Differences between American English and British English

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF KAZAKHSTAN REPUBLIC

COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES “LINGUA”

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AMERICAN ENGLISH AND BRITISH ENGLISH

Student: Baizhakanova A.K

Group: PD-33

Supervisor: Gazizova L.A

Karaganda 2012



Contents

Annotation

Introduction

Chapter 1. History of origins of english language

1.1 History of American English origin

1.2 History of British English origin

Chapter 2. Similarities and differences between american english and british english languages.

2.1 Lexical differences

2.2 Grammatical differences

2.3 British English and American English pronunciation

2.4 Differences of British and American versions of Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

Conclusion

Bibliography

Appendix



Annotation

The name of the term paper: Differences between American English and British English.

The main aim of the term paper: To study the history of British and American English and find differences between two languages. Find the using of American and British English in the textbooks.

To achieve the goals I have set the following objectives:

-to consider the historical aspects of the origin of the English language,

-to find and explore a number of differences in American and British English, american british grammatical pronunciation

- study textbooks of American and British English.

Stages of the term paper:

I stage. Development of themes, the study of scientific literature, summarizing the theoretical materials analysis.

Stage II. The processing of collected materials and data.

Stage III. Generalization all of the results.

Stage IV. The final stage. Conclusion of the term paper.

The degree of research the problem: in the work I used the book of scientists - historians, research papers and journalistic work.

The scientific novelty of the work: is to study the characteristics of American and British English.

According to the tasks of the Term Paper its structure is arranged in the following way: Annotation, Introduction, the Main Part, Conclusions, Appendix and Bibliography.



Introduction

Learning foreign languages broadens intercultural, interethnic communication. Using linguistic component in adaptation of educational programs, language allows to implement the principle of communicative focus, organize concerned communication and interaction of students in the language and, thus, open access to the culture of another people and to ensure that the dialogue of cultures.

English is today recognized a common international language. It is used in all domestic routes, hundreds of millions of people of different nationalities want spoken and write on English language. It is the language of modern business, science, records management, information technology and of course, communication.

Now more than a billion people on earth say and try to speak in English, English is the most studied language in the world, whose influence is so great that it can affect not only the vocabulary but also on the linguistic structure of other languages.

At the present time special distribution was American English, "in many spheres of life and human activity - in the field of material culture, economy and finance, education, health and many other areas - the U.S. version is spreading worldwide and has a tendency to displacement Briticisms ... ". In the United States is now home to the largest number of English speakers. That's America in the XX century, most contributed to the spread of English. However, despite this, the teaching of English in many countries, including Kazakhstan, for many years been focused on the British version of the language, the American version of the same had to learn in practice, very few - those who are in connection with professional activities should be was to communicate with native American English. In the best language schools have traditionally been taught it was the British version, and as foreign consultants and trainers were invited mainly teachers from Britain.

But at the present stage of development of English language teaching can not take into account the fact that the students almost daily contact with his American version, though American films, listening to American music and reading the labels on products and goods of American manufacture. His contribution to the practice of modern language students makes a global computer network Internet, as well as correspondence with American peers. Of course, they notice differences variant of the language with which they face in practice.

American English acquired international significance after World War II when the United States have played an important role in the postwar reconstruction of the world, and achievements in the field of politics, economy and modern technology have allowed the United States have a significant impact on the world.

Today it is American English has a dominant influence on "world English", and this is explained by the following factors:

1. Population (number of speakers of American English is 70% versus 17% of the carriers of British English from the total number of speaking English as their mother language ),

2. U.S economy more powerful than the British economy.

3. Numerical superiority of higher education in the U.S. compared with Britain.

4. The scale of typographic industry of U.S.

5. The significance of the influence of American media and information technologies across the globe.

6. The attractiveness of American pop culture and its influence on the language and way of life around the globe.

7. The international political and economic situation in the United States.

And American English and British English are the only versions of the same order as English. Between them more similarities than differences, especially where it sounds educated people, or used the language of science. The cause of the majority of the differences are cultural and historical features of the two countries, a variety of local and regional idioms and fixed expressions, as well as the influence of media and advertising.

American English was more fortunate than British, and for this there were several reasons. One is that American English was the language of especially pure and correct, as the settlers, people from all corners of Britain, being together in new and risky conditions, were forced to drop the dialectal differences in language and keep only what was common to them all. It is interesting that, as a modernized version of the English, the language of the Americans at the same time preserves the obvious features of the English "Elizabethan" language 17 and even 16 centuries, which for modern Britons are quite archaic, extinct in the 18th century. The discrepancy between the American and British versions were much more important at the beginning of this century, but later, through the media, especially television, is to smooth out the discrepancy.

