Professional Documents
Culture Documents
● English is a West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects
brought to Britain by Germanic settlers from various parts of what is now northwest
Germany and the northern Netherlands.
● Cohabitation with the Scandinavians resulted in a significant grammatical
simplification and lexical enrichment of the Anglo-Frisian core of English; the
later Norman occupation led to the grafting onto that Germanic core of a more
elaborate layer of words from the Romance branch of the European languages.
● This Norman influence entered English largely through the courts and
government. Thus, English developed into a "borrowing" language of great
flexibility and with a huge vocabulary.
History of British English
● The need to distinguish British English from other forms of English that have
developed over the years was a product of colonial times.
● At the beginning of the 16th century, the British Empire started its process of
expansion, reaching its height between the 18th and 20th centuries.
● The British Empire’s immense size led to the meeting of English culture with those
of its colonies, leading to the adoption of words and expressions from those
countries.
● The first attested use of the phrase “British English”, according to the Oxford
English Dictionary, was in 1867, in an article in The Galaxy magazine.
● However, the phrase 'English English' was used in 1783, in contrast to 'Irish
English', in a comedy called 'The true-born Irishman' by the Dublin playwright
Charles Macklin. The expression 'American English' was used by Noah Webster
(first American dictionary published 1828) the introduction to his dictionary in
1806.
Features
● /r/
● /t/
Pronunciation
● -ILE
● -IZATION
/r/
BE emphasizes /r/ less than AmE
● Chair
● Car
● Were
● Hairy
● Inquiry
/t/
BE pronunciation of /t/ sounds like /t/ but AmE will sound like d
● better
● water
● hated
● writing
● bottom
● native
● artificial
● notice
-IZATION
lə-ˈzā-sən lʌɪˈzeɪʃn
ˌrē-ə-lə-ˈzā-shən Realisation riːəlʌɪˈzeɪʃn
si-və-lə-ˈzā-shən Civilisation sɪvɪlʌɪˈzeɪʃn
ȯr-gə-nə-ˈzā-shən Organisation ɔːɡ(ə)nʌɪˈzeɪʃ(ə)n
ȯ-th(ə-)rə-ˈzā-shən Authorization ɔːθərʌɪˈzeɪʃ(ə)n
-ILE
əl ʌɪl
a-jəl Agile adʒʌɪl
mō-bəl Mobile məʊbʌɪl
fər-təl Fertile fəːtʌɪl
hä-stəl Hostile hɒstʌɪl
vərsətəl Versatile vəːsətʌɪl
● -or vs -our
● -og vs -ogue
Spelling
● -m vs -mme
● -ll vs -l
- or vs. -our
American British
color colour
honor honour
armor armour
-og vs. -ogue
American British
catalog catalogue
dialog dialogue
analog analogue
-m vs. -mme
American British
program programme
kilogram kilogramme
-ll vs. -l
American British
skillful skilful
enrollment enrolment
However, in BE, words that end in -l preceded by a vowel usually double the -l when a suffix is added
American British
equaling equalling
modeling modelling
quarreling quarrelling
Definite Article ● The
The
British American
The eleventh of July Date July eleventh
July the eleventh July eleven
In hospital Institutional Nouns In the hospital
In university In the university
Preposition ● On
On
British American
She resigned on June She resigned June
I will be here on Friday I will be here Friday
Dialects & Accents in
British English
Cities with their own Dialects and Accents
Liverpool, Birmingham, New castle, Glasgow
Social class: Tend to be people with power, responsibility, authority, and earn more
than the average person.(P.M, Oxford, and Cambridge)
4. New Zealand
5. South Africa
6. South Asia
7. West Africa
8. East Africa
9. South East India and South
Pacific
Development towards
Standard English
● The midlands dialect was more popular
because it is compromises between the
north dialect and the south dialect
● History – Brought by the Germanic settlers and influenced by the Scandinavians and
the colonised countries
● Features – Both British English and American English have differences but are
mutually intelligible
● Dialects and Accents – Southern, Northern, Eastern, and Westerns have their own
dialects and accents