American English (AmE) is the form of English used in the United States. It includes all English dialects used within the United States of America.

British English (BrE) is the form of English used in the United Kingdom. It includes all English dialects used within the United Kingdom. [3]

This subject could, and does, fill many volumes, but the most obvious and representative differences between English English and American English include:

[10. p. 202]

1.3.1 Differences in American and English Vocabulary

It's easy to point out the differences between the American and the English vocabulary: the differences seem quaint and there are comparatively so few that Americans can easily spot them. Many of the differences are merely a matter of preference: Americans prefer railroad and store while the English prefer the synonyms railway and shop, but all four words are used in both England and America. In addition, Americans know or can easily guess what braces, fishmongers, or pram means, just as the English know or can figure out what innerspring mattress, jump rope, and ice water mean. Finally, many of the words that once separated American English from English English no longer do: American cocktail (1806), skyscraper (1833), and supermarket (1920s) are now heard around the world, and the English increasingly use radio, run (in a stocking), and Santa Claus instead of wireless, ladder, and Father Christmas. The following list gives some of the most interesting and typical differences between the American and English vocabulary, differences that may especially interest tourists and those who enjoy both American and English books and movies.

Examples:

· airfield-aerodrome.

· apartment; apartment house, apartment building; block of flats (to an Englishman an apartment means a room). Our high-rise apartment (building) is the English tower block (of flats).

· barbershop-barber's shop. The English frequently use the possessive - V or - s' where we do not, as in dolts house, ladies' room, and shop.

· can opener-tin opener,

· candy-sweets [10. p. 203]

There are, of course, hundreds of more terms that differ in American English and British English. American use of prepositions sometimes also differs: Americans live on a street, the English live in it; Americans chat with people, the English chat to them; Americans speak of an increase in something, the English of an increase on it; Americans get snowed in, they get snowed up; Americans say something is different/row something else, the English say it is different to it.

[10. p.210]

1.3.2 Differences in American and English Pronunciation

The major difference in American and English pronunciation is in intonation and voice timbre. Americans speak with less variety of tone than the English. American voice timbre seems harsh or tinny to the English, their's gurgling or throaty to Americans. English conclusion: Americans speak shrilly, monotonously, and like a schoolboy reciting. American conclusion: the English speak too low, theatrically, and swallow their syllables. [2]

The more precise differences include:

Americans pronounce the `a' in such words as ask, brass, can't, dance, fast, grass, half, last, and path as a short, fiat [a]; the English pronounce it more as the broad [a:] in father. American shorter, flatter [a] is just a continuation of the way first colonists from Southern England pronounced it; the English dropped this pronunciation in the 18th century and began to use the broad [a:] (this same change took place in parts of New England and the South, giving some Americans the pronunciation of aunt as "ahnt" and vase as "vahz"). [10. p.210]

On the other hand, most Americans sound the short [o] in such words as box, hot, lot, not, pot, and top almost as the broad [a:] in father, while the English (and some New Englanders) give it a more open sound, with the lips rounded.

And some are just unique pronunciations of individual words. Such miscellaneous differences in pronunciations include:

· ate, Americans say "eight"-"et" is an accepted English pronunciation.

· been, Americans say "bin"-the English say "bean. "

· clerks - "dark. "

· either, neither, most Americans say, "e-ther, ne-ther"-"I-ther, ni-

· ther" is the English pronunciation.

· issue, Americans say "ish-you"-the English say "is-sue. "

· leisure, most Americans say "le-sure"-the English say "laysure. "

· lieutenant, Americans say "lew-tenant"-the English say "lef-tenant. "

· nephew, Americans say "nef-hew"-the English say "nev-hew. "

· schedule, Americans say "sked-ule"-the English say "shed-ule." [10. p.211]

1.3.3 Differences in American and English Spelling

When the colonists came to America, spelling was not a problem-if a man could write at all he was lucky. English spelling was not yet rule-ridden: `i' and `y', as well as `u' and `v', were often used interchangeably. Not until 135 years after the Pilgrims landed did English spelling have a guide in Dr. Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language. This monumental work froze much of English spelling and, among other things, decreed that such words as critick, loglck, musick, andpublick end in a final k and such words as colour, honour, etc., end in - our. [10. p.212]

England, including its colonies, began to follow Johnson's spelling; but, in 1758, three years after Johnson's dictionary was published, Noah Webster was born, in Hartford, Connecticut, and 21 years after Johnson's dictionary the American Revolution began-two events that were to help separate English English and American English. After graduating in law from Yale, Webster couldn't make a living doing legal work, so he became a teacher. He then found English schoolbooks hard to obtain, and unsatisfactory, so he compiled his own three-part Grammatical Institute of the English Language, including an elementary spelling book (in 1783), a grammar (in 1784) and a reader (in 1785). Part I became the fantastically successful The American Spelling Book, which went through edition after edition and sold 80 million copies in its first hundred years, 1783-1883. It was one of the most influential books ever published in America: from the time America became a nation, past the Civil War, and almost into the Gay 90s, generations of Americans learned to spell and pronounce from it, spelling and pronouncing each syllable in every word over and over again under stern teachers. It was known to millions as Webster's Speller, the Blue-Backed Spelling Book (1853) and the Blue-Backed Speller. [10. p.213]

Americans are more scrupulous about clearly articulating certain unaccented syllables, especially - ary, - ery, and - ory, and certain ds, gs, hs, Ps, rs (following vowels) and t's than the English. Thus the English say melanchy, monastery, necessary, preparatory, secretary, etc, when Americans fully articulate the final syllables. Also, except in parts of New England and the South, Americans articulate the first l in fulfill, the h in forehead, the r in lord and there, and the final t in trait, rather than pronounce them as the English do: fu'fill, for 'rid, laud, theh, and trai. [10. p.214]

The English are also more conservative in using fewer abbreviations and more capital letters and commas than Americans do. They capitalize such words as the Bar, the Church, the Government, the Press, and Society. By doing away with such capital letters, Americans are closer to the fashion of the 18th century, when the months, the days of the week, and the names of religions were often not capitalized. [10. p.215]

Written forms of American English are fairly well standardized across the United States. An unofficial standard for spoken American English has developed because of mass media and of geographic and social mobility. This standard is generally called a General American or Standard Midwestern accent and dialect, and it can typically be heard from network newscasters, although local newscasters tend toward more provincial forms of speech. Despite this unofficial standard, regional variations of American English have not only persisted, but have actually intensified, according to William Labov. [1]

Regional dialects in the United States typically reflect the elements of the language of the main immigrant groups in any particular region of the country, especially in terms of pronunciation and vernacular vocabulary. [5]

British and American English are the reference norms for English as spoken, written, and taught in the rest of the world. For instance, the English-speaking members of the Commonwealth often closely follow British English forms while many new American English forms quickly become familiar outside of the United States. [4]

Conclusion