3. 1 Spelling differences
The spelling differences between American and British English were noted as one of chief sources of variation world. Generally speaking, the differences of spelling between American and British English were brought about by two factors: (1) The English which the colonists brought to the new continent allowed great variation in spelling, sometimes the variant which became standardized in America was different from that used in England;(2) Noah Webster and eminent persons like Benjamin Franklin proposed numerous reform on spelling among which some were generally accepted and became the forms peculiar to American English. [7]
3. 1. 1 Variant rules
The American and British systems are essentially the same, except that, as the following differences show, the American variant is simpler than its English counterpart:
divergences British Spelling American Spelling divergences British Spelling American Spelling
our-or colour color y-i tyre tire
ou-0 mould mold c-k disc disk
re-er centre center s-z cosy cozy
gue-g dialogue dialog xion-ction inflexion Inflection
ll-l woollen woolen ae-e aesthetic esthetic
mme-m gramme gram ise-ize(chiefly) utilise utilize
ce-se defence defense omission of silent “e” axe ax
e-i enclose inclose
3. 1. 2 Some special cases
Nevertheless, some variations have no regular formula to stand by. These special cases are list in the follow table.
British Spelling American Spelling
Cheque, cigarette Check, cigaret
Kerb, plough, pyjamas Cub, plow, pajamas
Draught, grey Draft, gray
Storey, waggon Story, wagon
On the whole, the British and American spelling systems are essentially the same except that the American spelling has some simplified. Nowadays hundreds of American spellings have won acceptance in British English.
3. 2 Differences between American and British business English in the use of word
Broadly speaking, the difference between these two variants in the use of words can be grouped into two types. (1) Same words with different meanings(polysemy);(2) Same ideas or objects expressed by different words(synonym).
3. 2. 1 Polysemy
There are great number of words with different meanings in both American English and British English. Generally speaking, they can be divided into two types.
(1) Many words taken from Britain have changed their meanings in America. E.g. public school, in British English means a private secondary school for boys; in American English refers to free local primary school supported by taxes for boys and girls. Bill, in British English means a demand for payment of a debt, but in American English means a piece of paper money. Billion, an old use in British English, means million million while in American English it has changed to thousand million. Table, when used as verb, in British English means to bring forward for consideration; in American English means to leave until a later date for consideration.
(2) Some words’ meanings were once commonly used in England, but later they have become rare there, while in the U.S. they are kept with the unchanged meanings[8]. It is well known that there are four seasons spring, summer, autumn, and winter in a year. For autumn, Americans prefer fall to autumn because they have kept the old poetic meaning of the word “fall” denoting the season when leaves fall. The phrase I guess had been currently used in Chaucer’s time and later the 17th century in Britain is the sense of I think or, I suppose. Now very few British people use it while in America it is remained and survived. Railroad is often regarded as a typical Americanism. Actually it is not. Very few people know it was originally a British word. During the 18th century, railroad and the other expression “railway” were both current to designate the means of coal transportation on wooden rails. Since the middle of the 19th century only railway were kept in Britain, but railroad has been taken to the U.S. and remained by the people there. So did the word “druggist”. Many people think of druggist as an American term to compare with chemist, it is British counterpart, however the word druggist originated from Britain. In the early 17th century British people replaced the word apothecary with druggist; while later in the 18th century it itself was removed away by the word chemist. But American people adapted druggist and kept it in use till now. The word “raise”, which had three meanings: grow, breed, rear in England in the 17th and 18th century, is obsolete in British English; while in the U.S, the meanings have been kept. A great linguist once vividly described it as:” in England one grows farm or garden products; breeds animals and rears children; in America one raises them all.”
3. 2. 2 Synonym
Comparing American English with its British counterpart, people often pay more attention to different words in these two variants for a common idea or object. So this part is concerned with differences in word choice. For example, if American people buy one-way ticket, they say one-way not single, similarly they don’t use return to mean round-trip. Actually, these differences mostly appear in oral English, especially in the daily expressions. e.g. in the aspect of transportation, American usually use bus for coach, truck for lorry, intersection for cross-roads, curve for bend, railway crossing for level crossing, super highway for multi-motorway. In the way of entertainment, they do not say let’ go to see a film, but let’s go to the movies. For seeing an opera or play, they usually say orchestra not front stalls; the first balcony not the dress circle; the second balcony not the upper circle; an intermission not an interval. As for other aspects of our daily life, they usually say the first floor for the ground floor; mail for post; a rise (in salary) for a raise; elevator for lift. The following list is a simple comparison between American English and British English in the word choice of some frequent-used words.
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