Differences between the English language in America and English in the UK for a long time been discussed as a special language, and in popular literature. The debate over which of the variants of the English language should be considered "exemplary" and should be considered a American English separate language or think that British completely separate from English, it is problem continues to this day.

All the above explains the relevance of my work. In this term paper I will discuss the history of the formation of American English and British English, and the causes of the differences between the two versions of languages, as well as basic vocabulary and grammatical differences between them.



Chapter 1. History of origins of english language

1.1 The History of American English origin

English language belongs to the group of Indo-European languages ??of the West. English is spoken and used in the public record keeping, literature and science, about 200 million people. - In the UK and Ireland, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, partially in South Africa and India. English one of the five official and working languages ??adopted by the UN.

English has its origins from the old Germanic language tribes who migrated to the V-VI centuries from the continent to Britain. Complex interaction of old Germanic tribal dialects brought to Britain, inhabited by Celtic tribes, and develop in the formation of the English nation, led to the formation of regional dialects, on the old tribal basis.

In the Old English period (VII-XI cc.) Language is represented by four dialects: Northumbrian, Mercian, Kentish and uesseksskim. Due to economic and political influence in the kingdom Uessekssk IX - X centuries. in the cultural life of England became the most important uessekssky dialect. After entry into England in the VI. Christianity replaced the Roman alphabet old Germanic runes, and the influence of Latin on English vocabulary affected.

From the language of the conquered Anglo-Saxons kept the Celtic population of Britain is mainly geographical names. Norse raids (late VIII.), Ending the subordination of England in 1016 the Danish king, led to the creation of the Scandinavian settlements in the country. The interaction of closely related languages ??- English and Scandinavian - has had a presence in modern English a significant number of words of Scandinavian origin, as well as some of the phonetic features that characterize the dialects of northern England.

Mixing with the Scandinavian languages ??and some contributed to the strengthening of grammatical tendencies, available in English. The conquest of England by the Normans in 1066 led to a long period of bilingualism, when the English, who had three main regional dialects (northern, central and southern), remained as the language of the people, but was regarded as the official language French Long-term use it at the royal court, in parliament , the court and the school has led to the fact that after the ousting of the French language areas (the XIV c.) in the English language have survived the extensive layers of the French language. The Middle English period (XII - XV cc.) English language development is characterized by a number of changes, sharply distinguish Middle English from Old English sound system.

In the XVI-XVII centuries. consists of so-called. New England language. Scientific and philosophical works were written in English rather than Latin, and this required the development of terminology. The sources of recruitment were borrowed from Latin and Greek, and partly from the Italian and Spanish, and in the XVII century. from the French.

In the grammar of modern English language is characterized by an analytical system, such a structure in which the basic means of expressing grammatical meanings are word order and function words that show relationships between words or groups of words.

In the 2nd half of the XVII century. and especially in the XVIII century. published set of guidelines and standard pronunciation grammars whose authors seek to streamline the grammatical rules of language: one - on the basis of a rational grammar, others - on the basis of the living forms of language use. Within purist XVIII century. (J. Swift, J. Addison) was directed against the penetration of the literary English neologisms and conversational type of excessive borrowing.

In the language of the United States is not so distinct dialects, both in the UK. Based on the emergent, edited by Professor X. Kurata, "Linguistic Atlas of the United States and Canada" (1939) distinguish seven dialects, including the dialect of central and western regions of the United States - the most significant area of distribution, it is considered in the framework of the literary norms of the United States (General American).

The difference between the American and British English are most affected in vocabulary and to some degree in phonetics, grammar differences are insignificant. With a large number of neoplasm in the lexicon of English. U.S. models also are common with English UK.

1.2 The History of American English origin

A number of features and differences found in British English and American English is understandable only in light of the processes that occurred in the English language over the past centuries.

English first entered in North America in the early XVII century, when it first settlers in America tended to have created a single standard language, close to the common literary model. Therefore, the initial stage of the English language in America, largely conforms to the standards adopted in England in the XVII century.

History of the English language in America has 3.5-century. In this regard, identify two major periods of English in America:

* The early period (from the beginning of the XVII century to the end of XVIII century), which is characterized by the formation of American dialects;

* The late period (XIX-XX), characterized by the creation of American Standard English.

In XVII-XVIII centuries English language crossed the ocean in ships with British farmers and representatives of the petty and middle bourgeoisie. If we are able to return to America at the time, they found a lot of immigrants who speak Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish and even Russian languages.

