 Early 1600’s: The first wave of English-speaking settlers arrive in North America as part of the British colonization movement. They bring English, now an “emigrant language,” to native North Americans; in addition, the settlers and their families continue to speak their own native tongue.  The process of an emigrant language’s evolution: 1) The language evolves from a specific homeland language. 2) The emigrant language begins to change course because of lack of direct contact with the homeland. 3) The emigrant language continues to evolve away from the homeland, gradually creating a new dialect. 4) The homeland dialect continues to evolve as well, diverging further away from the emigrant dialect of the language.

 Between the end of the 17 th century and the 21 st century, many gradual changes to the form of the English language have taken place under this process.  The process caused the Americans and the British to diverge so drastically in terms of the forms of their languages that they are now considered two separate English language dialects.  1806 – Noah Webster publishes his first dictionary, A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language. Up until this time, English dictionaries included strictly British vocabulary, spellings, and pronunciations. Webster was convinced that an outline of a common, American, national language would unify his country.

 1828 –publishes American Dictionary of the English Language  1890 – Merriam brothers {who received the rights to Webster’s dictionaries after his death} publish Webster’s First International Dictionary, an all-encompassing look at the English language  Noah Webster’s intentions? To prove that Americans spoke a different dialect than the British {but a dialect that was in no way inferior – he believed it deserved a unique documentation of its own trends}  Merriam’s intentions? "The purpose of the dictionary is to provide a record of the language as it is used by educated people who have been speaking and writing it all their lives.“ -- H. Bosley Woolf {Merriam's editorial director}

 West-Germanic  A “borrowing language” – enriched by Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian, and Norman influences  Evolved over many centuries; experienced many shifts/changes  Spread of British English is attributed to trade and commerce throughout the established British Empire

 There are quite a few noticeable differences between the British English dialect and the evolved dialect of American English. These are the ones we will cover: Spelling Pronunciation {accent} Pronunciation {affixes} Pronunciation {stress} Grammar Vocabulary

AMERICAN – “-or”BRITISH – “-our” ColorColour HonorHonour Favoritefavourite AMERICAN – “-ll”BRITISH – “-l” EnrollmentEnrolment FulfillFulfil Skillfulskilful AMERICAN – “-ze”BRITISH – “-se” AnalyzeAnalyse CriticizeCriticise MemorizeMemorise

AMERICAN – “-er”BRITISH – “-re” CenterCentre MeterMetre Theatertheatre AMERICAN – “-og”BRITISH – “-ogue” AnalogAnalogue CatalogCatalogue DialogDialogue AMERICAN – “-ck” or “-k”BRITISH – “-que” BankBanque CheckCheque

AMERICAN – “-e”BRITISH – “-ae” or “-oe” EncyclopediaEncyclopaedia ManeuverManoeuvre MedievalMediaeval AMERICAN – “-dg” “-g” “-gu”BRITISH – “-dge” “-ge” “-gue” AgingAgeing ArgumentArguement JudgmentJudgement AMERICAN – “-ense”BRITISH – “-ence” LicenseLicence DefenseDefence

AMERICANBRITISH JewelryJewellry DraftDraught PajamasPyjamas PlowPlough ProgramProgramme TireTyre Other word-specific differences --

BASE WORDAMERICANBRITISH CounselCounselingCounselling EqualEqualedEqualled ModelModelingModelling QuarrelQuarrelingQuarrelling SignalSignaledSignalled TravelTravelingTravelling Base words that end in L normally double the L in British English when a suffix is added. The letter can double in American as well – but ONLY IF the stress is on the second syllable of the base word. BASE WORD AMERICANBRITISH ExcelExcelling PropelPropelling

 The British accent was created by a mixture of the Midland and Southern dialects of the Middle Ages.  There are many sub-dialects and varying accents under British English.  American English was not so strongly influenced by the accent as Australia or New Zealand, for example – the Americas broke away from British control much earlier and were distanced from direct speakers of the language as a result.

 British English = non-rhotic; American English = rhotic This means that “R” is only pronounced in British English when it is immediately followed by a vowel sound. “R” in British English is either not pronounced or replaced with a schwa

 American English has fewer vowel distinctions before intervocalic “R” sounds. This means that, in American English – merry, marry, and Mary often sound the same mirror rhymes with nearer furry rhymes with hurry  British English has three open back vowels while American English has only two {or even one}: Most American English speakers use the same vowel for “short O” as for “broad A” – father and bother often rhyme.

