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Module 1 British and American English Words, words, words British and American English are different in many ways. The first and most obvious way is in the vocabulary. There are hundreds of different words which are not used on the other side of the Atlantic, or which are used with a different meaning. Some of these words are well-known – Americans drive automobiles down freeways and fill up with gas; the British drive cars along motorways and fill up with petrol. As a tourist, you will need to used the underground in London or the subway in New York, or maybe you will prefer to get around the town by taxi (British) or cab (American). British and American Chips or French fries? But other words and expressions are not so well known. Americans use a flashlight, while for the British, it’s a torch. The British queue up; Americans stand in line. Sometimes the same word ahs a slightly different meaning, which can be confusing. Chips, for example, are pieces of hot fried potato in Britain; in the States chips are very thin and are sold in packets. The British call these crisps. The chips the British know and love are French fries on the other side of the Atlantic. Have or have got? There are a few differences in grammar, too. The British say Have you got…? while Americans prefer Do you have…? An American might say My friend just arrived, but a British person would say My friend has just arrived. Prepositions, too, can be different: compare on the team, on the weekend (American) with in the team, at the weekend (British). The British use prepositions where Americans sometimes omit them (I’ll see you Monday; write me soon!) Colour or color? The other two areas in which the two varieties differ are spelling and pronunciation. American spelling seems simpler: center, color and program instead of centre, colour and programme. Many factors have influenced American pronunciation since the first settlers arrived four hundred years ago. The accent, which is most similar to British English, can be heard on the East Coast of the US. When the Irish writer George Bernard Shaw made the famous remark that the British and the Americans are two nations divided by a common language, he was obviously thinking about the differences. But are they really so important? After all, there is probably as much variation of pronunciation within the two countries as between them. A Londoner has more difficulty understanding a Scotsman from Glasgow than understanding a New Yorker. Turn on the TV Some experts believe that the two varieties are moving closer together. For more than a century communications across the Atlantic have developed steadily. Since the 1980s, with satellite TV and the Internet, it has been possible to listen to British and American English at the flick of a switch. This non-stop communication, the experts think, has made it easier for British people and Americans to understand each other. But it has also led to lots of American words and structures passing into British English, so that some people now believe that British English will disappear. However, if you turn on CNN, the American TV network, you find newsreaders and weather forecasters all speaking with different accents – American, British, Australian, and even Spanish. One of the best-known faces, Monita Rajpal, was born in Hong Kong, China, and grew up speaking Chinese and Punjabi, as well as English. This international dimension suggests that in the future, there are going to be many “Englishes”, not just two main varieties. But the messages is “Don’t worry.” Users of English will all be able to understand each other – wherever they are. Module 1 British and American English 英国英语和美国英语 Words,Words,Words 英式英语和美式英语在很多方面是不同的。首先，最为明显的方面是在词汇方面。有成百上千的不同的词在大西洋彼岸是不被使用的或以不同的意思被使用。有一些词是非常有名的，美国人在高速公路上驾驶时给车（automobile 汽车）加油加的是gas；而英国人通常来给车加油用的是petrol（汽油）。做为一个游客，你在伦敦将会使用underground來指地铁或在纽约使用subway，或许你将会更愿意选择用出租车taxi（英国）或 cab（美国）来游览城市。 Chips or French fries？ 但是其他词语和表达方式没有这麽广泛的被人所知。美国人把手电筒成为flashlight然而在英国，它被称做torch（火炬，火把；喷灯，吹管；光芒）。在英国英语当中，排队要用queue up 而在美国要用stand in line 。有的时候同一个单词在意义上有轻微差别，这和种差别有事会使人疑惑不解。例如：Chips 在英国中指的是油炸的或热炸的薯条；在美国，Chips 是非常薄的并且是放在袋里出售的。英国人称它为Crisps英国人所熟悉并喜欢的这中薯条在大西洋彼岸却被称之为French fries 。 Have or have got ？ 在语法方面英式英语和美式英语也有一些不同。英国人通常说“have you got ...?”而美国人更愿意使用“Do you have ...?”一个美国人通常会说“My friend has just arrived .”但是一个英国人通常会说“My friend has just arrived.”介词的用法也有一定不同：我们可以比较一下，在美式英语中用on the team ,on the weekend 在英式英语中用in the team ,at the weekend 。英国人用介词的地方美国人有时会省略掉（I’ll see you Monday ;Write me soon!）。 Colour or color? 此外，在两中英语中另外两个领域的区别是拼写和发音。美国人拼写看起来似乎简单些：center, color和programme。自从四百多年以前第一批移民到来有很多的因素影响着美式发音。这个与英式英语非常相似的口音能够在美国东海岸被听到。当爱尔兰的作家乔治.萧伯纳 将这个“英国和美国是被一个语言分开两个民族”这句名言时，他显然想到了他们之间的差别。但是这些区别真的很重要吗？毕竟两个国家境内口音的差别可能和两个两国之间的口音差别可能一样多。伦敦人要听懂来自格拉斯哥的苏格兰人说话要比纽约人更难。 Turn on the TV 很多专家都相信这两种语音正在变得更接近。一个多世纪以来大西洋的这两种交流在稳定的发展。自从20世纪80年代以来随着卫星电视和因特网的使用，便利的听到英式英语和美式英语成为一种可能。这种不间断的交流使得英美两国人彼此间理解对方已经变得很容易了。但是这也致使了很多英语单词和结构进入到英国英语以致于现在有一些人认为英式英语将会消失。 然而，如果你打开美国电视网络的节目CNN的时候，你会发现新闻播报员也好、天气预报员也好他们都发着不同的口音，美国的、英国的、澳大利亚的甚至是西班牙的。最出名的之一是出生在中国香港的“Monita Rajpal”从小到大说的是汉语、印度的土语和英语。 这种国际标准表明在将来将会出现很多的英语，不仅仅是两种。但是对这件事不必担心。无论是在哪里使用英语的人都将能彼此理解。 The Man Who Made Spelling Simple In English the spelling of words does not always represent the sound. So people say /rait/ but spell it right, or write, or even rite. Combinations of letters (like ough) may be pronounced in a number of ways. And some words just seem to have too many letters. For Americans things are a little bit easier, thanks to the work of Noah Webster, a teacher who graduated from Yale University in 1778. as a young man he had fought against the British in the American War of independence, and he felt that written English in the newly independent United States should have a distinctive “American” look. So he began his work on American English. His first book, the Elementary Spelling Book, suggested simplifying the spelling of English words. The book was extremely popular. By the 1850s it was selling one million copies a year, making it one of the most popular school books ever. Many of the suggestions were quickly adopted. Center instead of centre, program instead of programme, and flavor instead of flavour. Others, however, such as removing silent letters like the s in island or the final e in examine, were not. Webster is best known for his American Dictionary of the English Language, which first appeared 1828. it introduced lots of new American words, with information about their pronunciation and use, and, of course, the new spelling. The British criticized the dictionary, but it quickly became a standard reference book in the States. Today, Webster’s dictionary is still the number one dictionary for American students. |
