Sociolinguistics Paper: Br. vs. Am. English

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British English versus American English
A Comparative Study
13/12/16
Submitted by: Sawsan Fawzy
 Term Paper
 Sociolinguistics Course
 MA Program, Cairo University

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Introduction
The question whether American English is a dialect of English, an accent of
it or a separate language is one that is always being asked (Romaine, 2000, p. 17).
Suzan Romaine said the answer depends on one's point of view. Then she cited
varied perceptions of the relationship between the two "codes" (Wardhaugh, 1986,
p. 89). The term "code" is "useful" because it is "neutral;" it is not "inclined to
arouse emotions" such as the terms "dialect, language, standard language and
variety" (Wardhaugh, 1986, p. 89). "Code" can refer simply to "any language or a
variety of a language" that is "a system that two or more people employ for
communication." As for terms such as "language, dialect or variety," I am not
certain which one of these may suit British English code and American English
code.
Among the varied views Romaine cited was the well-known one of George
Bernard Show who ironically "characterized England and America as two nations
divided by a common language" (p. 17). Romaine said that perceiving British
English and American English as two separate languages suggested by, for
example, H. L. Mencken's book title The America Language is for political
purposes; it was to indicate political independence of America through linguistic
independence (p. 17). The term "language" here is to arouse the sense of
independence (Wardhaugh, 1986, p. 89). Similarly, when Noah Webster
"authored his dictionary of American English and consciously employed spellings
for certain words which were different from British English norms," he was trying
to assert political independence of America through linguistic independence (p.
18). On the contrary, when England wanted to cooperate politically with America,
the former British Margret Thatcher conceded, in an interview, that Shakespeare
belonged as much to the Americans as to the British in emphasizing the existence
of a "special relationship" between the US and The UK. Changing stances and "all
that talk about language was really about politics" (Romaine, 2000, p. 18).

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Hypothesis
Linguistically, some linguists use the term "accent" to define a language
variety that has special way of pronunciation distinguished from pronunciation of
other varieties of the same language (Romaine, 2000, p. 19). In respect of this
definition, it can be hypothesized that British English and American English are
different accents.
As for the term "dialect," some linguists use it to refer to a variety that is
different from other varieties, dialects, of the same language "simultaneously on at
least three levels of organization: pronunciation, grammar or syntax and
vocabulary" (Romaine, 2000, p. 18). Thus, it can be hypothesized that British
English and American English are two dialects of the same language.
This paper investigates the linguistics features of British English and
American English to discover whether they are "accents" or "dialects" of the same
language (Romaine, 2000, p. 18).
Political, historical and social backgrounds of linguistic differences
"How did British and American English become so different?" In his book
Divided by a Common Language, Christopher Davis suggested some historical
and political answers to this question (p. 1).
Division of language began when the early inhabitants of the US had no
verbal contact with the British. On the other hand, they had contact with the
Europeans who were immigrating to the US bringing their languages with them.
Although English remained the dominant languages, it was affected by contact
with different languages in America. However, the books imported from England
until 1900s kept American English form straying too far (Davis, 2005, p. 3).
Wolfram and Schilling talked about similar sociohistorical explanations of
migration, settlement and languages contact that played roles in the development
of American English (pp. 28-30).
Afterwards, Industrial Revolution brought with it the need for coinage of
hundreds of terms to describe inventions in each country. There were no common
standards to follow when coining terms. The two countries were apart, and
creations were being given different terms by designers of each country (Davis,

