide and of the other sources
in order to summarize simply and briefly the main differences
between the two main pronunciation models in Britain and America.
International Phonetic Alphabet IPA symbols are used
to compare and describe sounds of the two pronunciation models
including vowels, comprising monophthongs and diphthongs, and consonants.
Page 4 of 20
Figure 1. IPA Chart
The comparisons made here are simple and brief; they include neither
details about the articulation of sounds in different positions nor explanations of
any exceptional articulation of some of them when they are found in specific
positions. These details are too many to include in this paper. The reader is
advised to consult the referenced sources to discover these details.
Page 5 of 20
In Britain, the "standard" model of pronunciation is
named "Received Pronunciation" or "RP." "Received" means
acceptable. This model is the appropriate one to be used in
teaching English as a foreign language. RP has a lot of varieties among which is
the one heard on BBC. This variety has been recently termed "BBC
Pronunciation" (Dimitrova, 2010, p. 2).
In America, the "standard" pronunciation model that is widely accepted and
used by the majority of the population of the United States is termed "General
American" or "GA." It is used by most TV and radio announcers, and it is also
used in teaching English as a foreign language (Dimitrova, 2010, p. 1).
The two pronunciation models differ in many ways. They differ most in
their vowel systems, and they also differ in their consonant sounds and clusters.
I.A Vowels
I.A.1 Monophthongs
For example, the back rounded /ɒ/ vowel, which is heard in BBC English in
words such as not, lot, block, is replaced in GA with the back unrounded vowel
/ɑː/. Most dictionaries show the pronunciation differences between the two
“standard” models by retaining the length diacritic [:] in the transcription of the
GA vowels (Dimitrova, 2010, p. 4). Examples of these differences are:
BBC pronunciation General American (GA)
Knowledge /ˈnɒl.ɪdʒ/ /ˈnɑː.lɪdʒ/ 1
On the other hand, BBC and GA exchange the vowels in some other words
(Dimitrova, 2010, p. 4):
BBC GA
Pass /pɑːs/ /pæs/1
Hosseinzadeh, Kambuziya and Shariati (2015) elaborated on the BBC /ɑː/ and the
GA /æ/: when one of the sounds /s, f, t, ns, nt, ʃ/ follows the GA /æ/, it changes to
BBC /ɑː/ (p. 649).
1- All the paper examples and their transcriptions are taken from Cambridge Dictionary
Online.
Page 6 of 20
The long back mid rounded vowel /ɔː/ which in BBC English occurs in
words such as "thought, walk, law" is usually opener and less rounded in GA
(Dimitrova, 2010, p. 5):
BBC GA
Thought /θɔːt/ /θɑːt/
All GA vowels are characterized by r-colouring when they are followed by
the letter r in the spelling (Dimitrova, 2010, p. 5):
BBC GA
Car /kɑː/ /kɑːr/
The difference between unstressed /ə/ and /ɪ/ is often lost in GA
(Dimitrova, 2010, p. 6):
BBC GA
Packet /ˈpæk.ɪt/ /ˈpæk.ɪt/
The pronunciation of [ju:] in BBC becomes [u:] in GA after /s, z, l, t, d, and
n/ (Gómez, 2009, p.8):
BBC GA
Student /ˈstjuː.dənt/ /ˈstuː.dənt/
Vowels that are nasalized in GA are not in BBC (Hosseinzadeh et al., 2015,
p.650):
BBC GA
Can't /kɑːnt/ /kæ῀nt/
Page 7 of 20
I.A.2 Diphthongs
BBC pronunciation has 3 diphthongs ending in /ə/: /ɪə, eə, ʊə/, as in near,
care, pure. General American has no separate phonemic diphthongs which end in
/ə/. It has alternative sounds (Dimitrova, 2010, p. 6):
BBC GA
Near /nɪər/ /nɪr/
Care /keər/ /ker/
Pure /pjʊər/ /pjʊr/
BBC /əʊ/ becomes /oʊ/ in GA (Hosseinzadeh et al., 2015, p.651):
BBC GA
Go /ɡəʊ/ /ɡoʊ/
BBC /ɑː/ becomes /eɪ/ in GA (Hosseinzadeh et al., 2015, p.651):
BBC GA
Vase /vɑːz/ /veɪs/
BBC /eɪ/ becomes /æ/ in GA (Hosseinzadeh et al., 2015, p.652):
BBC GA
Apricot /ˈeɪprɪˌkɒt/ /ˈæprɪˌkɑt/1
BBC /ɪ/ becomes /aɪ/ in GA (Hosseinzadeh et al., 2015, p.652):