1. Introduction 1
2. British English and American English 2
2.1The history of British English 3
2.2 The history of American English 4
3. Grammar differences between British English and American English 6
3.1 Lexical differences 6
3.1.1The different use of collective nouns in their single or plural forms 7
3.1.2 Differences in verb 7
3.1.2.1 Differences in the inflectional endings of verbs 7
3.1.2.2Different use of present perfect tenses 8
3.1.2.3 Different use of transitive and intransitive verbs 8
3.1.2.4 Different use of "have" 9
3.1.3 Different use of function words 9
3.1.3.1 Different use of preposition and adverb 9
3.1.3.2 Different use of auxiliary verb 10
3.1.3.3 Differences in articles 11
3.2 Syntactical differences 12
3.2.1 Differences in compound object 12
3.2.2 Presence or absence of syntactic elements 13
3.2.3 Different use of subjunctive mood 13
4. The differences between British English and the special form of American English—Black English 14
5. The tendency of the development of British English and American English 17
6. Conclusion 17
Acknowledgements 19
References 19
1．Introduction
There is one play in the famous American TV series Friends: Ross will go to England to marry Emily, suddenly Rachel decides to show his love to Ross and goes to England either, so his friend Phoebe makes a call to tell the news to Ross and Emily, Emily’s housekeeper answers the call. The dialogue as follows:
Housekeeper: The Waltham Residence.
Phoebe: Oh...yes…is this…umm…Emily’s Parents’ house?
Housekeeper: This is the housekeeper speaking. And by the way, young lady, that is not how one addresses oneself on the telephone. First one identifies oneself and then asks for the person with whom one wishes to speak.
Phoebe: (In a British accent)This is Phoebe Buffay. I was wondering, please, if-if it’s not too much trouble, please, umm，might I speak to Miss Emily Waltham, please?
Housekeeper: Miss Waltham is at the rehearsal dinner and it’s not polite to make fun of people. Goodbye.
Phoebe: No,no,no, I’ll be nice, I swear!!! Could you just give me the number for where they are?
Housekeeper: I’m afraid, I’m not at liberty to divulge that information.
Phoebe: Ok, somebody is on their way to ruin wedding okay. And I have to warn somebody, alright. So if you don’t give me that number then I’m going to come over there and kick your snooty ass all the way to New Glocken...shire.
Housekeeper: Hangs up[1]
We can see from the above dialogue that British English is more serious and formal than American English. The American speaks at will while the Englishmen speak gently. As we all know the two major varieties of English used by people as native language are British and American English. There seems to be little differences between the two varieties but the influences are very different. On some occasion we may have some mistakes in communication, in order to help the English speakers and learners understand the two varieties better and to eliminate troubles that may prevent communication and English writing, so I will make analysis on the grammar differences between British English and American English.
2. British English and American English
Nowadays English has developed into a global language. The fact that such a large number of people all around the world speak English means that there are many dialects and varieties. The two major varieties of English used by people as native language are British and American English. As a message carrier, English fully reflects the unique culture possessed by the British and American countries. Since in Dissertations on the English Language, Noah Webster pointed out “several circumstances render a feature separation of the American tongue from the English necessary and unavoidable.”
2.1 The History of British English
English is a West Germanic language which 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. Initially, Old English was a diverse group of dialects, reflecting the varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of England. One of these dialects, Late West Saxon, eventually came to dominate. The original Old English language was then influenced by two waves of invasion: the first by speakers of the Scandinavian branch of the Germanic language family, who conquered and colonized parts of Britain in the 8th and 9th centuries; the second by the Normans in the 11th century, who spoke Old Norman and ultimately developed an English variety of this called Anglo-Norman. These two invasions caused English to become "mixed" to some degree, though it was never a truly mixed language in the strict linguistic sense of the word, as mixed languages arise from the cohabitation of speakers of different languages, who develop a hybrid tongue for basic communication.
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 languages. This Norman influence entered English largely through the courts and government. Thus, English developed into a "borrowing" language of great flexibility, resulting in an enormous and varied vocabulary. It mainly divided into four periods.