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2005, p. 3). As time went on, the difference increased, and no great effort was
made to unify terms.
Politically, great efforts were made to assert the linguistic independence of
America. Noah Webster, the well-known American lexicographer, initiated some
of the biggest changes in American spelling through his best-selling American
Speller published in 1783 and his American Dictionary of the English Language
that has become "the standard for spelling and word usage in America" (Davis,
2005, p. 2). "British and American English reached their greatest divergence just
before the Second World War, and since that time have been getting closer"
(Davis, 2005, p. 2). It seems that it was political cooperation that could produce
that linguistic consequence.
I Pronunciation level
According to Hastings (2011), the differences in pronunciation on either
side of the Atlantic have been very well known since Hollywood highlighted these
differences. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers sang "Let’s Call the Whole Thing
Off" in the 1937 film Shall We Dance. The iconic American dance partners sang:
"You say neither and I say neither... let’s call the whole thing off."
This section consults Snezhina Dimitrova's pronunciation
guide entitled British and American Pronunciation published in
2010 on University of Reading website and a research paper
published in 2015 in Journal of Language Teaching and Research.
The section also consults other guides and papers referenced in the
above-mentioned paper that adopted the same comparative
method of analysis of Dimitrova's guide and of the other sources
in order to summarize simply and briefly the main differences
between the two main pronunciation models in Britain and America.
International Phonetic Alphabet IPA symbols are used
to compare and describe sounds of the two pronunciation models
including vowels, comprising monophthongs and diphthongs, and consonants.

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Figure 1. IPA Chart
The comparisons made here are simple and brief; they include neither
details about the articulation of sounds in different positions nor explanations of
any exceptional articulation of some of them when they are found in specific
positions. These details are too many to include in this paper. The reader is
advised to consult the referenced sources to discover these details.

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In Britain, the "standard" model of pronunciation is
named "Received Pronunciation" or "RP." "Received" means
acceptable. This model is the appropriate one to be used in
teaching English as a foreign language. RP has a lot of varieties among which is
the one heard on BBC. This variety has been recently termed "BBC
Pronunciation" (Dimitrova, 2010, p. 2).
In America, the "standard" pronunciation model that is widely accepted and
used by the majority of the population of the United States is termed "General
American" or "GA." It is used by most TV and radio announcers, and it is also
used in teaching English as a foreign language (Dimitrova, 2010, p. 1).
The two pronunciation models differ in many ways. They differ most in
their vowel systems, and they also differ in their consonant sounds and clusters.
I.A Vowels
I.A.1 Monophthongs
For example, the back rounded /ɒ/ vowel, which is heard in BBC English in
words such as not, lot, block, is replaced in GA with the back unrounded vowel
/ɑː/. Most dictionaries show the pronunciation differences between the two
“standard” models by retaining the length diacritic [:] in the transcription of the
GA vowels (Dimitrova, 2010, p. 4). Examples of these differences are:
BBC pronunciation General American (GA)
Knowledge /ˈnɒl.ɪdʒ/ /ˈnɑː.lɪdʒ/ 1
On the other hand, BBC and GA exchange the vowels in some other words
(Dimitrova, 2010, p. 4):
BBC GA
Pass /pɑːs/ /pæs/1
Hosseinzadeh, Kambuziya and Shariati (2015) elaborated on the BBC /ɑː/ and the
GA /æ/: when one of the sounds /s, f, t, ns, nt, ʃ/ follows the GA /æ/, it changes to
BBC /ɑː/ (p. 649).
1- All the paper examples and their transcriptions are taken from Cambridge Dictionary
Online.

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The long back mid rounded vowel /ɔː/ which in BBC English occurs in
words such as "thought, walk, law" is usually opener and less rounded in GA
BBC GA
Thought /θɔːt/ /θɑːt/
All GA vowels are characterized by r-colouring when they are followed by
the letter r in the spelling (Dimitrova, 2010, p. 5):
BBC GA
Car /kɑː/ /kɑːr/
The difference between unstressed /ə/ and /ɪ/ is often lost in GA
BBC GA
Packet /ˈpæk.ɪt/ /ˈpæk.ɪt/
The pronunciation of [ju:] in BBC becomes [u:] in GA after /s, z, l, t, d, and
n/ (Gómez, 2009, p.8):
BBC GA
Student /ˈstjuː.dənt/ /ˈstuː.dənt/
Vowels that are nasalized in GA are not in BBC (Hosseinzadeh et al., 2015,
p.650):
BBC GA
Can't /kɑːnt/ /kæ῀nt/

