During the
centuries the language used in the USA has changed in many ways since
it developed independently of the British English. Some words were
taken from the Native Americans, other words were added, and others
were influenced by the Dutch and French setters’ language. The fact
that a lot of immigrants from all over the world have arrived in the
USA has contributed to the development of American English.
There are many
different ways
of speaking
English with variants
of accents,
dialects and
English
derivatives but
in this post I have focused
on the two main
currents:
American and British English.
An interesting
fact, Received Pronunciation is used only by 5% of the United Kingdom
population; it is because there are many dialects in the British
Isles. If we travel to United Kingdom, we will notice that the
difference in pronunciation from region to region are stronger and
broader than in United States although the latter is a much larger
country.
Perhaps, it is
due to the fact that statistically Americans change of residences
more often than the British. People in the south of The United States
have a particular accent, while for example people of Boston speak
very differently.
The main theme is
differences between American and British PRONUNCIATION and the most
important differences are:
-
“can” and “can’t”: In American English, the difference
between "can" and "can’t" is sometimes
difficult to distinguish, while in standard British English you can
clearly see the difference
- The sound / r /
may not be audible in some British English words, such as "car".
The / r / is deleted, as well as dialects of New York and Boston.
- Americans tend
to reduce words by omitting letters, the word "facts" for
example, in American English, "t" is silent.
- Sometimes the
sounds of the vowels are omitted in British English, as in the word
"secretary", where the sound / a / is not pronounced.
- The
pronunciation of the syllables sometimes varies in each version.
-
Affixes:
-ary,
-ory, -ery
: When
the syllable preceding "-ary,-ery or -ory" is stressed, AmE
pronounce all these endings /əri/, while BrE pronounce these endings
without the vowel sound,
but when
the preceding syllable is unstressed,
AmE has a
full vowel rather than schwa: /ˌɛri/ for “-ary”
and “-ery”
and /ˌɔri/ for “-ory”.
BrE retains the reduced vowel /əri/, or even elides it completely to
/ri/.
-Some single
differences:
BmE
AmE
Words
/æ/ /ɑ/
Pablo,
pasta
/ɒ/
/oʊ/
compost,
homosexual,
produce,
scone
/ɑː/
/æ/ banana,
morale,
scenario
/æ/
/eɪ/ compatriot,
patriot,
patronise,
phalanx
/ɛ/
/i/ crematorium,
cretin,
depot,
inherent,
leisure
/ɪ/
/aɪ/ dynasty,
housewifery,
idyll,
livelong,
privacy
/z/
/s/ blouse,
complaisant,
crescent,
erase
/aɪ/
/i/ either,
neither
/ɑː/
/eɪ/ gala, promenade, tomato
/ʃ/
/ʒ/
Asia,
Persia,
version
Finally, here's a
funny musical video:
Sources: "The English Language", David Crystal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_pronunciation_differences
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_pronunciation_differences
By: María Durán Martínez
Hi, I´m Irene Reinoso and I´ve read your post about the difference between English and American pronuntiation. I think you are correct with those explanations but I think that Americans have that particular accent because they have been imported by British (as you have said) but furthermore, I think that Americans have lived a few period of time with the English Language,because before they were only tribes, and Britain has suffer wars and contact with many countries so why British has more variety, and many regions of British , depending on the region, have different accents.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, your post would be nice at my Blog as well as in yours. Nice job.
Hello Irene, I'm María. I think your appreciation is correct and interesting. Thank very much for help me and for give me more ideas to improve my post. I visited your blog and I really liked your English language section. Thank you!
DeleteHello! I'm Virginia Ortega and I think it's a nice post too. It gives us a clear idea of the differences between American and British English. I would like to add that Amerian English has a huge influence on Canadian English. There are many Canadian words that are taken from the American English and the same occurs with pronounciation. I think it is due to the proximity of the countries. It you want to learn things about Canadian English and compare them with American English let's visit my blog ! http://thecanadianbeaver.blogspot.com.es/
ReplyDeleteHello Virginia! I'm María Durán. Thank you very much for visiting our blog and for your interest in my post.I hope you have been useful to have more knowledge about the differences of American and British English. I advise you to read the other posts I've written about spelling and vocabulary, are also very interesting!
DeleteNice Post.English is very necessary Language to improve skills British and American English Skills Guide to be consider
ReplyDelete