What points and key points should be paid attention to in American and British English speaking!

Since someone mentioned this issue, I will tell you what I know. The difference between Standard Modern British English (English for short) and Standard American English (American English for short) is either big or small, but there is no substantive problem in understanding each other. The purpose of this article is to make a rough comparison of the differences between the two and provide a reference for interested friends, but it cannot be used as a teaching material for learning another accent. It is also full of loopholes. If there are any deficiencies, please ask experts to correct them. Vowels One of the biggest differences between the pronunciation of English and American English is their treatment of muddy vowels (schwa, e inverted in phonetic symbols). In English, muddy vowels often occur on some unstressed short a sounds (such as about) and short er sounds (such as computer) in single vowels. The er in American English rarely has a muddy vowel, and sometimes the short sound i (such as sentimental, actuality) and u (such as wuss), and even the short sound oo (such as hooker) use a muddy vowel. (The pronunciations of these four examples in English are [i], [i], [u:], [u] respectively.) The pronunciation of the muddy vowel is variable, but it sounds almost like a sharp sound between "Russian" and "Russian". ” and “ah” pronunciation. The most representative difference between the pronunciation of English and American English is the difference in the pronunciation of er. In English, the short er is a muddy vowel as mentioned above, but the long er is just an elongated muddy vowel, which sounds like a very exaggerated sound between "Ru" and "Ah" . In American English, er always sounds like a "son" sound (the exception is that it is pronounced as a muddy vowel in some common sayings). Except for the short sound of ar (such as singular) and the following vowel (such as clarity), ar in English is all long sound [a:], while in American English, it is "Al". In fact, whenever there is an r at the end of a syllable, the pronunciation in the United States and Britain is usually different, such as tour (English spit, American spit), tear (English kick, American kick), pair (English pe) , Meipeer). Even in the clarity just mentioned, there is an important difference in the pronunciation of vowels in English ['kleriti] and American English ['kler(er)ti]. One is the short o sound of [o] (such as often). In English, it is only pronounced as a shortened long o sound (such as or), while the American short o sound sounds very similar to the English short sound [/\]. For example, at the same time, if there is an r after the long o, it will usually be r as mentioned in the previous paragraph. If not (such as plausible, applause), it will automatically become a short o. In addition, for the muddy vowelization of u, i and other vowel combinations, some are mentioned above, and others are left to everyone's own experience. Consonants The consonants in English and American English are basically the same, but there are some differences in usage habits. The only two more important ones are: r. The letter r simply represents all the differences between Britain and the United States. It is everywhere. When making consonants, the difference is actually that when r is at the end of the first word and the second word starts with a vowel, English treats r completely as a vowel, while American English treats r as the following one. The consonant of the vowel at the beginning of a word, such as the phrase clear animosity, will be pronounced clear|animosity in English, and clear-ranimosity in American English. Another obvious difference is d and t. In some unstressed syllables (such as paddle, rattle, actuality), English will clearly pronounce these two letters, but in American English d and t are often blurred into a sound that is difficult to interpret. Compared with other languages, If you know Spanish or Italian, it is very close to the short strum r; if you know Japanese, the consonants of らりるれろ行 are very similar. If you don't know, then the closest explanation is the side sound l, but there is a difference of one section, and it depends on your own experience. Another point is that in words such as history and factory, you may have noticed that the pronunciation of o (which is a muddy vowel) is bracketed in many phonetic notations. In the UK, English tends to omit this o due to the influence of classical Chinese, while in the United States, this o is often pronounced.

(If you are interested in classical Chinese or poetry, you will find that many letters with muddy vowels are represented by a single quotation mark, indicating omission) The spelling of English and American English is nothing more than the following differences -re and -er part with re Words ending in American English end with er, such as: metre/meter, centimetre/centimeter, theatre/theater, center/center, etc. These words all come from French (respectively: mètre, centimètre, théa^ tre, centre). Most of the other re words are, such as genre, hors-d'oeuvre, etc., but the spelling of these has not changed. our and or The English part our is spelled as or in American English, such as colour/color, favorite/favorite and so on. Most of the words "background" come from French, but it's not so obvious. Many of them have changed due to time. For example, color means couleur and favorite means favorite. -ise and ize The -ise verb in English is spelled -ize in American English, such as organize/organize, actualise/actualize, realize/realize. The derivation of these words also varies accordingly. Organization/organization Background These words still come from French. , respectively organiser, actualiser, réaliser (but due to the evolution of language, the current meaning of these words in French is not exactly the same as the current meaning of these words in English. For example, actualise now means "realization", and actualiser is "upgrade". , make it timeless"; realize now means "to realize", and réaliser has become "to realize"). There are other special modifications. I can't remember all the conventional changes at the moment. If there are any omissions, please feel free to add them. Wording Some of the same words in English and American English have different common meanings, or the same thing can be said in different words, and most of these words are related to cultural customs, but they do not have a substantial impact on communication. . For example, the word jumper can refer to a sweater in the UK, but Americans rarely use this word to refer to clothing (it is an outdated word), and use sweater to refer to sweaters. Others include jersey, slacks, trousers, etc. There are many examples, I can’t think of them at the moment, you are welcome to add them. Sayings and Slang There are so many of them! Even in different places in the United States, different places in the United Kingdom, and at different times, they are all different, so I won’t give examples one by one. But the word that can be mentioned is the British use of the word bloody. In the old days, when the word f-ck was completely unavailable (the word used to be printed in books with an asterisk f***, otherwise it would be punishable), the word bloody was no less obscene than the f-word today . But now times have changed, and British children can use it, but Americans no longer use this word. But in some other English-speaking countries (such as Egypt, India, etc.), you still have to be careful when using bloody. Tone: The British's tone is cadence and high-pitched, which is somewhat similar to French (but they will not admit it), and the British laugh at Americans for speaking weakly, loosely and without rhythm. Americans speak in a relatively steady and low tone, and their sentences are usually in a falling tone and at a slower pace. Americans love to laugh at the slightly hysterical, effeminate tone of the British voice. Other Australian accents Australian accents are mostly similar to British accents, but Australians all pronounce the [ei] sound as [ai], that is, even their most commonly used word mate is pronounced as [mait] (like might) . Egyptian accent Egyptian accented English sounds very similar to Egyptian accented Arabic. In addition, the r is also used to pronounce r with the elastic sound. Indian accent The Indian accent is similar to the British accent, with a bit of muddy flavor, but now Indians are beginning to admire the American accent (Indians are very fond of foreigners, and all the movies they watch are about rich, beautiful, young Indian immigrants in developed countries) ).

The Hong Kong accent does not mean to slander Hong Kong compatriots, but the Hong Kong accent sounds similar to Cantonese, with a very strong pronunciation and a British accent. British vernacular accents There are many accents in the UK, but the most common feature is that h is often not pronounced, and there are many legato sounds