Differences between British English and American English样本.docx
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Differences between British English and American English样本.docx
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DifferencesbetweenBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglish样本
Contents
DifferencesBetweenBritishandAmericanEnglish
1Introduction
Englishisoneofthemostimportantlanguagesintheworld.BecauseEnglishissowidelyspoken,ishasoftenbeenreferredtoasa“worldlanguage”,thelinguafrancaofthemodernera.Andwhileitisnotanofficiallanguageinmostcountries,itiscurrentlythelanguagemostoftentaughtasaforeignlanguage.Somelinguistsbelievethatitisnolongertheexclusiveculturalpropertyof“nativeEnglishspeakers”,butisratheralanguagethatisabsorbingaspectsofculturesworldwideasitcontinuestogrow.
WhiletherearecertainlymanymorevarietiesofEnglish,AmericanEnglishandBritishEnglisharethetwomajorvarieties.BritishandAmericanEnglisharethereferencenormsforEnglishasspoken,written,andtaughtintherestoftheworld,excludingcountrieswhereEnglishisspokennativelysuchasAustralia,Canada,IrelandandNewZealand.InmanyformerBritishEmpirecountrieswhereEnglishisnotspokennatively,BritishEnglishformsarecloselyfollowed,alongsidenumerousAmericanEnglishusageswhichhavebecomewidespreadthroughouttheAnglosphere.Thatistosay,BritishEnglishistheformofEnglishusedintheUnitedKingdom.ItincludesallEnglishdialectsusedintheUnitedKingdom.AmericanEnglishistheformofEnglishusedintheUnitedStates.ItincludesallEnglishdialectsusedintheUnitedStates.Therefore,becauseofthedifferencesincultureandvalues,therearebigdifferencesbetweenBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglish.Amongallthedifferencesarethoseingrammar,pronunciation,spelling,wordandpunctuation.
2Grammar
Generallyspeaking,differencesbetweenBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglishingrammararenotdistinctandsystematicbutscatteredinsomedetails.Forexample,theusageofcollectivenounsisdifferentbetweenBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglish.Also,theusageofverbsisdifferent,especiallyinverbmorphologyandtransitivity.Inaddition,restrictiveandnon-restrictivemodifiershavedifferentexpressions.
2.1Nouns
Nounsincludepropernounsandcommonnouns.Commonnounsarealsodividedintofourparts,individualnouns,collectivenouns,materialnounsandabstractnouns.However,therearebigdifferencesbetweenBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglishincollectivenouns.
2.1.1Collectivenouns
InBritishEnglish,collectivenounscantakeeithersingularorpluralverbforms,accordingtowhethertheemphasisisonthebodyasawholeorontheindividualmembersrespectively.InAmericanEnglish,collectivenounsarealmostalwayssingularinconstruction.
Forexample,
Theyareafamilywhohasbeenveryinfluentialinthehistoryofthiscountry.(BritishEnglish)
Thecommitteehasdecidedtolookintothematterfurther.(BritishEnglishandAmericanEnglish)
Acommitteewasappointed.(BritishEnglish)
Thecommitteewasunabletoagree.(AmericanEnglish)
However,whenaspeakerwishestoemphasizethattheindividualsareactingseparately,apluralpronounmaybeemployedwithasingularorpluralverb:
theteamtakestheirseats,ratherthantheteamtakesitsseats.However,suchasentencewouldmostlikelyberecastastheteammemberstaketheirseats.
2.2Verbs
Insomecases,BritishEnglishusuallyusepresentprefecttensewhileAmericanEnglishusepasttense.Thisphenomenonusuallyappearswhenpeoplewanttooffersomeinformation.Forinstance,Hejustwenthome.(AmericanEnglish)Hehasjustgonehome.(BritishEnglish)Also,transitivityisverydifferentbetweenthesetwovarietiesEnglish.
2.2.1Verbmorphology
Thepasttenseandpastparticipleoftheverbslearn,spoil,spell,burn,dream,smell,spill,leap,andothers,canbeeitherirregular(learnt,spoilt,etc.)orregular(learned,spoiled,etc.).InBritishEnglish,bothirregularandregularformsarecurrent,butforsomewords(suchassmeltandleapt)thereisastrongtendencytowardstheirregularforms,especiallybyusersofReceivedPronunciation.Forotherwords(suchasdreamed,leaned,andlearned)theregularformsaresomewhatmorecommon.InmostaccentsofAmericanEnglish,theirregularformsareneverorrarelyused(exceptforburnt,leaptanddreamt).LitasthepasttenseoflightismorecommonthanlightedintheUK;AmericanEnglishuseslittomean"setafire"/"kindled"/"madetoemitlight"butlightedtomean"castlightupon"(e.g.,"Thestagehandlightedthesetandthenlitacigarette.").Conversely,BritishEnglishfavorsfittedasthepasttenseoffitgenerally,whereasthepreferenceofAmericanEnglishismorecomplex:
AmericanEnglishprefersfittedforthemetaphoricalsenseofhavingmadeanobject[adjective-]"fit"(i.e.,suited)forapurpose;inspatialtransitivecontexts,AmericanEnglishusesfittedforthesenseofhavingma
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