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I.A.2 Diphthongs
BBC pronunciation has 3 diphthongs ending in /ə/: /ɪə, eə, ʊə/, as in near,
care, pure. General American has no separate phonemic diphthongs which end in
/ə/. It has alternative sounds (Dimitrova, 2010, p. 6):
BBC GA
Near /nɪər/ /nɪr/
Care /keər/ /ker/
Pure /pjʊər/ /pjʊr/
BBC /əʊ/ becomes /oʊ/ in GA (Hosseinzadeh et al., 2015, p.651):
BBC GA
Go /ɡəʊ/ /ɡoʊ/
BBC /ɑː/ becomes /eɪ/ in GA (Hosseinzadeh et al., 2015, p.651):
BBC GA
Vase /vɑːz/ /veɪs/
BBC /eɪ/ becomes /æ/ in GA (Hosseinzadeh et al., 2015, p.652):
BBC GA
Apricot /ˈeɪprɪˌkɒt/ /ˈæprɪˌkɑt/1
BBC /ɪ/ becomes /aɪ/ in GA (Hosseinzadeh et al., 2015, p.652):
BBC GA
Advertisement /ədˈvɜː.tɪs.mənt/ /ˈæd.vɝː.taɪz.mənt/
1. This example is taken from Macmillan Dictionary Online as Cambridge Dictionary
Online does not show the difference between BBC and GA.

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I.B Consonants
BBC non-rhotic /r/ becomes rhotic /r/ in GA (Gómez, 2009, p. 3):
BBC GA
Force /fɔːs/ /fɔːrs/
BBC /t/ between vowels becomes flap /ɾ/ in GA; it is one of the most
typical features of GA (Dimitrova, 2010, p. 8). Cambridge Dictionary Online uses
a different symbol for flap /ɾ/ that seems closer to /t/ and more familiar to EFL
learners:
BBC GA
Writer /ˈraɪ.tər/ /ˈraɪ. ɚ/
BBC /ʃ/ in some specific positions becomes /ʒ/ in GA (Hosseinzadeh et al.,
2015, p.653):
BBC GA
Version /ˈvɜː.ʃən/ /ˈvɜː.ʒən/
BBC /z/ becomes /s/ in GA (Hosseinzadeh et al., 2015, p.653):
BBC GA
Erase /ɪˈreɪz/ /ɪˈreɪs/
BBC /ð/ in some specific positions becomes /θ/ in GA (Hosseinzadeh et al.,
2015, p.654):
BBC GA
Booth /buːð/ /buːθ/
Two accents of the same language
Regarding the differences mentioned above, it has become clear that British
English has special model of pronunciation distinguished from pronunciation
model of American English that belongs to the same English language. Therefore,
British English and American English can be considered two accents of the same

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language (Romaine, 2000, p. 18). "Accent is the term which linguists use when
they refer to the pronunciation features typical of people who belong to the same
geographical region or social class; speakers’ accents may also reflect their age,
sex, level of education, etc" (Dimitrova, 2010, p. 1).
II Vocabulary
An estimated 4000 words in everyday life in Britain are used differently in
America (Davis, 2005, p. 1). Davies (2005) organised his comparisons of British
and American vocabulary around different settings such as theatres or situations
such as shopping an ordering food. For example, he gathered the frequently used
theatre terms as shown in table 1 (p. 47):
Table1
On different vocabulary of roads in both countries, for instance, he explained
terms of roads giving definitions of transportation means and road names, laws
and signs. Table 2 shows some examples (pp. 54-56):
Table 2
Some Terms of British and American Roads
British English American English
Motorways Interstates
B road State road
A road Highway
Slip roads On ramps/Off ramps
Central reservation Median/Median strip
Lorry Truck
Overtake Pass

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The book also explains pairs of words that have similar, but sometimes not
identical, connotations in the British and American social contexts. For instance,
in Britain, bank holidays include New Year's Day, May Day, Easter Monday, and
Good Friday (p. 52). In America, the term legal holidays is used instead of bank
holidays in order to refer to New Year's Day, Presidents' Day, Memorial Day and
Martin Luther King Jr. Day (p. 52).
Zhang and Jiang (2009) presented in their paper examples of words that
have different meanings in the two countries; "the same word expresses different
meanings in British and American English" (p. 71). Table 3 explains some
examples.
Table 3
"Same Word, Different Meanings" (p. 71)
Oxford Living Dictionaries Website lists a concise list of 281 words used to
describe the same things in both countries; it is a list of equivalents. Table 4
presents some examples.
Table 4
Some British Words and Their American Equivalents: Same Meaning, Different
Words
British English American English
accommodation Accommodations
action replay instant replay
aerofoil Airfoil
block of flats apartment building
Word American English British English
Bill Bank note A demand for payment of a
debt
Billion A thousand million A million million
Guy Fellow, any person A ridiculous figure
Pressman An operator of a printing office A newspaper man
Public school A municipal-run school A private school

