Bill Wang - Week 5 - British vs. American English
British vs. American English
(americanenglish.state.gov)
By now, at least everyone has seen or encountered some sort of joke mimicing British English. However, despite being the same language, how, and why, are the two dialects so different? As America was originally a colony of Britain, how did the two dialects become so distinct so quickly?
Most people are eager to point to the fact that naturally, as the U.S. is geographically isolated from Britain, American English is unavoidably different from British English: as time continues, both languages evolve away from each other, both developing on their own permutations.
This same phenomenon remains visible between other languages encountering the same scenario: Mexican Spanish versus European Spanish, and even more similarly, Australian English versus British English. While this argument is objectively true, the evolution of languages is a multifaceted and multivariate phenomenon, and many tend to gloss over other factors.
For example, the evolution of language in a certain area can be affected by the language of indigenous living in the area. During the colonization era, many indigenous people in the Americas encountered a cultural genocide as Europeans pushed their culture onto the natives, forcing them to speak their languages, and, in their views, become more civilized. This led to the “loss” of many Native American languages.
However, the influence of the dying indigenous languages, in a way, is preserved within America’s English. For example, many of the names of the states are taken from Native American languages, such as Arkansas being the word for “south wind” in the Algonkin language. Furthermore, “maize”, a word for corn, is derived from the Taino language.
Britain, which never directly encountered the effects of indigenous languages on their language, was slow to adopt the word or never adopted the word in the first place.
Furthermore, indigenous groups in America tended to use rhotic speech, where they fully pronounced the letter “r,” a trend that continued into their adaptation to their new language.
By contrast, high-class elites in England decided that they wanted to distinguish their manner of speech from the commoners. Thus, they softened the ‘r’ sound in their speech. This quickly became a trend, as everyone wanted to portray themselves as more classy, or more elegant. However, this trend never caught on in America, leading to another distinction between the two dialects.
However, even less known is the fact that Americans purposefully made their English different from British English.
Perhaps you recognize the last name “Webster.”
Known for his “Webster Dictionary,” now the “Merriam-Webster Dictionary,” Webster actually purposely misspelled some of the words in his lexicon, seeking to establish cultural independence from Britain, leading to differences in spellings, such as “flavour,” or “flavor.”
Overall, the explanations for a difference in language gap between American English and British English vary extensively and stem from a large variety of reasons.
(for more on British vs American english www.britishcouncilfoundation.id/en/english/articles/british-and-american-english)
Hi Bill! Your discussion of how American English and British English evolved to be distinct is really eye-opening. Before, I was aware that some words were purposely spelled differently in the US in order to distinguish the two nations, with the letter “u” typically being dropped. However, I never would have guessed that the evolution of the American English accent was influenced by the rhotic speech of indigenous groups. Your topic made me immediately think about the differences between Chinese in China and Taiwan. Compared to Britain and the USA, China and Taiwan separated much more recently and are also much closer geographically. Still, the differences in the two accents are extremely noticeable. In just half a century, Taiwan and China already have different accents, writing systems, phrases, and certain vocabularies. From my biased point of view, China seems like the “British version” of Chinese while Taiwan has the “American version,” but maybe a Chinese person might think the reverse. I think that this example adds to the question you pointed out about why the two dialects evolve so quickly. While specific reasons explain how one specific accent evolves, there must be a broader reason to explain why so many different languages fit this pattern. Maybe, all languages are changing over time at rapid rates, but it is only when nations divide do those rates become visible.
ReplyDeleteHi Bill! I really like your approach to introducing your topic through a pair of thought provoking questions, followed by a series of insightful comparisons. It's fascinating to learn about the various factors that contributed to the divergence between American and British English. From the role of indigenous groups to the impact of social dynamics, to a desire for cultural independence, I was surprised to learn about many of the factors you mentioned. I can’t help but wonder how these historical influences continue to shape the evolution of American and British English today, and whether there are any ongoing trends that are further differentiating the two. Or perhaps bringing them closer? (I imagine this is gradually happening through the impact of media, as it connects our people from across the world and allows a convergence of language elements). At the end of the day, I guess all of this serves as a testament to the ever-changing nature of language, influenced by historical, cultural, social, and even technological forces.
ReplyDeleteHey Bill, your description of the vast differences between American english and British english was very interesting to read. It surprised me to find out that American english has a large influence from indigenous languages which explains the difference in spellings. I always thought the languages just evolved from simplicity and the way we speak but the more I read your blog the more I realized there is more to it that society catering to their needs. Seeing how Britain was slow to evolve really shows how American english is not really a offspring of Britain but actually a mix of multiple languages, making it unique. The emphasis on softening the “r” sound shows how people think differently of each language as well. Britain english shows how people want a language to be sophisticated and proper while American english shows how they want their language to be accessible to anyone no matter who they are. Overall I enjoyed reading your blog and it gave me more insight on the different dialects of english.
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