现代词汇学 Chapter 9

单击此处编辑母版标题样式,单击此处编辑母版文本样式,第二级,第三级,第四级,第五级,*,Chapter 9,American English,Objectives of this chapter,To understand the characteristics of American English;,To distinguish the differences between American English and British English.,American English or British English?,English as an international language,Users of English,English as a native language,:,Britain, the United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the West Indies and South Africa.,ESL,:,India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Kenya, and many other countries.,EFL,:,Large numbers of people in the world speak and write English as a foreign language for the purpose of science, technology, and international communication. It has become a universal language of international communication.,English as an international language,Varieties of English,As an international language, the English language has a number of varieties.,British English,American English,Australian English,Canadian English,Singapore English,English as an international language,Two major varieties of English,British English (,BrE,) and American English (,AmE,),These two varieties differ in certain details, but there is no essential difference between them because of the similarities of the basic word stock, the basic grammar and the basic phonetic system. English is unmistakable one language, with two major national dialects.,There is no superiority or inferiority as regards,BrE,and,AmE,.,I. The Growth of American English,1. American in the 17th century,The establishment in 1607 of the settlement which the explorers called Jamestown marked the beginning of British colonization in America.,The British established,13 colonies,in the east of North America and then the current language became English, which was exactly called,“,Elizabethan English,”, the language spoken by Shakespeare, Milton and Bunyan, which belonged to the early stage of Modern English.,Spelling,Cleare,dutei,goodnes,Pronunciation,Tea,Grammar,There was but 6 or 7 persons.,So as they dyed. (as-that),(clear) (duty) (goodness),/,tei,/,(lack of agreement between subject and verb),So that they died.,2. American English In the 18th century:,closer to the modern English,There,re still differences P184,3. The victory of the War of Independence,With political independence there arose a tendency to develop an American brand of English.,Following American independence, famous persons like Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Noah Webster begin to consider that,the country should have a language of its own,.,The independence led to the emergence,a sense of nationality,. In the field of language, this patriotic feeling was manifested by the argument for the recognition of,the American variety or standard of English,.,In 1806, Noah Webster first used,“,American English,”,. Webster proclaimed that his countrymen had not only the right to adopt new words but were obliged to modify the language to suit the new circumstances, geographical and political, in which they were placed.,Many great writers, such as Washington Irving, Walt Whitman, Ralph W. Emerson, Mark Twain, and O. Henry helped to promote the development of the American English.,American English has developed a character of its own, reflecting the life and the physical and social environment of the American people.,The Americans invented large numbers of new words to meet their various needs.,representative, assembly, president, Congress, senator,department store, telephone,to advocate, to donate,4. The development of American English was not plain sailing. The English rejected as,“,barbarous,”,(,粗俗,),“,corrupt,”,(,堕落,) and,“,sacrilegious,”,(,亵渎神明,).,The consequences of these prejudices:,1) Some Americans developed a sense of inferiority.,2) Some Americans developed a sense of,“,linguistic nationalism,”,.,5. American English In 20th century: accepted by the British.,The future of American English,Since the Second World War, the United States has become literally the leader of the western