English in those days was not uniform even within England in the speech of aristocrats, peasants and the bourgeoisie, it was possible to observe strong differences. Even the written English varies from writer to writer, to say nothing about the representatives of social groups. In America, did not hit the refined version of the English aristocracy, and the language of the peasantry and the bourgeoisie.

In the early seventeenth century colonists from England began to bear their own language in America. The first English settlement in North America was founded in 1607 - it was the city of Jamestown in what is now Virginia. In November 1620 who arrived on the ship "Mayflower" Puritans founded the city of Plymouth.

English North American colonies was significantly enriched at the expense of borrowing. The settlers borrowed words from Indian languages ??to refer to unfamiliar plants (eg, persimmon -??рма) and animal (raccoon -жанат.) Borrowed from the French word chowder - a kind of soup, prairie - прерия, from the Dutch - words scow - ялик, sleigh - шана. Many new words came through a combination of already known, for example, backwoods -т?кпір жер, bullfrog - ба?а (frog species). Many English words have new meaning, for example, lumber in the mv. "Кір жер" (used in the English language in the narrower sense - rags, rags); corn within the meaning of "ж?гері" (in English the word previously meant any grain, usually wheat).

It is clear that new words have appeared in so far as in the previous life of Europeans now appear set of new realities, for which the designation is in English and other languages ??had no words.

In addition to the lexicon, appeared the difference in pronunciation, in grammatical structures, particularly strong - in tone.

Often argued that if colonization occurred two or three centuries earlier, an American variant of English as much would be different from the British, French as a modern - from Italian, that is, instead of the different variants of one language would appear different languages.

Colonization occurred after the invention of printing, and continued in the Age of Enlightenment, with its ideas of universal education. Over time most of the books being read in America, were British. Moreover, many of the colonists continued to maintain ties with Britain, in which they differed from their Anglo-Saxon ancestors are known to have broken all ties with the continent after the relocation of the British Isles. Pro-British-minded Americans have denounced any "Americanisms", emphasizing the difference between them and the British.

Only in New York has more than 150 nationalities and 80 languages ??on which they speak. Thus, it is not surprising that today the completion of continuing American English lexicon of sorts, dialects, which does not contribute to the maintenance of Standard English, which can be traced, perhaps, only through the media and literature.

1.3 The History of British English origin

The history of the origin of the English language goes far back into the past. In the 1st millennium AD, Britain was inhabited by Celts (Gauls) - the ancient Indo-European tribes. Most of the Romans conquered the British Isles, and by 5-6 centuries AD Britain subjugated Anglo-Saxons.

Several areas were not captured (Mountain Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Kornoull). In these areas, to preserve local languages ??(Welsh and Gaelic), which exist today and are called Celtic.

In the VII-X century AD formed the Anglo-Saxon nation, which is absorbed and the elements of Celtic culture. Then came to Britain Scandinavians (Vikings), who spoke on the Old Icelandic. Later, in 1066 the land of England had been conquered by the French. Thus, the Anglo-Saxon language and culture mixed with the Danes, Norwegians and French - hence originated the English nation.

Conquest of England 'strongly influenced by the French in the language spoken at the time the British. Almost two thousand years French was the language of the spoken English aristocrats, English as the language was circulated only among the common people. This led to what is in the lexicon of English, a host of French expressions and vocabulary of the language is already included twice as many words. Vocabulary of English is divided into two parts: in it, along with the words of German origin was used French vocabulary. It felt very good today.

The result of the use of two languages ??to date is that in English there is a lot of words, synonyms, which are identical in meaning, but different in sound. For example, the word sheep -?ой, cow - сиыр - the words of German origin, a mutton - ?ой еті and beef - сиыр еті the French words. However, English still remains the foundation of Anglo-Saxon vocabulary of the language.

In the XIV century in Britain, the English language gets the status of the state. It is a language that is used in law, English is taught in schools and its use in the literature.

At a time when the British began mass migration to America, English is once again undergoing a change in different directions: it is, then, to some extent changed, it retained its British roots.

Three centuries ago there was only one version of the English language. But the story does not stand still. In the XVII-XIX centuries many English travelers discovered new lands, which are then settled by the British colonies or become the UK. This is the island of New Zealand, India, Asia and Africa, Australia and America. British English began to spread across the world. And in every region of the language has evolved and developed, enriched its vocabulary, phonetics and spelling.

Summing up and trying to figure out what is now British English, we should note several points.

First, what you need to stop, is the fact that today the British English language devoid of uniformity, and the second - is that he is not similar to the English language, which existed three centuries ago.

