9.1.

1 Terms
Americanism - An expression that originated in or is characteristic of America
Briticism - An expression that originated in Britain after American Independence or is characteristic
of Britain.
shibboleth - A language use that distinguishes between in-group and out-group members. (Z netu: a
custom, principle, or belief distinguishing a particular class or group of people, especially a longstanding one regarded as outmoded or no longer important: liberal shibboleths about education)
Ask word The use of British or Bostonian [] in what Kenyon calls the ask words, supposed by
some naive American speakers to have higher social standing than the normal American [], is fraught
with danger. With speakers who use it naturally, in the sense that they acquired it in childhood when
learning to talk, it never occurs in a great many words in which it might be expected by analogy. Thus,
bass, crass, lass, and mass have [], in contrast to the [] of class, glass, grass, and pass. But classic,
classical, classicism, classify, passage, passenger, and passive all have []. Gastric has [], but plaster
has []; ample has [], but example and sample have []; fancy and romance have [], but chance,
dance, and glance have []; cant hypocritical talk has [], but cant cannot has []; mascot,
massacre, and pastel have [], but basket, master, and nasty have []; and bastard, masquerade, and
mastiff may have either [] or [].
Dialect - A variety of a language used in a particular place or by a particular social group. Differences
in language that depend on who we are constitute dialect
Regional (geographical) dialect - A dialect used in a particular geographical area (where we learned
the language)
Ethnic (social) dialect - The speech of a particular social group (and other factors as our sex, age,
education), The variations that depend on the circumstances of use have to do with whether we are
talking or writing, how formal the situation is, the subject of the discourse, the effect we want to
achieve, and so on
Register - A variety of a language used for a particular purpose or in particular circumstances;
differences that depend on where, why, how we are using the language
Standard English - A standard language is one that is used widelyin many places and for many
purposes; it is also one that enjoys high prestige one that people regard as good language; and it is
described in dictionaries and grammar books and is taught in schools. Standard English is the written
form of our language used in books and periodicals and is therefore also called edited English
Northern Dialect American dialect, from northern New Jersey and Pennsylvania to New England
Northern Midland dialect American, from northern Delaware, Maryland, and West Virginia
through southern New Jersey and Pennsylvania
South Midland (Inland Southern) dialect American, the Appalachian region from southern West
Virginia to northern Georgia
Southern (Coastal Southern) dialect American, from southern Delaware and Maryland down to
Florida, along the Atlantic seaboard
African-American (Black) English - The distinctive African-American vocabulary exerts a steady
and enriching influence on the language of other Americans; for example, nitty-gritty came from black
use, as did jazz earlier, and yam much earlier. Pronunciation differences are notable; for example, the
typical African-American pronunciation of aunt as [nt] is unusual for most other Americans (although
it is the standard British way of saying the word). Blacks are also more likely than whites to drop the
[t] from words like rest and soft; to use an r-less pronunciation of words like bird, four, and father; and
to pronounce words like with and nothing with [f] rather than []. Most differenceswhether of
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vocabulary, pronunciation, or grammartend, however, to be matters of degree rather than of kind.

The differences between black and white speech are seldom of such magnitude as to impede
communication.
Consuetudinal be (uninflected be to denote habitual or regular action, as in She be here every
day) and the omission of be in other uses (as in She here now) as well as of the -s ending of
verbs (as in He hear you).
Pidgin a mixed and limited language used for communication between those without a common
tongue
Creole - A language combining the features of several other languages, sometimes begun as a pidgin,
which became a native language
Creolize To become or make into a creole by mixing languages or, in the case of a pidgin, by
becoming a full native language for some speakers.
Style style in language is the choice we make from the options available to us, chiefly those of
register, stylistic variations
Slang one stylistic variety that is of perennial interest is slang, primarily because it continually
renews itself. Slang is a deliberately undignified form of speech whose use implies that the user is
in, with special knowledge about the subject of the slang term; it may be a language signalling that
the speaker is not part of the establishment, or it may be protective language that disguises unpleasant
reality or save the user from fuller explanation
First language a speakers native and often only language
Second language in addition to a native language, but used regularly for important matters
Foreign language used for special purposes, with various degrees of fluency and frequency
9.1.2 What justification is there for the claim that one type of English, such as Standard English,
is superior to all others? On what fallacy are such claims based?
