On Differences between British English and American English Vocabularies文档格式.docx
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On Differences between British English and American English Vocabularies文档格式.docx
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文化_历史_词汇_差异_发展
Contents
1.Introduction.........................................................................................................................3
2.OriginsofBREandAME..................................................................................................3
3.DevelopmentofBREandAME.........................................................................................4
3.1OldEnglish(500-1100AD).........................................................................................4
3.2TheNormanConquestandMiddleEnglish(1100-1500)........................................4
3.3EarlyModernEnglish(1500-1800)............................................................................4
3.4Late-ModernEnglish(1800-Present).........................................................................4
4.CharacteristicsofBREandAME......................................................................................5
4.1EverydayOrallanguage.............................................................................................5
4.2Writtenlanguage........................................................................................................5
4.3Loanwords..................................................................................................................5
4.4Idioms...........................................................................................................................7
4.5Punctuationsandmeasurementunits........................................................................8
5.DifferencesbetweenAMEandBREvocabularies............................................................8
5.1Classifications..............................................................................................................8
5.2Analyses........................................................................................................................8
5.3Examples.......................................................................................................................9
6.Discussion...............................................................................................................................9
6.1LoanwordsinAmerica.................................................................................................9
6.2SocialandculturalinfluencesonthevocabularyofBREandAME......................10
6.3Newcharacteristicsandtrendsintoday'
suseinAMEandBREvocabularies......11
7.Conclusion............................................................................................................................12
8.Bibliography.......................................................................................................................12
OnDifferencesbetweenBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglishvocabularies
1.Introduction
BertrandRussell,whowroteasatireabouttheEnglishlanguageandsocialclass,saidthattheAmericansandtheEnglishare"
twopeoplesseparatedbyacommonlanguage"
.
ThereexistsahugerangeofdifferencesbetweenAmericanandBritishEnglishcausedbytheirdifferenthistoryandculture.Eventhesamewordsortheexpressionsmaybedifferent.ThispaperistoconciselydiscussaboutthedifferencesbetweenAmericanandBritishEnglishfromtheperspectiveofvocabulary.
2.OriginsofBREandAME
EnglishisamemberoftheIndo-Europeanfamilyoflanguages.TheIndo-Europeanfamilyincludesseveralmajorbranches:
LatinandthemodernRomancelanguages;
TheGermaniclanguages;
TheIndo-Iranianlanguages,includingHindiandSanskrit;
TheSlaviclanguages;
TheBalticlanguagesofLatvianandLithuanian(butnotEstonian);
TheCelticlanguages;
AndGreek.
TwoofthesebranchesplaysanimportantinthedevelopmentofEnglish,namelytheGermanicandtheRomance.EnglishisintheGermanicgroupoflanguages.ThisgroupwasoriginallyacommonlanguageintheElberiverregionabout3,000yearsago.Aroundthe2ndcenturyBC,thisCommonGermaniclanguagesplitintothreesub-groups:
1)EastGermanicwasspokenbythosewhomigratedbacktosoutheasternEurope.Butitisnolongerspokentoday,andonlyGothicsurvivesasawrittenEastGermaniclanguage.
2)NorthGermanicevolvedintothemodernScandinavianlanguagesofSwedish,Danish,Norwegian,andIcelandic.
3)WestGermanicistheancestorofmodernGerman,Dutch,Flemish,Frisian,andEnglish.
3.DevelopmentofBREandAME
1)OldEnglish(500-1100AD)
WestGermanicinvadersfromJutlandandsouthernDenmark:
theAngles(whosenameisthesourceofthewordsEnglandandEnglish),Saxons,andJutes,beganpopulatingtheBritishIslesinthefifthandsixthcenturiesAD.Theyspokeamutuallyintelligiblelanguage,similartomodernFrisian–thelanguageofnortheasternregionoftheNetherlands–thatiscalledOldEnglish.
