If we consider all these words from the point of view of the "building materials" of which they are made we shall see that these are all familiarly English, even though the words themselves cannot be found in the vocabulary of British English. Yet, both the word-building pattern of composition and the constituents of these compounds are easily recognized as essentially English.

Later proper Americanisms are represented by names of objects, which are called differently in the United States and in England. E. g. the British chemist's is called drug store or druggist's in the United States, the American word for sweets (Br.) is candy, luggage (Br.) is called baggage (Amer.), underground (Br.) is called subway (Amer.), lift (Br.) is called elevator (Amer.), railway (Br.) is called railroad (Amer.), carriage (Br.) is called car (Amer.), car (Br.) is called automobile (Amer.).

If historical Americanisms have retained their 17lh-c. meanings (e. g. fall, n. mad, adj., sick. adj.), there are also words which though they can be found both in English and in American vocabulary, have developed meanings chaharacteristic of American usage. The noun date, is used both in British and American English in the meanings "the time of some event''; "the day of the week or month"; "the year"» On the basis of these meanings. in American English only; another meaning developed: an appointment for a particular time (transference based on contiguity: the day and time of an appointment > appointment itself).

American vocabulary is rich in borrowings. The principal groups of borrowed words are the same as were pointed out for English vocabulary. Yet, there are groups of specifically American borrowings which reflect the historical contacts of the Americans with other nations on the American continent.

These are for instance Spanish borrowings (e. g. ranch, sombrero, canyon, cinch) Negro borrowings (e. g. banjo) and especially Indian borrowings. The latter are rather numerous and have a pecular flavour of their own: wigwam, squaw, moccasin, toboggan, caribou, tomahawk. There are also some translation-loans of Indian origin: pale-face (the name of the Indians for all white people), war path, war paint, pipe of peace, fire-water.

These words are used metaphorically in both American and British modern communication. A woman who is too heavily made up may be said to wear war paint, and a person may be warned against an enemy by: Take care: he is on the war path (i.e. he has hostile intentions).

Many of the names of places, rivers, lakes, even of states, are of Indian origin, and hold in their very sound, faint echoes of the distant past of the continent. Such names as for instance, Ohio (ou'haiou], Michigan [' ], Tennessee [tene'si:], Illinois [ ], Kentucky [ ] sound exotic and romantic. These names awake dim memories of those olden times when Indian tribes were free in the sole masters of the vast unspoiled beautiful.

Thus, American English has absorbed many words from different languages.

1) Indian: vigvam - вигвам, tpmagauk -томагавк.

2) Holland (Dutch): boss, hamburger - рубленый шницель, bloodwurstd, noodle, dollar.

3) French: "-vill" -Jecksonvil, Luisiana, Detroit.

4) Spanish: cafeteria, runcho, Quarteron (mixture of Indian and white)

5) Amer. E.: fall (autumn), I guess (I think), mad (angry). Some words preserve very old meanings: to hit - to reach (достигать), The news hit the headline. We hit the station. to raise - to breed (chicken)

6) New Americanisms are coined by different devices common for both varieties:

ragtime - синкопированная музыка

chewing gum - жевательная резинка

campus - университет

chainstores - магазины одной фирмы

downtown - деловая часть

downtime - простой, вынужденное безделье

dark horse - неожиданно избранный, неизвестный кандидат

favourite son - кандидат, имеющий больше шансов

all-outer - сторонник решительных мер

color-bar - расовая дискриминация

give-away policy -- политика уступок

7) Interrelations between Br.E. and Am.E. are explained by extralinguistic (close economic, political, cultural, military ties) and linguistic factors. Linguistic reasons - Br.E. and Am.E. are the same language, sometimes the Englishman isn't aware of a new word, its being American or English.

The Br. E. affected the Am.E. up to the end of the XVIII century. Later the situation changed and in the XIX c. the influence of the American words on the Br.E. accelerated.

The causes: the political rise of the USA in the world at the beginning of the XIX c. The English of the USA does not differ from that of the British Isles. The elder generation is allergic to American words: home town = native town, to relax = to get up, to publicise = to boost, noncens = bunk [^], up-and coming = обещающий, подающий надежды, excuse = alibi, to be averse = to be allergic.

ENGLISH IN AN INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT

Today, a greater variety of languages may be spoken in the United States than ever before. The impact, particularly in cities where immigrants settle in large numbers, is very evident. The Los Angeles Times (2/10/88) reported that lhe 160,000 students enrolled in the Los Angeles Unified School District spoke a staggering eighty-one different languages! Predictably, some Americans oppose the costs of providing multilingual services, and many more feel threatened by such linguistic and cultural diversity. Some have even organized attempts, which have been successful in some stales, to pass laws making English the official language. According to the New York Times (2/8/90), by the end of 1988, sixteen stales had adopted laws or constitutional amendments making English their official language. Thus far, these laws are mostly symbolic expressing citizens' fears for the primacy of English but having little or no effect on the day-to-day operations of stale governments and not impinging on isly enacted measures like those mandating multilingual ballots or court iterpreters for non-English-speaking defendants in criminal trials. But a , federal judge nonetheless nullified an Arizona constitutional amendment making English the language "of all government functions and actions." ruling that. in violated federally protected free speech rights.

Does the United States need laws 10 protect and promote English? We don't think so. For one thing, cultural uniformity can't be achieved by force of law and threat of penalty. But equally important, the English language is under no threat. Today, English is a world language, a native language to more than 16.000.000 people and a second language to 1,336,000,000 more. In addition, English serves as a lingua franca, an agreed upon vehicle of communication for specific purposes among speakers who may not share any other language, for countless others ranging from airline pilots to computer scientist. Globally, American English is only one of a number of major national dialects with their own unique features. Some of the larger communities of speakers of distinctive dialects of English as a first language include those who speak British English (56.000.000 speakers); South Asian English, including the people of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan (estimated a 27,000,000)

Canadian English (17,000,000), Australian English (14,000,000); Irish English (3,300,000); New Zealand English 3,000,000), South African English (2,000,000); and Jamaican English (2,300,000). But there are many other "world Englishes," as figure indicates.

Worldwide, British and American English have been most influential on learners of English as a foreign language through the major involvement by speakers of those dialects in leaching English as a foreign language (EFL). But none of the varieties, including British and American, can claim preeminence on linguistic grounds as the standard for the others. Each is a legitimate version of English. Just as that abstract entity American English is in the broadest sense the sum of its regional and social dialects, so Global English must be defined as the sum of various national and local varieties.

Within the United Slates. English also exists in an international context as one language amid many.

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