（1）Proto-English （the 5th century AD）[2]
The languages of Germanic tribes gave rise to the English language (the Angles, Saxons, Frisians, Jutes and perhaps even the Franks), who traded and fought with the Latin-speaking Roman Empire in the centuries-long process of the Germanic peoples' expansion into Western Europe. Many Latin words for common objects entered the vocabulary of these Germanic peoples before any of their tribes reached Britain; examples include camp, cheese, cook, fork, inch, kettle, kitchen, linen, mile, mill, mint (coin), noon, pillow, pin, pound, punt (boat), street and wall. The Romans also gave the English language words which they had themselves borrowed from other languages: anchor, butter, chest, devil, dish, sack and wine.
（2）Old English（AD 450—1100）[2]
The invaders' Germanic language replaced the indigenous Brythonic languages. （form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family, the other being Goidelic）The original Celtic languages remained in parts of Scotland, Wales and Cornwall. The dialects spoken by the Anglo-Saxons formed what is now called Old English. Later, it was strongly influenced by the North Germanic language Norse, spoken by the Vikings （is one of the Norse (Scandinavian) explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the late eighth to the early eleventh century.）who invaded and settled mainly in the north-east of England. The new and the earlier settlers spoke languages from different branches of the Germanic family; many of their lexical roots were the same or similar, although their grammars were more distinct, including the prefix, suffix and inflection patterns for many words. The Germanic language of these Old English-speaking inhabitants was influenced by contact with Norse invaders, which might have been responsible for some of the morphological simplification of Old English, including the loss of grammatical gender and explicitly marked case (with the notable exception of the pronouns). The most famous surviving work from the Old English period is a fragment of the epic poem "Beowulf" composed by an unknown poet; it is thought to have been substantially modified, probably by Christian clerics long after its composition.
（3）Middle English（AD 1066-1470）[2]
For about 300 years following the Norman Conquest in 1066, the Norman kings and their high nobility spoke only one of the langues d'oïl called Anglo-Norman, whilst English continued to be the language of the common people. Various contemporary sources suggest that within fifty years of the invasion, most of the Normans outside the royal court spoke English, with French remaining the prestige language of government and law, largely out of social inertia. For example, Orderic Vitalis, a historian born in 1075 and the son of a Norman knight, said that he learned French only as a second language. A tendency for French-derived words to have more formal connotations has continued to the present day; most modern English speakers would consider a "cordial reception" (from French) to be more formal than a "hearty welcome" (Germanic). Another example is the very unusual construction of the words for animals being separated from the words for their food products e.g. beef and pork (from the French bœuf and porc) being the products of the Germanically named animals 'cow' and 'pig'.
（4）Modern English（1500 up to the present）[2]
Modern English can be divided into two parts: early modern english(1500-1800)and late modern English. Modern English is often dated from the Great Vowel Shift, which took place mainly during the 15th century. English was further transformed by the spread of a standardized London-based dialect in government and administration and by the standardizing effect of printing. By the time of William Shakespeare (mid-late 16th century), the language had become clearly recognizable as Modern English.
English has continuously adopted foreign words, especially from Latin and Greek, since the Renaissance. (In the 17th century, Latin words were often used with the original inflections, but these eventually disappeared). As there are many words from different languages and English spelling is variable, the risk of mispronunciation is high, but remnants of the older forms remain in a few regional dialects, most notably in the West Country.
In 1755, Samuel Johnson published the first significan
t English dictionary, his Dictionary of the English Language.
2.2 The history of American English
During the 17th century, or more precisely on May 14, 1607, the first English settlers landed in Virginia. This was a group of 104 London entrepreneurs and they established the first English colony in Jamestown. Later on, in 1620, the Pilgrim Fathers, settlers from England, landed in Massachusetts, and also brought the English language over the Atlantic Ocean to America and another variety of English was born, American English. This variety is the largest of all the English varieties, since as many as 70% of the native English speakers live in the US. American English has preserved a number of words and features from the English spoken in England at the time of the settlement, which have now been changed in British English.