British English had long enjoyed greater prestige in Western Europe and some other places around the
world. Its prestige is doubtless based partly on its use as the language of the former British Empire and
partly on its centuries of great literally works. The prestige of British English is often assessed,
however, in terms of its purity (a baseless notion) or its elegance and style (highly subjective but
nonetheless powerful concept).
9.1.3 What accounts for the fact that British English generally has greater prestige than other
types, such as American or Australian?
British English had long enjoyed greater prestige in Western Europe and some other places around the
world. Its prestige is doubtless based partly on its use as the language of the former British Empire and
partly on its centuries of great literally works. The prestige of British English is often assessed,
however, in terms of its purity (a baseless notion) or its elegance and style (highly subjective but
nonetheless powerful concept).
9.1.4 In what retrospect is American English more conservative than British English and in what
respects is it less so?
Thus to regard American English as inferior to British English is to impugn earlier standard English as
well, for there was doubtless little difference at the time of the Revolution. There is a strong
likelihood, for instance, that George III and Lord Cornwallis pronounced after, ask, dance, glass, path,
and the like exactly as George Washington and John Hancock didthat is, as the overwhelming
majority of Americans do to this day, with [] rather than the [] of present-day British. Most
Americans pronounce r where it is spelled because English speakers in the motherland did so at the
time of the settlement of America. In this as in much else, especially in pronunciation and grammar,
American English
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is, on the whole, more conservative than British English. American retention of gotten is an example
of grammatical conservatism. This form, the usual past participle of get in older British English,
survives in present standard British English mainly in the phrase ill-gotten gains; but it is very much
alive
in American English, being the usual past participial form of the verb (for instance, Every day this
month Ive gotten spam on my e-mail), except in the senses to have and to be obliged to (for
instance, He hasnt got the nerve to do it and Shes got to help us.). Similarly, American English
has kept fall for the season and deck for a pack of cards (though American English also uses autumn
and pack).
It works both ways, however; for American English has also lost certain featuresmostly vocabulary
itemsthat have survived in British English. Examples include waistcoat (the name for a garment that
Americans usually call a vest, a word that in England usually means undershirt); fortnight two
weeks, a useful term completely lost to American English; and a number of topographical terms that
Americans had no need forwords like copse, dell, fen, heath, moor, spinney, and wold. Americans,
on the other hand, desperately needed terms to designate topographical features different from any
known in the Old World. To remedy the deficiency, they used new compounds of English words like
backwoods and underbrush; they adapted English words to new uses, like creek, in British English an
inlet on the sea, which in American English may mean any small stream; and they adopted foreign
words like canyon (Sp. can tube), mesa (Sp. table), and prairie (Fr. meadow).
On the whole, though, American English is a conservative descendant of the seventeenth-century
English that also spawned present-day British. Except in vocabulary, there are probably few
significant characteristics of New World English that are not traceable to the British Isles, including
British regional dialects.
9.1.5 Is the Briton who is concerned about speaking correctly likely to worry more about
pronunciation or about syntax? How does the linguistically insecure American differ from his
British counterpart?
Pronunciation is more important for British, because of its mark of social status. American attitudes
put greater stress on grammatical correctness, based on such matters as the supposed proper
position of only and other shibboleths.
9.1.6 Are there any types of American pronunciation, regional or social, against which prejudice
is so great that they would debar a speaker from the learned professions?
The type of American speech that one now hears most frequently on national television, especially in
commercial, eliminates regional or individual characteristics discernible to untrained ears. The extent
of the influence and prestige of those who speak the commercials may be gauged by the astronomical
sums spent on such advertising.
9.1.7 Katharine Withehorn observed, In America, where it is grammar, not accent, that places
you, anyone can learn the grammar; maybe Bostonians dont accept it, but Bostonians only
impress other Bostonians. Which is easier, changing the phonetic patterns of ones speech or
avoiding what are thought of as grammatical errors? Why? Is there any regional form of speech
that is high in prestige throughout the US?
