Joke Collection Website - Joke collection - The different research status of British English and American English at home and abroad
The different research status of British English and American English at home and abroad
abstract
Today, English has developed into a global language. As a carrier of information, English fully reflects the unique culture of Britain and America. The first part of this paper discusses the differences between British English and American English from politics, economy, social life, culture and geography. The second part reveals the deep reasons for the differences and emphasizes the role of culture in the formation and spread of language. In a word, because English is characterized by a large vocabulary, inclusiveness and conciseness, there is little room for debate that English will become a diversified common language.
Keywords: British English; American English; Reasons for change; trend
At present, there are more than 400 million English speakers in the world, but as the first language, the United States and Britain have the largest number of English speakers and the widest geographical area. The formation, development and use of English are also different. English is becoming a global language. American English inherited the basic elements of British English, and17th century was further enriched and developed in American continent. Due to the uniqueness of American itself, society and life, British English and American English are formed today. This paper will elaborate on the development and change of language, the reasons for the change and the development trend of language. Through research, we can see from the differences between British English and American English that social and cultural factors play a decisive role in the generation and spread of language. Through the above analysis of the causes and characteristics of language development, we can recognize some characteristics of British and American culture, and understanding and understanding these characteristics will undoubtedly help us understand Britain and America more accurately. The study of British English and American English also gives us a full understanding of the development of language, especially the development of language.
First, the change of language.
"Language always changes with the development of society and the change of people's lifestyle." (16) Language has changed in many aspects, such as vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar and semantics. The development of English language can be summarized in three aspects: "1. The development of English itself. Although the United States still uses some old usages of English, English has made great progress in Britain. 2. The independent development of the United States, the United States is developed on the basis of absorbing vocabulary. 3. Interaction between the two languages. It can be roughly divided into three stages: from the17th century to the end of the American War of Independence, British English dominated; From the end of the War of Independence to the American Civil War, the United States gradually developed independently, although English still dominated; From the civil war to the present, especially the first world war, the United States began to influence English, and at the same time it replaced some words in Chinese. In view of the above three reasons, it is not surprising that there are some differences between English and American languages. " (3)
① Phonetics
Some differences in pronunciation between American English and British English are obvious. Such a joke: an Englishman and an American met unexpectedly at the railway station. Americans are cheerful and good at making friends. After saying some polite words, they asked, "What do you do?" . The Englishman replied, "I am a clerk." Americans are very surprised: "Clock? Your job is to tick all day? " Americans pronounce the same word [klεrk], and the British pronounce [cla:k]. The joke above reflects the differences in pronunciation between Britain and America.
The difference between British English and American English lies in the pronunciation of some words, and there is no certain rule to follow. Common words with different pronunciations are:
The example word is ae
ate [et ] [eit ]
Yes, yes.
Pastoral
z [zed ] [zi ]
Secondly, the treatment of word stress in the two countries is also different, which is very different. The difference between word stress, as long as there are more than two syllables, one of them must be stressed all the time. In polysyllabic words, there are usually two stresses.
Be users are used to putting the main stress of words on the later syllables, while ae users like to put the main stress on the previous syllables. In many words ending in -ary and disyllabic words ending in -ate, be puts the main stress on the second syllable, while ae puts the stress on the first syllable. For example:
It is ae
assistant
laboratory
Rolling inference
Decide to dominate
& amp (= National Bureau of Standards) National Bureau of Standards
p; ˇ Migration
Usually, the secondary stress of be appears before the main stress, and the secondary stress of ae appears after the main stress, especially for compound words. For example:
It is ae
Farmhouse farmhouse
ice cream
Although there are some differences in pronunciation between British English and American English, we can still easily distinguish them without causing us difficulties in learning.
(2) Vocabulary
Although British English and American English are of the same origin, they are different in spelling because of their different influences in future development. "The basic vocabulary system of English is the same vocabulary core of British English and American English. Without such a core, neither American English nor Britain would exist. (3)
1, the same word has different meanings: the same word appears in both American English and British English, but they represent completely different concepts respectively. For example:
The example word is ae
Biscuit soda biscuit soft cake
Billion trillion billion
Integral tights and overalls
2. Synonyms: British English and American English use different words to express the same concept. For example:
Is it the same meaning?
lift
Tin can
Faucet faucet
candy
3. Spelling differences: Although British English and American English belong to the same system, they are still slightly different in spelling system. Examples are as follows:
Is it a meaning?
enthusiasm
Dialogue dialogue
Endure forever
Aesthetic aesthetics
Analysis, analysis and analysis
bend
Skeptic, skeptic, skeptic
Mom, mom, mom.
Although the two English languages are different in vocabulary spelling and meaning, they are not two languages, but variants of one language in different regions. In short, through analysis, we can further understand the characteristics of the two languages, enrich our English knowledge and improve our application ability.
& amp
Nbsp(3) grammar
English and American English are not only different in pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary, but also different in grammar. Analyzing the grammatical differences between British English and American English is of great benefit to English learning. Let me give you some examples of different uses of British English and American English.
(1) noun:
In addition to the different variations discussed above. American English tends to nominalize other parts of speech more than British English, especially those phrasal verbs with prepositions: to cook out → a cook-out; Know how to → technical know-how; Run down → ruin; Be locked at home → be locked at home; Stopover → stopover, etc.
