On Differences between British English and American English Vocabularies.docx

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On Differences between British English and American English Vocabularies.docx

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On Differences between British English and American English Vocabularies.docx

OnDifferencesbetweenBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglishVocabularies

论英式英语和美式英语在词汇使用中的区别

Abstract

ThereexistsahugerangeofdifferencesbetweenAmericanandBritishEnglishcausedbytheirdifferenthistoryandculture.Eventhesamewordsortheexpressionsmaybedifferent.ThispaperistoconciselydiscussaboutthedifferencesbetweenAmericanandBritishEnglishfromtheperspectiveofvocabulary.WhendifferentwordsinBREandAMEareusedtodescribethesamethingorthesamewordhasadifferentmeaning,sometimespeoplewillbeveryconfusediftheydon'tknowcommondifferencesbetweenBREandAMEinmeaningsandusages.ItisbecausethattherearealargenumberofhomonymsandsynonymsinBREandAME.NewmediaandglobalizationenablemoreandmorepeopletoparticipateinanactiveexchangeofideasandexperiencesandthereforethedifferencesintheversionsofEnglisharebecominglessinsteadofgreater.

Keywords:

culture，history，vocabulary，difference，development

摘要:

历史以及文化的不同导致了美式英语以及英式英语之间存在着许多差异.甚至一模一样的单词或是短语都可能有着不同的含义.本文将从词汇的角度简要讨论美式英语以及英式英语之间的差异.当英式英语与美式英语中的不同的单词被用来描述同一种事物,或者同一个单词有着不同的含义,要是不了解这两种英语中常见的语义差异以及用法差异,人们就会感到很困惑.这是因为英式英语以及美式英语中存在着大量的同义词以及近义词.新媒介以及全球化使越来越多的人积极进行思想与经验交流.因而,各式英语之间的不同只会越来越少.

关键词:

文化_历史_词汇_差异_发展

Contents

1.Introduction.........................................................................................................................3

2.OriginsofBREandAME..................................................................................................3

3.DevelopmentofBREandAME.........................................................................................4

3.1OldEnglish（500-1100AD）.........................................................................................4

3.2TheNormanConquestandMiddleEnglish（1100-1500）........................................4

3.3EarlyModernEnglish（1500-1800）............................................................................4

3.4Late-ModernEnglish（1800-Present）.........................................................................4

4.CharacteristicsofBREandAME......................................................................................5

4.1EverydayOrallanguage.............................................................................................5

4.2Writtenlanguage........................................................................................................5

4.3Loanwords..................................................................................................................5

4.4Idioms...........................................................................................................................7

4.5Punctuationsandmeasurementunits........................................................................8

5.DifferencesbetweenAMEandBREvocabularies............................................................8

5.1Classifications..............................................................................................................8

5.2Analyses........................................................................................................................8

5.3Examples.......................................................................................................................9

6.Discussion...............................................................................................................................9

6.1LoanwordsinAmerica.................................................................................................9

6.2SocialandculturalinfluencesonthevocabularyofBREandAME......................10

6.3Newcharacteristicsandtrendsintoday'suseinAMEandBREvocabularies......11

7.Conclusion............................................................................................................................12

8.Bibliography.......................................................................................................................12

OnDifferencesbetweenBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglishvocabularies

1.Introduction

BertrandRussell,whowroteasatireabouttheEnglishlanguageandsocialclass,saidthattheAmericansandtheEnglishare"twopeoplesseparatedbyacommonlanguage".

2.OriginsofBREandAME

EnglishisamemberoftheIndo-Europeanfamilyoflanguages.TheIndo-Europeanfamilyincludesseveralmajorbranches:

LatinandthemodernRomancelanguages;

TheGermaniclanguages;

TheIndo-Iranianlanguages,includingHindiandSanskrit;

TheSlaviclanguages;

TheBalticlanguagesofLatvianandLithuanian（butnotEstonian）;

TheCelticlanguages;

AndGreek.

TwoofthesebranchesplaysanimportantinthedevelopmentofEnglish,namelytheGermanicandtheRomance.EnglishisintheGermanicgroupoflanguages.ThisgroupwasoriginallyacommonlanguageintheElberiverregionabout3,000yearsago.Aroundthe2ndcenturyBC,thisCommonGermaniclanguagesplitintothreesub-groups:

1）EastGermanicwasspokenbythosewhomigratedbacktosoutheasternEurope.Butitisnolongerspokentoday,andonlyGothicsurvivesasawrittenEastGermaniclanguage.

2）NorthGermanicevolvedintothemodernScandinavianlanguagesofSwedish,Danish,Norwegian,andIcelandic.