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cot Crib
cot death crib death
cotton bud cotton swab
current account checking account
danger money hazard pay
demister (in a car) Defroster
dialling tone dial tone
diamante Rhinestone
double cream heavy cream
windcheater Windbreaker
windscreen Windshield
wing (of a car) Fender
worktop Countertop
zebra crossing Crosswalk
zed (letter Z) Zee
zip Zipper
Claudine Dervaes and John Hunter compiled a pocket-size handy guide of
British vocabulary and their American equivalents. Table 5 shows a small part of
the concise "dictionary" (p. 19).

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Table 5
A UK to USA Concise Dictionary
Regarding the above-mentioned examples of vocabulary differences
between British English and American English, it has become clear that they vary
on the vocabulary level.
III Grammar level
Zhang & Jiang (2009) presented in their academic paper published in Asian
Social Science journal some of the grammatical differences between British
English and American English.
Differences in prepositions (p. 70)
Two aspects of differences: (1) different use of prepositions in phrases; (2)
omitting prepositions.

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Examples of different uses of prepositions are "Your daughter’s name
stands first in the list (BrE)," "Your daughter’s name stands first on the list
(AmE)," "These dresses are in a sale (BrE)," "These dresses are on sale. (AmE)"
When talking about time, British "ten past nine" is the American "ten after nine"
or "nine ten." When talking about "weekend" and "Christmas," British speaker
uses "at" or "over," while American speaker uses "over" or "on."
Omitting preposition also differentiates British English from American
English. British speaker uses "on" before "day, week or certain day," but
American speaker does not use them. Examples are "The new term begins on
September (BrE),""The new term begins September (AmE)."
Differences in articles (p. 72)
Most phrases of British English have articles, while those of American
English do not have. The British "the" in the expressions "all the afternoon, all the
winter, all the week, this time of the year," is usually omitted in American English
e.g. "The swimming pools are open all summer, I’ll be here all afternoon."
British English uses articles in front of "sickness, river" and some other
geographical features, while American English does not. For example, British
speaker says "the measles, the mumps, the flu, the Niagara Falls," while American
speaker says "measles, mumps, flu, Niagara Falls."
Differences in adjectives and adverbs (P. 73)
British English and formal American English use only adverbs to fulfill
adverbial functions e.g. "a really good meal." Informal American English uses
adjectives as adverbs, for example "a real good meal."
American English adverbs move freely in respect of position. They can go
either in front of auxiliary verbs or behind them. Prepositions' movements do not
change meanings. For example, both sentences "They never will agree to it" and
"They well never agree to it" give the same meaning. British English adverbs go
usually behind the first auxiliary verb. For example, "They will never agree to it."
Maxwell and Clandfield presented in their article published on One Stop
English educational website some grammatical features that distinguish British
English form American English.

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Differences in pronouns (pp. 72-73)
British English and American English use different pronouns to repeat the
indefinite pronoun "one." British English uses "one." For example, "One cannot
succeed unless one tries hard,""One should learn to take care of oneself."
American English uses "he," for example, "One cannot succeed unless he tries
hard," "One should learn to take care of himself."
Differences in verbs
a. Past forms differ from British to American English. Table 6 shows
examples (Maxwell and Clandfield):
Table 6
Past Tense Forms of British and American English
Infinitive Simple past
(Br)
Simple past
(Am)
Past participle
(Br)
Past participle
(Am)
Burn burned/
burnt
burned/
burnt
burned/
burnt
burned/
burnt
Bust Bust Busted Bust Busted
Dive Dived dove/
dived
Dived Dived
Dream dreamed/
dreamt
dreamed/
dreamt
dreamed/
dreamt
dreamed/
dreamt
Get Got Got Got Gotten
Lean leaned/
leant
Leaned leaned/
leant
Leaned
Learn learned/
learnt
Learned learned/
learnt
Learned
Plead Pleaded pleaded/
pled
Pleaded pleaded/
pled
Prove Proved Proved Proved proved/
proven
Saw Sawed Sawed Sawn sawn/
sawed
Smell smelled/
smelt
Smelled smelled/
smelt
Smelled
Spill spilled/
spilt
Spilled spilled/
spilt
Spilled
Spoil spoiled/
spoilt
spoiled/
spoilt
spoiled/
spoilt
spoiled/
spoilt
Stink Stank stank/
stunk
Stunk Stunk
Wake Woke woke/
waked
Woken Woken