I think, avoiding of grammatical errors is easier than changing the phonetic patterns. As Whitehorn
said, grammar is more important to the Americans, so they try to avoid grammatical errors. The
pronunciation for them is less important, because it is not a mark of social status for them. As the
quote says, maybe the Bostonian dialect has some form of prestige, because it is the closest to the
British English.
9.1.8 After determining whether Dorothy Parker is English or American and checking with the
Oxford English Dictionary and Fowlers Modern English Usage, comment on her linguistic
pronouncement that anyone who, as does Herny Miller, follows none with the plural verb
should assuredly not be called a writer. Would Miss Parker approve of the number of the verb
in this sentence: As yet none of my characters has been industrialists, economists, trade union
leaders?
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(Oxford Dictionary: It is sometimes held that none can only take a singular verb, never a plural verb:
none of them is coming tonight rather than none of them are coming tonight. There is little
justification, historical or grammatical, for this view. None is descended from OE nan meaning not
one and has been used for around a thousand years with both a singular and a plural verb, depending
on the context and the emphasis needed.)
According to Miss Parker, the sentence mentioned above is not correct, but according to Oxford
Dictionary, there is no mistake in it.
9.1.9. In the preface to Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw insists that all art should be didactic;
what is he trying to teach in the play? What actual person did Shaw have in mind when he
created the character of Henry Higgins?
The play is about Henry Higgins who made a bet that he will teach a cockney girl to the right
pronunciation of the English language. The main point of the play is to not to interfere with other
people lives (in this case the use of language).
Higgins is based on the real life figure of Henry Sweet, who was an English philologist, phonetician
and grammarian in the 19th century.
9.1.10 List the important differences between British English and American English. Which of
the differences is most significant?
(Z netu) In British English collective nouns, (i.e. nouns referring to particular groups of people or
things), (e.g. staff , government, class, team) can be followed by a singular or plural verb depending on
whether the group is thought of as one idea, or as many individuals, e.g.: My team is winning. In
American English collective nouns are always followed by a singular verb, so an American would
usually say: Which team is losing? whereas in British English both plural and singular forms of the
verb are possible, as in: Which team is/are losing?
In British English, the auxiliary do is often used as a substitute for a verb when replying to a question,
e.g.: A: Are you coming with us? B: I might do. In American English, do is not used in this way, e.g.:
A: Are you coming with us? B: I might. In British English needn't is often used instead of don't need to,
e.g.: They needn't come to school today. They don't need to come to school today. In American English
needn't is very unusual and the usual form is don't need to, i.e.: They don't need to come to school
today. In British English, shall is sometimes used as an alternative to will to talk about the future, e.g.:
I shall/will be there later. In American English, shall is unusual and will is normally used. In British
English shall I / we is often used to ask for advice or an opinion, e.g.: Shall we ask him to come with
us? In American English should is often used instead of shall, i.e.: Should we ask him to come with
us?
In British English, at is used with many time expressions, e.g.: at Christmas/five 'o' clock; at the
weekend. In American English, on is always used when talking about the weekend, not at, e.g.: Will
they still be there on the weekend? She'll be coming home on weekends. In British English, at is often
used when talking about universities or other institutions, e.g.: She studied chemistry at university. In
American English, in is often used, e.g.: She studied French in high school. In British English, to and
from are used with the adjective different, e.g.: This place is different from/to anything I've seen
before. In American English from and than are used with different, e.g.: This place is different
from/than anything I've seen before. In British English to is always used after the verb write, e.g.: I
promised to write to her every day. In American English, to can be omitted after write, i.e.: I promised
to write her every day.
Past tense forms: for example: Get is got in British and gotten in American english, Prove is proved in
Br.E. and Proved/proven in Am.E. Etc.
In British English, the verb have frequently functions as what is technically referred to as a delexical
verb, i.e. it is used in contexts where it has very little meaning in itself but occurs with an object noun
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which describes an action, e.g.: I'd like to have a bath. Have is frequently used in this way with nouns
referring to common activities such as washing or resting, e.g.: She's having a little nap.I'll just have a
quick shower before we go out.
In American English, the verb take, rather than have, is used in these contexts, e.g.: Joe's taking a
shower. I'd like to take a bath. Let's take a short vacation. Why don't you take a rest now?