3）WestGermanicistheancestorofmodernGerman,Dutch,Flemish,Frisian,andEnglish.

3.DevelopmentofBREandAME

1）OldEnglish（500-1100AD）

WestGermanicinvadersfromJutlandandsouthernDenmark:

theAngles（whosenameisthesourceofthewordsEnglandandEnglish）,Saxons,andJutes,beganpopulatingtheBritishIslesinthefifthandsixthcenturiesAD.Theyspokeamutuallyintelligiblelanguage,similartomodernFrisian–thelanguageofnortheasternregionoftheNetherlands–thatiscalledOldEnglish.

TheEnglishcolonizationofNorthAmericabeganaround1600ADandsubsequentlyadistinctAmericandialectwascreated.Somepronunciationsandusages“froze”whenEnglishsettlersreachedtheAmericanshore.

2）TheNormanConquestandMiddleEnglish（1100-1500）

WilliamtheConqueror,theDukeofNormandy,invadedandconqueredEnglandandtheAnglo-Saxonsin1066AD.（TheBayeuxTapestry,detailsofwhichformthenavigationbuttonsonthissite,isperhapsthemostfamousgraphicaldepictionoftheNormanConquest.）ThenewoverlordsspokeadialectofOldFrenchknownasAnglo-Norman.TheNormanswerealsoofGermanicstock（“Norman”comesfrom“Norseman”）andAnglo-NormanwasaFrenchdialectthathadconsiderableGermanicinfluencesinadditiontothebasicLatinroots.

PriortotheNormanConquest,LatinhadbeenonlyaminorinfluenceontheEnglishlanguage,mainlythroughvestigesoftheRomanoccupationandfromtheconversionofBritaintoChristianityintheseventhcentury（ecclesiasticaltermssuchaspriest,vicar,andmasscameintothelanguagethisway）,butnowtherewasawholesaleinfusionofRomance（Anglo-Norman）words.

3）EarlyModernEnglish（1500-1800）

ThenextwaveofinnovationinEnglishcamewiththeRenaissance.TherevivalofclassicalscholarshipbroughtmanyclassicalLatinandGreekwordsintotheLanguage.

4）Late-ModernEnglish（1800-Present）

Theprincipaldistinctionbetweenearly-andlate-modernEnglishisvocabulary.Pronunciation,grammar,andspellingarelargelythesame,butLate-ModernEnglishhasmanymorewords.Thesewordsaretheresultoftwohistoricalfactors.ThefirstistheIndustrialRevolutionandtheriseofthetechnologicalsociety.Thisnecessitatednewwordsforthingsandideasthathadnotpreviouslyexisted.ThesecondwastheBritishEmpire.Atitsheight,Britainruledonequarteroftheearth’ssurface,andEnglishadoptedmanyforeignwordsandmadethemitsown.

4.CharacteristicsofBREandAME

4.1.EverydayOrallanguage

ThespokenlanguageofBREvariesfarmorethanthatofotherEnglish-speakingcountries,andauniformnotionofBREismademoredifficulttobeappliedtothespokenlanguage.

Nevertheless,theAMEorallanguageisfeaturedasgeneraluniformitythroughoutthecountry,fordialectsareconfinedtorecentimmigrants.

4.2.Writtenlanguage

ThereareslightregionalvariationsinformalwrittenlanguageofBRE.

HoweverthewrittenAMEdiffersverylittle,soatextbookintheUScanalsobeusedinUK,Australia,SouthAfrica,etc.

ThemostdistinctdifferenceinwrittenEnglishbetweenthetwoistheuseofslangorinformalEnglish.

4.3.Loanwords

ManyofthefollowingloanwordshaveenteredEnglishthroughmilitarychannelrelatingtowar,conflictorthepoliticalclimateorculturalcontactrelatingtofood,sport,musicandpopularculture:

PoliticsandConflict

1939blitz-German

1975refusenik-Russian

1920putsch-SwissGerman

1986glasnost-Russian

1941apparatchik-Russian

1927apartheid-Afrikaans

1933czar-Russian（thewordhadbeenusedinEnglishforcenturiestodescribetheoccupantoftheRussianthrone,butthisisthefirstcitingofitsmodernusageasin"drugsczar"etc.）

1920bolshy-Russian（we'vebroadenedthemeaningfromtheRussianwordBolshevikandit'snowmorecommonlyusedasanadjectivetodescribeateenagerthantodescribeapoliticalrevolutionary）

Culinaryterms

1984balti-Hindi

1935 pizza-Italian

1975nouvellecuisine-French

1985ciabatta-Italian

1958 baguette-French

1928croissant-French

1905 ap

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