The history of American English can be divided into the colonial (1607-1776), the national (1776-1898), and the international (1898-present) periods. During nearly four hundred years of use in North America, the English language changed in small ways in pronunciation and grammar but extensively in vocabulary and in the attitude of its speakers. English settlements along the Atlantic Coast during the seventeenth century provided the foundation for English as a permanent language in the New World. But the English of the American colonies was bound to become distinct from that of the motherland. When people do not talk with one another, they begin to talk differently. The Atlantic Ocean served as an effective barrier to oral communication between the colonists and those who stayed in England, ensuring that their speech would evolve in different directions.[3]
Americans also came cheek-to-jowl with "Amerindians" of several linguistic stocks, as well as French and Dutch speakers. They had to talk in new ways to communicate with their new neighbors. Moreover, the settlers had come from various districts and social groups of England, so there was a homogenizing effect: those in a given colony came to talk more like one another and less like any particular community in England. All these influences combined to make American English a distinct variety of the language. In the United States, there are also regional differences, and these are ultimately descendants of a mixture of accents spoken in the British Isles at the time of the settlement of America. Dialect boundaries in the US tend to run from east to west. The first immigrants settled along the Atlantic coast and they spread from east to west across the continent and took some dialect forms, for example words and pronunciation features, with them. The dialect areas in North America are much larger than they are in England, mainly because English has been spoken in England for about 1,500 years, but in America for only approximately 300 years. Because of America’s recent settlement, there has not been enough time for linguistic changes and this is why there are not so many dialect differences in this large country.
3. Grammar differences between British English and American English
English grammar is the set of rules within the English language itself. "An English grammar"(one kind of grammar system)is a specific study or analysis of these rules. In linguistics, grammar refers to the logical and structural rules that govern the composition of sentences, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes lexicology and syntax, often complemented by phonetics, phonology, semantics, and pragmatics. I mainly make analysis on the lexical and syntactical differences between British English and American English.
3.1 Lexical Differences
Lexicology is that part of linguistics which studies words, their nature and meaning, words’ elements, relations between words (semantical relations), words groups and the whole lexicon. Lexical differences mean relating to the words’ differences of a language.
3.1.1 The different use of collective nouns in their single or plural forms
Collective nouns such as “team, faculty, family, government” often take plural verb agreement and plural pronoun substitution in Britain English, but they nearly always take singular agreement and singular pronoun substitution in American English. There is a tendency in Britain English, to stress the individuality of the members, which is reflected in plural verb agreement and pronoun substitution, whereas American English Strongly tends to stress the unitary function of the group, which is reflected in singular verb and pronoun forms.[4] 6
Some examples:
Your team is doing well this year, isn’t it? (AmE)
Your team are doing well this year, aren’t they? (BrE)
3.1.2 Differences in Verb
In syntax, a verb is a word (part of speech) that usually denotes an action (bring, read), an occurrence (decompose, glitter), or a state of being (exist, stand). Depending
on the language, a verb may vary in form according to many factors, possibly including its tense, aspect, mood and voice. It may also agree with the person, gender, and/or number of some of its arguments (subject, object).
3.1.2.1 Differences in the Inflectional Endings of Verbs
The past tense and past participle of the verbs are different in BrE and AmE.
The past tense and past participle of the verbs learn, spoil, spell, burn, dream, smell, spill, leap, and others, can be either irregular (learnt, spoilt, etc.) or regular (learned, spoiled, etc.). In BrE, the irregular and regular forms are current; in some cases (smelt, leapt) there is a strong tendency towards the irregular forms (especially by speakers using Received Pronunciation); in other cases (dreamed, leaned, learned) the regular forms are somewhat more common. In AmE, the irregular forms are never or rarely used (except for burnt and leapt).
Nonetheless, as with other usages considered nowadays to be typically British, the t endings are often found in older American texts. However, usage may vary when the past participles are actually adjectives, as in burnt toast.( Note that the two-syllable form learned ['lə:nid] usually written simply as learnt, is still used as an adjective to mean "educated", or to refer to academic institutions, in both BrE and AmE.)Finally, the past tense and past participle of dwell and kneel are more commonly dwelt and knelt on both sides of the Atlantic, although dwelled and kneeled are widely used in the US (but not in the UK).
In British English, the past tense of “get’’ is “got”, while American English usually use its past participle “gotten”.
For example,
A. John has got much better during the last week. (BrE)
B. John has gotten much better during the last week. (AmE)
According to the custom that British English usually uses “got” while American English “gotten”, we can quickly tell the nationality of the speaker. The former is British and the later is American. When Americans use “got”, they mean “own, possess and dominate”, such as the following two examples:
They’ve got no pride.
I’ve got plenty of material if I can just handle it.
3.1.2.2 Different use of present perfect tenses
Traditionally, BrE uses the present perfect tense to talk about an event in the recent past(express an action that has occurred in the recent past that has an effect on the present moment) and with the words already, just, and yet. For example:
British English:[5]
I've just had lunch
I've already seen that film
Have you finished your homework yet?
American English:[5]
I just had lunch or I've just had lunch.
