American English美国英语.doc

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1、美国英语American English美国是当今人口最多，影响最大的国家，是当代英语最大的变体，共有2.4亿英语人口。美国英语在全世界的影响正随着各种美国媒体的广泛传播日益扩散和深入。所以，了解美国英语的形成发展和语言特点是十分必要的。一、 美国英语的发展简况The growth of American EnglishAbstract: With Britains colonization dilation, colonies had been established in North America. As an important communicational tool, Englis

2、h had been transmitted naturally. Along with the political campaigns and cultural campaigns in America and the increase of immigrants, American English had changed. At that time, Indian, Black, and European merged with American English. Whats more, history and culture combined with American English.

3、 Thanks to those combination and circulation, American English has been developed and created. In the end, American English of unique characteristics has been formed.1.17世纪初到北美独立战争结束英语是随着1607年的英国移民正式登陆美洲的，他们在北美洲大西洋沿岸建立了第一个永久性定居点詹姆斯敦（Jamestown），两年后建立了第一个殖民地弗吉尼亚（Virginia）。自此更多的美国移民在大西洋沿岸定居下来。1620年一群不满

4、英国教会的新教徒为了摆脱英国教会的束缚、建立他们理想的新型宗教王国，乘着著名的五月花号越过大西洋来到了美洲，他们在普利茅斯建立了第二个永久定居点。到1732年，美国人在大西洋沿岸共建立了13个殖民地，而英语成为他们的共同语言。早期的英国殖民者带到美洲的是伊丽莎白时代英语（Elizabethan English），这跟我们在莎士比亚作品中看到的英语比较接近，属于现代英语的早期形式。1756年，萨缪尔约翰逊第一次提出了“美国方言”一词。1783年，美国著名词汇学家诺亚韦伯斯特(Noah Webster)出版了拼写手册（The American Spelling Book），对美国人实际使用的语言美

5、国英语进行了规范，正式宣布了美国在语言上的独立。2.美国独立战争之后到内战美国英语的发展向来是受到移民和内外交流的影响。这一阶段见证了美国的南扩和西进。原先西班牙人、墨西哥人、印第安人的属地通过战争和买卖纷纷加入美国的版图。19世纪也见证了美国移民的大规模增加。大量的爱尔兰人、德国、意大利人为逃避本国的革命，贫困和饥荒先后涌入美国。19世纪60年代的美国内战结束了南北对峙的局面，解放了黑奴，促进了名主。与之相对应的是，美国人在语言问题上也表象出独立的主张。一些拼写上的变化也显现出来，并在当时的移民中获得流行。尽管如此，一直到20世纪初，英国人仍然歧视美国英语，在世界上占主导地位的仍是英语。3.

6、美国内战之后这个阶段，移民的来源有了很大变化。大量的北欧、南欧以及南斯拉夫国家的移民涌入美国。这样美国英语便从其他民族的语言中借用了很多词汇，我们称之为外借词，他们使美国英语的词汇变得丰富多彩。与此同时，经历了两次世界大战的英国国力大衰，美国逐渐成为西方世界的盟主。经济、政治、文化实力的增长和现代传播的发展使美国在全世界的影响大大超过了英国。美国英语对英国英语的影响不断扩大。总之，美国英语的发展历程并不平坦。英语的移植，外来语的融合，本土语的注入，自身的发展与创新，美国英语最终形成提体现了继承性、创新性和融合性的特征。几百年以来，美国英语一直在发展壮大。成形后的美国英语在不断走向成熟，成熟后的

7、美国英语在不断走向世界。二、美国英语的特点Characteristic of American EnglishAmerican English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the worlds native speakers of English live in the United States.English is the most common language in the United States.

