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American and British English differences

British English (BrE)


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British English (BrE, BE, en-GB, U. This is one of a series of articles about the differences between American English and Phonology North American English regional phonology In many ways compared to English English, North American English is conservative in its Phonology. This is a list of American words not widely used in the United Kingdom. This is a list of British words not widely used in the United States. This is a list of words and phrases having differing meanings in British and American English. Differences in Pronunciation between American English (AmE and British English (BrE can be divided into differences in accent (i American and British English spelling differences are one aspect of American and British English differences. There are two major English language Keyboard layouts the United States layout and the United Kingdom layout defined in BS 4822 (48-key version This page lists works with different titles in the United Kingdom and United States. K. English) is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located [1] British English encompasses usages of English within Great Britain and Ireland,[2] though in the case of Ireland, there are further distinctions peculiar to Hiberno-English. Hiberno-English also known as Anglo-Irish and Irish English is English as spoken in Ireland, partly the result of the interaction of the English

There are slight regional variations in formal written English in the United Kingdom (for example, although the words wee and little are interchangeable in some contexts, one is more likely to see wee written by a Scottish or Northern Irish person than by someone from Southern England or Wales). Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of Southern England is an imprecise term used to refer to the southern Counties of England. Nevertheless, there is a meaningful degree of uniformity in written English within the United Kingdom, and this could be described as "British English". The forms of spoken English, however, vary considerably more than in most other areas of the world where English is spoken and a uniform concept of "British English" is therefore more difficult to apply to the spoken language. According to Tom McArthur in the Oxford Guide to World English (p.  45), "[f]or many people. . . especially in England [the phrase British English] is tautologous," and it shares "all the ambiguities and tensions in the word British, and as a result can be used and interpreted in two ways, more broadly or more narrowly, within a range of blurring and ambiguity". In Propositional logic, a tautology (from the Greek word ταυτολογία is a Propositional formula that is true under any possible valuation

Contents

History

Main article: History of the English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain by Germanic settlers and Roman auxiliary troops from various parts of what is now northwest Germany and the northern Netherlands. English is a West Germanic language which originated from the Anglo-Frisian Dialects brought to Britain by Germanic settlers English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three traditional branches of the Germanic family of Languages and include languages such as English The Anglo-Frisian languages (sometimes Insular Germanic) are a group of Ingvaeonic West Germanic languages consisting of Old English A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος dialektos) is a variety of a Language that is characteristic of a particular group of See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands The Germanic peoples are a historical group of Indo-European -speaking peoples originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Germanic Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Initially, Old English was a diverse group of dialects, reflecting the varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of England. For their language see Anglo-Saxon language. Anglo-Saxon is the term usually used to describe the invading Tribes in the south One of these dialects, Late West Saxon, eventually came to dominate. The original Old English language was then influenced by two waves of invasion. The first was by language speakers of the Scandinavian branch of the Germanic family; they conquered and colonized parts of Britain in the 8th and 9th centuries. The second was the Normans in the 11th century, who spoke Old Norman and ultimately developed an English variety of this called Anglo-Norman. The Normans were the people who gave their names to Normandy, a region in northern France. Old Norman was one of many Langue d'oïl dialects It was spoken throughout the region of what is now called Normandy and spread into England Southern The Anglo-Norman language is a term traditionally used to refer to the variety of French used in England and to some extent elsewhere in the British Isles following the These two invasions caused English to become "mixed" to some degree (though it was never a truly mixed language in the strict linguistic sense of the word; mixed languages arise from the cohabitation of speakers of different languages, who develop a hybrid tongue for basic communication). A mixed language is a Language that arises through the fusion of two source languages normally in situations of thorough Bilingualism.

