Peculiarities of American English

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Bog'liq
English language 2

INTRODUCTION

The differences between the English language as spoken in Britain, the USA, Australia and Canada can be seen in the field of phonetics. However these distinctions are confined to the articulatory – acoustic characteristics of some phonemes, to some differences in the use of others and to the differences in the rhythm and intonation of speech. The few phonemes characteristic of American pronunciation and alien to British literary norms can be observed as a rule in British dialects. In the early part of the seventeenth century English settlers began to bring their language to America and another series of changes began to take place.

Thus, the aim of our course paper is to reveal the main peculiarities of American English. To achieve this aim we have to fulfill the following tasks:
to study the sources on the topic
to compare British and American variants of English
to define the main characteristic features of American English
Our course paper consist of introduction, theoretical, practical parts and conclusion.

English is the second or third most widely spoken language in the world today. A total of 600–700 million people use the various dialects of English regularly. About 377 million people use one of the versions of English as their mother tongue, and an equal number of people use them as their second or foreign language. English is used widely in either the public or private sphere in more than 100 countries all over the world. In addition, the language has occupied a primary place in international academic and business communities. The current status of the English language at the start of the new millennium compares with that of Latin in the past. English is also the most widely used language for young backpackers who travel across continents, regardless of whether it is their mother tongue or a secondary language.

American English begins its history at the beginning of the 17th century when first English-speaking settlers began to settle on the Atlantic coast of the American continent. The language which they brought from England was the language spoken in England during the reign of Elizabeth I.

American English (variously abbreviated AmE, AE, AmEng, USEng, en-US, also known as United States English, or U.S. English) is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two thirds of native speakers of English live in the United States. English is the most common language in the United States.
American English differs from British English (BrE) at the levels of phonology, phonetics, vocabulary, and, to a lesser extent, grammar and orthography. The first large American dictionary, An American Dictionary of the English Language, was written by Noah Webster in 1828; Webster intended to show that the United States, which was a relatively new country at the time, spoke a different dialect from that of Britain.

In many ways, compared to English English, North American English is conservative in its phonology. Some distinctive accents can be found on the East Coast (for example, in Eastern New England and New York City), partly because these areas were in contact with England, and imitated prestigious varieties of British English at a time when those varieties were undergoing changes. In addition, many speech communities on the East Coast have existed in their present locations longer than others. The interior of the United States, however, was settled by people from all regions of the existing United States and, therefore, developed a far more generic linguistic pattern. The red areas are those where non-rhotic pronunciations are found among some white people in the United States.

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