Introduction to

the study of
Varieties of
Present-Day
English
Lecture 4:
American English and British English
The Two Major Endonormative Varieties of
Present-day English

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
 See:
• American vs British English
Basic Differences and Influences of Change
http://www.uta.fi/FAST/US1/REF/usgbintr.html

• Differences in American and British English

grammar

http://www.onestopenglish.com/grammar/gram
mar-reference/american-english-vs-british-
english/differences-in-american-and-british-
english-grammar-article/152820.article

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
 The Spread of English
A four-phase model for the overseas
development of English:
(1) Transportation to overseas coasts by
explorers, traders, settlers. The English
language establishes its dominant position.
(2) Spread inland through conquest,
prepared by geographical surveys, supported
by railroad building; treks and goldrush;
romantic legends (the American Dream, the
Australian Legend) of frontiersmen (Davy
Crockett, Paul Bunyan), slaughter of the
aboriginal population (except in South Africa).
Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza
University of Iasi
(3) National Consciousness. Political
independence from the Mother Country,
democratic ideology; attempts to set up a
'national language' different from (British)
'English' (Noah Webster, Sidney J Baker);
cult of regional slang (witness the reception
of Salinger's novel Catcher in the Rye).
(4) International Prestige The overseas
varieties of English influence usage in Europe
instead of inversely, e.g., Australian English
black tea 'tea without milk', American
English square 'old fashioned'. Technically,
we say that the FOCAL AREA (i.e. the area
whence innovations spread) shifts overseas
from London.

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza
University of Iasi
Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza
University of Iasi
 Divergence…
“The isolation of America from England will
produce, in a course of time, a language in
North America, as different from the future
language of England as the modern Dutch,
Danish and Swedish are from German or from
one another.”
(Noah Webster, c. 1800)
"England, America, and Australia will be speaking
mutually unintelligible languages, owing to
their independent changes of pronunciation."
(Henry Sweet, 1877)

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
 … or convergence?
Webster revised his outlook and wrote in
1828 that “in all essentials, our two
nations speak the same language and it
is highly desirable to perpetuate that
sameness”.
English may "be called justly the
language of the world". (Jakob Grimm,
lecture published in 1852 )

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
 Factors of relative
homogeneity
(1) the diffusion of English throughout the world is
a recent phenomenon, and widely disparate
dialects simply have not had time to develop;
(2) nearly universal literacy in most English-
speaking countries has retarded change,
especially in written English;
(3) modern developments in communications -
telephone, radio, motion picture, tape
recordings, satellite television - have united
English speakers, retarding dialectal differences,
familiarizing all speakers with the sound of other
Englishes, and superimposing a kind of world
standard over regional varieties. LISTEN! =>

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
Early English-speaking settlement areas in America
What kind of English is your
English?
Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive
behaviour that profoundly affects our
relationships, family units and social network.
Abuse centers around the need for control
and occurs when an individual is attacked by
another person emotionally, psychologically,
physically or sexually to gain or exert power
and control.
(Telecare Distress Centre Brampton)

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
 Spelling
Choose the spelling you prefer in each pair:
1. pajamas  pyjamas 
2. analyze  analyse 
3. program  programme 
4. favor  favour 
5. tire  tyre 
6. center  centre 
7. aluminum  aluminium 
8. jewelry  jewellery 

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
 Pronunciation
Look at the word in CAPITALS before reading each
question and say it to yourself. Then you’ll usually
find the question easy to answer.
1. Does ATE rhyme with eight or with pet?
2. Does SHONE, as in “The sun shone brightly”, rhyme
with John or with Joan?
3. Is the EI of EITHER pronounced like the EI in pie or the
EE in bee?
4. Does the SCH in SCHEDULE sound like SCH in school
or like SH in shed?
5. Does LEISURE rhyme with measure or with seizure?
6. Does the U in STUDENT sound like OO in too or the U
in use?
Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza
University of Iasi
 Vocabulary
1.  What do you call the knob you turn to get water in a
sink? .....................
2.   Telling the time. It is 11:40. Please write in words
what you would say.
....................................................
3. Please write in words what you would say when you
read the number 107 (as in “107
envelopes”) ..................................
4. Which do you say? Where is the
(1) toilet? (2) rest room? (3) washroom?
5. Compare the following two dialogues. Which of the
two is closer to your way of speaking English?
Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza
University of Iasi
Dialogue A Dialogue B

• Dan: Hi, George. How are you? • Hello, George. How are you?

• George: Fine. How about you? • Fine. What about you?

• Dan: OK. Going downtown? • All right. Going to town?

• George: Yeah. How about • Yes. Like to come with me?

coming along?
• Fine. Let's go.
• Dan: Fine. Let's go.

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
 Language sections:
• Pronunciation
• Spelling
• Vocabulary
• Grammar (and usage)
Questions:
(1) Do these change in time?
(2) Which of the four above change(s) more
slowly and which change(s) faster?

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
 Focus on Vocabulary
Text 1:
The psittiacosis group of organisms, including the agents of
trachoma and lymphogranuloma venereum are obligate
intercellular parasites. The infectious particles or
elementary bodies measure about 0.3µ diameter. They
are commonly described as viruses though such
classification is not easily reconciled with available
evidence on their chemical composition and biological
properties.

