Whats the real difference between British and American English?
American, British, Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand English are all the same language. The variations in spelling and pronunciation are so minor that they rarely inhibit communication in any way. In linguistics, these are referred to as ‘regional variolects’ – we might use a few different interchangeable but understandable terms for things in everyday life, and our accents might vary (most of the accent variation happens within the United States and Great Britain themselves, such as northern and southern accents), but we are each capable of communicating with each other and understand each others’ versions of the language. The most prevalent spelling differences between American English and the other variolects is the use of ‘or’ or ‘our’ at the end of words such a colour/color and labour/labor, and the use of ‘s’ or ‘z’ in words such as nationalise/nationalize and organise/organize. Apart from that, we spell most things identically. When all is said and done, it all comes down to
There’s no fake difference. There’s a whole lot of difference. First, consider the pronounciation of the words. For example, center in American accent is pronounced as (sener) while the British say (cente~). Same with schedule: (US: skej-uwl) and (UK: she-jul). And many more. There’s also the fact that Americans stress on their ‘r’s while the British omit it when at the end of the sentence or at least produce a soft one. Another thing is the spelling. Example: (US: color/center) and (UK: colour/centre). Furthermore, you’ve got the cultural difference that helped make the two accents the way they are. You’ll find different slangs (even though there are words the British have burrowed from Americans in the recent years) and terms. Example: (US: cookies) and (UK: biscuits). And last thing I’m going to mention is the use of grammar. Americans will use verbs out of context or use a certain word for another meaning, while the British don’t do that very often.
There is no British English or American English. It is English and American – plain as day. In the sixteenth century, when the zealots fled to the New World, we still had strong French influences in our language. The Americans chose to keep these influences, but we chose to distance ourselves from them. The English language developed in this country by ignoring the French influence. In America they continued to absorb French influences, and to this day there is a strong French element in their version of “English” which is completely absent from true English. There are scholars who maintain that American is the true English, based on the fact that modern English was so heavily influenced by the French language. Of course these scholars ignore the fact that England separated herself from France and the rest of Europe in the sixteenth century. So America has “color” and “flavor”, where England has “colour” and “flavour”. Whilst we in England enforced a break with France, America embraced
Written and spoken American English has been pragmatically simplified. Written and spoken British English is more complex and subtle (and harder to understand) than American English. The American accent has more in common with the Irish accent than any other, and so different parts of the words are emphasised in speech. What can make it difficult for Americans with regional accents to understand a British English accent is the patterning, expression, grammatical formations and rhythm of speech. Also, as the languages have evolved differently on either side of the atlantic, the same words can have very different or, significantly different, meanings.