I've already seen that film OR I already saw that film.
Have your finished your homework yet? Or did you finish your homework yet?
In American usage, these meanings can be expressed with the present perfect (to express a fact) or the simple past (to imply an expectation). This American style has become widespread only in the past 20 to 30 years; the British style is still in common use as well. In British English the present perfect is used to.
"I've just arrived home." / "I just arrived home."
"I've already eaten." / "I already ate." [6]
Recently, the American use of just with simple past has made inroads into BrE, most visibly in advertising slogans and headlines such as "Cable broadband just got faster".
Similarly, AmE occasionally replaces the pluperfect with the preterite. Also, US spoken usage sometimes, especially with the contracted forms, substitutes the conditional for the pluperfect (If I would have cooked the pie we could have had it for lunch), but this tends to be avoided in writing.[6]
3.1.2.3 Different use of transitive and intransitive verbs
The following verbs show differences in transitivity between BrE and AmE.[6]
agree: transitive or intransitive in BrE, usually intransitive in AmE (agree a contract/agree to or on a contract). However, in formal AmE legal writing one often sees constructions like as may be agreed between the parties (rather than as may be agreed upon between the parties).
appeal(as a decision): usually intransitive in BrE (used with against) and transitive in AmE (appeal against the decision to the Court/appeal the decision to the Court).
cater("to provide food and service"): intransitive in BrE, transitive in AmE (to cater for a banquet/to cater a banquet).
claim: sometimes intransitive in BrE (used with for), strictly transitive in AmE.
protest: in the sense of "oppose", intransitive in BrE, transitive in AmE (The workers protested against the decision/The workers protested the decision). The intransitive protest against in AmE means, "to hold or participate in a demonstration against". The older sense "proclaim" is always transitive (protest one's innocence).
write: in BrE, the indirect object of this verb usually requires the preposition to, for example, I'll write to
my MP or I'll write to her (although it is not required in some situations, for example when an indirect object pronoun comes before a direct object noun, for example, I'll write her a letter). In AmE, write can be used monotransitively (I'll write my congressman; I'll write him).
3.1.2.4 Different use of “have”.
British English usually uses “Have you any children?” or “Have you got any
children?” while Americans commonly express the same meaning with “Do you have any children?”Let us see some other examples.
How many brothers do you have? (AmE)
How many brothers have you? (BrE)
You don’t have much room here. (AmE)
You haven’t (got) much room here. (BrE)
3.1.3 Different use of function words
Function words (or grammatical words) are words that have little lexical meaning or have ambiguous meaning, but instead serve to express grammatical relationships with other words within a sentence, or specify the attitude or mood of the speaker. Words that are not function words are called content words (or lexical words): these include nouns, verbs, adjectives, and most adverbs, although some adverbs are function words (e.g., then and why). Dictionaries define the specific meanings of content words, but can only describe the general usages of function words. By contrast, grammars describe the use of function words in detail, but treat lexical words in general terms only. Now I will compare the different use of function words in BrE and AE in detail as follows.
3.1.3.1 Different use of preposition and adverb
Differences between British and American English in prepositions are shown in the following two aspects: (1) different use of prepositions in the construction of phrases; (2) when using phrases, one will use a preposition while the other will omit it.
(1)Let us first review the different use of prepositions.
Your daughter’s name stands first in the list. (BrE)
Your daughter’s name stands first on the list. (AmE)
These dresses are in a sale. (BrE)
These dresses are on sale. (AmE)
He will come here at a quarter to three. (BrE, AmE)
He will come here at a quarter before /of / till three. (AmE)
She lives just round the corner (BrE).[7]4
She lives just around the corner (AmE).
Similarly, “five past nine” can be expressed in American English by “five after nine” or “nine five”. In front of “weekend” and “Christmas”, British English uses “at” or “over”, while American English adopts “over” or “on”.
At the weekend / Christmas (BrE)
Over the weekend / Christmas (BrE, AmE)
On the weekend / Christmas (AmE)
(2) Omitting preposition[8]2
In British English, before “day”, “week” or “certain day”, preposition “on” shall be used, while it is not so in American English.
The new term begins on September 1. (BrE)
The new term begins September 1. (AmE)
I’ll see you on Monday. (BrE)
I’ll see you Monday. (AmE)
In American English, when “home” is used as an adverb, the preposition “at” is not needed. But, in British English, “at” is required before “home”. Hence, “at home” is used in British English.