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
Text 2 (Supplementary): The piston-type fountain
pen
In the piston-type fountain pen a screw spindle is connected
to the filling cap and engages with a screw thread with
which the hollow piston rod is internally provided. Attached
to the front end of this rod is the piston which forms an air-
tight and liquid-tight seal to the rear of the ink reservoir.
When the filling cap is rotated, the screw spindle, rotating
inside the piston rod, causes the latter to move
longitudinally. […]
When the pen is in use, the ink flows from the reservoir
through capilary grooves in the feed; it thus reaches the
underside of the nib and eventually finds its way along the
slit to the tip of the nib. […]

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
Text 3: Mother Tongue
by Richard Armour (1906-1989)

Oh, to be in England
If only ‘arf a mo’,
Where, when they speak of
wireless,
They mean the radio,

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
Where private schools are
public
And public schools are
snobby
And insurance is assurance
And a cop is called a bobby,

Sir Robert Peel

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza
University of Iasi
 Where a cracker is a
biscuit
And a trifle is dessert
And bloody is a curse
word
And ad is an advert,

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
Where gasoline is petrol
And a stone is fourteen
pound
And motocars have bonnets
And you take the
underground,

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
 Where holding up your
trousers
It’s braces that you use
And a truck is called a
lorry
And boots are really
shoes,

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
Where a druggist is a
chemist
And the movies are the
flicks
And you queue up on the
pavement
For a stall at three and
six…

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
 There is no language
barrier
The tourist needs to
/zed/??? dread
/zi:/???
As long as he knows
English
From A to Z (no, zed).

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
 Grammar and usage
Which do you say?
1. (1) I burned my finger. (2) I burnt my finger.  
2. (1) The submarine dove to the floor of the sea.
(2) The submarine dived to the floor of the sea.
3. (1) He is in the hospital for surgery.
(2) He is in hospital for surgery.
4. (1) two heads of lettuce (2) two lettuces
5. (1) like I said… (2) as I said …

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
6. (1) Did you ever see an elephant?
(2) Have you ever seen an elephant? 
7. (1) Shall I ask him?
(2) Should I ask him?
8. (1) I live in Molde but my family lives in Bergen.
(2) I live in Molde but my family live in Bergen.
9. (1) the River Thames (2) the Thames River
10. (1) the Mississippi River (2) the River Mississippi
11. (1) the River Olt (2) the Olt River

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
Exercise

• Scotland Yard police are looking for a

famous American bank robber called
Dirty Dan. Dirty Dan robbed a bank in
London last Friday night. They are
interviewing three different people. All
three have British accents, but the
police know that Dirty Dan can imitate a
British accent. Read parts of each of the
transcript. Can you identify Dirty Dan
from the language he uses?

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
• Suspect 1: I already said this. I didn’t do
anything special on the weekend. Friday
night I took a shower in my apartment
and then went out to see a movie. It was
a movie I had already seen, Matrix
Revolutions. I really like action movies. I
went with my girlfriend Samantha.

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
• Suspect 2: I wasn’t in town at the
weekend, and I certainly wasn’t anywhere
near the bank on Friday night. I was at a
hotel in Paris with a special friend of mine.
Shall I give you the hotel phone number?
You needn’t bother asking me any more
questions. You’ve got the wrong man.

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
• Suspect 3: I’ve already said this. On
Friday night I went to see a film at the
cinema. It was Matrix Revolutions. I don’t
really like action films, but my friends
really wanted to see it. It was rather
boring. After that I went home and had a
nice hot bath. I went to bed around
midnight.

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
Non-standard varieties
illustrated in literature:
1. "I knowed you wasn't Oklahoma folks." (John
Steinbeck, The Graphes of Wroth, 1940)
2. "Womenfolks, mostly. All the grown women around my
way look just the same. They all big – stout. They got big
bosoms and big hips and fat legs, and they always
wearing runover house shoes and them shapeless,
flowered numbers with the buttons down the front. 'Cept
on Sunday. Sunday morning they all turn into glamour
girls, in them big hats and long gloves, with they skinny
high heels and they skinny selves in them tight girdles-
wouldn't nobody ever know what they look like the rest of
the time."
(Becky Birtha, Johnnieruth, in Breaking Ice. An Anthology of
Contemporary African-American Fiction, Penguin Books,
1990) 

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
3. He beat me like he beat the children.
Cept he don't never hardly beat them. He
say, Celie, git the belt. The children be
outside the room peeking through the
cracks. It all I can do not to cry. I make
myself wood. I say to myself, Celie, you a
tree. That's how come I know trees fear
man.
(Alice Walker, The Color Purple,
New York, 1982)
Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza
University of Iasi
Useful sites::
American Vs. British English

British vs. American English vocabulary tool

English Around The World

United Kingdom English for the American

Novice

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
• Lesley Milroy (University of Michigan) (2001).
“Britain and the United States: Two Nations
Divided by the Same Language (and Different
Language Ideologies)”. Journal of Linguistic
Anthropology 10(1):56-89.
<www.anthrosource.net> 
• “American vs. British English. Basic Differences
and Influences of Change” (Introductory
Outline for First Course Segment). FAST-US-1
Introduction to American English (Hopkins),
Department of Translation Studies, University
of Tampere

<http://www.uta.fi/FAST/US1/REF/usgbintr.ht
ml>
Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza
University of Iasi
Thank you!

Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza

University of Iasi
Rodica Albu Al. I. Cuza
See you next week!
University of Iasi