Who can tell all the differences between British English and American English?

When we talk about British English, we have to compare American English. Although both Britain and the United States use "English", there are great differences between the two factions. As a branch of English, American English has undergone many changes in its development due to the relationship between regions and nationalities. Nowadays, American English is different in pronunciation, spelling and usage. Even in some cases, people who use British English and American English cannot understand each other, which shows that even the same language can sometimes produce foreign language effects. However, in English education in China, due to the diversity of reading and listening materials, British English and American English are mixed.

British English and American English have very different pronunciations. British English has a large fluctuation in tone, clear articulation and heavy friction; American English is euphemistic and soft, and its pronunciation is more mellow. They are completely different in many vowels, stresses and tones. I won't elaborate on this point here. As long as English learners listen to these two kinds of English radio and audio-visual programs, they will have intuitive feelings.

In spelling, the difference between British English and American English is also obvious. However, because American media and network technology have swept the world, American English obviously has the absolute upper hand in this respect. English learners in most non-English speaking countries will use American spelling more. In the input of Windows computer system, even if the correct British spelling is entered, it will be forcibly changed to American spelling. Whoever has economic power has the right to speak, which is really an excellent embodiment. The author briefly summarizes the differences between British English and American English spelling as follows:

Situation 1: British English words are longer and more complicated than American English words.

For example: dialogue (British) dialogue (American)

Archaeology (UK) Archaeology (USA)

Color (UK) Color (USA)

Favorite (UK) Favorite (USA)

Jewelry (UK) Jewelry (USA)

Program (UK) Program (USA)

Story (UK) Story (USA)

Situation 2: British English ends with re, and American English ends with er.

For example: centre (UK) center (USA)

Theatre (UK) Theatre (USA)

Rice (UK) Rice (USA)

Scenario 3: s and c, s and z.

For example: License (UK) License (USA)

Practice (UK) Practice (USA)

Analysis (UK) Analysis (USA)

Globalization (UK) Globalization (USA)

Situation 4: Others

Example: Grey (UK) Grey (USA)

Maneuver (UK) Maneuver (USA)

As for usage, there are many differences between British English and American English in grammar and vocabulary expression of some concepts. Please compare the following groups of common words in daily life:

Apartment (UK) (USA)

Telephone Area Code Dialing Code (UK) Area Code (US)

Lawyer Lawyer (English) Lawyer (USA)

Automobile (UK) Automobile (USA)

(UK) Notes (USA)

Potato chips (English) French fries (American)

Elevator Elevator (UK) Elevator (USA)

Expressway (UK) Expressway (USA)

Pants (UK) Pants (USA)

It can be seen that only by mastering accurate British English and distinguishing the differences between British English and American English can we achieve good results in the British system examination and reduce communication obstacles in studying in the UK.

RP: Authentic British accent.

In China, Mandarin is the most correct and standard official language, while in Britain, although there is no official regulation, in the history of English development, there is a kind of pronunciation that has gradually formed its importance and become the most recognized standard British pronunciation, which is called Received pronunciation for short.

Tracing back to its history, the Received pronunciation was originally a dialect formed in south-central England in the 1 1 century. This area extends from today's central region to London, including Oxford and Cambridge. /kloc-In the 4th century, the Received pronunciation was widely used by businessmen. Due to the rise of Oxford and Cambridge universities, this dialect was adopted by students of the two universities, thus becoming the language of well-educated people. /kloc-From the 0/9th century to the 20th century, the Received pronunciation became the teaching language of British public schools and was also used by broadcasters of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), so it was also called public school English and BBC English.

The concept of acceptable pronunciation was first put forward by the British linguist Daniel S Jones in his monograph 19 18. To sum up, the received pronunciation has the following basic characteristics:

1. The received pronunciation is a standard neutral accent, which is considered to have no dialect characteristics in a specific region. In the British Isles, the Received pronunciation is only used in England, and it is not limited to regions.

2. The received pronunciation has a clear social definition. In Britain, RP is regarded as the embodiment of a good education, so it is especially associated with the upper class and the upper middle class, sometimes called Oxford English and King/Queen English. A coal miner from Wales can't understand it at all, and it's impossible to speak elegant and experienced pronunciation.

3. The received pronunciation is closely related to some specific occupations. The main occupations that use RP are: lawyers, securities traders, politicians, diplomats, teachers in universities and public schools, and announcers of national radio and television companies. Obviously, these occupations also reflect the "noble" and "elegant" social status.

It is worth mentioning that the Received pronunciation is standard orthodox British English, so it is widely used.

In foreign language teaching other than English. Therefore, people from non-native English-speaking countries learn RP, and the English spoken by those who learn better sounds more standard than that spoken by most British natives.

The main feature of RP in pronunciation is to highlight the "R" sound. When two words are connected, if the previous word is not a high vowel.

If the last word begins with a vowel, RP pronunciation will add a nonexistent "r" between these two words. Comparing the following two groups of phrases, we can see the characteristics of RP:

Normal pronunciation (non-vowel ending+non-vowel beginning): think about it and see him in the room.

Plus the nonexistent "r" (high vowel ending+vowel beginning): its idea (r), I saw (r) in the room.

Local dialect accent

Although receiving pronunciation is very important, in Britain, the proportion of people who really speak RP is very small. The small size of Britain will give English learners the illusion that all English speakers are the same. In fact, English varies greatly from place to place. The first impression of China students studying in the UK is often that the English spoken by the British is totally different from what they listen to in peacetime. It seems that learning English for more than ten years is useless. When I was studying in England, I traveled extensively to more than 60 towns in England, Scotland and Wales, and deeply felt that people around the world really speak English differently.

Never think that "London English" is standard English. In fact, London English is a very prominent accent, especially in East London, which is traditionally home to a large number of middle and lower class workers. This accent is called cockney accent.

The English nasal sound centered on Birmingham in central England is very strong. This accent is called Brummie.

Liverpool in the northwest of England has a rough and blunt pronunciation, which is called Liverpool accent.

Newcastle's accent in northeast England is full of music. This accent is called Jody.

Many vowels in Scottish English are different, and they don't roll their tongues when they pronounce "r". This accent is called Jock.

In Wales, people have their own language: Welsh. Where there are words, such as street names, public signs, store names, etc. Welsh must come before English. Of course, Welsh English is very different from other dialects in pronunciation.

There is no difference between good and bad dialect accents. The practice of dividing social classes by accent is out of date. At present, there is even a tendency to strengthen dialect accent in Britain. For example, since the 1970s, the BBC has changed the traditional habit of broadcasting only with the received pronunciation and absorbed some announcers with accents. The BBC's approach is to break the arrogance of the nobility and make itself more friendly and friendly to ordinary people. After all, the middle and lower working class in Britain still accounts for 60% of the country's total population.

However, the author believes that domestic English learners who are interested in studying in Britain should study hard and use standard British usage and RP pronunciation. Only in this way can we lay a solid foundation for them to take the examination for studying abroad and enter British universities in the future.