Considering the modern English language, can be identified in it are three types: received pronunciation or BBC English - language media, the standard adopted in the UK, conservative - a conservative type of language that is spoken in the parliament and the royal family members interact, and - the language in spoken by young people, it is called an advanced English.

The third type of language - advanced - being the language of young people are actively changing. It always made ??the words from other languages ??and cultural elements of other countries. Advanced english undergoes a greater degree than other types of language tend to simplify. British English vocabulary is changing. There are the names of new phenomena that occur in life, and the name of the old, existing ones modified.\

If we talk about phonetics, British English, it should be noted that this part of it has changed more than any other part. The difference lies in the dialects of their phonetics. For example, the word "love» - «махаббат» sounds differently in different dialects of English: the British dialect - "Love" on the Scottish - "LUV", as in Irish - "LIV." And there are innumerable examples.

There are three main dialects of American English, which are used to communicate the inhabitants of North America (northern dialect), South America (southern dialect) and Central America (Central dialect). Each of these dialects is divided into subdialects. Southern dialect is quite different from the others, he seems to be a foundation, the essence of pronunciation adopted in American English. By the classical British English dialect closest to the north. He talked the inhabitants of the eastern coast. It was here during the emigration moved people from the UK.

If we talk about the United Kingdom, there also exist different dialects specific to a particular area. So distinguished Irish, Welsh, Scottish, South-eastern and south-western, central and northern dialects.

Closest to the classic English language in which to communicate with New Zealand, Australia and Ireland. These countries are fairly isolated geographically from other countries. That is why the English language in them has not changed much - the impact on him of languages ??and cultures of other countries was limited. The main differences between the dialects of those countries is not so in the very phonetics, as in the melody of the language. Words are pronounced evenly, interdental sound is replaced by the usual th-, etc. In addition, the Irish dialect, which formed the basis Celtic language, a musical, melodious. It contains a neutral vowel between the consonants (which applies to the pronunciation). The rhythm of the Australian dialect slower, he was deprived of violent overtones. In the 1990s a new dialect. Estuary English, spread through south-east England. It developed from a combination of Cockney and RP, and was the result of the upward social movement of some Cockney speakers and a downward trend from RP by some middle-class speakers. Estuary English was adopted by some people as a feature of a new classless society. It can be heard in Parliament and on television though it seems less popular than originally, perhaps because many people find its accent unattractive. It has some of the glottal stops found in Cockney, and in words like hill the /i/ is replaced by /l/, so hill is pronounced /hll;/. Non-standard forms include the use of was for were, as in 'We was walking home', and variant prepositions such as off of, as in 'She got off of the bus'.

The spread of Estuary English provoked a strong reaction among people who believed that the standard of English was falling. Previously, there was a distinction between written English and the more informal spoken language. This has been reduced in recent years, with many books and newspapers using easier, more informal English to reach a wider group of readers.

Some people are also worried about the increasing influence of American English. Both written and spoken British English are today more aggressive and direct. But one development which most people welcome is the campaign to replace the difficult and obscure language used on official forms with plain English.

Britain has no language academy to set and enforce standards, though recently there have been calls for one to be set up. Others argue that rules laid down by such an organization would hinder the natural development of the language and would in any case probably be resisted by the public.

As far as American English, we can say that in America formed a completely new language. Here the British English language has changed completely. The innovations were introduced in phonetics, vocabulary and even grammar, the most stable part of the language. Today, American English is called a simplified version of British English.



Chapter 2. Similarities and differences between American English and British English languages

2.1 Lexical differences between American and British varieties of English

These differences are due to multiple borrowings in the American version of the language of the Indian languages ??and Spanish. Many of the lexical differences are minor - for example, changing one word in the phrase: Amer. Keep tabs on - Brit. Keep check on - «follow anyone» or «біреуді андып ж?ру» .

In school, we think, it is advisable to pay attention to the lexical differences that may cause confusion in understanding. For example, subway in the United States means "underground", and in the UK - "underpass»; pavement in the U.S. - "Bridge" in the UK - "sidewalk." Also pay attention to the difference in the spelling of many words in the U.S. and Britain.

