Курсовая работа: Characteristic features of American English

Southern dialect could be divided into separate dialects for the upper and lower South or into several smaller dialects, such as the Virginia Tidewater, South Carolina Low Country, local dialects with Charleston and New Orleans as focal points, etc. In general, however, Southern dialect is used south and east of a line drawn along the northern boundary of Maryland and Virginia and the southern boundary of West Virginia,the southern part of Missouri and down through southeastern Oklahoma and eastern Texas. It is characterized by:

(1) the Southern drawl: a slower enunciation than used in the rest of the country, combined with a slow breaking, gliding, or diphthongization of stressed vowels. Thus to the rest of us the Southern class sounds like "clae-is"; yes like "yea-is" or "yea-yis"; fine, I, ride, and time like "fi-ahn," "I-ah," "ri-ahd," and^u ti-ahm" (these all being long i sounds).

(2) some of this slow dwelling on the vowel sounds weakens the following final consonants, especially d's, Vs, r's, and t's, giving southerners such pronunciations as fin(d), he(l)p, se(l)f, flo(or), mo(re), po(or), yo(ur), bes(t), kep(t). (3) using such terms as the stereotyped Southern honey- chil(d) and you all as well as bucket (for pail), heap (for very), raise (for rear, children), reckon (think, judge), right (for very), snap bean (string bean), spigot (for faucet) and tote (for carry). [9. p.121 ]

General American dialect is spoken in 4/5ths of the nation's area and by 2/3rds of the population, but is still a dialect. It is not called General American because that is what Americans should speak but because it just happens to be the dialect heard in the general regions outside of New England and the South. It is heard in the area which starts as a wedge between New England and the South, in western Connecticut, New York State, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, then broadens out to include West Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, northern Missouri, northwestern Oklahoma and west Texas, and finally encompasses the entire western half of the country. It actually includes at least four dialects: the North Central, the New York City Metropolitan Area dialect (including parts of Connecticut and New Jersey), the Middle Atlantic, and the Midlands dialect (Philadelphia to the Rockies and the Potomac to New Mexico, sometimes con­sidered as separate Northern Midland and Southern Midland dialects). All these have more in common with each other than with the New England and Southern dialects, so can be grouped together as General American. It is characterized by:

(1) using the short flat a in such words as ask, brass, can't, class, dance, fast, grass, half, last, and path.

(2) sounding the unrounded o in such words as box, hot, lot, not, pot, and top almost as the broad a in father.

(3) the retention of a strong r sound in all positions, as caR, haKd, etc. [9. p.122 ]

Americans are still moving and communicating from one part of the country to another. As easterners and midwesterners continue to move to the Sun Belt (1950s) the local Florida and Texas speech patterns will be diluted; as people continue to leave large cities for small ones and for rural areas, pockets of local dialects will tend to weaken or disappear. Perhaps some­day in the future regional dialects will be no more. Then we may have only two dialects, that of educated, urban Americans and that of rural and poor Americans. Such dialects already exist, heard mainly in grammar and usage. [9. p.123 ]

1.3. English vs American

· American English (AmE) is the form of English used in the United States. It includes all English dialects used within the United States of America.

· British English (BrE) is the form of English used in the United Kingdom. It includes all English dialects used within the United Kingdom. [3 ]

This subject could, and does, fill many volumes, but the most obvi­ous and representative differences between English English and American English include:

[10. p.202 ]

1.4. Differences in American and English Vocabulary

It's easy to point out the differences between the American and the English vocabulary: the differences seem quaint and there are comparatively so few that Americans can easily spot them. Many of the differences are merely a matter of preference: Americans prefer railroad and store while the English prefer the synonyms railway and shop, but all four words are used in both England and America. In addition, Americans know or can easily guess what braces, fishmonger's, or pram means, just as the English know or can figure out what innerspring mattress, jump rope, and ice water mean. Finally, many of the words that once separated American English from English English no longer do: American cocktail (1806), skyscraper (1833), and supermarket (1920s) are now heard around the world, and the English increasingly use radio, run (in a stocking), and Santa Claus instead of wireless, ladder, and Father Christmas. The following list gives some of the most interesting and typical differences between the American and English vocabulary, differ­ences that may especially interest tourists and those who enjoy both American and English books and movies.

Examples:

airfield —aerodrome.

apartment; apartment house, apartment building ; block of flats (to an Englishman an apartment means a room). Our high-rise apartment (building) is the English tower block (of flats).

barbershop —barber's shop. The English frequently use the possessive -V or -s' where we do not, as in dolts house, ladies' room, and shop.

can opener —tin opener, candy —sweets [10. p.203 ]

There are, of course, hundreds of more terms that differ in American English and British English. American use of prepositions sometimes also differs: Americans live on a street, the English live in it; Americans chat with people, the English chat to them; Americans speak of an increase in something, the English of an increase on it; Americans get snowed in, they get snowed up ; Americans say something is different/row something else, the English say it is different to it.

[10. p.210 ]

1.5. Differences in American and English Pronunciation

The major difference in American and English pronunciation is in intonation and voice timbre. Americans speak with less variety of tone than the English. American voice timbre seems harsh or tinny to the English, their's gurgling or throaty to Americans. English conclusion: Americans speak shrilly, monotonously, and like a schoolboy reciting. American conclu­sion: the English speak too low, theatrically, and swallow their syllables. [2]

The more precise differences include:

Americans pronounce the a in such words as ask, brass, can't, dance, fast, grass, half, last, and path as a short, fiat [a ];the English pronounce it more as the broad [a: ]in father . American shorter, flatter [a ]is just a continuation of the way first colonists from Southern England pronounced it; the English dropped this pronunciation in the 18th century and began to use the broad [a: ](this same change took place in parts of New England and the South, giving some Americans the pronuncia­tion of aunt as "ahnt" and vase as "vahz"). [10. p.210]

On the other hand, most Americans sound the short [ o ] in such words as box, hot, lot, not, pot, and top almost as the broad [a: ] in father, while the English (and some New Englanders) give it a more open sound, with the lips rounded.

And some are just unique pronunciations of individual words. Such miscellaneous differences in pronunciations include:

ate, Americans say "eight"—"et" is an accepted English pronunciation.