Британский и американский английский

When I speak my mother tongue
an Englishman can’t understand me at all.
Mark Twain

A language is a two-facet unit. An essential early step in the study of a language is to model it in order to see how it is structured and used. (CUP)
A basic language learner is normally focused on the structure of a language.
In our project, we focus on the second perspective, the USE.
The Roman god, Janus, with a double-faced head.
use
structure

Dialects are traditionally thought of as an intranational matter – the study of local dialects. Historically, the English language was restricted to the British Isles. Even when it began to move around the world, only few global differences in regional speech were apparent (American English, Canadian English, Australian English).
In the present century, there is a universal awareness that English dialects operate on a world scale (the study of ‘world Englishes’).
The study of local dialects + the study of ‘world Englishes’ = The Circles of World English

From T. McArthur, 1987
Queen Elizabeth II (UK)
Barack Obama (USA)

From B.B. Kachru, 1985
The inner circle refers to the countries where English is the primary language like the USA and the UK.
The outer circle implies the spread of English as a ‘2nd language’ in non-native countries like India.
The expanding circle involves the nations recognizing English as a foreign language.

Standard English (SE) - the notion appeared in 1980s.
The SE of an English speaking country is a minority variety which carries most
prestige and is most widely understood. This prestige accent is known as Received Pronunciation (RP).
General American (GA) – the speech of native speakers of American English that many consider to be typical of the United States, noted for its exclusion of phonological forms readily recognized as regional to particular groups.
World Standard English (WSE) – a totally uniform, regionally neutral, and prestigious variety does not exist worldwide. Two trends:
each country where English is official language tries to preserve its linguistic identity from the foreign influence (Canadians do not want to be Americans);
all other countries fall into three groups:

The history of the English language started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD.
There are three stages of the development of the English language:
Old English (450-1100 AD)
Middle English (1100-1500)
Modern English (1500-the Present)

The New Colossus
…
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
Emma Lazarus (1849—1877)
1. The first pilgrims came on the Mayflower ship and founded New England in 1620;
2. In the 18th century there was a wave of immigrants from Northern Ireland and Scotland;
3. From 1840 to 1910 28 million immigrants came to America;
4. From 1901 to 1930 a million Mexicans came to Texas and California;
5. In 1975 immigrants from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos came to the U.S.;
6. The U.S. Congress approved a series of immigration laws, restricting the flow of immigrants into the country.

‘Child of the Americas’
I am a child of the Americas,
A light-skinned mestiza of the Caribbean,
A child of many diaspora, born into this continent at a crossroads.
I am a U.S. Puerto Rican Jew,
A product of the ghettoes of New York I have never known.
An immigrant and the daughter and granddaughter of immigrants.
I speak English with passion: it’s the tongue of my consciousness,
A flashing knife blade of crystal, my tool, my craft.
I am Caribena, island grown. Spanish is in my flesh,
Ripples from my tongue, lodges in my hips:
The language of garlic and mangoes,
The singing in my poetry, the flying gestures of my hands.
I am of Latinoamerica, rooted in the history of my continent:
I speak from my body.
I am not African. African is in me, but I cannot return.
I am not Taina. Taino is in me, but there is no way back,
I am not European. Europe lives in me, but I have no home there.
I am new. History made me. My first language was Spanglish.
I was born at the crossroads
And I am whole.
Aurora Levins Morales [b. 1954], was written in 1986

Melting Pot;
Cooking Pot;
Salad Bowl;
Pizza;
Mosaic.

Statistical source: 2006 American Community Survey

The major sources of early-borrowed words in English:
Latin, French, and Scandinavian.
Modern English loans from Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Persian, Russian, and other languages.
American English borrowings from immigrating peoples.

African
banjo: a musical instrument with four strings, a long neck, and a body like a drum, use to play a popular music;
Dutch
coleslaw: a salad made from raw chopped cabbage;
French
prairie: a wide, treeless grassy plain;
German
hamburger: a sandwich made of a ground beef patty placed in a soft roll;
pretzel: a hard glazed and salty bread shaped like a loose knot;
Native American
moccasin: a soft leather shoe;
squash: a gourd-like vegetable grown on a vine;
Spanish
ranch: a large farm where sheep, cattle, horses are produced;
Yiddish
bagel: a hard glazed doughnut-shaped roll;

Some American English words were coined to indicate some aspects of American way:
brunch: a late weekend breakfast (breakfast + lunch);
cattle corn – mixed corn: sweet and salted;
dime: a ten-cent coin;
downtown: the centre of the city;
geek: an uncool person (school slang);
mall: a huge shopping centre with restaurants and even cinemas;
nuts: crazy;
pants: trousers (BrE);
potluck: a party to which every family bring their own special dish to share it with the others.

Spelling;
Pronunciation;
Vocabulary;
Grammar.