In general, in American spelling words of French origin in a written-our-or (honor, splendor); instead of the-re in a number of words spelled-er (theater, center). These differences are largely credited November Webster (1758-1843), who introduced the American version of the practice of writing-er rather than-re (center 'орталы?, meter 'метр', theater 'театр'),-or instead of - our (favor '?ызмет', honor 'намыс', labor 'е?бек'), check, instead cheque 'check', connection instead of the connexion 'байланыс', jail instead of gaol 'т?рме', story instead storey '?абат', etc. Another feature of the modern spoken language Americans - designation of a class of objects or phenomena one of the words of this class. This phenomenon is called a synecdoche (a designation of parts). Thus, according to MA Goldenkova, "Americans of all birds of prey called hawks», that is, the "?аршы?а". They also noted the use of the word bug - «?о?ыз» symbols of all the beetles in general (the latter meaning of the word - «электронды есту ??ралы» which gave rise in the Russian language to call such devices "?о?ыз") and the words of pine - «?ара?ай» within the meaning of" шырша"(including Christmas). There is another common area of English vocabulary, which has been actively penetrate into literature and film, and requires special explanation . We are talking about American slang. Slang is a fairly large part of the vocabulary of the modern American language. In XX century, there is an active process of transition slang vocabulary in English literature. In the recent past were such slang is now common words and phrases, as of course, to take part, to get up, lunch. It should be said about the expression, which has recently included in all textbooks of English, being the origin of American slang idiom. This expression is OK, colloquial abbreviation of the phrase all correct («б?рі жа?сы"). There are also the following meanings of the word:

1. "Please" (response to an expression of gratitude)

2. "Healthy" (in response to a question such as «How are you?», «How is your wife?»)

3. "Correctly"

4. "All right"

5. "Good," "Okay" (a synonym for «all right»).

Currently, there is an active penetration of the English language other than the usual for us, the options of affirmation and negation. Instead, yes, even the British now use yea. In addition, "the British are often on the Canadian way of speaking is not yes, a yap, and not as a pore." American English has had an impact on the functioning of proper names. "In this century, continued to develop the tradition of using derivatives of full names (diminutives and diminutives forms) as separate names." Derivatives names in modern English are used not only in the private household level of communication (among relatives, friends and acquaintances), but in a formal setting. An example of this is the names of some U.S. presidents: James Earl Carter declined to Jimmy Carter, William Jefferson Clinton - to Bill Clinton.

In conclusion of this section I present an example of interpretation of Americanisms in speech, borrowed from an article by B. JI. Drilling. A researcher examines a fragment of the script for the film «Forrest Gump» («Форест Гамп», this film is well known in this country) in terms of features to keep it in American culture. This kind of work can be done at school. In this episode, the hero of the film recalls how his mother arranged for school, his voice sounds behind the scenes: Forrest: She wanted me to have the finest education, so she took me to the Greenbow Country Central School. I met the principal and all. Principal: The state requires a minimum I. Q. of eighty to attend public school, Mrs. Gump. He's going to have to go to a special school.

Форрест: Анам мені жа?сы білім алу ?шін Мемлекеттік Орталы? Мектепке алып келді. Мен барлы? балалар мен директорды кездестірдім.

Директор: О?ушыларды? ал?ан IQ балы сексен болу керек, сонда ?ана олар Мемлекеттік мектепте білім алады екен.

Мисис Гамп:Енді ол арнайы (м?гедектерге арнал?ан) мектепке ?ана баруы тиіс.

Сomments:

1. Principal - Director of public school. To designate the director of a private school in the U.S. use Anglicism headmaster.

2. Public school - public school, where education is free, as opposed to private school - a private school. In Britain, public school - private school.

3. Special school in the American system of education means a school "for special groups": disabled, handicapped, mentally handicapped.

4. Finally, the need to comment grammatical form «He's going to have to go». Here, the expression «to be going to» has grammatical meaning of the future tense. The proposal can also be translated as "He'll have to go to school for mentally retarded children.



2.2 Grammatical differences

1. There is a difference in the use of verb tenses. So, instead of Present Perfect American can use the Past Simple. Waiver of Perfect Tenses in the spoken language has become so commonplace that it is time to introduce grammar phrase: «Did you go see« Redheat »with Arnold?» (Сен Арнольдпен «Жирен шашты» к?руге бардындар ма? ) Seems to many Americans perfectly natural and correct, but situationally by all standards, including those described in U.S. grammars need Perfect: «Have you seen ... ? "Or, at least in spoken form:« Seen «Redheat» yet? »Usually, the main contribution to the neglect of the times of Perfect attributed to immigrants from those countries which lack sophisticated language of the times mentioned, and Russian. However, any English speaking Americans will take advantage of Perfect, if the other choice will make a statement ambiguous or unclear. Past participle verb got sound like gotten.