Cohabitation with the Scandinavians resulted in a significant grammatical simplification and lexical enrichment of the Anglo-Frisian core of English; the later Norman occupation led to the grafting onto that Germanic core of a more elaborate layer of words from the Romance branch of the European languages. The Anglo-Frisian languages (sometimes Insular Germanic) are a group of Ingvaeonic West Germanic languages consisting of Old English This Norman influence entered English largely through the courts and government. Thus, English developed into a "borrowing" language of great flexibility and with a huge vocabulary. A loanword (or loan word) is a word directly taken into one Language from another with little or no translation The vocabulary of a person is defined either as the set of all Words that are understood by that person or the set of all words likely to be used by that person when constructing

The widespread use of English worldwide is largely attributable to the power of the former British Empire and the widespread global commerce it encouraged under free trade, and this is reflected in the continued use of the language in both its successor (the British Commonwealth, and later the Commonwealth of Nations) and many other countries. The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. Commerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer Free trade is a system in which the trade of goods and services between or within countries flows unhindered by government-imposed restrictions In the days before radio and television, most communication across the English-speaking world was by the written word. This helped to preserve a degree of global uniformity of the written language. However, due to the vast separation distances involved, variations in the spoken language began to arise. This was also aided by émigrés to the empire encountering other, non-British cultures. Émigré is a French term that literally refers to a person who has "migrated out" but often carries a connotation of politico-social self- Exile. In some cases, resulting variations in the spoken language have led to these being reflected in minor variations in written language usage, grammar and spellings in other countries.

Dialects

Dialects and accents vary not only amongst the nations of Britain, but also within the countries themselves. This is a list of varieties of the English language. Dialects are linguistic varieties which differ in Pronunciation, Vocabulary and The regional accents of English speakers show great variation across the areas where English is spoken as a first language "Home nation" (common noun redirects here home nation is also used to refer to the host country of Multi-sport events (eg There are also differences in the English spoken by different socio-economic groups in any particular region.

The major divisions are normally classified as English English (or English as spoken in England, which comprises Southern English dialects, Midlands English dialects and Northern English dialects), Welsh English, Scottish English and the closely related dialects of the Scots language. English language in England refers to the English language as spoken in England, part of the United Kingdom. Southern English English is a phrase given to describe the different dialects and accents of English English spoken in southern England. Northern English is a group of dialects of the English language. Welsh English, Anglo-Welsh, or Wenglish (see below refers to the Dialects of English spoken in Wales by Welsh people. Scottish English is the variety of English spoken in Scotland, also called Scottish Standard English. Scots ( The Scots leid) refers to Anglic varieties derived from early northern Middle English spoken in parts of Scotland and Northern The various British dialects also differ in the words that they have borrowed from other languages. The Scottish and Northern English dialects include many words originally borrowed from Old Norse and a few borrowed from Gaelic. Old Norse is the North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age Scottish Gaelic ( Gàidhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages.

Following its last major survey of English Dialects (1950–1961), the University of Leeds has started work on a new project. The Survey of English Dialects was undertaken between 1950 and 1961 under the direction of Professor Harold Orton of the English department of the The University of Leeds is a major teaching and research University in Leeds, West Yorkshire; one of the largest in the United Kingdom with In May 2007 the Arts and Humanities Research Council awarded a grant to a team led by Sally Johnson, Professor of Linguistics and Phonetics at Leeds University to study British regional dialects. The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC is a British Research Council and Non-Departmental Public Body that provides government funding [3][4]

Johnson's team are sifting through a large collection of examples of regional slang words and phrases turned up by the "Voices project" run by the BBC, in which they invited the public to send in examples of English still spoken throughout the country. The BBC Voices project also collected hundreds of news articles about how the British speak English from swearing through to items on language schools. This information will also be collated and analysed by the Johnson's team both for content and for where it was reported. "Perhaps the most remarkable finding in the Voices study is that the English language is as diverse as ever, despite our increased mobility and constant exposure to other accents and dialects through TV and radio. "[4] Work by the team on this project is not expected to end before 2010. When covering the award of the grant on 1 June, 2007, The Independent stated:

“Mr Upton, who is Professor of English at Leeds University, said that they were "very pleased" — and indeed, "well chuffed" — at receiving their generous grant. Events 193 - Roman Emperor Didius Julianus is Assassinated 987 - Hugh Capet is elected The Independent is a British compact Newspaper published by Tony O'Reilly 's Independent News & Media. The University of Leeds is a major teaching and research University in Leeds, West Yorkshire; one of the largest in the United Kingdom with He could, of course, have been "bostin" if he had come from the Black Country, or if he was a Scouser he would have been well "made up" over so many spondoolicks, because as a Geordie might say, £460,000 is a "canny load of chink"[5]”