Is he home? (AmE)
Is he at home? (BrE)
3.1.3.2 Different use of auxiliary verb
In linguistics, an auxiliary is a verb functioning to give further semantic or syntactic information about the main or full verb following it. There are three types: Modal auxiliaries，have and go.
No matter in the frequency or the tendency of auxiliary verb, AmE differs from BrE. Their differences are stated as follows:.
(1)shall
Shall in BrE, is widely used in the fist person to raise questions, answer questions ,or to express future, while in AmE it is only used in the law file or informal style paper. In formal style paper, people usually use will or should. Such as:
Br.E:1)I shall tell you later.
Am.E:1)I will tell you later.
2)Shall I drink this now?
2)Should I drink this now?
(2)would[9]2
Would has two special usages in AmE, firstly it can show the usual action in the past. such as: When I was small, I would go there everyday.
However in BrE, the past tense or used to can express the past uaual action, therefore in BrE the above sentence should be changed into: When I was small, I went there everyday. Or When I was wmall, I used to go there everyday.
Secondly, would in AmE can express hypothesis in some informal language, quite like a kind of subjunctive mood, however in BrE not.
Try to compare:
Am.E:1)I wish I would have done it.
2)If I would have seen one, I would have bought it for you.
Br.E(it also the same with AmE):1)I wish I had done it.
2)If I had seen one, I would have bought it for you.
In Br.E, “would” and “will” can express suppose, while in Am.E the auxiliary
verb “should” and “must” express supposition. Try to compare:
Br.E:1)That will be the postman at the door.
2)That would be zhongshan Road over there.
Am.E: 1)That must be (should be)the mailman at the door.
2)That should be(must be)Zhongshan Rood over there.
(3)used to
“Used to” in AmE is not seen as Modal auxiliary, but seen as notional word. To the opposite, in Br.E, used to is just seen as modal auxiliary, can offer or deny questions, also can be used as notional word but people use “do” to offer or deny questions. For example:
1)He used to go there.(notional verb)
Did he use to go there.(notional verb)
2)Used he to go there.(auxiliary verb)
He used not to go there.(auxiliary verb)
(4)ought to[9]6
“Ought to” is widely used in BrE to raise or deny questions, but in AmE use “should” to substitute for it, such as:
Br.E:1)Ought we to eat lunch? Am.E:1)Should we eat lunch?
2)You ought not(oughtn’t) to have said that. 2)You shouldn’t have said that.
In AmE, ought to and used to are all used as notional verbs in the informal papers and such forms are said to be not standard forms. For example:
1)Did you ought to say that? 2)You didn’t ought to have said that.
(5) Different use of the indefinite pronoun “one”
In BrE we can use “one” to indicate the “one” of the former writing again while in AmE we usually use “he” or “his” to instead the “one” of the former writing. For instance:
One cannot succeed unless one works hard.(BrE)
One cannot succeed unless he works hard.(AmE)
3.1.3.3 Differences in articles[19]
(1)The omitting of articles
Most phrases of British English have articles, while those of American English do not have. The “the” in the standard expressions in British English “all the afternoon”, “all the winter”, “all the week”, “this time of the year”, ect. But the articles are usually omitted in American English. For example:
The swimming pools are open all summer.
I’ll be here all afternoon.
He has been gone all week.
British English will use articles in front of “sickness”, “river” and etc., while American English does not. For example,
British English expresses in the form of “the measles”, “the mumps”, “the flu”, “the Niagara Falls” and “the Black Creek”, while American English says “measles”, “mumps”, “flu”, “Niagara Falls” and “Black Creek”.
However, there are exceptions. In some expressions, British English does not use articles, while American English does.
BrE AmE
Go into hospital Go into the hospital
In hospital In the hospital
At university At the university
Sentences are as follows:
Next day, the rain began. (BrE)
The next day, the rain began. (AmE)
In future, I’d like you to pay more attention to detail. (BrE)
In the future, I’d like you to pay more attention to detail. (AmE)
(2) The position of articles
British English and American English are different from each other in the use of “a” or “an” with “half”. In British English, “a” follows “half”, for example, “half a dozen”, “half an hour”, “half a mile”, and “half a pound”. In American English, “a” is put in front of “half”, for example, “a half dozen”, “a half hour”, “a half mile” and “a half pound”.