2. Instead of the auxiliary verb shall in the United States used will, which, in turn, supplanted by a form gonna - spoken version of going to. It is now the general tendency of English. In a complex system of verb tenses, gradually to replace the temporary binary system of Old English, which originally expressed the idea of time as an opposition to present-future time past, seen two major changes. The first is the increasingly common use of advanced forms of the type I am eating 'I eat (д?л ?азір)' at the expense of simple shapes such as I eat (мен ?рдайым тама? ішемін). "This change stems from a desire to make the action described by the verb, more vitality and realism - and this it differs from other recent trends in language, in general, striving for greater efficiency and brevity of language expression. The second change is the increased use of advanced forms of the verb go 'ж?ру' to send the nearest future, as in saying We are going to write «We're going to write"(Біз жазайын деп жатырмыз) instead We will write «We will write (Біз жазамыз)" The verb go, signifying the first walk '?ыдырып ж?ру' (as in Bunyan in Pilgrim's Way: «I have resolved to run when I can, to go when I cannot run, and to creep when I cannot go» Мен ж?гіре алма?анша,жор?ала алма?анша,еш?ашан ж?ре алма?анша дейін ж?гіремін,жор?алаймын,ж?ремін деп шештім'), now lost so much of his former real value that can be used as an auxiliary verb in itself, as in the expression: We are going to go a long way "Біз ?за? жол ж?рейін деп жатырмыз."

3. Also spoken in American English language version of such a pronounced tendency of the English verb to do, as a form of gradual replacement of a third party does form first and second person do. This applies to the negative form of the verb. This tendency manifests itself in the British version of the language (as an example line from a song by the group «The Beatles» - «She's got a ticket to ride, and she don't care" Оны? кету ?шін билеті бар, біра? о?ан б?рібір), then there is not actually American. However, the literary norm is still the use of the verb in the third person does.

4. In the American version of the language is not used after the verb should demand, insist, require, and others like, for example: «I demanded that he apologize» (Мен оны кешірім с?расын деп с?рап т?рмын) instead of «I demanded that he should apologise»(Мен оны? кешірім с?ра?аны ж?н деп ?алаймын ) in the British version.

5. Many of the irregular verbs (for example, to burn (жану), to spoil (??ртып алу) in the American version of the language is correct.

6. The different articles are used. For example, «to / in THE hospital» (Ауруханада )in the American version, while in the UK «to / in hospital» without the article.

7. Often in the same terms, instead of just one excuse used by another, for example, «on the weekend / on weekend» (демалыста) instead of «at the weekend / at weekend» in the British version; «on a street»(к?шеде) instead of «in a street».

8. Many expressions in the American version of the language are changing. For example, an American will say «take a shower / a bath» (шомылу )instead of «have a shower / a bath». Instead of «needn't» uses a sophisticated form of «don't need to»

9. Adjectives slow and real are used as adverbs: Do not likes to drive slow (instead slowly). She's real nice (instead of really).

10. Americans are less likely than English, use the plural form with number of verb in collective nouns (the audience were «к?рермендер болды», the government have «?кіметте бар»). However, despite all the above, most of the grammatical features of American English do not have the modern English legal status.

What are the main differences between British and American English? The next significant difference between British English to American is in the grammar. First of all, the difference in the definition of plural and singular. Americans believe that the designation of a country (eg France) want to use a single number, and the British claim that in this case it is necessary to use the plural number. Accordingly, in British and American language in the case of countries used different pronouns and verb forms.

The same situation in the use of words denoting a generalized concept - for example, "Airlines" or "police". Americans consume is singular, and the British - the plural, because it is not about one person, and their combination. As in British and American English differ methods of application of various prepositions (on, at, in, to) and some forms of verbs (this is often associated with the habit of Americans to reduce or even "throw" of the proposal auxiliary verbs).

Finally, in these versions of English there are some differences in punctuation and syntax. With a polite form of address in writing in Britain do not put a period after Mr, Mrs or Dr, unlike America, where the write Mr. Jones instead of Mr Jones. There is also a difference in the form of quotes - Americans consume double apostrophe "..." and British single '...'. Pronounced difference between the inhabitants of Great Britain and America in the writing of the date and time.

Many experts recommend to start learning a foreign language is still a classic British. It is more complex and multifaceted, but if people will master it, it would not be difficult to quickly "retrained" in American English.

It must be said that, initially, the British and American English is no different. Already in the seventeenth century, the American language was very diverse and depend on the particular region and social stratum, which was used.

Now the English language in the United States of America no longer has its former diversity and is mostly well-regulated.

In the grammar differences between American and British languages ??are very small and rather private. A similar situation is observed in the field of phonetics.