When collective nouns are the subject, the predicate verbs in British English can be singular or plural, while American English almost always uses singular. They are a very influential family in the history of this country. The Committee has decided to investigate the matter further. When nouns are used as attributes, American English usually uses the singular form, while Britain often uses the plural form. The worker decided to form a new trade union. The worker decided to form a new trade union.
Verbs have, get, make
When the verb have has the meaning of causing, America uses have; Britain uses get for superiors and make for subordinates, which is an ambiguous verb. The British use it as an auxiliary verb and a notional verb; Americans always regard it as a notional verb. For example:
Bei: I'll get someone.
I'll send someone.
(3) adjectives:
In American English, the comparative degree of adjectives can follow all the to show emphasis. On the other hand, Britain uses the comparative form of any adjective to express emphasis. For example:
Bei: Can't you do better?
Is this the best you can do?
(4) Past tense and present perfect tense:
British English generally uses the present perfect tense, while the United States tends to use the simple past tense. For example:
Bei: I have studied your report.
I have studied your report.
Bei: Now I know what it is! I forgot its name.
Now I know what it is! I forgot its name.
There are not many grammatical differences between British English and American English. The English of the two countries has the same grammatical system, and some subtle grammatical differences are gradually being accommodated, imitated and even assimilated by each other. Only some grammatical forms are used differently in these two countries. However, if we want to communicate with British and American people, we must adopt their corresponding idioms.
Second, the reasons for language changes
"Bernard Shaw once quipped that there is a gap between Britain and America in the same language." (4) In fact, the development and change of any language is a complicated process, which not only reflects the cultural changes of a nation or country, but also reflects the development of tradition, politics and economy. Language always changes with the development of society and the change of people's lifestyle. It is the most widely used language in contemporary international communication, and it is also a rapidly changing language. There are many sources. "First, the development of science and technology is its main source. Second, the turbulent situation and ever-changing social environment are also its sources. Third, social changes have impacted people's ideology, and also had a great impact on the development of language, resulting in a corresponding language. " (2)
(1) Economy
Political events, politicians, political movements, political groups and political policies may all lead to language changes. Sometimes, language will change dramatically, especially when society changes.
In the United States, the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York in September this year 1 1 led to the emergence of many new words. Among them, ground zero refers to the ruins left by the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. "9. 1 1" also has special significance, especially the terrorist attacks at that time. Even the word osamaniac has appeared in the media to refer to a woman who is crazy about bin Laden.
In Britain, after Tony Blair was elected as British Prime Minister, we saw the emergence of some new words: blairism, blairist, blairistas, blairization, blairite and so on. The word Watergate came from this incident and was coined by President Clinton.
With the development of the world economy, many new words in business and other economic fields, such as Bush Economics, Blair Economics and Berg Economics, all mean "one's economic policy". Therefore, Bush economics is "the economic policy of US President Bush" and Blair economics is "the economic policy of British Prime Minister Blair".
With the rise and fall of the British Empire, the former American colonies got rid of British rule and developed into a powerful political and economic entity. The economic differences between Britain and the United States are inevitably reflected in the languages of the two peoples, especially in the vocabulary of the languages. [7](3)
(2) Social life
Language reflects the pulse of the times, directly faces real life and has a strong flavor of life. "Language and culture are related, language reflects culture, language is the carrier of culture, and language, as an active substance, can reflect the economic and cultural characteristics of the times and people's mental outlook at that time." (4)
People's lives are changing with each passing day, and the emergence of a new generation has also produced some new words. In the 1960s, there were hippies in America, referring to those young people who were dissatisfied with social reality, unconventional and rebellious. In the 1980s, yuppies were young people with high-paying professional jobs and rich material lifestyles. They are not stingy with money and enjoy a fashionable life. The words baby boomer, baby boomer, lost generation, generation X and generation Y are all reflections of American social life. [8]( 16 1)
"Here is a ha 'pee, don't spend it all in a shop" is a humorous remark, and generously gave some gifts to the children. Half a penny. This sentence was fashionable from the late19th century to the second half of 20th century, and was completely abandoned in 1970. The change of this English buzzword also reflects the change of the life of ordinary British people from the end of 19 to the second half of the 20th century. With the improvement of the whole national life, it is no longer a thing to give small gifts to children, and this buzzword is also launched on the stage.
(III) Country
Language has distinct social characteristics and records and reflects the history of a country.
The inheritance and development of English are also inseparable.
English has a history of thousands of years since 450 AD. During this period of history, Britain experienced foreign invasion, medieval feudal society, bourgeois revolution, industrial revolution and overseas colonial expansion, forming a unique historical culture. For example, the word castra is the best proof of the Roman invaders' military occupation in Britain for several years. 1649 Charles I, the general representative of feudal reactionary forces, was guillotined as a "tyrant, traitor, murderer and enemy of the state". The word regicide bears witness to the beheading of an unprecedented feudal monarch in Britain. The first industrial revolution in Britain began in the second half of the eighteenth century, with the emergence of the flying shuttle and Jenny spinning machine.
This is also reflected in American history. Plantation has been a word related to early colonies in the United States since Britain established colonies in North America. Jamestown was the first colony established in North America by British colonist 16. It was called plantation at that time, which used to mean colony. The frontier spirit or pioneering spirit has always been an important part of the national cultural characteristics that Americans are proud of. In 1950s, blacks launched a massive civil rights struggle against racial discrimination, and they created famous ways of struggle such as sitting, sitting and swimming. After a long and unremitting struggle, the blacks finally won the integration.
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