British and American English: Difference between revisions

From Citizendium
Jump to navigation Jump to search
imported>Ro Thorpe
imported>Ro Thorpe
Line 76: Line 76:
==Spelling==
==Spelling==
The most striking differences between the spelling of AmE and BrE are in these suffixes (the accents show stress and pronunciation, see [[English phonemes]]):
The most striking differences between the spelling of AmE and BrE are in these suffixes (the accents show stress and pronunciation, see [[English phonemes]]):
{|class="wikitable"
!British
!-
!American
!-
|-
| -ence
|defénce
| -ense
|defénse
|}
==Notes==
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}

Revision as of 19:30, 19 March 2008

This article is developed but not approved.
Main Article
Discussion
Related Articles  [?]
Bibliography  [?]
External Links  [?]
Citable Version  [?]
 
This editable, developed Main Article is subject to a disclaimer.

This article examines the differences between British and American English in the areas of vocabulary, spelling and phonology.

Vocabulary

Lexical differences are:

British American
autumn autumn/fall
car-park parking lot
chips (French or french) fries [1]
crisps potato chips
curtains drapes/draperies/curtains
film movie [2]
flat flat/apartment[3]
full stop period
(Association) football soccer
lift elevator
lorry/truck[4] truck
nappy diaper
off-licence liquor store
pavement sidewalk
road road/pavement
petrol gasoline/gas
rubber[5] eraser
condom condom/rubber (vulgar slang)
sweets candy
sweetshop candy store
pants underwear/underpants
trousers trousers/pants

Spelling

The most striking differences between the spelling of AmE and BrE are in these suffixes (the accents show stress and pronunciation, see English phonemes):

British - American -
-ence defénce -ense defénse

Notes

  1. Though strictly, these are two different shapes, chips being broader than fries.
  2. ‘Movie’ is nowadays normal in BrE when talking Hollywood.
  3. Increasingly heard in British English; in San Francisco, California, at least, a city of small, shared buildings, both "flat" and "apartment" are used, mostly interchangeably. Purists, however, distinguish between the two: an "apartment" is in a building that has a shared main entrance; a "flat" has its own outside entrance door.
  4. British trucks are traditionally small, and pulled, typically on rails.
  5. A pitfall for British visitors to America, where 'rubber' is a vulgar term for a condom.