8、 Though the U.S. federal government has no official language, English is the common language used by the federal government and is considered the de facto language of the United States because of its widespread use. English has been given official status by 30 of the 50 state governments. As an exam

9、ple, under federal law, English is the official language of United States courts in Puerto Rico.The use of English in the United States is a result of English colonization. The first wave of English-speaking settlers arrived in North America during the 17th century, followed by further migrations in

10、 the 18th and 19th centuries. Since then, American English has been influenced by the languages of West Africa, the Native American population, German, Irish, Spanish, and other languages of successive waves of immigrants to the US.1.美国英语的统一性 (uniformity)。美国英语的这种统一性自l7世纪以来美国人的历史和传统与同时期的英国相比有着很大的不同。近

11、几个世纪以来，英国社会稳定，英国人在这样安宁的生活中，头脑里自然充满着根深蒂固的世袭传统和荣誉感。他们为自己固有的一切而骄傲并拒绝作丝毫的改变。在这样的历史条件和背景下，他们的语言也不会有多少改变。相反，不拘泥于约束和习惯的美国人则走向另一极端。他们追求新奇和冒险，好动且厌恶形式，这与英国人的生活方式形成了鲜明的对照。因此，美国文学史家F.LPattee指出：美国人常常以比英国人less pleonastic(非冷漠)和less conserve(非保守)的形象出现。这种国民性格特点对政治、经济、艺术、日常交谈及思维习惯产生了深远的影响。当然，这并不是说美国人的生活方式就无章可循，无法可依，只

12、是他们更加热爱新鲜事物或新的“章法”。因此，政治、经济上任何一项新的决策，在美国会比在其他任何国家传播得要快。这样一种全民的迫切追求新奇的特性，在语言上就表现为新词、新语层出不穷，并且能在全国范围内很快地得到认同和接受。日积月累，在美国使用的英语就成为一种几乎不同于“英国英语”的、自成一统的“美国英语”或“美语”了。 2.即冲破传统语法、句法、发音规则(impatient airs for grammatica1syntactical，and phonological rule)。即在某些方面避开了英国英语中长期循规蹈矩的传统词法、句法及发音方法，从而形成了自己的美国英语的特点。在美国建国初期

13、，美国人就获得了热情修辞家的美誉。他们在政治生活中充满了激烈的言词，演说中满是华丽的词藻而不在乎其逻辑思维，其结果是他们常常蔑视，甚至抛弃传统的语言规则。他们新造出来的词语还常常体现出他们的信念和人生哲学。有一个典型的美国词“dropout”，原来是一个动词词组，意为“放弃一个正在进行的动作”，如“退学”或“脱离一个组织”等等，美国人把它用来描写那些背离传统、逃避社会责任的沉溺于麻醉毒品、摇滚音乐，并且没有政治倾向的青年人。这样的构词无异于赋予一个普通名词以一种行为和动作，从而形成生动的意象。还有像cowboy(牛仔)和hippie(嬉皮士)都反映了美国社会所特有的产物。cowboy与美国早期

14、开发西部地区有关，关于他们的传说总带有浓厚的浪漫主义和传奇色彩；而hippie则反映出6o年代那些中国人觉得行为古怪的美国青年的特点。类似的词汇还有wetback(法进入美国的墨西哥流动工人)，wildcat(靠不住的冒险计划)，taxisquad(租来的一群职业橄榄球球员)，red-neck(乡下佬)及southpaw(撇子)等等。而这种实用简洁，朝气蓬勃的特点，为美国英语赢得了全球瞩目的地位。3.混杂性。美国英语广泛地吸收非英语语言的优秀词汇并为其所用(1arge capacity for taking in new words and phrases from outside sourc

15、es，and for manufacturing them of its own materials)。美国是一个移民而成的国度，它不断地再接纳新的移民。“美国民族”包括了印第安人、西班牙人、墨西哥人、法国人，并从他们那里获得了许多外来语，美国的许多州和城市的名称都是来自印第安语。Tennessee在印第安语中是“可爱的城”之意，Seattle则以印第安酋长西雅图来命名的。同时，美国英语也吸收了很多的俚语。如：as busy as a bee(忙忙碌碌的), green eye(嫉妒)等，使美国英语词汇变得更加丰富多彩。三、美国英语和英国英语的差异 Differences between Br