9.1.11 Americans have been charged with a tendency to exaggerate. Supply some examples of
the American love of grandiloquence, as it may be called.
(Z netu) Americans have produced Super Bowls, Super Tuesdays, supermarkets, super-sized fast food,
superhighways, superconducting super colliders, Super Mario Bros., and supermodels. And on and on.
In the United States overstatement or hyperbole is the tendency, and the more tinged with violence, the
better (My boss will KILL me if she ever finds out).
9.1.12 What are the main scholarly organizations and publications devoted to the study of
American English?
Organizations: American Dialect Society (1889)
Publications: Frederic G. Cassidy: Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE); Kemp MaloneLouise Pound-Arthur G. Kennedy: American Speech (from 1952, journal); H.L. Mencken: The
American Language; Hans Kurath: Linguistic Atlas Of New England; Harold B. Allen: The Linguistic
Atlas of the Upper Midwest; Lee Pederson: Linguistic Atlas of the Gulf States; American Tongues
(video)
9.1.13 What importance has the study of British dialects for an understanding of American
English?
In the course of its spread, English has diversified by adapting to local circumstances and cultures, so
there are different varieties of English in every country. However, because the heart of its usefulness is
its ability to serve as an international medium of communication, English is likely to retain a more or
less homogeneous corean international standard based on the usage of the United States and the
United Kingdom. Yet each national variety has its own character and contribution to make to world
English.
9.1.14 Which are more important, the differences or the similarities between British and
American English?
I think that the similarities are more important, because through them we can see how the two
languages are related to each other, but the differences are also important, because they show us, what
pronunciation, grammatical and syntactic changes occurred in different region, but without the
similarities we couldnt say that the two languages are the same/similar language.
9.1.15 What kind of variation occur in a language? What is the usefulness of such variation?
Mainly stylistic variation occurs in a language. This variation is the usage of register in different kind
of situations. We decide what kind of words we use in what kind of situation, when we use them and
how we use them. It also depends if we in formal or informal situation. One of these variations is
slang, which is an undignified form of speech, when we use a special term to a certain subject.
9.1.16 What factors have promoted the use of English as a world language?
The extraordinary spread of English is not due to any inherent virtue, but rather to the fact that by
historical chance it has become the most useful language for other to learn. The coverage of the world
by English was begun by colonization culminating in the British Empire, which colored the globe
pink, as a popular saying had it, alluding to the use of that color on maps to identify British territories.
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The baton of influence was passed about the middle of the twentieth century, however, to the United
States. Although no one had planned this development, English has become (somewhat improbably,
considering its modest beginnings on the North Sea coast of Europe) the world language of our time.
Despite the historical prestige of British, today American English has become the most important and
influential dialect of the language. Its influence is exerted through films, television, popular music, the
Internet and the World Wide Web, air travel and control, commerce, scientific publications, economic
and military assistance, and activities of the United States in world affairs, even when those activities
are unpopular.
9.1.17 What is the likelihood that English will split up into a number of mutually unintelligible
languages?
(Z netu) Suzette Haden Elgin, a retired linguist formerly at San Diego State University in California,
said the future of global English was unclear. "I don't see any way we can know whether the ultimate
results of what's going on now will be Panglish - a single English that would have dialects but would
display at least a rough consensus about its grammar - or scores of wildly varying Englishes all around
the globe, many or most of them heading toward mutual unintelligibility.
The fear among many people is that the proliferation of so many different varieties of English around
the world will result in its break-up into a multitude of mutually incomprehensible languages, just as
Latin, the unifying language that was once spoken throughout the Roman Empire, eventually broke up
into Italian, French, and Spanish. McArthur discusses this Latin analogy at length, and he quotes
(p.182-3) Henry Sweet's prediction at the end of the nineteenth century that, within a hundred years,
the people of England and America would be speaking mutually unintelligible languages. Well, that
has not happened, and it seems increasingly unlikely that it will ever happen. As McArthur points out,
the analogy with Latin is almost certainly no longer valid, because recent advances in technology with
films, television, telephone, and more recently the Internet have facilitated a massive increase in fast
and easy global communication.