American English: History, Dialects, and Influences

Posted on May 6, 2024 in Geography

TEMA 6: AMERICAN ENGLISH

The Evolution of American English

English is a language with several national variations, including UK English, US English, Irish English, Canadian English, and Australian English. While British English has historically held greater prestige worldwide, American English has gained increasing prominence due to its influence in politics, science, and technology.

American English originated from Elizabethan English brought by English colonists. Over time, the language diverged on both sides of the Atlantic. For example, the loss of “r” before consonants and at the end of words occurred around the time of the American Revolution. The “theory of isolation” suggests that American English is more conservative than British English due to linguistic conservatism.

Examples of potential archaisms or dialectalisms in American English include words like “mad,” “fall,” “gotten,” and “deck.” However, both British and American English exhibit a balance of conservative and innovative features.

New Words in American English

American English has developed new words through various processes:

  1. Semantic shift: Words like “creek” have taken on different meanings in American English compared to British English.
  2. Compounds: Words like “backwoods,” “underbrush,” and “watergap” were created by combining existing words.
  3. Borrowings: Words like “canyon” (Spanish), “prairie” (French), “semester” (German), “boss” (Dutch), and “raccoon” (Indian) were borrowed from other languages.

American Influence on British English

Despite initial resistance, American English has influenced British English due to America’s growing commercial, technical, and political power. Examples of Americanisms adopted by British English include “backwoods,” “blizzard,” “caucus,” “cloudburst,” and “prairie.” More recent Americanisms include “cafeteria,” “cocktail,” “egghead,” “electrocute,” “fan,” “radio,” “ok,” and “dj.”

Differences in Pronunciation

  • Shift of / & / to / a: In British English, the vowel sound / & / has shifted to / a: / except before “r” (far), “lm” (calm), and in words like “father.” This shift also occurs in some parts of the United States.
  • Pronunciation of / ae / – /a:/: The American English pronunciation of / ae / as /a:/ is not always consistent, and an intermediate /a/ sound may be heard.
  • Unrounded short o /A/: The short “o” sound in American English is often unrounded, as in “got,” “God,” and “stop.”
  • Loss of secondary stress: American English often drops the secondary stress on the penultimate syllable of polysyllabic words ending in “-ary,” “-ery,” or “-ory,” such as “military” and “obligatory.”
  • Tempo of speech: American English tends to have a faster tempo of speech compared to British English.

Differences in Spelling

American English and British English have some notable spelling differences, such as “check” vs. “cheque” and “pajamas” vs. “pyjamas.”

Noah Webster’s Innovations

Noah Webster, an American lexicographer, introduced several spelling reforms that distinguish American English from British English:

  1. -or vs. -our: American English uses “-or” (color, behavior), while British English uses “-our” (colour, behaviour).
  2. -er vs. -re: American English uses “-er” (center, theater), while British English uses “-re” (centre, theatre).
  3. -se vs. -ce: American English uses “-se” (defense, offense), while British English uses “-ce” (defence, offence).
  4. -c vs. -ck > -c: American English uses “-c” (music, public), while British English evolved from “-ck” to “-ic” (musick, publick -> music, public).
  5. -l- vs. -ll-: American English uses “-l-” (traveling, traveler), while British English uses “-ll-” (travelling, traveller).

Other Changes

  1. -e- vs. -ae / oe -: American English uses “-e-” (anemic), while British English uses “-ae” or “-oe” (anaemic).
  2. -ize vs. -ise: American English uses “-ize” (realize), while British English uses “-ise” (realise).
  3. -x- vs. -ct-: American English uses “-x-” (connection), while British English uses “-ct-” (connexion).

American English Dialects

The use of English in the United States varies depending on factors such as region, culture, ethnicity, social background, sex, age, and education. There are three or four main American English dialects in the Eastern part of the country:

  • Northern: Spoken from New Jersey to New England.
  • North Midland: Spoken from Delaware to Pennsylvania.
  • South Midland / Inland Southern: Spoken from West Virginia to Georgia.
  • Southern / Coastal Southern: Spoken from Delaware to Florida.

West America is generally associated with General American (GA).

General American (GA)

General American is a rhotic variety of American English, meaning it pronounces the “r” sound. It also features an unrounded “o” vowel and does not have the long “a” /a:/ sound found in some other dialects. GA lacks certain diphthongs and vowels present in British English due to its rhoticity. Intervocalic /t/ is used for both “t” and “d” sounds, making words like “metal” and “medal” homophones. GA does not have the “i-glide” /j/ sound in words like “duke,” “tuna,” and “news,” and it often exhibits a nasal twang.

Northeastern Accent

The Northeastern accent, spoken in New England, shares some similarities with British English. It is a non-rhotic variety and has the vowel /a:/ in words like “calm,” “father,” and “park.” It also features both rounded and unrounded /o/ vowels.

Southern Accent

Southern accents are generally non-rhotic and have a more relaxed pronunciation. They often use the pronoun “y’all” (you all) and pronounce the diphthong /ai/ as a monophthong, as in “high” /ha:/.

Ethnic and Social Dialects

Sociolinguistics, the study of language in relation to social factors, plays a significant role in understanding American English dialects. William Labov’s 1966 study, “The Social Stratification of English in New York City,” highlighted the connection between language and social class.

The United States is home to diverse ethnic groups, including Blacks, Appalachians, Jews, Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, Penn Dutch, and Asians. Linguistic diversity has presented challenges in American education, particularly in the 20th century. The concept of the “melting pot” has faced difficulties due to the tension between linguistic diversity and Anglo-American dominance, raising concerns about the potential balkanization of America.

Black American English

Black American English raises two key questions: How differently do Black and White Americans speak, and what is the origin of Black English?

There are two main theories regarding the nature of Black English:

  1. Black English as a separate language (BEV): This theory, associated with the term “Ebonics,” suggests that Black English is a distinct language.
  2. Black English as a dialect of American English: This theory argues that the differences between Black and White American speech are often exaggerated and that they ultimately speak the same language.

Black American English has made significant contributions to American English, including lexical items like “nitty-gritty,” “jazz,” and “jam,” pronunciation features like the dropped “t” in “rest” and “soft,” and grammatical features like the consuetudinal “be” (“She be here everyday”) and the absence of “be” (“She here now”).

Regarding the origin of Black English, two main theories exist:

  1. Plantation theory: This theory suggests that Blacks learned English from Whites on plantations in the New World, with some African influences.
  2. Creolization theory: This theory proposes that Blacks developed a pidgin language that eventually creolized into Black English.