16、itish English and American EnglishAmerican English or U.S. English is a form of English used in America. Over past 400 years, the language used in America, England and other part of the European countries are changing all the time, and then evolved into American English and British English. Meanwhil

17、e, there are many differences between them, such as spelling, pronunciation, intonation, grammar, vocabularies and so on. The followings are some differences between them.1. Pronunciation differences in vowel and consonants, as well as stress and intonation. Differences in pronunciation between Amer

18、ican English (AmE) and British English (BrE) can be divided into: differences in accent (i.e. phoneme inventory and realization). See differences between General American and Received Pronunciation for the standard accents in the United States and Britain; for information about other accents see reg

19、ional accents of English speakers.differences in the pronunciation of individual words in the lexicon.Moreover, American English is slower and higher than the British English, there stress is also different. For example: “harass and harassment”. In British English, we stressed the first syllable, wh

20、ile in American English, we stressed the second syllable. However, the American form in pronounce is become more and more popular among youngsters. 2. Spelling differences are generally found in certain prefix and suffix forms. The reason for the spelling differences is in large part due to the refo

21、rms of Noah Webster who felt some words looked better or had unnecessary letters as in the colour cited above. Words like theatre, spelled theater in the US, in no way reflect any difference in pronunciation, except for allowing for the more rhotic American pronunciation, and the British spelling re

22、flects the origin of the word, which is from the French theatre from Latin theatrum, so the British spelling reflects the etymology of the word, one reason why archaic spellings are kept. Generally speaking, spelling in American English is simpler. For example: “enquire and inquire”，these two words

23、are different in spelling, but they have the same meaning. Also, there are some other kinds of words, they are different in spelling but have same meaning. Such as : “flat and apartment” they all means the place people can live in. In addition, some other words they have their new meanings with deve

24、lopment of the society. Those new meanings are totally different from their original meanings. Also, there are some words can only used in one country. Such as “prince, duke, bowler”, they can only used in British English.3. Vocabulary differences in nouns and verbs, especially phrasal verb usage. M

25、ost of the differences in lexis or vocabulary between British and American English are in connection with concepts originating from the 19th century to the mid 20th century, when new words were coined independently.citation needed Almost the entire vocabularies of the car/automobile and railway/rail

26、road industries (see Rail terminology) are different between the UK and US, for example. Other sources of difference are slang or vulgar terms (where frequent new coinage occurs) and idiomatic phrases, including phrasal verbs. The differences most likely to create confusion are those where the same

27、word or phrase is used for two different concepts. Regional variations, even within the US or the UK, can create the same problems.It is not a straightforward matter to classify differences of vocabulary. David Crystal identifies some of the problems of classification on the facing page to his list

28、of American English/British English lexical variation and states this should be enough to suggest caution when working through an apparently simple list of equivalents4. Grammar differences: The British use the present perfect to talk about a past action which has an effect on the present moment. In

29、 American English both simple past and present perfect are possible in such situations.I have lost my pen. Can you lend me yours? (BE) I lost my pen. OR I have lost my pen. (AE) He has gone home. (BE) He went home. OR He has gone home. (AE) Other differences include the use of already, just and yet.

30、 The British use the present perfect with these adverbs of indefinite time. In American English simple past and present perfect are both possible.While there are certainly many more varieties of English, American English and British English are the two varieties that are taught in most ESL/EFL progr

31、ams. Generally, it is agreed that no one version is correct however, there are certainly preferences in use. In essence, it could be said that the American English has opted for a simpler style, whilst the U.K./Australian/New Zealand English usually retains the older, more complex spelling rules. British English is more influenced by French/Latin and American English is more influenced by Germanic Languages. The basic difference is British English shows signs of influence from French and Latin in general, while American English shows signs of influence from Germanic Languages.