Emily Brown, Erin Marion, Amaris Nieves

Schiltz
5/4/2012
American English vs. British English
English for a very long time belonged to the English, especially to the inhabitants
of a single Metropolitan area. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, London
dominated the English-speaking world. It was in the fifteenth century that London
began to assume greater importance as commercial, political, intellectual and spiritual
center, not only of England, but of English as well. The legal profession in particular did
much to make Londons dialect the norm, for it was fifteenth century London scribes
who worked in the Chancery court and helped establish a kind of standard British
English. One of the factors most important for the fate of the language is that London
was the home of the most important writers, the ones who would provide the most
highly praised examples of English style for centuries such as, Geoffrey Chaucer,
William Shakespeare and John Milton.

Figure 1.1 (British Empire Evolution)
Commented [EB1]: Collaborative working assignment.


London was also the home of the publishing business. Printing arrived in what
would become the United States in 1640. However, it took quite some time for America
to become a publishing powerhouse. All the presses in the American colonies put
together fewer than 6,500 titles before 1750. London over the same period of time
presents a very different picture. Between 1500-1750, London publishers turned out
more than 190,000 titles, not only is this more than all the other cities combined, but
also nearly four times as many as the rest of the English-speaking world. London
English was, as far as many people were concerned, the real English, and everything
else was an inferior imitation. This opinion was very prevalent among the British Isles.
To say something like proper pronunciation at this time meant the courtly
pronunciation of London. It had even gotten to the point where writers and philosophers
alike, such as David Hume, were determined to remove the regionalisms in his own
language (he was Scottish) and to speak and write like an Englishman. English meant
London English, and careful writers and speakers used it as their model.
In the late eighteenth century the dictionary meant A Dictionary of the English
Language by Samuel Johnson, one of the most famous Londoners who ever lived. He
was not a fan of the American colonies and even admitted that he was willing to love all
mankind, except an American, and he called the colonists a race of convicts, [who]
ought to be thankful for anything we allow them short of hanging. He despised
Americans for their disrespect for monarchy, their republican principles, their tasteless
moneygrubbing, and especially for their slave economy. It is interesting to note that
even though Johnson harshly criticized Americans and their Americanisms, the
Dictionary he wrote was owned by many members of the founding generation and they


even turned to it when they worked on the Declaration of Independence, the
Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Federalist. This deference to Johnsons
Dictionary tells us much about how the colonists saw themselves. Many eighteenth
century English-speakers in North America recognized themselves as provincials, and
were self-conscious and insecure about their use of the language. They believed that
the English language belonged to England and they (Americans) were only borrowing it.
These negative thoughts were held for quite a while by Americans until a man named
Noah Webster came into the picture.
Noah Webster was born in West Hartord, Connecticut in 1758. He is considered
to be the most famous lexicographer in history, surpassing even Johnsons fame. He
took an utterly different approach to the Americanisms that offended the British and
embarrassed the colonists. Rather than attempting to conceal the American features of
the language, Webster trumpeted them. He did not abide by Johnsons anti-American
rancor, and from early on he supported the American independence that Johnson had
disparaged. Unlike earlier American writers on language, who were conciliatory about
their relation to Britain, Webster was a devoted patriot who refused to make nice with
the mother country. It was this linguistic nationalism that led him to write his famous
dictionary, producing an American answer to the greatest monument to English and to
Englishness which was Johnsons Dictionary.
Webster did not begin with a full-scale dictionary, he instead started with a series
of smaller books. His most important early work was the three-part Grammatical
Institute, of the English Language, made up of a speller, a grammar, and a reader. He
later on changed the titles to showcase his patriotic side. The titles were American


Spelling Book, the American Grammar, and the American Selections of Lessons in
Reading and Speaking. These titles made it clear that he was teaching the language of
America, not of the nation America had just defeated. The preface to his work says it
all: The author, he wrote, wishes to promote the honour and prosperity of the
confederated republics of America and cheerfully throws his mite into the common
treasure of patriotic exertion. Webster was bothered that in schools in America
children were still being taught the history of England as if it were their own. He began
looking closer to home for selections that would be taught in schools: schoolchildren
were to learn to read by working through Benjamin Franklins Way to Wealth, Joel
Barlows History of Columbus, General Washingtons farewel Orders to the Army and
so on.
Websters mission went beyond reprinting patriotic essays: he wanted to rework
the fabric of the English language itself. He hoped proud Americans might shake an
implicit adherence to the language and manners of the British nation. He was
determined to separate the English language from the English nation, and he believed
that a specifically American brand of English was bound to evolve out of the mother
tongue. The new country, new associations of people, new combinations of ideas in
art and science-all these will inevitably introduce new words in the American brand of
English. Given enough time, the result will be a language in North America, as
different from the future language of England... Some examples of differences can be
seen in these British-American pairs like lift-elevator, lorry-truck, draughts-checkers, and
braces-suspenders. Webster believe that distancing American English from British
English would bring about a national and cultural unity. Websters An American