 Other vowel pronunciation differences: British English = “broad A” American English = “short A” {in most words when A is followed by N followed by another consonant, or “S, “F,” or “TH” – like plant, pass, laugh}  British English has a distinct length difference between “short” and “long” vowels – the long vowels begin diphthongs  American English often loses the distinction between unstressed / ɪ / and / ə / {as in roses and Rosa’s}; in British English, it is maintained because of the non- rhotic nature of the language {in order to make words like batted and battered sound distinctly different}.  American English experiences a yod-dropping after all alveolar consonants {i.e. /ju:/}; British English speakers always retain /j/ after /n/ {i.e. new in British English is /nju ː / but in American English it is /nu ː /}, retain or coalesce it after /t/ and /d/ {i.e. due in British English is /dju:/ but in American English it is /du:/}.

 There are also many individual pronunciation differences that depend on the particular vocabulary word and the speaker who is pronouncing it.

 - ary, -ery, -ory, -bury, -berry, -mony When the syllable before these affixes is stressed, American and British English pronounce these endings in a similar way: / ə ri( ː )/ When it is unstressed, American English uses a full vowel rather than a schwa while British English retains the reduced vowel or elides it completely. {i.e. “military” – American: /'m ɪ l ɪ t ɛ ri ː / and British: /'m ɪ l ɪ t ə ri ː / or /'m ɪ l ɪ tri ː /} Exceptions, in which the full vowel is used in American English even though the preceding syllable is stressed: library, primary, rosemary -berry – American English usually always uses a full vowel; British English uses a full vowel after an unstressed syllable and a reduced one after a stressed syllable /b ɛ ri ː / /b ə ri ː / or /bri ː / example: strawberry British: /'str ɔː b ə ri ː / American: /'str ɔ b ɛ ri/

 Adverbs: -arily, -erily or -orily British English speakers follow the American practice of shifting the stress to the antepenultimate syllable {i.e. militarily is / ˌ m ɪ l ɪ 't ɛ r ɪ li ː / not /'m ɪ l ɪ tr ɪ li ː /}  -ile When words end in an unstressed “-ile,” British English speakers pronounce them with a full vowel: /a ɪ l/ while American speakers pronounce them with either a reduced vowel / ɪ l/ or a syllabic /l/ {i.e. in British English, “fertile” rhymes with “fur tile” – in American English, it would rhyme with “turtle”} examples of words this applies to: mobile, fragile, sterile, missile, versatile, etc. examples of exceptions to this difference: reptile, exile, turnstile, senile, etc.  -ine When unstressed, this affix can be pronounced as /a ɪ n/ (like feline), /i( ː )n/ (like morphine), or / ɪ n/ (like medicine). Generally speaking, British English uses /a ɪ n/ most often while American English favors /in/ or / ɪ n/ {i.e. crystalline}

 In the case of French loanwords, American English has final-syllable stress while British English has penultimate or antepenultimate stress. British English first-syllable stress: adult, ballet, baton, pastel, vaccine British English second-syllable stress: escargot, fiancee

There are also other words borrowed from French that feature stress differences. American first-syllable; British last-syllable: address, mustache, cigarette, magazine American 1st-syllable; British 2nd-syllable: liaison, Renaissance American 2nd-syllable; British last-syllable: New Orleans

NOUNS In British English, collective nouns can take either singular or plural verb forms, depending on whether the emphasis is on the body or the members within it. i.e.“A committee was appointed.” “ The committee were unable to agree.” VERBS morphology  American -- "-ed" British -- "-t" i.e. learned/learnt, dreamed/dreamt  British English rarely use “gotten;” instead, “got” is much more common.  Past participles often vary: i.e. saw – American: sawed; British: sawn tenses  British English employs the present perfect to talk about a recent event {i.e. “I’ve already eaten,” “I’ve just arrived home.”} auxiliaries  British English often uses “shall” and “shan’t” American English uses “will” and “won’t”

 American and British English speakers often use the same words but intend very different meaning with them: WORDAMERICANBRITISH BiscuitDinner rollCookie BrewBeerTea BureauChest of drawersWriting table/desk CasketCoffinJewelry Box First FloorGround Floor“Second” Floor To hireTo employTo rent ngs_in_British_and_American_Englishhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_words_having_different_meani ngs_in_British_and_American_English {for more examples!}