2.3 British English and American English pronunciation

In 1877, the British philologist Henry Sweet said that within a century “England,

America, and Australia will be speaking mutually unintelligible languages owing to their independent changes of pronunciation.” Fortunately, this grim prediction did not come true. Still, more than 300 million people in the world today speak English as their mother tongue, and many differences between varieties of English do exist. But the differences in terms of vocabulary, grammar, or spelling are remarkably small compared with differences of accent. Accent is the term which linguists use when they refer to the pronunciation features typical of people who belong to the same geographical region or social class; speakers' accents may also reflect their age, sex, level of education, etc. It is difficult to say exactly how many accents of English there are. Even within the United Kingdom, there are accents as varied as Scottish English, Irish English, Welsh English, Cockney, a newly-emerged accent called Estuary English, and many others. But as far as the teaching of English pronunciation to foreign learners is concerned, the choice of a model accent has traditionally been limited to what can be considered the two “standard” accents in Great Britain and the USA.

In the United States, this is an accent called General American, or GA. In fact, the label “General American” covers a range of accents which don't exhibit any Eastern or Southern local colouring. General American is the pronunciation used by the majority of the population of the United States and by most US radio and TV announcers. It is also the model accent used in teaching English in such parts of the world as Central and South America, the Philippines, etc.

In Britain, the accent traditionally considered to be the standard pronunciation model is known under the somewhat strange name Received Pronunciation, or RP (where “Received” is interpreted as meaning “generally accepted”). It is regarded as the appropriate pronunciation model to be used in teaching English as a foreign language in those parts of the world where British rather than American English is traditionally taught. Although it is sometimes associated with the way educated people in the south-east of England speak, RP is generally considered to be regionally “neutral”: it is not an accent typical of any particular geographical region in Britain, and can be heard anywhere in the country. According to some authors1, about 10% of the English are speakers of Received Pronunciation. On the other hand, the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language tells us that today less than 3% of the people in Britain speak RP in a pure form. At the same time, it could be argued what the features of such a “pure” form are, because at present several varieties of RP exist. An example of the one most widely used - “General RP”2 - is the accent which can be heard on the BBC. But there are at least two more varieties: a “conservative” form of RP spoken mostly by

the older generation as well as in some professional circles, and often also associated with the “Establishment”, and “advanced” RP which is used predominantly by younger people belonging to certain professional and social groups, and is believed to set the trend for future developments.

In the last few years, however, a new term - BBC pronunciation has become

popular. There are several reasons for its emergence, the most important of which are the existing diversity within RP itself, and the fact that today the term “Received Pronunciation” often evokes negative attitudes in many younger people because of the connotations of high socio-economic status and superiority which RP still has for many people. The term “BBC pronunciation”, on the other hand, doesn't carry any such implications of social superiority and prestige.

There are many differences between British and American English which don't concern pronunciation. For example, in England you live in a block of flats, take the underground and go on holiday. In the United States, you live in an apartment house, take the subway and go on vacation. These are examples of vocabulary differences.

There are several ways in which accents may differ. They may have different phonemic inventories, that is, different numbers of distinctive vowel or consonant sounds. They may differ in terms of the actual phonetic realizations of their phonemes in the flow of speech. Other differences may involve phonotactics - the positions in the word and the syllable in which the phonemes of a language can occur, the pronunciation of groups of common lexical words, patterns of word stress, rhythm, intonation, and so on.

Differences in the British and American versions of Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

Bridget Jones's Diary is a best-selling novel by the English author, Helen Fielding. The book was first published in Great Britain in 1996; the first American edition of the book was published in 1998. On both sides of the Atlantic the book stayed on the best-seller list for several months. The novel was such a success that it was soon followed by a sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason . Both of these books have also been made into movies.

Bridget Jones is single, thirty-something English woman who worked first in publishing and later for a TV company. The book consists of her diary entries; every day starts with a list of her weight, calories consumed, cigarettes smoked, and alcohol units enjoyed. Bridget's life is a constant struggle with weight problems, boyfriend problems, problems with parents and all the other typical challenges women today face.

Bridget Jones's Diary is a very British book. It is situated in London, and instead of trying to appear universal in its references, it parades British celebrity names, TV-programs, magazines, stores and products. In an internet interview Helen Fielding said that only very little was changed from the British version to the American one (Interviews). What kind of changes were made in translating such a British book to the American market? How much is “very little”?

Differences in Spelling

In her book An Introduction to American English, Gunnel Tottie states that most differences in spelling between British and American English are of a systematic nature and follow certain, clear rules (10). In Bridget Jones's Diary many of these spelling regularities can be found. Not all differences, however, follow those rules, and sometimes both British English and American English can have parallel spellings of the same word (Tottie 11).