Accent

The form of English most commonly associated with educated speakers in the southern counties of England is called the "Received Standard", and its accent is called Received Pronunciation (RP). The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton Scouse (ˈskaʊs is the accent and Dialect of English found in the city of Liverpool, and in some adjoining urban areas of Merseyside Geordie (ˈdʒɔrdi is a regional nickname for a person from the Tyneside region of England, or the name of the Dialect of English Received Pronunciation ( RP) is a form of Pronunciation of the English language (specifically British English) which has long been perceived as [6] It derives from a mixture of the Midland and Southern dialects which were spoken in London during the Middle Ages[7] and is frequently used as a model for teaching English to foreign learners[6]. Although educated speakers from elsewhere within the UK may not speak with an RP accent it is now a class-dialect more than a local dialect. . . The best speakers of Standard English are those whose pronunciation, and language generally, least betray their locality. [7] It may also be referred to as "the King's (or Queen's) English", "Public School English", or "BBC English" as this was originally the form of English used on radio and television, although a wider variety of accents can be heard these days. An independent school in the United Kingdom is a school relying upon private sources for all of its funding predominantly in the form of school fees Only approximately two percent of Britons speak RP[8], and it has evolved quite markedly over the last 40 years.

Even in the South East there are significantly different accents; the London Cockney accent is strikingly different from RP and its rhyming slang can be difficult for outsiders to understand. The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations Rhyming slang is a form of Slang in which a word is replaced either by another word or phrase that rhymes with it or by the first word of such a phrase in which

Estuary English has been gaining prominence in recent decades: it has some features of RP and some of Cockney. Estuary English is a name given to the formulation(s of English widely spoken in South East England and the East of England; especially along the In London itself, the broad local accent is still changing, partly influenced by Caribbean speech. Communities migrating to the UK in recent decades have brought many more languages to the country. Surveys started in 1979 by the Inner London Education Authority discovered over 100 languages being spoken domestically by the families of the inner city's school children. The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA was the education authority for the 12 inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990 As a result, Londoners speak with a mixture of accents, depending on ethnicity, neighbourhood, class, age, upbringing, and sundry other factors.

Since the mass immigration to Northamptonshire in the 1940s and its close accent borders, it has become a source of various accent developments. Immigration refers to the movement of people among countries While the movement of people has existed throughout human history at various levels modern immigration implies long-term Northamptonshire (or archaically the County of Northampton; abbreviated Northants There, nowadays, one finds an accent known locally as the Kettering accent, which is a mixture of many different local accents, including East Midlands, East Anglian, Scottish, and Cockney. Kettering is a Town in Northamptonshire, England, UK. It is the main town within the Borough of Kettering. The East Midlands is one of the Regions of England and consists of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. East Anglia is often used as a shorthand for the Kingdom of the East Angles. Scottish English is the variety of English spoken in Scotland, also called Scottish Standard English. The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations In addition, in the town of Corby, five miles (8 km) north, one can find Corbyite, which unlike the Kettering accent, is largely based on Scottish. Corby is an industrial town and a local government district located 13km north of Kettering in Northamptonshire, England. This is due to the influx of Scottish steelworkers.

Outside the southeast there are, in England alone, other families of accents easily distinguished by natives, including:

Although some of the stronger regional accents may sometimes be difficult for some anglophones from outside Britain to understand, almost all "British English" accents are mutually intelligible amongst the British themselves, with only occasional difficulty between very diverse accents. The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region South West England is one of the Regions of England. It is the largest such region in terms of area and extends from Gloucestershire and Wiltshire to East Anglia is often used as a shorthand for the Kingdom of the East Angles. The West Midlands is an official Region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um The East Midlands is one of the Regions of England and consists of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. Liverpool ( is a City and Metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary Scouse (ˈskaʊs is the accent and Dialect of English found in the city of Liverpool, and in some adjoining urban areas of Merseyside Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea Yorkshire is a historic county of Northern England and the largest in Great Britain. Newcastle upon Tyne ( (often shortened to Newcastle) is a city and Metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, England Geordie (ˈdʒɔrdi is a regional nickname for a person from the Tyneside region of England, or the name of the Dialect of English In Linguistics, mutual intelligibility is recognized as a relationship between Languages in which speakers of different but related languages can readily understand However, modern communications and mass media have reduced these differences significantly. In addition, most British people can to some degree temporarily 'swing' their accent (and particularly their vocabulary) towards a more neutral form of "standard" English at will, to reduce difficulty where very different accents are involved, or when speaking to foreigners. This phenomenon is known in linguistics as code shifting. Linguistics is the scientific study of Language, encompassing a number of sub-fields In Linguistics, code shifting is an automatic change of language or some aspect of language in response to a change of subject or context within the speech of a single speaker