3.2 Syntactical differences
Syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing sentences in natural languages. The sentence is the highest rank of grammatical unit. Based on one or more than one clause, the sentence is also the basic linguistic unit of connected discourse; it can stand alone and perform a function in social communication. Thus, a sentence can be defined as a grammatical unit that can perform a communicative function. I will explain the syntactic differences as follows.
3.2.1Differences in compound object[20]
The Verb“ -to do” usually used as compound object in British English, While past participle or past participle phrase mostly used as compound object in American English. Try to compare:
1)He also had ordered his luggage to be labeled for crew.(Bronte.) (BrE)
2)Last year an American hotel manager ordered his quests evacuated after an anonymous bomb threat.(AmE)
3)I have a roll that was in dead storage during the war which I ordered put back in running order. (O' Hara) (AmE)
The two compound structures (compound object with past participle and compound object with –to do) are both used in the BrE and AmE, while the AmE use compound object more frequent
ly than BrE. However, there are some differences in the routine usage of Verb related to this phrase structure. The verb “to order” usually linked with the compound structure with past participle in AmE, but linked with the compound structure with “verb -to do” in BrE.
3.2.2 Presence or absence of syntactic elements[11]
Where a statement of intention involves two separate activities, it is acceptable for speakers of AmE to use to go plus bare infinitive. Speakers of BrE would instead use to go and plus bare infinitive. Thus, where a speaker of AmE might say I'll go take a bath, BrE speakers would say I'll go and have a bath. (Both can also use the form to go to instead to suggest that the action may fail, as in He went to take/have a bath, but the bath was full of children.) Similarly, to come plus bare infinitive is acceptable to speakers of AmE, where speakers of BrE would instead use to come and plus bare infinitive. Thus, where a speaker of AmE might say come see what I bought, BrE speakers would say come and see what I've bought (notice the present perfect tense: a common British preference).
As to whether a preposition is used before days denoted by a single word, British people would say she resigned on Thursday, while Americans often say she resigned Thursday, but both forms are common in American usage. Occasionally, in AmE the preposition is also absent when referring to months: I'll be here December (although this usage is generally limited to colloquial speech).But, it will say “I’ll be here on December.” in BrE.
In the UK, from is used with single dates and times more often than in the United States. Where British speakers and writers may say the new museum will be open from Tuesday, Americans most likely say the new museum will be open starting Tuesday. (This difference does not apply to phrases of the pattern from A to B, which are used in both BrE and AmE.) A variation or alternative of this is the most American will say “the play opens Tuesday” and the most British will say “the play opens on Tuesday”. American legislators and lawyers always use the preposition of between the name of a legislative act and the year it was passed, while their British colleagues do not. We can see such differences by making comparison between Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
3.2.3 Different use of subjunctive mood
The subjunctive mood used more in AmE than in BrE, which is mainly used in the formal style paper.
In subjunctive mood, American English will rarely reserve traditional subjunctive words.
I suggest that meeting be postponed. (AmE)
I suggest that meeting should be postponed. (BrE)
I wish I had done it. (AmE)
I wish I would have done it. (BrE)
4. The grammatical differences between British English and the special form of American English—Black English
Black English also called African American Vernacular English which is an African American variety (dialect, ethnolect and sociolect) of American English.There are four points in which black English differs from British English.
1)Negation
In addition, negatives are formed differently from standard American English:
Use of ain't as a general negative indicator. It can be used where Standard English would use am not, isn't, aren't, haven't and hasn't, a trait which is not specific to AAVE. However, in marked contrast to other varieties of English in the U.S., some speakers of AAVE also use ain't instead of don't, doesn't, or didn't (e.g., I ain't know that).[14] Ain't had its origins in common English, but became increasingly stigmatized since the 19th century. See also amn't.
Negative concord, popularly called "double negation", as in I didn't go nowhere; if the sentence is negative, all negatable forms are negated. This contrasts with Standard English, where a double negative is considered a positive (although this wasn't always so; see double negative). There is also "triple" or "multiple negation", as in the phrase I don't know nothing about no one no more, which would be "I don't know anything about anybody anymore" in Standard English.
In a negative construction, an indefinite pronoun such as nobody or nothing can be inverted with the negative verb particle for emphasis (eg. Don't nobody know the answer, Ain't nothin' goin' on.)
While these are features that AAVE has in common with Creole languages,[15] Howe and Walker use data from early recordings of African Nova Scotian English, Samaná English, and the recordings of former slaves to demonstrate that negation was inherited from nonstandard colonial English.
