American English, also known as United States English or U.S. English, is a set of dialects of English spoken in the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and it is also the language of executives, legislature, media, and education as well. The English spoken and written in the U.S. is starkly different from the variety used in the U.K.
American English has become the most influential form of English worldwide. The American variations of word choices, spellings, and pronunciations are being rapidly adopted even by countries that officially speak British English. For example, restrooms (American variation) is becoming more common usage in India instead of bathrooms (British variation). In this write-up, we are discussing what is American English and how is it different from British and other forms of the English language.
What is American English?
American English is a cluster of dialects of English spoken by the people of the United States. This variety of English includes many different patterns of pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and spelling. Such variations make American English different from the English spoken and written in other parts of the world.
Evolution of English in America
English being the language in America is the result of British colonization. English entered the United States with the first wave of British settlers who came during the early 17th century. More migrations happened during the 18th and 19th centuries and eventually English became the most used language of the United States.
However, English didn’t remain as it came originally to America. Initially, English spoken in America was more homogenous than the dialects of British English. The evolution of English in America happened at a greater pace and it is still evolving to date. Over the period, so much transformation happened in English in America that it created a separate identity from the British English. Interestingly, Most varieties of American English have their origin in different dialects of British English.
Today, American English is the most influential form of English. It is mostly because of the American influence on media, Hollywood and the Internet. The giants like Google, Microsoft, Apple, YouTube, etc. are all American brands.
These companies play a significant role in popularizing the American version of English even in the countries that academically teach British English. India is a good example. The vocabulary of common speakers of English in India has been greatly influenced by the American version of English. American variants like restrooms, erasers, cookies, and candies have become more common in their usage as compared to their British equivalents. The American spellings too are getting widely accepted worldwide.
Dialects of American English
As discussed earlier, American English is an umbrella term for various dialects of English spoken throughout the United States and not simply the standardized version seen globally as American English.
Let us introduce you to the various dialects of American English.
- Appalachian English – This is one of the unique dialects of American English; primarily used in the Appalachian mountain region.
- Boston English – It is the local dialect of Boston and its surrounding suburbs. It is also called the Eastern New England English. This is one of the most popular non-rhotic American accents.
- Southern American English – This regional dialect is spoken throughout the southern part of the United States. The speakers of this accent are concentrated mostly in rural areas. This tends to be a rhotic or semi-rhotic accent.
- Northern Midwest English – The local dialect of the northern Midwest region sounds much closer to Canadian English.
- New York City English – This is one of the most recognizable varieties of English Accents in the U.S. The accent makes coffee sound like ‘cawfee’ and thought like ‘thawt’.
Apart from these, there are a few more American English dialects like ‘Tidewater English’, ‘Charleston English’, ‘Savannah English’, ‘South Louisiana English’, and ‘Valley Girl and Surfer Dude’ etc.
[Note: non-rhotic – the kind of English accent in which the /r/ sound is not pronounced before consonants or at the end of a word. E.g. In words like hard, cart, or car the pronunciation of ‘r’ remains silent.]
Characteristics of American English
Let us take a look at some of the characteristics of American English that make it stand out from British English and other variants.
Pronunciation
The major factor that makes American English sound different is its pronunciation. Americans tend to speak faster and in the course, they shorten or reduce certain vowel sounds. They also tend to pronounce ‘r’ in every position whereas it is not so with the British English.
For example:
- About is pronounced as ‘uh-bout’ reducing the first vowel i.e. ‘a’ sound.
- Family – fam-lee (reducing the sound of ‘i’)
- Chocolate – choc-lit
- Information – in-fer-may-shun
- Economy – i-ka-nuh-mee
- Water – wah-ter
- Better – beht-er
Flapping
Wherever the letter ‘t’ comes between vowels, Americans tend to pronounce it as a soft ‘d’. This is called flapping.
E.g.
- “Better”: Pronounced like “bedder.”
- “Little”: Pronounced like “Liddle.”
- “Matter”: Pronounced like “madder.”
- “Party”: Pronounced like “par-dee.”
- “Center”: Pronounced like “cen-der.”
- “Computer”: Pronounced like “com-pu-der.”
Quotation Marks
In the written form of English, American favors the use of double quotation marks (“like”) over single quotation mark (‘like’).
Vocabulary
Another big factor of distinction is vocabulary. The American English vocabulary is quite different than British English.
E.g.
- Autumn (Br) – Fall (Am)
- Wardrobe (Br) – Closet (Am)
- Coriander (Br) – Cilantro (Am)
- Nappy (Br) – Diaper (Am)
- Football (Br) – Soccer (Am)
Spelling
In many places where vocabulary is the same Americans create differences with spellings.
E.g.
- Sulphur (Br) – Sulfur (Am)
- Whisky (Br) – Whiskey (Am)
- Grey (Br) – Gray (Am)
- Encyclopaedia (Br) – Encyclopedia (Am)
- Civilisation (Br) – Civilization (Am)
Others
- In American English ‘gotten’ is used as a past participle form of ‘get’ while it is ‘got’ in British English.
- Shall is a very frequent expression in British English but not in American English. Should I, Can I, Do you and Would you are used in American English as an alternative to ‘shall’.
- To change the verb form to past Americans tend to use –ed from more often. E.g. American English uses ‘burned’ while British English supports ‘burnt’.
- Collective nouns like team, band, staff, etc. can be used as singular as well as plural in British English but they are always singular in American English.