2020-01-14
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It's easy to point out the differences between the American and the English vocabulary: the differences seem quaint and there are comparatively so few that Americans can easily spot them. Many of the differences are merely a matter of preference: Americans prefer railroad and store while the English prefer the synonyms railway and shop, but all four words are used in both England and America. In addition, Americans know or can easily guess what braces, fishmonger's, or pram means, just as the English know or can figure out what innerspring mattress, jump rope, and ice water mean. Finally, many of the words that once separated American English from English English no longer do: American cocktail (1806), skyscraper (1833), and supermarket (1920s) are now heard around the world, and the English increasingly use radio, run (in a stocking), and Santa Claus instead of wireless, ladder, and Father Christmas. The following list gives some of the most interesting and typical differences between the American and English vocabulary, differences that may especially interest tourists and those who enjoy both American and English books and movies.
Examples:
airfield — aerodrome.
apartment; apartment house, apartment building; block of flats (to an Englishman an apartment means a room). Our high-rise apartment (building) is the English tower block (of flats).
barbershop — barber's shop. The English frequently use the possessive -V or -s' where we do not, as in dolts house, ladies' room, and shop.
can opener — tin opener, candy — sweets [10. p.203 ]
There are, of course, hundreds of more terms that differ in American English and British English. American use of prepositions sometimes also differs: Americans live on a street, the English live in it; Americans chat with people, the English chat to them; Americans speak of an increase in something, the English of an increase on it; Americans get snowed in, they get snowed up; Americans say something is different/row something else, the English say it is different to it.
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[10. p.210 ]
Differences in American and English Pronunciation
The major difference in American and English pronunciation is in intonation and voice timbre. Americans speak with less variety of tone than the English. American voice timbre seems harsh or tinny to the English, their's gurgling or throaty to Americans. English conclusion: Americans speak shrilly, monotonously, and like a schoolboy reciting. American conclusion: the English speak too low, theatrically, and swallow their syllables. [2]
The more precise differences include:
Americans pronounce the a in such words as ask, brass, can't, dance, fast, grass, half, last, and path as a short, fiat [ a ];the English pronounce it more as the broad [ a: ]in father. American shorter, flatter [ a ]is just a continuation of the way first colonists from Southern England pronounced it; the English dropped this pronunciation in the 18th century and began to use the broad [ a: ](this same change took place in parts of New England and the South, giving some Americans the pronunciation of aunt as "ahnt" and vase as "vahz"). [10. p.210]
On the other hand, most Americans sound the short [ o ] in such words as box, hot, lot, not, pot, and top almost as the broad [ a: ] in father, while the English (and some New Englanders) give it a more open sound, with the lips rounded.
And some are just unique pronunciations of individual words. Such miscellaneous differences in pronunciations include:
ate, Americans say "eight"—"et" is an accepted English pronunciation.
been, Americans say "bin"—the English say "bean."
clerks- "dark."
either, neither, most Americans say, "e-ther, ne-ther"—"I-ther, ni-
ther" is the English pronunciation.
issue, Americans say "ish-you"—the English say "is-sue."
leisure, most Americans say "le-sure"—the English say "laysure."
lieutenant, Americans say "lew-tenant"—the English say "lef-tenant."
nephew, Americans say "nef-hew"—the English say "nev-hew."
schedule, Americans say "sked-ule"—the English say "shed-ule." [10. p.211 ]
