Differences in British and American English “England and America are two countries divided by a common language.”

Yüklə 0,74 Mb.

tarix	07.11.2018
ölçüsü	0,74 Mb.
	#78764

Differences in British and American English

“England and America are two countries divided by a common language.”

“England and America are two countries divided by a common language.”
~George Bernard Shaw

What does this mean?

I put on a jumper and raced to catch a lift. Once outside, I discovered it was dark and I was feeling mad. "I should have brought a torch," I thought. At the underground I bought a return ticket. "How am I going to get a rise from my boss?" I wondered.

Word confusions with one meaning

Translate this sentence!

Word confusion with multiple meanings

Appetizer/Entree
Bank Teller/Cashier
French fries/Chips
Cigarette/Fag
Dessert/Pudding
Eraser/Rubber
Soccer/Football
Sweater/Jumper
Suspenders/Braces
Underwear/Pants

Potentially embarrassing situations: “rubber”

Potentially embarrasing situations” “pants”

Potentially confusing situations

Asks you about football…
…they mean soccer
Asks you bring pudding…
…they mean dessert
Puts on a jumper…
…they mean a sweater
Wears braces….
…wears suspenders
Wears suspenders…
…wears garters

Other confusing situations…

Ask for chips in England, and you’ll get French Fries, not potato “crisps”
Tell a British friend to pick up some jelly at the store, and they’ll bring home gelatin (Jell-o) not jam

A note on schooling

In the US, a public school is government funded
In the US, a private school requires tuition

Is there really a language barrier?

How did this divergence occur?

The Atlantic ocean served as a major divide, allowing the two dialects to develop
American English picked up words from Native American languages as well as from Dutch, Spanish, and French settlers
Noah Webster decided to solidify and standardize American English in his dictionary

Noah Webster

Writer of the first American dictionary in 1806
Believed that Americans’ language should reflect the way they spoke, and be distinct from British English
Came of age during the American revolution, and therefore placed great emphasis on America’s cultural separation from England
Simplified spellings of many words, such as ploughplow centrecenter colourcolor
Added uniquely American words, such as squash and chowder

The languages diverge…and converge

The differences in the languages reached its peak right after the industrial revolution
With the spread of modern technology, more terms are becoming common

Just for fun!

Bibliography

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Atlantis/2284/
http://www.riverdeep.net/current/2001/03/032001_language.jhtml
http://books.google.com/books?id=13SyhqA6R28C&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=two+countries+divided+by+a+common+language&source=bl&ots=ImLkZ4CT95&sig=TWX1u1ZKRQqRKBxr0jt35C4id4U&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=8&ct=result#PPR3,M1
http://blog.languagetranslation.com/public/item/118655
http://www.effingpot.com/
“The American Language” an Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States
by H.L. Mencken
http://www.bartleby.com/185/

Yüklə 0,74 Mb.

Dostları ilə paylaş:

Differences in British and American English “England and America are two countries divided by a common language.”

Differences in British and American English

“England and America are two countries divided by a common language.”

“England and America are two countries divided by a common language.”

~George Bernard Shaw

What does this mean?

I put on a jumper and raced to catch a lift. Once outside, I discovered it was dark and I was feeling mad. "I should have brought a torch," I thought. At the underground I bought a return ticket. "How am I going to get a rise from my boss?" I wondered.

Word confusions with one meaning

Translate this sentence!

Word confusion with multiple meanings

Appetizer/Entree

Bank Teller/Cashier

French fries/Chips

Cigarette/Fag

Dessert/Pudding

Eraser/Rubber

Soccer/Football

Sweater/Jumper

Suspenders/Braces

Underwear/Pants

Potentially embarrassing situations: “rubber”

Potentially embarrasing situations” “pants”

Potentially confusing situations

Other confusing situations…

Ask for chips in England, and you’ll get French Fries, not potato “crisps”

Tell a British friend to pick up some jelly at the store, and they’ll bring home gelatin (Jell-o) not jam

A note on schooling

In the US, a public school is government funded

In the US, a private school requires tuition

Is there really a language barrier?

How did this divergence occur?

The Atlantic ocean served as a major divide, allowing the two dialects to develop

American English picked up words from Native American languages as well as from Dutch, Spanish, and French settlers

Noah Webster decided to solidify and standardize American English in his dictionary

Noah Webster

Writer of the first American dictionary in 1806

Believed that Americans’ language should reflect the way they spoke, and be distinct from British English

Came of age during the American revolution, and therefore placed great emphasis on America’s cultural separation from England

Simplified spellings of many words, such as ploughplow centrecenter colourcolor

Added uniquely American words, such as squash and chowder

The languages diverge…and converge

The differences in the languages reached its peak right after the industrial revolution

With the spread of modern technology, more terms are becoming common

Just for fun!

Bibliography

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Atlantis/2284/

http://www.riverdeep.net/current/2001/03/032001_language.jhtml

http://books.google.com/books?id=13SyhqA6R28C&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=two+countries+divided+by+a+common+language&source=bl&ots=ImLkZ4CT95&sig=TWX1u1ZKRQqRKBxr0jt35C4id4U&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=8&ct=result#PPR3,M1

http://blog.languagetranslation.com/public/item/118655

http://www.effingpot.com/

“The American Language” an Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States

by H.L. Mencken

http://www.bartleby.com/185/