American English #characteristics #features #difference_between_American_Indian_and_British_English

American English #characteristics #features #difference_between_American_Indian_and_British_English #english #vocabulary #difference #ba_english #part1 #english_with_motivation #english_honours #tmbu #munger_university #purnia_university The characteristic features of American English can be well studied in terms of its differences with British Standard English. These differences are seen in spelling, pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary and punctuation. American Spelling: In spelling, American English differs from British English in some important ways. These differences are as follows: 1. Americans use ‘o’ in place of ‘ou’ in a large number of words. Examples: honor, color, vigor etc. 2. Americans use one consonant in many words where the English use two. Thus we have ‘ traveler, wagon,’ in American English but ‘ traveller ,waggon ’ in British English. 3. Americans write ‘er’ instead of ‘re’ in many words. Examples: center, theater 4. Americans use ‘s’ in place of ‘c’ in many words. Examples: defense, offense. 5. Americans use ‘og’ in place of ‘ogue’. Examples: dialog, catalog. 6. Verbs like ‘realize’ end in ‛ –ize​ ’ in American English but they can be written with ‛ –ize ’ or ‛ ise’ both in British English. 7. Finally ,in many words Americans employ a spelling closer to pronunciation as in ‘ plow(plough) , jail(gaol), ax(axe), check(cheque), story(storey), etc. American Pronunciation: American pronunciation differs from British pronunciation in some notable ways. These differences are as follows: 1. Americans use / æ/ in place of / ɑː/ in words like ‘ fast, half, bath’ etc. 2. In British Standard English, the letter ‘r’ is not pronounced before consonants and before a pause, but it is pronounced in each and every position in American English. 3. Americans say / hw / ,and not / w /, in words like ‘ what, where, white’ etc. 4. Americans speak /tu:d/ , and not /tju:d/ in words like ‘ attitude, gratitude’ etc. 5. Besides, there are differences in stress and intonation between the two as well. In general, British English uses more violent stress contrasts and a wider range of pitch than American English American Grammar: In grammar, too, there are certain interesting differences between American English and British English although they are not of serious consequences. Some of these differences are given below: 1. Americans say ‘ Do you have a pen? ’ whereas Englishmen say ‘ Have you got a pen? ’ 2. Americans say ‘ I have got a book. ’ whereas Englishmen say ‘ I have a book. ’ 3. Americans say ‘ One must do his duty ’ ; Englishmen say ‘ One must do one’s duty. ’ 4. Americans use the singular, and not the plural, form of the verb with the collective noun. 5. Prepositions are also used at times differently. Thus Americans say:‘ I live on Baker street.’; Englishmen say: ‘ I live in Baker Street.’ Americans say: ‘ I haven't seen her in three months.’; Englishmen say: ‘ I haven't seen her for three months ’ Examples of this kind can be multiplied but they are all minor things. In fact American and British syntax are essentially identical. American Vocabulary: The largest divergence between American English and British English is seen in vocabulary. American English has borrowed a large number of words from the languages of the native Indians and the European migrants. Besides, the same processes of word formation— affixation, compounding etc— have been going on in America as well as Britain, and sometimes, inevitably , different words have been coined for the same thing. Thus we have such American words as gasoline (petrol), elevator (lift), apartment (flat), cab(taxi), can(tin), automobile (car), candy(sweets), couch(sofa), fall(autumn), faucet(tap), bar(pub), alumnus(graduate). American Punctuation: 1. In American English, commas and full stops are placed inside the quotation marks but in British English they are placed outside. 2. For quotations, double inverted commas are more frequent in American English. 3. The hash(#)is used in American English to indicate number. 4. Dates are written differently in American English and British English. British 5/9/2018 is written as 9/5/2018 in American English. These are ,in brief, the major differences between American English and British English.