Re: What are the basic differences between British and American English?

echoingmemories wrote:
There are considerable divergences between British and American English
in spelling, vocabulary and pronunciation.

This distinction is far too simple. English pronunciation and usage
vary hugely within the UK, and I imagine even more within Britain as a
whole. There seems to be quite a variety of difference across the
Americas, as well.

Americans pronounce words like
'dance', 'fast', 'grass', 'half', and 'path' with the low front 'ae'
heard as in 'cat', 'sat', etc.

I'm English, and I pronounce all those words with [A], a low front
vocoid of short duration. Listening to Yanks, I typically hear [æ:] in
these words, which is a little higher. Some Yanks raise this a lot when
it's followed by a nasal, so _dance_ would be [dI:ns] in some speakers.
I couldn't say about other types of Americans (such as Canadians).

Again in American pronunciation words
like 'dock', 'fog', 'hot', and 'rod' are pronounced with a low back 'a'
as heard in 'father' (shortened).

Presumably you're talking about a low back vocoid [a] (short duration)
or [a:] (long duration). In my village we pronounce these words with
[a].

Words like 'duke' and 'steward' are pronounced as if the first syllable contained
a (u:) sound.

In my village we pronounce these words /du:k/ > [dUwk'] and /stu:@d/ >
[stUw@d] (['] indicates glottalisation of the preceding segment). Does
any native speaker of English really pronounce _duke_ as [du:k],
anywhere in the world? In lects with a pure vowel realisation, I would
expect a vowel of short duration.

Again the
't' sound in 'beating', 'matter', and 'metal' become voiced sound very
much like 'd'.

Many (I venture most) lects of the UK exhibit changes in /p/ /t/ /k/
after vowels. Glottalisation and convertion to glottal stops are
common, but there are some speakers who voice the consonants. The
comedian Paul Whitehouse used to portray a character called Smashie,
who pronounced _charity_ [tSER@dIj] ([R] = alveolar approximant).

American English pronunciation and intonation is more level. American
speech is therefore more monotonous in sound, but at the same time it
is generally more distinct than the English speech.

Is this comment restricted only to English speech, rather than UK
speech or British speech? Does this apply to all lects of England?

An English man lives in Oxford street, whereas an American will usually
live on it.

I'm pretty sure I usually use _on_ for this. _in_ doesn't sound
unusual, but I think I produce _on_ more often.

An English man caters for somebody, while an American
caters to him.

I would use either.

The films and American
literature have made people in England quite familiar with the new
words and terms of expression in America at the same time.

This sentence appears to refer to the whole of America (a vast land
mass including many countries) but contains no reference to parts of
Britain outside Engalnd. Is this what you really meant?

For example,
'old senses of words', 'old words and phrases' that have been totally
vanished from the British English region are still retained in American
English. Thus we find words like 'critter', 'figger', 'git', 'jine', 'ketch', 'sartin', 'vermint',
and 'afeared' instead of modern British English like 'creature',
'figure', 'get', 'join', 'catch', 'certain', 'vermin' and 'afraid'
respectively.

With the possible expection of the last item, you're talking about
cognate words with different pronunciations and, as far as I can tell,
the same meaning. How is that words or senses of words vanishing?

In the UK it is typical to pronounce _figure_ as though it were spelt
<figger>.

In my village we pronounce _get_ as though it were spelt <git>.

American English has borrowed words from those who have come into its
contact. From the Red-Indian words such as 'catalpa' (a flowery tree),
'hickory', 'tapioca', 'canoe', etc. have been borrowed. Also there are
American terms which are translated from Red Indians language like
'fire water', 'pale face', 'pipe of peace' and 'war path'. From the
French have been borrowed the words like 'leave', 'seep', 'shanty',
'prairie', 'rapids', 'portage', and 'caribou'. From Spanish have come
'creole', 'quadroon', 'stampede', 'chile', 'ranch', etc.

If by _chile_ you mean 'chili' (hot pepper), then I use all those terms
except _catalpa_, _portage_ and _quadroon_.

From Dutch have been borrowed 'boss', 'cold', etc.
From Irish 'cadger', to let on (pretend), jumpy, jaw (impudent, talk),
wad (bundle), to quit (stop), etc. have been taken. But the largest
number of loans are from German has given the words like 'dumb' (slow,
stupid), 'loafer', 'frank-furter', 'hamburger', and educational terms
like 'semester' and 'seminar'.

I use _boss_, _cold_, _jumpy_, _wad_, _dumb_, _loafer_, _Frankfurter_,
_hamburger_ and _seminar_, though to me _dumb_ means 'mute' rather than
'stupid'.

It is a fact that the literary language of the USA and that of Great
Britain are more or less the same.

Is this sentence about Great Britain only? Is the literary language of
Ulster so different?

The above discussed facts are more or less an obvious record of the
distinctive features of the American English and the British English.

A great many of the things you've labelled as specifically 'American'
are in everyday use in the UK, and I imagine in other parts of Britain
as well.

How are you using the term 'more or less obvious' here?

Samuel

.

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