American English and British English : Comparative Study

 "We have really everything in common with America nowadays except, of course, language."
                           --   Oscar Wilde

Introduction

American English is now a craze. It is obviously due to the fact that the Americans made a spectacular progress in the sphere of science and technology, in the sphere of trade and commerce, in the sphere of literature and athletics. Moreover, political power of America has assumed a formidable proportion. Naturally, the people of the world abroad, by and large, feel and urge to learn the language of the American people. But it is to be noted that American English and British English are fundamentally the same. Though they share a common origin, centuries of geographical, cultural, and political separation have led to notable differences between the two. Only in some respect, American English is a little different from British English. The points of divergence of American English from kings English can conveniently be grouped under these heads: pronunciation, punctuation, spelling  & vocabulary, grammar and idiom and usage.

Pronunciation

American and British English also differ in pronunciation, with variations in vowel and consonant sounds, stress patterns, and intonation. Some key differences include:

• In the first place,, the pronunciation of words like ‘duty’, ‘duke’ is something like ‘dooty’, ‘dooke’.
• Next, American ‘t’ often sounds like ‘d’. Hence ‘beating’, ‘matter’ sound like ‘beading’, ‘madder’    respectively.                             

• In American English, the "r" sound is pronounced in all positions of a word, while in British English, the "r" at the end of words is often silent (non-rhotic).
  • Example: Car is pronounced /kɑːr/ in American English and /kɑː/ in British English.
• The "a" in words like "dance" and "bath" is pronounced as a short vowel (/æ/) in American English but as a longer vowel (/ɑː/) in British English.
  • Example: Dance is pronounced /dæns/ in American English and /dɑːns/ in British English.

 Spelling & Vocabulary

In the second place, American English is peculiar in respect of spelling. There is a tendency in the language to simplify the spelling system, and make it conveniently to the way in which the word concerned is uttered. Hence, in many cases – ‘our’ becomes ‘or’ as in honour (honor), colour (color), labour (labor) etc. The words ending with ‘re’ often shift to the words ending with ‘er’. So in American English there are words like fiber (fibre), ‘center’ (center), and theater (theatre). In British English the words like ‘advice’ and ‘device’ are treated as nouns. The verb form of them being ‘advise’ and ‘devise’. But in American English noun or verb they are always ‘advise’ and ‘devise’. Lastly, in American English some unnecessary letters are dropped. So, ‘catalogue’ becomes ‘catalog’, ‘though’ becomes ‘tho’ and ‘through’ becomes ‘thru’ etc.

Example Spelling: American and British English spelling rules vary for certain words. Some of the most common differences include:

British English	American English	Example
Colour	Color	The walls were painted a bright colour. (BrE) → The walls were painted a bright color. (AmE)
Organise	Organize	We need to organise the meeting. (BrE) → We need to organize the meeting. (AmE)
Centre	Center	The shopping centre is nearby. (BrE) → The shopping center is nearby. (AmE)
Defence	Defense	He was part of the defence team. (BrE) → He was part of the defense team. (AmE)
Travelling	Traveling	She enjoys travelling to new places. (BrE) → She enjoys traveling to new places. (AmE)

In British English, words that end in -re (centre, theatre) are often spelled -er (center, theater) in American English. Similarly, verbs in British English that end in -ise (realise, organise) are spelled -ize in American English.

Example Vocabulary: There are also distinct differences in word usage. Common vocabulary words can differ between British and American English:

British English	American English	Example
Flat	Apartment	She lives in a flat. (BrE) → She lives in an apartment. (AmE)
Lift	Elevator	Take the lift to the third floor. (BrE) → Take the elevator to the third floor. (AmE)
Lorry	Truck	The lorry is delivering goods. (BrE) → The truck is delivering goods. (AmE)
Biscuit	Cookie	Would you like a biscuit? (BrE) → Would you like a cookie? (AmE)
Holiday	Vacation	They are on holiday. (BrE) → They are on vacation. (AmE)

These vocabulary differences often reflect cultural distinctions between the UK and the US.

Grammar Differences:

Though the grammar rules are largely the same, a few differences can be found:

• Past Simple vs. Present Perfect: British English tends to use the present perfect tense to describe a recent event, whereas American English often uses the simple past.

  • Example:
    • BrE: I've just eaten breakfast.
    • AmE: I just ate breakfast.

• Collective Nouns: In British English, collective nouns (e.g., team, government) are often treated as plural, while in American English, they are treated as singular.

  • Example:
    • BrE: The team are winning.
    • AmE: The team is winning.

• Prepositions: There are differences in preposition usage.

• Example:
• BrE: She is in hospital.
• AmE: She is in the hospital.

Punctuation Differences:

American and British English also differ in their use of punctuation:

• Quotation Marks: British English generally uses single quotation marks (‘ ’), while American English uses double quotation marks (“ ”).

  • Example:
    • BrE: He said, ‘I’ll be late.’
    • AmE: He said, “I’ll be late.”

• Comma Before "And": The serial (Oxford) comma is more commonly used in American English.

  • Example:
    • BrE: I bought apples, oranges and bananas.
    • AmE: I bought apples, oranges, and bananas.

Idiom usage

There are many words, which are exclusively current in English coined from America. Here are a number of samples –‘toboggan’, ‘raccoon’, ‘moose’, and ‘hickory’ etc. Besides American people use some words in a sense in which the British people do not use them. For example, in America ‘biscuit’ means cake, ‘clerk’ means shopkeeper, ‘engineer’ means driver of an engine, ‘solicitor’ means salesman etc. There is still another peculiarity in American English in respect of vocabulary. It prefers ‘apartment’ to ‘flat’, ‘baby carriage’ to ‘perambulator’, ‘baggage’ to ‘luggage’, ‘can’ to ‘tin’, ‘elevator’ to ‘life’, ‘gas’ or ‘gasoline’ to ‘petrol’, ‘information bureau’ to ‘enquiry office’,  ‘railroad’ to ‘railway’, ‘sidewalk’ to ‘pavement’, ‘truck’ to ‘lorry’ etc. There are further some words the particles of which are collected from British English but coined in America. The words are ‘behaviorist’, ‘finalize’, ‘gangster’, ‘isolationist’, ‘supermarket’, ‘multiplex’ ‘teenager’ and such alike. There are particles taken from British English and combined into the new words in America. Here is a list of some of these words: ‘back-number’, ‘best-seller’, ‘high-brow’, ‘know-how’, ‘paper-back’ ‘go-together’, ‘hide-out’ etc. Lastly, there are some phrases and idioms which owe their origin to American English i.e. ‘cash in on’, ‘go in for’, ‘go back on’, ‘fizzle out’, ‘kick the bucket’, ‘face the music’, ‘beyond the fence’ etc.

Conclusion

While the fundamental structure of the language remains the same, the differences between American and British English in terms of spelling, vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, and punctuation reflect the historical and cultural divergences between the US and the UK. These variations, however, do not hinder mutual intelligibility, and speakers of both forms of English can generally understand each other with minimal confusion. D. H. Lawrence, who writes in British English is tremendously popular in America, while Hemingway, an American novelist is appreciated by heart by the Britons. Warren and Brooks are the two outstanding literary critics from America, have their considerable hold on English scholars. Evidently, the difference between American English and British English is one of degree and not of attitude.

Ardhendu De