英语专业论文.docx

英语专业论文.docx

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英语专业论文

1.Introduction

AmericaisoneofthecountriesthatspeakEnglish.BecauseofthespecialNorthAmericanculture,developinghistoryandthesocialenvironment,AmericanEnglishhasformeditscertainuniqueformsandthemeaning.ThenitturnedintoAmericanEnglishthathasthespecialfeaturesoftheUnitedStates.

AmericanEnglishwhichsometimesalsocalledUnitedEnglishorU.SEnglishistheformoftheEnglishlanguagethatusedwidelyintheUnitedStates.AstherapiddevelopmentofAmericaneconomy,anditssteadypositionandstrongpowerintheworld,AmericanEnglishhasbecomemoreandmorewidelyused.Asin2005,morethantwo-thirdsofEnglishnativespeakersusevariousformsofAmericanEnglish.

ThephilologistsoftheUnitedStateshaddividedtheEnglishoftheUnitedStatesintofourmajortypes:

“Americancreating”;“Oldwordsgiventhenewmeaning”;“WordsthateliminatedbyEnglish”;“ThephoneticforeignphrasesandthelanguagesthatarenotfromtheEnglishimmigrates”[1].

Comparedtotheotherlanguages,AmericanEnglishismuchsimpleonwordspelling,usageandgrammar,anditisoneofthereasonsthatAmericanEnglishissopopularintheworld.

ThethesisanalyzesthedifferencesbetweenAmericanEnglishandBritishEnglish.Withthemainpart,itdealswiththedevelopmentofAmericanEnglish,itspeculiaritiescomparedtothatofBritishEnglish,itscausesandtendency.

2.AnalysestheDifferences

AsweEnglishlearners,whenwelearningEnglishinourjuniororseniorschool,wealreadycameacrosssomewordsthathavedifferentspellings,differentpronunciationsordifferentexpressions,whichcanberepresentedbyfollowingcontrastedwords:

spellingsin"color"vs."colour";pronunciationsin"sec-re-ta-ry"vs."sec-re-try";expressionsin"firstfloor"equalsto"thegroundfloor".Withtheabovewords,theformerrepresentsAmericanEnglish,andthelatterrepresentsBritishEnglish.Theyarenoterrorsbutjustthedifferencesbetweenthetwolanguages.

TobeconsistentintheuseofEnglish,andmoreimportantly,tobeunderstoodeasily,thereisaneedforthenonnativespeakertoknowthatwhichwordshavedistinctmeaningsandpronunciationsdependingonwhethertheyareusedbyaBritonoranAmerican.Thisisnecessarynotonlyforthesakeofcommunication,butalsoforavoidingembarrassment.

 ManydifferencesexistbetweenAmericanEnglishandBritishEnglishwehavealreadyknew.However,therearestillmanydifferencesthatwearenotfamiliarwith.Inthispart,theauthorwillanalyzethedifferencesinseveralcategorieslikespelling,pronunciation,grammar,usageandsoon.

2.1Spelling

TherearemanydifferencesbetweenBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglishintermsofspelling.Afteranalysisbysomelinguists,itissaidthattheAmericanEnglishhasadifferenttendencyinpronounce,accordingtoeconomicalandphoneticstandards.Americanspellingtendstoreflectpronunciation,andBritishspellingtendstoreflectgrammaticalorhistoricalimplicationsaswell.Lettersthatnotneededarebeingkickedout,andwordsarespelledashowtheysound.Thefollowingexamplescanexplainthis.

With"our"inwordsofBritishEnglishlikecolour,humour,flavour,etc.arechangedto"or"intheequivalentwordsofAmericanEnglish,likecolor,humor,flavor,etc.Withthepronounceletter"u"beingkickedout.Wordsendingwith"-re"inBritishEnglisharechangedto"-er"inAmericanEnglish.Accordingtoitspronunciation,like"centre"and"metre"inBritishEnglish,but"center"and"meter"inAmericanEnglish.

Moreexamplesareasfollows:

（withtheformerisAmericanEnglishandthelatterisBritishEnglish）[2]

centercentre;check（money）cheque;colorcolour;curbkerb;graygrey;honorhonour;inquireenquire;jailgaol;jewelryjewellery;laborlabour;organizationorganization.

2.2Pronunciationdifferences

Thereareofcoursegreatregionaldifferencesinpronunciationwithinbothcountries.Forinstance,basket，theword“a”inafter、classandbasketpronounce[æ]inAmericanEnglish，but[ɑ:

]inBritishEnglish.（ThefollowingexamplesmentionedallcomefromOxfordAdvancedLearner’sEnglish–ChineseDictionary）

（1）Thereis[hw]thatcorrespondwith[w]inAmericanEnglish.suchaswhich，white，when，why.InBritishEnglish:

[wit∫]，[wait]，[wen]，[wai]，butinAmericanEnglish:

[hwit∫]，[hwait]，[hwen]，[hwai].

（2）Thereis[r]behindthevowelinAmericanEnglish，suchas:

far，poor.InBritishEnglish:

[fa:

]，[pu]，butinAmericanEnglish:

[far]，[pur]，[hir].

（3）InBritishEnglish[l]pronouncessurdbeforethevowel,（clearl），andpronouncesmix（混音）behindthevowel（darkl）；However,inAmericanEnglish,nowordpronounces[l].Forinstance，like,filling,till，well.

