浅论英式英语和美式英语在词汇、语音、语法三方面差异对比研究

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浅论英式英语和美式英语在词汇、语音、语法 三方面差异对比研究 A Comparative Study of British English and American English on Three Aspects:Vocabulary,Pronunciation and Grammar 孙康 (武汉东湖学院外语学院) Abstract:English,wkh its diferent diakcts and varieties of accents.is、Ⅳidelv spoke13.by millions of people all around-the world.As dle two biggest regional varieties of English language,American English(AE)and British English(BE)have its own distinctive features.Although they belong to the same language--English and have many common characteristics,there exist many diferences between American English and British English in pronunciation,vocabulary and grammar and so on due to these two big countries developed independently with diferent historical backgrounds,geography and culture.So when faced with these two diferent varieties,some people especially English learners may be confused and get puzzled about which ‘English’should they learn.Meanwhile,English instructors feel perplexed that which ‘English’is more appropriate tO adopt into class.This paper tries to analyze these diferences from the aspect of sociolinguistics Keywords:American English;British English;diferences. 1 lntroduction There can be no doubt that English is one of the world’s most widely used languages in the contemporary world.It is widely used as either a second or foreign language in many countries.English has been divided into many varieties like British English,American English,Australia English,New England English,Scottish English, Northern Irish English,Welsh English,South African English,and Canadian English and so on.Among them,British English and American English are the two main varieties of English and they are taught in most ESL or EFL programs.One authority Algeo(1996) once asserted that although these two varieties as such do not have any higher value than other varieties of English,they are“spoken by most native speakers of English and studied by most foreign learners”.These two varieties of English are very similar that both American and British speakers can understand each other without great difficulty.However,to the people who speak English as their second or foreign language,they may find it is dificult to diferentiate these two‘Englishes’clearly.And there occurs a hot topic has attracted widespread attention in China about“American English and British English--which one is better?”.Aiming at this problem,from my perspective,actually there is no right and wrong answers.Although British and American English hare many similarities.there arc also obvious difierences between t}lem two.As English learners.we must have a clear understanding of both similarities and differences between these two different English varieties. There are many diferences between the AE and BE,including different accents,vocabulary,pronunciation,grammar,spelling, idioms,punctuation,and formatting of dates and numbers and 8o on. In the following part,the analysis will center on three main aspects: vocabulary,pronunciation,and grammar. 2 Diferences between American English and British English 2.1 Vocabulary diferences between American English and British English. The diference between American and British English consists of many aspects such as pronunciation,grammar,spelling, punctuation and vocabulary and so on.However,among them,the biggest diference exists in vocabulary.Actually,from the observation of daily speech of Britain and American,we may notice that they use dim rent words to describe same thing or the same words in BE and AE represent different meanings.According to one authority David f2005.308)。he asserted that how the vocabulary from the two regions can be classified into different categories.Some examples are presented to illustrate that two different words have a single meaning.For example.sweet is referrod to candy in America. There are still many cases in which the same word is used in both countries but with diferent meanings.For instance.the word caravan which is used in botll American English and Brifish English but with the different meanings,the word caravan in Brirain English which means“a vehicle without engine that can be pulled by a car or van”whereas it refers to‘‘a group of people that travel throush a desert”in America English.Another category of words are the words that are used more frequently in British En sh or American English and vice versa although they have the same meaning.For example.shop versus store.Since word classes like “nouns’’are open.new vocabulary is coined all the time,whenever a new word or expression is needed. Therefore,the differenees between British and American English in vocabulary can be grouped into three types:diferent words with the same meaning,the same word with different meanings.and words without counterparts.1 will analysis them one by one in the following part and clarify by use of many examples. Diferent words with the same meaning From the above subheading,as the words suggest that different words in Brifish and American English are used to express the same thing.The range of this type of words is quite extensive.It touches upon almost every aspect of people’s daily life and social activities. Here are some classic examples: BIE verSllS AE nIE veli ̄llts AIE Ⅱft elevator motorway freeway/expressway candy Nonce board bullean b0删 apartment flat an廿clockwise counmr ̄lockwisc taxi cab holiday fall dustbin.bin wash can theate flyover o-qt ̄rplms bm note ground floct flrstfloor torch flashlight stfloor Sec∞dfloor 当代青年2015.06