Differences in spelling between AmE and BrE: centre (BrE) – center (AmE), theatre – theater, colour - color, catalogue – catalog, honour – honor, favourite – favorite, cheque – check, prison – jail and others. To know more look up here
Deviant spelling (deviation from the norm): 'They're finger-lickin' good'.
Accurate pronunciation of the word (formal and informal speech), for example: night - nite, through – thru, right - rite.
To know more look up here

AmE pronounces the final /r / - are you /a:r ju:/: are easy / a:r i:zi/;
BrE says the final /r/ before vowel sounds (vocalization) – are easy / a:r i:zi/;
individual differences: ate - /eit/ AmE – /aet/ BrE, schedule – /`skedʒuәl/ - /‘∫edju:l/;
long and short pronunciation of the letter A: ask - /aesk/ AmE – /a: sk/ BrE
word stress in endings: -ary/-ory : secretary AmE – secretary BrE, laboratory – laboratory , inquiry – inquiry;
-et: ballet – ballet, cigarette – cigarette, valet – valet;
and other: magazine – magazine, moustache – moustache, premier – premier, princess – princess, weekend – weekend.
To know more examples look up here

Some words is only in AmE, others - only in BrE. (congress AmE - parliament BrE, apartment – flat, cub – taxi, candy – sweets, elevator – lift, fall – autumn, mail – post, canteen – cafeteria, vacation - holiday). Some words are unambiguous (checking account - current account ). To know more look up here
There are words that have one value from the WSE, and more additional values​ (caravan «refers to a group of travelers in the desert" in both versions, in BrE it means vehicle, in AmE – trailer, van).
Both variants have the word undertaker, but AmE has also the word mortician.
The most noticeable lexical differences in the car terminology (gas (gasoline) AmE –petrol BrE; automobile – car; gas pedal – accelerator; hood – bonnet; tire – tyre; truck – lorry; trunk – boot; windshield - wind-screen)
Idioms can have different meaning. ‘The play was a real bomb’ Americans will understand as a 'total disaster' - the British ‘a huge success’.

Irregular verbs – burned (AmE) - burnt (BrE), get, got, gotten - get, got, got;
Possessive phrases - Do you have the time? - Have you got the time?; responses are also different (I don't - I haven't);
AmE sometimes uses Past Simple vs BrE Present Perfect
(I just ate - I have just eaten);
In AmE will / won 't substitute shall / shan' t;
The word order in the noun phrase (Hudson River - River Thames, a half hour - half an hour);
AmE prefers was (I wish she was here - I wish she were here);
adverbs (I'll go momentarily - I'll go in a moment, real good - really good, backward - backwards);
Parallel excuses (They live on X street - they live in X street; I'll see you over the weekend - I'll see you at the weekend; Monday through Friday - Monday to Friday inclusive). To know more look up here

http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/blbritam.htm;
http://esl.about.com/od/grammarlessons/a/chant18.htm;
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/how/how-understand-differences-between-british-and-american-english.

Лалаянц И. – Приложение к газете «English», №20/1996, p.3;
Adopted from Babayantz, A.V. “50 Essentials to Know about American Lifestyle”, Мозаика, №3 – 2005, с. 14;
Bordman, Martha. In the USA. – Titul, Obninsk, Chancerel, London, 2000;
Crystal, David. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of The English Language. – CUP, Cambridge, 1995;
Kral, Thomas. Discover America. An Integrated Skills Text for Intermediate/Advanced Students of English as a Foreign Language. – USIA, Washington, D.C., 1996;
Heyck, Denis Lynn Daly. (1994). NY: Routledge;
Steinbeck, John. America and Americans, - from Americans at First Glance, Viking Penguin Inc., 1966;
Commager, Henry Steele. The Nineteenth-Century American. –from The American History: How the Past Helps Explain the Present and Future, 70-79;
Todd Vidamour ‘A Look at Hispanic Heritage in the United States of America’ – Presentation, U.S. Department of State/Georgetown University; U.S. Embassy, Moscow; Novosibirsk State Technical University, 2010;
httphttp://http://wwwhttp://www.http://www.eslprintableshttp://www.eslprintables.http://www.eslprintables.comhttp://www.eslprintables.com/http://www.eslprintables.com/downloadhttp://www.eslprintables.com/download.http://www.eslprintables.com/download.asphttp://www.eslprintables.com/download.asp?http://www.eslprintables.com/download.asp?idhttp://www.eslprintables.com/download.asp?id=359572 Раздаточный материал по теме.

TEXT. A self-contained unit of discourse: a poster, a ticket, a novel.
SIGN. A visual language used chiefly by the deaf.
GRAPHOLOGY. The writing system of a language.
PHONOLOGY. The pronunciation system of a language.
LEXICON. The vocabulary of a language.
GRAMMAR. The system of rules governing the construction of sentences.

SHORT TERM
LONG TERM
PERSONAL VARIATION of English arises out of differences in the memory, personality, intelligence, and social background of English speakers.
TEMPORAL VARIATION: long term (Old, Middle, and Elizabethan English) and short term (changes within the history of a single person).

SOCIAL VARIATION. The use of English is affected by the social classes and roles, occupations, sex, age, ethnic groups, and education of language speakers.
REGIONAL VARIATIONS imply intranational and international regional varieties.

The invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which in Britain developed into Old English.
Old English did not sound or look like English today. Nevertheless, about half of the most commonly used words in Modern English have Old English roots.
Old English actively engaged with the Scandinavian languages. Latinisms appeared in the English lexicon as a result of the spread of Christianity in England. In the 8th -9th centuries there was a transition to the Latin alphabet.

In 1066 William the Conqueror invaded and conquered England. The Normans brought with them French, which became the language of the Royal Court.
For a period there was a kind of linguistic class division, where the lower classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke French.
In the 14th century English became dominant in Britain again, but with many French words added. But the English Grammar has developed independently.
The London dialect, the country’s official language and the basis of modern literary English, was formed in the 15th century .