world, American English has been developing and changing. There is no doubt that American English will enrich the English language greatly.,With the rapid development of modern mass media and the common needs of economic, cultural and political exchanges, American English will be more widely used in the world than British English.,II. The Characteristics of American English,1.,Conservativeness and creativeness,A.,Some words now obsolete in England are familiar and in common use in America.,jeans, chinch, homespun, greenhorn, loophole, to loan (lend), ornate, etc.,B.,American English also,create many new words.,fire,(dismiss),squeeze,(boy or girl friend),He would not,buy,that idea.,He is trying to,sell,us on linguistics.,“,Buy,”,and,“,sell,”,in American English mean respectively,“,accept,”,and,“,cause sb. to accept,”,skyscraper, bell-hop,（,旅馆的行李员）, cloudburst ,to lumber, to holiday (to spend holidays), to model (to act as model) ,super-: super-films, super-perfect, super-star ,Amerind,(American Indian),trainasium,(training gymnasium),medicaid,(medical aid) ,compounds,conversion,affixes,blends,2. Verbosity and brevity of expression,表达的累赘和简洁,Example of verbosity:,No lost time injuries that do not result in a medical expense should not be reported to the OWCP (short for Office of Workmans Compensation Payment).”,Injuries that do not result in a loss of working hours or involve payment of medical expenses should not be reported to the OWCP.,Example of brevity,Youth and Beauty,by John Cheever P192,3. The heterogeneous nature of the American vocabulary.,词汇的混杂性,A. The melting pot,Indian:,persimmon (,美洲柿,), raccoon (,浣熊,),French:,portage,（水陆联运）, rapids (,急流,), praline (,果仁糖,), prairie,（大草原，大牧场）, shanty,（,hut,）,Dutch:,Santa Claus, boss,cooky,German:,hamburger, frankfurter,（,法兰克福香肠,）, pinochle,（,a card game,匹诺克）,Italian:,pizza, tutti-frutti (,水果冰淇淋；蜜饯冰淇淋,),B. slang, jargon and cant,俚语、行话和切口语,(1) slang,have had it,bats in the belfry,With no public evidence of a plot, Reagan and his men could only continue to,beef up,security.,（,Time,）,beef up:,The coachs talk,pepped,the boys,up,.,（,Newsweek,）,pep up:,How did you,pan out,on that test,？（,Time,）,pan out:,吃够了苦头,胡说八道,加强,给,鼓士气,成功,(2) Jargon,ornament,：火车站站长（,station-master,）,reptile,：扳道工人（,switchman,）,rusteater,：铺轨工人（,tracklayer,）,donkey,： 路段道工组工人（,a section hand,）,Smart,Alect,：列车员（,conductor,）,Drama,kicks,，,bottoms,，,stompers,，,ends,鞋子；,go-it-all,，,rubber,，,wheels,汽车；,bonfire,，,weed,香烟；,four-,alarmer,雪茄；,shadows,墨镜；,folder fives,拳头；,funny top,男子假发（,toupee,）,(3) Cant,juice/ice,贿赂,ups,想买偷来车子的主顾,tramps/,junkers,破旧的车子,cream puffs,好车子，,originals,涂上底漆的车子,cannon,扒手业,gullion,首饰,cruller,头,shlub,傻瓜,scoff joint,饭店或旅馆等,moll buzzing,扒窃妇女,softy,被扒窃的人,breech-bridge,边袋（,side pocket,）,shorts,电车或公共汽车,hole,地铁（,subway,）,fuzz,侦探,sneeze,逮捕,III. Differences between,AmE,and,BrE,1. Differences in,pronunciation,/a:/,（英）,- /,ae,/,（美）,ask /,a:sk,/ /,aesk,/,dance /,da:ns,/ /,daens,/,/,r,/,（英）,- /,a:r,/,（美）,scurry /,skri,/ /,ska:ri,/,More examples on Page 199,BrE,AmE,-re, -,er,centre, theatre,center, theater,-,ise, -,ize,realise, modernize,realize, modernize,-,ce, -se,defence, practice,defense,practise,-our, -or,favour,labour,favor, labor,e-, i-,enquire, enclose,inquire,inclose,2. Differences in,spelling,BrE,AmE,-,gue, -g,catalogue, dialogue,catalog, dialog,-,il, -l,travelling,jeweller,traveler, jeweler,-,mme, -m,programme,gramme,program, gram,-,xion, -,ction,connextion, inflexion,connection, inflection,omission of silent -e,axe,judgement,ax, judgment,BrE,AmE,cheque,check,draught,draft,plough,plow,cigarette,cigaret,tyre,tire,A. Same Word , Different Meanings,Words British American,homely,nervy,pants,pavement,to tick off,down to earth;,domestic,ugly ( of people ),trousers,bold, full of nerve, cheeky,underpants,nervous,footpath, sidewalk,road surface,to scold,to make angry,3. Differences in,vocabulary,Additional Meaning in,AmE,:,Word Meaning Additional Meaning,in Common in,AmE,bathroom,dumb,regular,to ship,room with bath or shower,room with toilet only and sink,mute,stupid,consistent; habitual,average (as in size); normal,to transport by ship,to transport by ship, train, plane or truck, etc.,Additional Meaning in,BrE,:,word Meaning,Additional Meaning,in Common in B.E.,a wild, open space,border between two countries,to heed, obey,to look after,intelligent,well-groomed,a medical operation,an office of any doctor,frontier,to mind,smart,surgery,BrE,AmE,flat,apartment,lift,elevator,torch,flashlight,tin,can,note,bill,B. Same Concept or Item, Different Word,BrE,AmE,silencer,muffler,lorry,truck,windscreen,windshield,sweets,candy,luggage,baggage,BrE,AmE,Present Past / Past Participle Past / Past Participle,burnburntburned,dwelldweltdwelled,learnlearntlearned,smellsmeltsmelled,spellspeltspelled,spillspiltspilled,spoilspoiltspoiled,4. Other differences,1),Morphology,irregular verbs have become regularised in,AmE,a) the past tense morpheme -(,e)d,BrE,AmE,Present Past/Past Participle Past / Past Participle,dream dreamt /,dremt,/ dreamed/,drimd,/,kneel knelt /,nelt,/ kneeled/,ni:ld,/,lean leant/lent/ leaned/,li:nd,/,leap leapt/,lept,/ leaped/,li:pt,/,b) In some irregular,BrE,verbs, there is a,vowel change,from /i/,in the present to,/e/,in the past participle forms. The,AmE,forms,retain the present tense vowel,.,c) “,gotten,”: not used in,BrE,.,In,AmE, it was formerly restricted to being used in the sense of ,obtain, or ,acquire,:,Ive gotten a new car since I last saw you.,Now, however, gotten can be used in all meanings,except for have,in,AmE,.,We have gotten home late again.,They have gotten me into trouble again.,We had already gotten off the train when it was hit.,I have got plenty to eat.,I have got the idea now.,( understand ),2,),Derivation and Conversion,Two verb-forming affixes,more productive in,AmE,than,BrE,:,-,ify,: citify, humidify,uglify,-,ize,: burglarize, decimalize, hospitalize, rubberize,Another way of forming new words is by simply,changing a words grammatical class,. Again, there is more of a tendency to form new words in this way in,AmE,than in,BrE,.,Noun Verb,an author to author,a host to host,a sky rocket to sky-rocket,pressure to pressure,(B.E. to pressurize),a room to room,( I room at the house. ),3) Auxiliaries,a) must,He,must be,in -his TV is on.,He,cant be,in-his car is gone.,The negative of epistemic must is cant in Southern,BrE,.,In,AmE, the most common negative of epistemic “must” is “,must not,”.,He,must not,be in-his car is gone.,(epistemic) (,uncontracted,),You,mustnt,be in when we arrive.,(not allowed),b) used to,In questioning or negating sentences with the modal “used to”,BrE,can treat “used to”,either as an auxiliary, or as a lexical verb,.,In,AmE, used to is treated only as a,lexical verb,.,He used to go there.,(auxiliary),Used he to go there?,(auxiliary),Did he use to go there?,(lexical verb),He didnt use to go there.,(lexical verb),Context Do-substitution Deletion,British only both American and,British,Did he pass his exam?,Yes, he did do. Yes, he did.,Have you cleaned the room?,Yes, I have done. Yes, I have.,I havent read this yet.,But I will do. But I will.,I havent bought one.,But I may do. But I may.,Couldnt you do that later?,Yes, we could do. Yes, we could.,4),Verb Phrases,a. seem”, “act”, “look” and “sound”,-In,BrE, the copular verbs can,be followed directly by an indefinite noun phrase,.,-In,AmE, these verbs must,be followed first by the preposition like; seem,can also be followed by the infinitive,to be“.,British American/British,It,seemed,a long time. It,seemed like,a long,time.,He,seems,an intelligent He,seems to be,an,man. intelligent man.,John,acted,a real fool. John,acted like,a real,fool.,British American/British,That,sounds,a bad That,sounds like,a bad idea. idea.,That house,looks,a That house,looks like,a,nice one. nice one.,British/American American,Wed like you to,do this now.,Wed like for you,to do this now.,b.,like,The verb want can be,followed directly by the adverbs in and out in,AmE,. In,BrE, want must be,followed first by an infinitive,:,c.,want,British American,I wanted to come in.,I wanted to be let in. I wanted in.,The dog wants to go The dog wants out.,out.,Also want can be used,in the sense of need,in,BrE,with an inanimate subject:,The house,wants,painting,.,This is not possible in,AmE,.,The verb decide can be used as a,causative verb,only in,BrE,.,d. decide,Non-Causative:,He,decided,to go because of that.,Causative:,That,decided,him to go. (,BrE,),That made him decide to go. (,AmE,),Doubt,作为动词用在肯定句中后面通常接,whether,或,if,，而在否定句中则接,that,，这是英国英语的用法。