TheEnglishcolonizationofNorthAmericabeganaround1600ADandsubsequentlyadistinctAmericandialectwascreated.Somepronunciationsandusages“froze”whenEnglishsettlersreachedtheAmericanshore.
2)TheNormanConquestandMiddleEnglish(1100-1500)
WilliamtheConqueror,theDukeofNormandy,invadedandconqueredEnglandandtheAnglo-Saxonsin1066AD.(TheBayeuxTapestry,detailsofwhichformthenavigationbuttonsonthissite,isperhapsthemostfamousgraphicaldepictionoftheNormanConquest.)ThenewoverlordsspokeadialectofOldFrenchknownasAnglo-Norman.TheNormanswerealsoofGermanicstock(“Norman”comesfrom“Norseman”)andAnglo-NormanwasaFrenchdialectthathadconsiderableGermanicinfluencesinadditiontothebasicLatinroots.
PriortotheNormanConquest,LatinhadbeenonlyaminorinfluenceontheEnglishlanguage,mainlythroughvestigesoftheRomanoccupationandfromtheconversionofBritaintoChristianityintheseventhcentury(ecclesiasticaltermssuchaspriest,vicar,andmasscameintothelanguagethisway),butnowtherewasawholesaleinfusionofRomance(Anglo-Norman)words.
3)EarlyModernEnglish(1500-1800)
ThenextwaveofinnovationinEnglishcamewiththeRenaissance.TherevivalofclassicalscholarshipbroughtmanyclassicalLatinandGreekwordsintotheLanguage.
4)Late-ModernEnglish(1800-Present)
Theprincipaldistinctionbetweenearly-andlate-modernEnglishisvocabulary.Pronunciation,grammar,andspellingarelargelythesame,butLate-ModernEnglishhasmanymorewords.Thesewordsaretheresultoftwohistoricalfactors.ThefirstistheIndustrialRevolutionandtheriseofthetechnologicalsociety.Thisnecessitatednewwordsforthingsandideasthathadnotpreviouslyexisted.ThesecondwastheBritishEmpire.Atitsheight,Britainruledonequarteroftheearth’ssurface,andEnglishadoptedmanyforeignwordsandmadethemitsown.
4.CharacteristicsofBREandAME
4.1.EverydayOrallanguage
ThespokenlanguageofBREvariesfarmorethanthatofotherEnglish-speakingcountries,andauniformnotionofBREismademoredifficulttobeappliedtothespokenlanguage.
Nevertheless,theAMEorallanguageisfeaturedasgeneraluniformitythroughoutthecountry,fordialectsareconfinedtorecentimmigrants.
4.2.Writtenlanguage
ThereareslightregionalvariationsinformalwrittenlanguageofBRE.
HoweverthewrittenAMEdiffersverylittle,soatextbookintheUScanalsobeusedinUK,Australia,SouthAfrica,etc.
ThemostdistinctdifferenceinwrittenEnglishbetweenthetwoistheuseofslangorinformalEnglish.
4.3.Loanwords
ManyofthefollowingloanwordshaveenteredEnglishthroughmilitarychannelrelatingtowar,conflictorthepoliticalclimateorculturalcontactrelatingtofood,sport,musicandpopularculture:
PoliticsandConflict
1939blitz-German
1975refusenik-Russian
1920putsch-SwissGerman
1986glasnost-Russian
1941apparatchik-Russian
1927apartheid-Afrikaans
1933czar-Russian(thewordhadbeenusedinEnglishforcenturiestodescribetheoccupantoftheRussianthrone,butthisisthefirstcitingofitsmodernusageasin"
drugsczar"
etc.)
1920bolshy-Russian(we'
vebroadenedthemeaningfromtheRussianwordBolshevikandit'
snowmorecommonlyusedasanadjectivetodescribeateenagerthantodescribeapoliticalrevolutionary)
Culinaryterms
1984balti-Hindi
1935
pizza-Italian
1975nouvellecuisine-French
1985ciabatta-Italian
1958
baguette-French
1928croissant-French
1905
a
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