（4）Whenthephoneticsymbol[t]appearsbetweenthetwovowelsandbehindtheaccentuationorbetweenthevoicedconsonantandthevowel,itwillpronounce[d].Suchascity:

[`sidi].

2.3Vocabularydifferences

TheaverageuseofthetotalEnglishvocabulary,thenumberofwordswhichareusedonlyinoneortheothercountryisverysmall,buttheproblemforlearnersofEnglishisthatthesewordsareamongthemostcommoninthelanguage.TherearemanywordsthatareusedalmostexclusivelybyAmericans,whichareunderstoodbymostBritons,andviceversa.Butthereareothersthatcancausedifficulty.Forexample,mostBritonsknowthatAmericanscallbiscuitscookiesandflatsapartments,butnotsomanyknowwhatanalumnusorafenderis.Similarly,AmericansknowthatwhattheycalltheiryardiscalledagardeninBritainandthattrucksareLorries,butcommonBritishEnglishwordslikepistolsoroff-licensemaymeannothingtothem.

2.3.1Samemeaning,differentwords

ThemajorityofthesignificanceinglossarybetweenAmericanEnglishandBritishEnglishisidentical,buttherestillexistssomedifference.Forexample,thesamethingcanbeexpressedbydifferentwordsinbothlanguages.Thefollowingexamplesaretypical.

AmericanEnglish:

BritishEnglish:

bathroom，toilet,W.C./orloo;closet,cupboard;

corn,maize;drugstore,chemist's;

gas/gasoline,petrol; line,queue;oven,cooker;

round-tripticket,returnticket;suspenders,braces;truck,lorry;

underpass,subway;undershirt,vest;

vacation,holiday;etc.[4]

2.3.2.Samewords,differentmeaning

TheidenticalwordexpressesthedifferentmeaningbetweenBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglish.

Forexample:

Word

AmericanEnglish

BritishEnglish

rubber

condom

Toolusedtoerasepencilmarkings

date

appointment

day

dresser

Awardrobeassistant

cupboard

2.4Grammar

BritishEnglishandAmericanEnglishgrammararethesameinmostsense;therearehoweversomeinterestingvariations.Forexample,therearedifferencesincertainverbforms.InAmericanEnglish,thepasttenseoffitisfit;inBritishEnglish,itisfitted.AmericanssayI'vegottentoknowherwell;whileBritish:

I'vegottoknowherwell.

OtherdifferencesinvolvedtheuseofthepresentperfectinBritishEnglishandsimplepastinAmericanEnglishincludealready,justandyet.

BritishEnglish:

I'vejusthadlunch

I'vealreadyseenthatfilm

Haveyoufinishedyourhomeworkyet?

AmericanEnglish:

IjusthadlunchORI'vejusthadlunch

I'vealreadyseenthatfilmORIalreadysawthatfilm.

Haveyourfinishedyourhomeworkyet?

ORDidyoufinishyourhomeworkyet?

Asanotherexample,AmericansaremuchmorelikelytobetechnicallycorrectintheagreementofcollectivenounandverbformthanBritons.SoinstandardAmericanEnglishitwouldbe:

TheteamisplayingwellthisseasonwhereasinBritishEnglish,itiscommonandacceptabletosaytheteamareplayingwell.Similardifferencescanbeseenintheuseofwordslikegovernment,committeeetc.:

Thegovernmentis...（AmericanEnglish）.Thegovernmentare…（BritishEnglish）.

2.5Usage

TherearecountlessothersmallandinterestingdifferencesbetweenAmericanEnglishandBritishEnglish,whichcomeundertheheadingofusage.TaketheusefulexpressionusedinAmericanEnglishthrough,meansuptoandincluding.e.g.TheexhibitionisshowingMarchthroughJune.TheequivalentexpressioninBritishEnglishisfromMarchtoJune,butthisisambiguous.DoestheexhibitioncloseattheendofMayortheendofJune?

Toavoidanymisunderstanding,itisnecessarytosaysomethinglike:

TheexhibitionisshowingfromMarchtotheendofJune.

Asanotherexample:

forAmericans,thenumberbillionhas9zeros（athousandmillion）;formostBritonsithas12zeros（amillionmillion）.ZeroitselfisamorecommonwordinAmericanEnglishthaninBritishEnglish,wherenaughtismorewidespread.Americanssaythenumber453asfourhundredfiftythree,whereasinBritainitwouldbesaidfourhundredandfiftythree.Timeexpressingalsoisdifferent,andmaycauseconfusionlike4/12/1981（monthfirst）intheUSAand12/4/1981（dayfirst）intheUK.

2.6Thecausesofthedifferences

AtfirsttherewerenodistinctionsbetweenBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglishknowntousinthedevelopmentofcontemporaryEnglish.Butlaterinthe20thcentury,Americaemergedtobeagreatpowerandbegantoparticipatethepracticeoftheworldaffairs.DuringtheWorldWarII,Americademonstratedagreatstrengthintheleadershipoftheworldinworldvariousforums.Andaftertheworldwar,Americaemergedtobeoneoftheonlytwosuperpowersintheworld.Thusandthus,thedistinctivewaysAmericansspoken,wrotewasbeinganalyzed,studiedorlearnedbythepeopleofothercountries,includingevenBritish.

WhatarethecausesthatledtoAmericanEnglishdistinctivefromBritishEnglish?

Orwemaysayexactlywerethereanychanges