A Literature Review of the Comparison between British English and American English

English plays an irreplaceable role in politics, economy, culture and other fields in the contemporary world. In addition to its mother tongue, English is widely used as a second language or foreign language in many countries.

As a symbol system, "English" is a language. As far as its use is concerned, there are all kinds of "English" in the world today. "English" is actually a simple name term. We can't hope that it is a single and homogeneous phenomenon. It is a collection of many varieties of English used all over the world and in different situations. However, due to the influence of different factors such as geography, history, culture and social customs, today's British furniture has evolved into two varieties of worldwide English, namely British English and American English. With the development of their respective languages, they have formed their own characteristics and there are differences between them. In American English and British English, attention is paid to the characteristics of the word "norm". This paper briefly introduces the origin and development of British English and American English, and discusses the differences in language learning between Britain and the United States and the characteristics and differences of the two kinds of English, so as to correctly express and enrich the relevant knowledge of English and improve the English application ability.

Qin is the author of British English and American English, which holds that "English is one of the most widely used and influential languages in the world, and contemporary English can be divided into British English and American English". British English and American English are the same language, but English speakers will show different language features due to changes in geography, society, education, occupation, gender and nationality. "

In the book English: A Global Language, Professor david kelly Staehl believes that "as early as the British colonial period, the United States and the native people of the original hometown of British immigrants maintained close ties, and their languages still changed with the changes of the English language. But with the passage of time, there was also a language different from British English in America during the British colonial period. " In addition, the United States is a melting pot of various cultures, and other countries and nations are influenced by American language and culture, which eventually forms a variety of English-American English. The author of "English: International lingua franca" clearly points out that "British English and American English are two main varieties of standard English, the former includes English used by people educated in Britain (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa), and the latter includes English used by people educated in the United States, Canada and other places." With the development of the international situation, it is worth noting that although British English literature should be in a very important position, American English tends to replace British English in the field of modern science and technology. Looking back on Gao Mei's book english introduction, the author thinks: "After a long period of development, with the rapid development of American national strength, relying on increasingly powerful scientific, technological, trade, military and cultural strength, from a backward, cultural and aesthetic language, the client has grown into a world-recognized strong English comparable to that of Britain, and its influence has even surpassed that of early British English."

Some scholars believe that with the strengthening of American national strength, the development of various fields and the increasing exchanges between the two peoples through various media, the differences in language differentiation between the two countries will be reduced, and the pace of mutual cooperation and infiltration between American English and British English will be accelerated day by day. The two authors of "English: International lingua franca" believe that "standard English" includes both official language and informal style. As long as the language and grammar are up to standard, English can be regarded as "standard English", so there will be a common "language" in Britain and the United States, but at the same time there are slight differences.

English is a world language. The more people use a language and the wider its scope, the more likely it is that there will be differences in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar, and different variants will appear. British English and American English are regional varieties of these two kinds of English.

At present, there is a trend that American English has more and more influence on British English, that is to say, the United States has transformed more and more English into British English. American English has become a world-recognized strong English comparable to British English, and its influence has even surpassed British English. British English has a tendency to be replaced. However, it is undeniable that with the development of the situation and the increasing exchanges between the two countries, the language differences are also narrowing and the speed of mutual penetration and integration between the two languages is shrinking.