American English
发布时间：2020-03-31 来源：文档文库
小
中
大
字号：
American English
American English is the diverse from of the English language used mostly in the United States of America. It is the primary language used in the United States.
The growth of American English American English began in the 17th century. At the beginning of the 17th century the English language was brought to North America by colonists from England. They used the language spoken in England, that is, Elizabethan English, the language used by Shakespeare and Milton and Bunyan. The development of the English language in America can be separated into three periods. The first period extends from the settlement of Jamestown in 1607 to the end of colonial times. This time may be put at 1787, or at 1790. In this period the population in America numbers about four million, 90 percent of whom came from Britain. The second period covers the expansion of the original thirteen colonies. This time may be said to close with the Civil War, about 1860. This period was marked by the arrival of the new immigrants from Ireland and Germany. The third period, the period since the civil war, is marked by an important change in the source from which the European immigrants came. In this period the immigrants from northern and southern Europe and the Slavic countries, that is, from Norway, Sweden, Italy, etc. came to America in large numbers. In the history of American English the first colonists established the english form in America. They continues to speak as they had done in England. It is evident therefore that American English has kept a number of old words or old uses of words that are no longer in use in England. In order to exploit new recourses in America, British colonists settled down there and from 1607 to 1732 set up thirteen colonies: Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Sourth Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Connecticut. In these thirteen areas english was a common language used by all people. As time went by the English language gradually changed on both sides of the Atlantic. The Americans adopted many words from foreign languages and invented large numbers of new words to meet their various needs. From American languages: gumbo okra, or a stew thickened with okra From Dutch: cookie a small baked cake (usually flat and crisp made from sweetened dough (a biscuit in British English From French: banquette a raised sidewalk(usage is more regional From Japanese: skosh(sokoshi a small amount; a bit
From Native American languages: bayou a swampy, slow-moving stream or outlet, chinook a strong wind blowing down off the mountains
1
From Spanish: adobe a mud-and-straw construction material used exclusively for bricks (originally an Arabic word, at-taub, brick From Yiddish: klutz a clumsy person From Tagalong: Barangay small political unit, sub-district Following American Independence, famous persons like Thomas Jefferson, John Witherspoon, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Noah Webster began to consider that the country should have a language of its own. Noah Webster compiled three elementary books on English: a spelling book, a grammar and a reader, and later in his Dissertations on the English Language with Notes Historical and Critical he expressed the idea that as an independent nation, America should have a system of its own in language as well as in government. After the second half of the 19th century, many great writers, such as Washington Irving, Walt Whitman, Ralph W. Emerson, Mark Twain, and O.Henry helped to promote the development of American English. English in America has developed a character of its own, reflecting the life and the physical and social environment of the American people. Since the rise of the United States to a position of world importance, American English has been developing and changing. There is no doubt that American English will enrich the English language greatly. With the rapid development of modern mass media and the common needs of economic, cultural and political exchanges, American English will be more widely used in the world than British English.
Characteristics of American English A. Conservativeness in usage The archaism or conservativeness is regarded as a characteristic of American English. Some expressions and words in current use in the United States have become archaic or have dispersed in England. Some words now obsolete in England are familiar and in common use in America. The word loan, for example, when used as a transitive verb, in most dictionaries. British usage prefers lend. Verbal loan originated in England, perhaps as early as 1200.
B. Creativeness in enriching the language American English imbued with the frontier spirit ingenuity and vividness especially the Elizabethan tradition and the frontier spirit. It mainly shows in the addition of a new meaning to a word, creating new words by the devices of word-formation and using ellipsis. C. Verbosity and brevity of expression The most prevalent defect in writing as seen in present day American English is a tendency to convey an idea in as complicated a way as possible. Instead of being simple, terse and direct, the style is stilted, long-winded and circumlocutory; instead of choosing the simple and direct word it prefers the quaint and the picturesque. This