Dictionary of the English Language appeared in 1828 and his name has been
synonymous with dictionary ever since. Harry Warfel calls it Americas first
monumental work of scholarship. He made a clear distinction between American and
British English because they differed widely and what made sense in one country was
nonsense in another. Words like senate, congress, court, assembly, etc., he wrote,
are either words not belonging to the language of England, or they are applied to things
in this country which do not exist in that.
Webster found one other way to create a distinctively American variety of
English-by changing its spelling. He had a hope of reforming English spelling and,
when he compiled his dictionaries, he introduced several hundred departures from
British practice. He used etymology and analogy to decide on a spelling. He said that
British colour, for instance, should be spelled like its Latin root, color. He also believed
that spellings should be consistent across all forms of the word. The English wrote
honour, rigorous, and labour with u, but they wrote honorific, rigorous, and laborious
without. He also believed that there was no need for the silent letters in words like
programme, axe, catalogue, and mould. So out they went. Though he did make many
changes to the language, not all of them caught on. Still, we owe to Webster most of
the spellings labeled chiefly American in modern dictionaries. This success came at
an important time, for it was shortly after Websters death in 1843 that Americas
population passed Englands. The American Dictionary of 1828 is one of the most
popular book in the language. America, no longer a colonial outpost, has become the
center of a new World English.
Commented [EB2]: Different dialects.



Figure 1.2 can be found on page 372.
There was one man who I am not going to include into the table due to the fact
that he did not listen to the audio clip of British English and American English.
However, when I asked to participate he told me, I do not need to listen to an audio clip
of British English and American English. I already know which is more prestigious and
more intelligent. That is American English. At first his answer surprised me. I was
actually in shock and found it hard to find words for my next question. Later, after a few
minutes went by, I asked him this question, Why do you think that American English
sounds more prestigious and intelligent? His reply was quick, he said, "Because I am
an American. I am going to college to be an engineer. You must be intelligent to be
able to obtain that job. Also, an engineer in my eyes is a prestigious job. It holds a lot
Commented [EB3]: Using multiple modes


of power and not that many people make to be an engineer. Therefore, I dont think that
British English sounds better than my English. Plus, I hate Britain.

Figure 1.3
In the chart above we surveyed some friends and family to give us a better idea
of what people generally think about British English compared to American English. We
played two audio clips, one dialect being British English and the other being American
English. There was one person who we surveyed that said British English sounded
more prestigious however, she said the American English sounded more intelligent.
The answer she gave to explain why she said that American English sounded more
intelligent was because she could understand the American English better. However,
she also said that British English sounded more prestigious because when she hears
British English she automatically thinks of the Queen of England and how beautiful the
dialect sounds.
The definition of prestige defined by, Merriam-Webster English dictionary states,
commanding position in people's minds (Definition of Prestige). This is exhibited
through the power of schools, medical institutions, politics, and those who have power
through wealth. Schools hold a high power of prestige because of the use of Standard
British English and Standard American English. The purpose of schools is to further
Sex Age Hometown Which sounds
more prestigious?
Which sounds
more intelligent?
Male 68 Tunkhannock American English American English
Male 48 Tunkhannock American English American English
Male 18 Baltimore British English British English
Male 22 Hazleton British English British English
Female 67 Baltimore British English British English
Female 46 Tunkhannock British English American English
Commented [EB4]: Gathering our own data and different
genres.


ones education and to become a more powerful and knowledgeable person. Through
the use of this education that schools provide, power and prestige is gained. People will
look up to an educated person with respect and admiration. However, in the book, A
Biography of the English Language, it states about British English, Though its prestige
had declined somewhat in recent years, especially among younger people, it remains a
powerful social phenomenon and is still a marker of the upper-middle and upper classes
(Millward).
This idea that British English has been declining could be because in recent
years other countries have been able to rise through economic hardships and have
been ever increasing in power. We can easily see many other countries (about 90) that
have been on the rise in the past few years (Zakaria). It is because of these countries
on the rise that the United States have been declining in its prestige in language, largest
factories and the largest ferris wheel (Zakaria). Since the American dollar is the
dominant money of trade and commerce, right now, the English language is the
dominant language of trade; however, as other countries are on the rise, we can see
that it is a possibility for the American dollar and American language are being
challenged by other languages such as Mandarin Chinese.
Through colonization, a belief in independence, and a nationalistic pride, the
English language has changed drastically from what was once Old English to Present
Day English. It is hard to tell where the next fifty years will take us, but looking at how
far we have come, we know that change is inevitable and that English-British or
American- may not be the dominant language forever. Borrowings will continue to
occur, graphics, semantics, even the lexicon should be expected to change.


Works Cited
British Empire evolution. 2007. Photograph. Wikipedia
Millward, Celia M. A Biography of the English Language. Forth Worth [u.a.: Harcourt
Brace College Publ., 1996. Print.
"Prestige." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster. Web. 01 May 2012.
<http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prestige>.
Zakaria, Fareed. "What Does A 'Post-American World' Look Like?" Weblog post. NPR.
30 June 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.npr.org/2011/06/30/137522219/what-does-a-post-american-world-
look-like?ft=1&f=13&sc=17>.

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