Both British English and American English are interesting topics to look at but to look at them in a contrastive way is even more interesting because here you have to take the history of both varieties into consideration to see where the differences lie and why they became two distinctive varieties. Now you have to keep in mind that America was settled by British people but yet Americans now do not speak British English and then voted for their own way of speaking and pronouncing English. But how did that come? It was simply impossible not to have a different variety of English in America since English was exposed to different external factors such as other existing languages and a new environment compared to English in England and Great Britain. Hence with the Declaration of Independence in 1776 as a political separation from the mother country a linguistic separation needed to follow to finally divorce the USA from England which was important for the Americans because they wanted to have their own national identity.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Introduction
- I. The Colonial Period
- A. English in England and in the Colonies
- 1. English in the Mother Country (England)
- 2. Settlement in the Thirteen Colonies
- B. English in America
- 3. Exposure to New Geography and Environment
- 1. Declaration of Independence
- 2. Debate in America
- A. English in England and in the Colonies
- II. American Revolution
- A. The Way to American English
- 1. The Elite and the Debate
- 2. Noah Webster's Influence
- B. Establishing American English
- 1. Linguistic Controversy
- 2. American English as Standard English?
- A. The Way to American English
- III. English in the 19th Century
- A. Developments in the Second Half of the 19th Century
- 1. Vocabulary
- 2. Grammar and Pronunciation
- B. Dictionaries and Spelling Books for AmE and BrE
- 1. Immigrant Languages in the 19th Century
- 2. Policies in American English
- A. Developments in the Second Half of the 19th Century
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This paper examines the historical development of American English, contrasting it with British English and exploring the reasons for their divergence. The paper traces the influence of historical events, linguistic factors, and social changes on the evolution of both varieties.
- The impact of colonization and settlement on the development of American English
- The role of the American Revolution in shaping a distinct American identity, including linguistic differentiation.
- The influence of social and geographical factors on the evolution of American English.
- The impact of immigration and the integration of diverse linguistic influences on American English.
- The standardization process of American English and its implications for language use and identity.
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
The introduction sets the stage for the paper, highlighting the fascinating history of both British and American English. The chapter then delves into the colonial period, analyzing the linguistic situation in England prior to the arrival of settlers in America and the development of a distinct American English.
The second chapter examines the role of the American Revolution in fostering linguistic divergence from British English. It focuses on the debate regarding the standardization of American English and the influence of figures like Noah Webster.
The third chapter explores the development of American English during the 19th century, including the impact of immigration, the role of dictionaries and spelling books, and the emergence of distinct vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation features.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
This text focuses on the historical development of American English, exploring themes such as colonialism, linguistic divergence, standardization, the American Revolution, immigration, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and the impact of social and geographical factors on language evolution.
- Quote paper
- Magister Anke Werckmeister (Author), 2008, American and British English differences with a look at their history, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/202227