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b. Use of delexical verbs (have and take) (Maxwell and Clandfield):
"In British English, the verb 'have' frequently functions as what is
technically referred to as a delexical verb, e.g. it is used in contexts
where it has very little meaning in itself but occurs with an object noun
which describes an action." For instance, "I'll have a shower." In
American English, "take" is used for these functions, e.g. "I'll take a
shower."
c. Use of auxiliaries and modals (Maxwell and Clandfield):
In British English "needn't" is often used instead of "don't need to," e.g.
"They needn't come to school today." In American, auxiliary verbs are
used instead, e.g. "They don't need to come to school today." In British
English, "shall" is sometimes used as an alternative to" will" to talk
about the future, e.g. "I shall/will be there later." In American English
"will" is normally used instead of "shall." In British English "shall I /
we" are often used to ask for advice or an opinion, e.g. "Shall we ask
him to come with us?" In American English, "should" is often used
instead of "shall," e.g. "Should we ask him to come with us?"
d. Verb agreement with collective nouns (Maxwell and Clandfield):
In British English, collective nouns can be followed by a singular or
plural verb depending on whether the group is thought of as one idea, or
as many individuals, e.g. 'My team is winning/My team are winning.' In
American English, collective nouns are always followed by a singular
verb.
Differences in tenses (preset perfect usage) (Maxwell and Clandfield):
In American English, the present perfect tense is used far less than in
British English. In spoken American English, it is very common to use the simple
past tense as an alternative to the present perfect. The two situations where this is
especially likely are:
a. In sentences which talk about an action in the past that has an effect in the
present:
 "Jenny feels ill. She's eaten too much." (British English )
 "Jenny feels ill. She ate too much." (American English)
b. In sentences which contain the adverbs already, just or yet:
 A: Are they going to the show tonight?

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 B: No. They've already seen it. (British English)
 A: Are they going to the show tonight?
 B: No. They already saw it. (American English)
 A: Is Samantha here?
Regarding the above explained and exemplified grammatical differences, it
has become clear that British English and American English vary on the
grammatical level.
III.A Spelling preferences
Many of the spelling differences that distinguish British English from
American English are graphological; they do not change meanings or functions of
the words (Halliday, 2004, pp. 6-7). They sometimes change only sounds of
words. However, numerous spelling differences have to do with morphology; they
change meanings and functions of words. Therefore, it may be convenient to
attach this sub-section of spelling preferences to grammatical level section in this
comparative study.
Salama & Ghali (1982) presented in their book that Webster's New
Collegiate Dictionary, 1956, pp. 1147-1154, compared comprehensively
American spelling preferences and British spelling preferences in a long list (p.
10). Tables 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 show varied extracts form this list.

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Table 7
Spelling Preferences (p. 10)
Table 8
Spelling Preferences: Suffixes (p.11)
Table 9
Spelling Preferences: Infixes (p. 14)

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Table 10
Spelling Preferences: Unaccented Final Syllables (p. 15)
Table 11
Spelling Preferences: Accented Final Syllables (p. 17)
Conclusion
Dialects of the same language
In the light of section I conclusion, British English and American English
can be considered two accents of the same language (Romaine, 2000, p. 18).
Considering sections I, II and III, it is clear that British English and American
English vary on three levels of organisation. Therefore, they can be considered
two dialects of the same language (Romaine, 2000, p. 18).

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References
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shows.html
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Macmillan Dictionary Online. Retrieved from
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