Some of these characteristics, notably doubl
e negatives and the omission of certain auxiliaries such as the has in has been are also characteristic of general colloquial American English.
2)The omission of copula in black English
You crazy! ("You're crazy") or She my sister ("She's my sister"). The phenomenon is also observed in questions: Who you? ("Who're you?") and Where you at? ("Where are you (at)?"). On the other hand, a stressed is cannot be dropped: She is my sister.
Only the forms is and are (the latter of which, in any case, is often replaced by is) can be omitted. These forms cannot be omitted when they are pronounced with a stress (whether or not the stress serves specifically to impart an emphatic sense to the verb's meaning).
These forms cannot be omitted when the corresponding form in Standard English cannot show contraction (and vice-versa). For example, I don't know where he is cannot be reduced to (BrE) I don't know where he because in Standard English the corresponding reduction I don't know where he's is likewise impossible. (Though I don't know where he at is possible.) Possibly some other minor conditions apply as well.[16]
3)Present-tense verbs uninflected for number/person
there is no -s ending in the present-tense third-person singular. Example: She write poetry ("She writes poetry"). Similarly, was is used for what in standard English are contexts for both was and were.[17]
4)The word it or is denoting the existence of something
This usage is equivalent to Standard English there in "there is", or "there are". It is also found in the English of the US South. Examples its a doughnut in the cabinet ("There's a doughnut in the cabinet") and It ain't no spoon ("There isn't a spoon", also "They ain't no spoon").[17]
5) Altered syntax in questions
Why they ain't growin'? ("Why aren't they growing?") and Who the hell she think she is? ("Who the hell does she think she is?") lack the inversion of standard English. Because of this, there is also no need for the auxiliary DO.[18]
To put it simply, we can summarize the grammatical differences between British and American daily English as follows[19]:
(1) Sometimes, British and American English use different grammatical forms to express the same meaning;
(2) Sometimes, the same grammatical form expresses different meanings in British and American English;
(3) In some structures, either British English or American English will use integrated grammatical form, while the other adopts the omitted form;
(4) Sometimes, American and British English use the same grammatical form to express the same concept and meaning.
However, one of them may have another expression form, while the other does not. We could only avoid misunderstanding by paying attention to those differences in our study.
5. The tendency of the development of British English and American English
The English language changes as the rapid development of politics, economic, culture in Britain and American. After it goes through the three periods (old English, middle English and modern English),it also changes everyday, especially in the related ten years, the changes of English becomes more obvious. Although the English structure is not as obvious as the lexical development, it does not ignore. On the aspect of grammar, English experience the changes from the verb inflections of old English to use word in order to express meaning in the past 1500years, and English also become analytic language from synthetic language. Such experience makes English flexible, meanwhile it also broke the traditional grammar frame, the former disagreed rules transferred into acceptable English even native English. The speed on renewing lexical words is very fast.
On the whole, British English and American English fuse with each other, and they tend to be brief, clear and more flexible for use.
6．Conclusion
As the globalization and information world developed, more and more people from different countries use the same language―English to communicate and exchange ideas with each other. The above discussion about grammar difference between British English and American English is what I have found and concluded. Although there are many differences in detailed aspects in the use of daily British and American English, they are similar to each other in most of aspects. Therefore, they shall only be considered as different forms of the same language rather than two different languages. In addition, we cannot say which one is better or advanced. Any judgment or opinion that “British English is better or worse than American English” is biased. The purpose of this paper is to help English learners understand the two varieties better and eliminate some mistakes caused in communication or paper writing.
The differences between the British English and American English are caused by politics, economy, social life, culture, and geography. American English developed from British English, but it differs from British English. All in all, sinc
e English is characterized by its huge vocabulary, great tolerance, and conciseness, it leaves little room for argument that English will be well on its way to be a diversified common language.
Acknowledgements
My initial thanks go to my supervisor Zhu Min, who patiently supervised my dissertation and was at times very willing to offer me illuminating advice or suggestions. Without her help, I could not have finished this dissertation.
I am also indebted to other teachers and my classmates who have not only offered me their warm encouragements but also shared with me their ideas and books. They are Mao Can、Gao YunPing and many others.
My greatest personal debt is to my grandparents and parents, who have cultivated a soul of sensitivity, hospitality, and honesty out of me, and offered a harbor of happiness and sweetness for me.
The remaining weakness and possible errors of the dissertation are entirely my own.
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