In American English, the British endings -our and -er are usually changed to -or and -re. These examples were found in Bridget Jones's Diary:

BRITISH VERSION TRANSLATION AMERICAN VERSION

honour (20) намыс honor (18)

colour (130) т?с color (112)

behaviour (127) т?ртіп behavior (109)

neighbour (181) к?рші neighbor (157)

savoury (303) ащы savory (264)

centre (26) орталы? center (23)

According to another rule, American English has only one letter l before different endings, like -ing and -ed. American English also prefers the shorter version, simplifying the British English ending -logue to the form -log. There are systematic differences also in words ending with -ence Some words, which are spelled with -ence in British English, are spelled with -ense in American English. Examples of these also appear in the book.

BRITISH VERSION TRANSLATION AMERICAN VERSION

marvellous (101) та??арарлы? marvelous (88)

snivelling (181) жыламсырау sniveling (157)

counselling (187) ке?ес counseling (162)

licence (126) лицензия license (108)

catalogue (128) тізбе catalog (110)

However, not to make things too simple, there are exceptions to the rule. In British English the word is practise whereas in American English the same word is spelled practice (BV 196, AV 170).

The spellings of loanwords from Greek and Latin often have differences. Americans have a more simple spelling, using only e instead of ae or oe as in British English. Though there are many rules guiding to the right spelling of words, great many words behave irregularly and should simply be memorized. Even though Bridget Jones's Diary has kept many references to the British culture unchanged, all the spelling differences have been accurately corrected.

BRITISH VERSION TRANSLATION AMERICAN VERSION

leukaemia (152) лейкемия leukemia (130)

gynaecologist (196) гинеколог gynecologist (170)

programme (3) ба?дарлама program (3)

grey (13) с?р gray (12)

nighty (99) іш к?йлек nightie (86)

advert (131) жарнама ad (113)

ageing (148) ?артаю aging (127)

aeroplane (278) ?ша? airplane (243)

pyjamas (297) пижама pajamas (258)

Different Wordings

Different spellings are not the only dissimilarities between these two versions. There are also several lexical differences. Food and car terminologies are among those generally with the most differences (Hopkins), and also in Bridget Jones's Diary these areas use their own vocabulary. Some English brand names have been changed to common nouns or to some other brand names, which the American publisher feels are more familiar to the American readers.

· In the British version one opens the bonnet (38) and puts something into the boot (281) of the car whereas the American version uses the words hood(34) and trunk (244).

· The British Bridget Jones has wholemeal toast (74), jacket potatoes or jackets spuds (74), Frankfurter sausages (116) and vanilla pods (266), whereas the American Bridget eats whole-wheat toast (65), potatoes or baked spuds (65), frankfurters (100) and vanilla beans (232).

· In the British version there are snacks like peppermint Aero and Hobnobs, the dishes are washed with Fairy liquid, and Codis is taken for headache. The American version equivalencies are Toblerone, chocolate biscuits, washing-up liquidand Aspirin.

An interesting detail is that Peppermint Aero, a popular chocolate bar in England, has been changed to Toblerone, another European chocolate bar. In this particular book the localization has not clearly been executed to the utmost. Codis is a common painkiller in the Great Britain, but it is not known in the USA.

The old-fashioned saying “happy as sandboys” (BV 42) has been changed to “happy as larks” in the American publication (37). A git (98) used in British English for somebody stupid or worthless, is replaced by the American word geek (85). In American English the word geek often refers to someone who is very interested in computers, a nerd.

On page 108 Bridget Jones refers to screwing up her [lottery] ticket, which means she wrinkles the ticket. In American English to screw up means "to go wrong”, and to screw, in the vulgar style, means “to have sexual intercourse”. Thus the American version uses the word crumple instead. Another example of the word having different, in this case likewise a vulgar meaning, is the word bollock. Bridget Jones got a bollocking for being late from a meeting (BV 275), meaning that she was severely reprimanded. In the USA the word bollock would be unfamiliar to most people, but in plural the word has also the same meaning as the word balls referring to testicles. In the American version Bridget is thus told off for being late (240). Political correctness hence also guides the choice of words.

Punctuation and Measurements

British and American versions of Bridget Jones's Diary follow their own grammatical rulings and practices, and British English and American English use periods, commas and quotations marks in a different way. In many situations Americans use periods in the end of abbreviations (for example Mr. or Dr.) whereas the British leave the period out (Mr or Dr). Also the use of quotations marks is dissimilar: American English uses double quotation marks and British English single quotations marks. In addition there are varying ways to announce weight. Although both countries use the same weight system, pounds and ounces, Americans do not use the unit stone2 (Tottie 78) and therefore Bridget Jones's weight is throughout the book reported in a different fashion. Below there are some examples of these differences:

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