在美国一般用,that,。,I doubt that.,e. Other verb phrases,Aim,后面跟,at,是英国用法，如：,He aimed at becoming a scientist.,而在美国则用,aim to,，如：,He aimed to become a doctor.,Raise,一词在英国17、18世纪可作,“,grow”, “breed”, “rear”,解释，后在英国此用法被淘汰，而在美国此词仍然保持原来三种意义，如：,In England, one grow farm or garden products, breed animals, and rears children. In America, one raises them all.,f.,There are a few verbs in,BrE,and,AmE,which,differ in the prepositions or prepositional adverbs they collocate with.,British American,to battle with/against to battle,to check up on to check out,to fill in to fill out,to meet to meet with,to prevent,sth,. becoming to prevent from,to protest at/against/over to protest,to stop someone doing to stop from,to visit to visit with,美国英语倾向于在有些动词后面加上副词或介词，以短语动词代替单根动词,如：,American British,drown out drown,sound out sound,lose out lose,rest up rest,American British,miss out on miss,pay off pay,try out try,start up start,consult with consult,visit with visit,meet with meet,He,missed out on,a chance to take the exam.,It will,pay off,to,revisit with,the city.,Alfred,sounded out,his boss about a day off from his job.,5) Noun Phrases,a. Count versus Mass Nouns,lettuce, has characteristics of both a count and mass noun in,BrE, but it is only a mass noun in,AmE,.,British American (mass only),Mass:,I like lettuce. I like lettuce.,Count:,a lettuce a head of lettuce,two lettuces two heads of lettuce,sport, is a count noun but it,can also be used as an abstract mass noun in,BrE,:,Count:,Football is,a sport,I like. (British and American),Mass:,John is good at,sport,. (British),John is good at,sports,. (American),6) Articles,a.,“next day” or “the next day”,British:,Next day, the rains began.,I saw him,next day,.,American/British:,The next day, the rains began.,I saw him,the next day,.,When referring to events in the past,BrE,does,not require the definite article “,the,” before the phrase ,next day,.,This construction is more usual in written,BrE,.,BrE,does not use “the” in the phrase in future in the meaning from now on,while American does:,British:,In future, Id like you to pay more attention to detail.,American:,In the future, Id like you to pay more attention to detail.,both:,In the future, all houses will be heated by solar energy.,b. “in future” or “in the future”,c. “half a/an” or “a/an half”,both,BrE,and,AmE,American,half an hour a half hour,half a dozen eggs a half dozen,half a pound of carrots a half pound,a. “for” or “in”,British /American,I havent seen him for weeks.,I havent seen him for ages.,American Only,I havent seen him in weeks.,I havent seen him in ages.,In phrases for duration of time,BrE,uses for where,AmE,uses for or in.,7) Prepositions,British speakers use the preposition at for “time when”, with holiday seasons.,b. “at” or “on/over”,British American,at the weekend over the weekend,on the weekend,at Christmas over Christmas,British/American,twenty,to,three,five,past,eight,American Only,twenty,of,three,twenty,till,three,five,after,eight,c. “to, past” or “of, till and after ”,In expressing clock-time,BrE,uses the prep.,to and past,the hour while,AmE,can also use,of, till and after.,8) Adverbs-,immediately and directly,British:,Immediately,we went, it began to rain.,Go to his office,directly,you arrive.,American:,Immediately after,we went, it began to rain.,Go to his office,directly after,you arrive.,immediately and directly can function in,BrE,as subordinators. In,AmE, they must modify a subordinator, such as “after”.,Assignment,Watch the video and write an essay about the differences between British and American English.,The End!,Thanks for your cooperation!,