British and American English
This article examines the differences between British and American English in the areas of vocabulary, spelling and phonology.
Vocabulary
Lexical differences are:
| British | American |
|---|---|
| aerodrome | airport |
| aeroplane | airplane |
| aeroport | airport |
| autumn | autumn/fall |
| barrister | lawyer |
| bonnet | hood |
| boot (car) | trunk (car) |
| braces | suspenders |
| car-park | parking lot |
| chips | (French/french) fries [1] |
| cockerel (cock) | rooster |
| crisps | chips/potato chips |
| curtains | drapes/draperies/curtains |
| drawing room | living room |
| dustbin | trash can/garbage can |
| dustman | garbage collector/garbageman |
| film | movie [2] |
| flat | flat/apartment[3] |
| (Association) football | soccer |
| lift | elevator |
| full stop | period |
| knickers | panties |
| lorry/truck[4] | truck |
| nappy | diaper |
| off-licence | liquor store |
| pants | underwear/underpants |
| pavement | sidewalk |
| petrol | gasoline/gas |
| railway | railway/railroad |
| road | road/pavement |
| rubber[5] | eraser |
| rug | blanket |
| saloon | sedan |
| solicitor | lawyer |
| spanner | wrench |
| subway | pedestrian tunnel |
| sweets | candy |
| sweetshop | candy store |
| tea (sometimes) | supper, dinner |
| tiffin | lunch, luncheon |
| tin | can |
| torch | flashlight |
| trousers | trousers/pants |
| underground | subway |
| windscreen | windshield |
| wing | fender |
Spelling
Suffixes
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 |
| lîcence noun[6] | lîcense | ||
| offénce | offénse[7] | ||
| l + l + suffix | dîalling | -l + suffix | dîaling |
| trávelled | tráveled | ||
| màrvellous | màrvelous[8] | ||
| -l | fulfíl | -ll | fulfíll |
| enrôl | enrôll | ||
| instål | inståll | ||
| instíl | instíll | ||
| -ógue | cátalogue | -óg | cátalog |
| dîalogue | dîalog | ||
| démagogue | démagog | ||
| -our | clámour | -or | clámor |
| còlour | còlor | ||
| fâvour | fâvor | ||
| flâvour | flâvor | ||
| hónour | hónor | ||
| lâbour | lâbor | ||
| ráncour | ráncor | ||
| (Many words, however, have -or in both: dóctor, asséssor, sqùalor.) | |||
| -p + suffix | kídnapping | -pp + suffix | kídnáping |
| wörshípped | wörshíped | ||
| -re | céntre | -er | cénter |
| ôchre (ch as k) | ôcher (ch as k) | ||
| scéptre | scépter | ||
| manoeûvre | maneûver (also no o) | ||
| mêtre length | mêter | ||
| (But in both, mêter machine, not distance, eûchre *yûker) | |||
| -tt + suffix | carburétted | -t + suffix | carburéted |
ae and oe become e
In Latin and Greek words where British has ae or oe, AmE usually has a solitary e: aesthétic becomes esthétic, phoênix phênix and foêtus fêtus.
-ise and -ize
Spellings with -ise are common in British English, but -ize is acceptable; e.g. realize is not a strong example of an 'American' spelling. The 'British' spelling reflects the French spelling from which these words were borrowed, though they originally came from Greek -ιζειν via Latin, which used z. Some words, such as advertise, can supposedly only be spelt with s regardless of which side of the Atlantic they are used on; however, spellings such as advertize are readily found nowadays.
Other
Other spellings are:
| British | American |
|---|---|
| ádze | ádz |
| alumínium | alûminum[9] |
| ánalyse | ánalyze |
| áxe | áx |
| chéque money | chéck all meanings |
| connéxion/connéction | connéction only (cf. compléxion in both) |
| côsy | côzy |
| diaérisis (both *dî-érisis) | diérisis |
| dràught cold, net, liquids, game, horse | dráft all meanings |
| fíllet | fílet |
| furŏrê | fûrŏr[10] |
| grèy | grây |
| jeŵellery | jeŵelry |
| judgement | judgment |
| practise | practice |
Notes
- ↑ Though strictly, these are two different shapes, chips being broader than fries.
- ↑ ‘Movie’ is nowadays normal in BrE when talking Hollywood.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ British trucks are traditionally small, and pulled, typically on rails.
- ↑ A pitfall for British visitors to America, where 'rubber' is a vulgar term for a condom.
- ↑ lîcense is the verb in BrE, cf. licensêe in both. Mostly -ence is used in both, as with fénce; but sénse, dénse and suspénse in both.
- ↑ In American sporting contexts, one may hear óffénse and dêfénse.
- ↑ but BrE wílful AmE wílful or wíllful
- ↑ Also pronounced differently: ['æləmɪnjəm] in British English, [ə'lu:mɪnəm] in American.
- ↑ Also pronounced differently: [fjʊ'rɔri] in British English, ['fʊrɔr] in American.