Standardisation

As with English around the world, the English language as used in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland is governed by convention rather than formal code: there is no equivalent body to the Académie française or the Real Academia Española, and the authoritative dictionaries (for example, Oxford English Dictionary, Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Chambers Dictionary, Collins Dictionary) record usage rather than prescribe it. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Ireland ( Irish: Éire, ˈeːrʲə is a country in north-western Europe. L'Académie française, or the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Real Academia Española (“Royal Spanish Academy” the RAE, is the official royal institution responsible for regulating the Spanish language The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED) published by the Oxford University Press (OUP is a comprehensive Dictionary of the English The acronym LDOCE may refer to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, first published by Longman in 1978 The tenth edition of The Chambers Dictionary of the English language was published in 2006 by Chambers Harrap Publishers. HarperCollins is a Publishing company owned by News Corporation. In addition, vocabulary and usage change with time; words are freely borrowed from other languages and other strains of English, and neologisms are frequent. A neologism (from Greek neo = "new" + logos = "word" is a word that although devised relatively recently in a specific time period has been

For historical reasons dating back to the rise of London in the 9th century, the form of language spoken in London and the East Midlands became standard English within the Court, and ultimately became the basis for generally accepted use in the law, government, literature and education within Britain. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. The East Midlands is one of the Regions of England and consists of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. Largely, modern British spelling was standardised in Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language (1755), although previous writers had also played a significant role in this and much has changed since 1755. Samuel Johnson (often referred to as Dr Johnson) (18 September Published on 15 April 1755 and written by Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, sometimes published as Johnson's Dictionary, is among Scotland, which underwent parliamentary union with England only in 1707, still has a few independent aspects of standardisation, especially within its autonomous legal system.

The form of English taught across Europe is mainly that used in England and the subject is simply called "English"; the European Commission does not specify any specific English in its list of official languages but the English used in the member state The United Kingdom is what is assumed and used. The European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive branch of the European Union. [9]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ Peters, p 79.
  2. ^ The Oxford English Dictionary defines British English as "the English language as spoken or written in the British Isles; esp[ecially] the forms of English usual in Great Britain, as contrasted with those characteristic of the U. The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED) published by the Oxford University Press (OUP is a comprehensive Dictionary of the English S. A. or other English-speaking countries. "
  3. ^ Professor Sally Johnson biography on the Leeds University website
  4. ^ a b Mapping the English language – from cockney to Orkney, Leeds University website, 25 May 2007. The University of Leeds is a major teaching and research University in Leeds, West Yorkshire; one of the largest in the United Kingdom with The University of Leeds is a major teaching and research University in Leeds, West Yorkshire; one of the largest in the United Kingdom with Events 1085 - Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo Spain back from the Moors.
  5. ^ McSmith, Andy. Dialect researchers given a 'canny load of chink' to sort 'pikeys' from 'chavs' in regional accents, The Independent, 1 June, 2007. The Independent is a British compact Newspaper published by Tony O'Reilly 's Independent News & Media. Events 193 - Roman Emperor Didius Julianus is Assassinated 987 - Hugh Capet is elected Page 20
  6. ^ a b Fowler, H. W. . "Fowler's Modern English Usage", Oxford University Press, 1996.  
  7. ^ a b Sweet, Henry. "The Sounds of English", Clarendon Press, 1908.  
  8. ^ Learning: Language & Literature: Sounds Familiar?: Case studies: Received Pronunciation British Library
  9. ^ The Official EU languages List

External links

The British Library ( BL) is the National library of the United Kingdom. The British Library ( BL) is the National library of the United Kingdom.

Dictionary

British English

-proper noun

  1. The English language as written and spoken in Britain, especially in England.
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