Автор работы: Пользователь скрыл имя, 16 Мая 2012 в 19:37, курсовая работа
about American accent
General American
In the early part of the seventeenth century English settlers began to bring their language to America, and another series of changes began to take place. The settlers borrowed words from Indian languages for such strange trees as the hickory and persimmon, such unfamiliar animals as raccoons and woodchucks. Later they borrowed other words from settlers from other countries – for instance, chowder and prairie from the French, scow and sleigh from the Dutch. They made new combinations of English words, such as backwoods and bullfrog, or gave old English words entirely new meanings, such as lumber (which in British English means approximately junk) and corn (which in British means any grain, especially wheat). Some of the new terms were needed, because there were new and un-English things to talk about. Others can be explained only on the general theory that languages are always changing, and American English is no exception.
Aside from the new vocabulary, differences in pronunciation, in grammatical construction, and especially in intonation developed. If the colonization had taken place a few centuries earlier, American might have become as different from English as French is from Italian. But the settlement occurred after the invention of printing, and continued through a period when the idea of educating everybody was making rapid progress. For a long time most of the books read in America came from England, and a surprising number of Americans read those books, in or out of school. Moreover, most of the colonists seem to have felt strong ties with England. In this they were unlike their Anglo-Saxon ancestors, who apparently made a clean break with their continental homes. The problem of the theme is that the problem of the theme is that: A good many Englishmen and some Americans used to condemn every difference that did develop, and as recently as a generation ago it was not unusual to hear all “Americanisms” condemned, even in America. It is now generally recognized in this country that we are not bound to the Queen’s English, but have a full right to work out our own habits. Even a good many of the English now concede this, though some of them object strongly to the fact that Americanisms are now having an influence on British usage.
The aim of the theme is to study deeply the differences of American and British English. There are thousands of differences in detail between British and American English, and occasionally they crowd together enough to make some difficulty. If you read that a man, having trouble with his lorry, got out his spanner and lifted the bonnet to see what was the matter, you might not realize that the driver of the truck had taken out his wrench and lifted the hood. It is amusing to play with such differences, but the theory that the American language is now essentially different from English does not hold up. It is often very difficult to decide whether a book was written by an American or an English man. Even in speech it would be hard to prove that national differences are greater than some local differences in either country. On the whole, it now seems probable that the language habits of the two countries will grow more, rather than less, alike, although some differences will undoubtedly remain and others may develop.
It also seems probable that there will be narrow-minded and snobbish people in both countries for some time to come. But generally speaking, anybody who learnsto speak and write the standard English of his own country, and to regard that of the other country as a legitimate variety with certain interesting differences, will have little trouble wherever he goes. General American—like the British Received Pronunciation as well as most standard language varieties of many other societies—was never the accent of the entire nation. Rather, it is most closely related to a generalized Midwestern accent and is spoken particularly by many newscasters, in part because the national broadcasters preferred to hire people who exhibited similar speech. Famous news anchor Walter Cronkite is a good example of a broadcaster using this accent. Since Cronkite was born in Missouri, and spent his first dozen years there, some assumed that General American was the regional accent of the state, although Cronkite's teen years were spent in Texas, which is not known for having "accentless" speakers. General American is sometimes promoted as preferable to other regional accents; in the United States, classes promising "accent reduction" generally attempt to teach speech patterns similar to this accent.
The well-known television journalist Linda Ellerbee, who worked hard early in her career to eliminate a Texas accent, stated, "in television you are not supposed to sound like you're from anywhere." Some sources[attribution needed][1] suggest this is less true today than it was formerly. GeneralAmerican is also the accent generally taught to individuals from other countries learning English as a second language in the United States, as well as outside the country to anyone who wishes to learn "American English."
Main part
Pronunciation symbols
The symbols used to render pronunciations are those that are used in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition (1992). These symbols are phonemic rather than phonetic. That is, they are designed to help you distinguish meaningful units of sound, such as the difference between cat and cad or pat and pet. They are not designed to represent the specific pronunciation of any individual or of any particular speech community. Thus they allow people from different speech communities to pronounce words correctly in their native dialect. In the discussions that follow, the term long vowel can refer to any of the following sounds: ( ), ( ), ( ), ( ), (ä), and ( ); it can also refer to the diphthongs (ou) and (oi). The term short vowel can refer to any of these sounds: ( ), ( ), ( ), ( ), ( ), and ( ). A full pronunciation key can be found at Pronunciation Symbols.
1. a
2. aberrant
3. acumen
4. -ade
5. aerate
6. affluence affluent
7. -age
8. agoraphobia
9. ague
10. albumen albumin
11. alms
12. alumni alumnae
13. analogous
14. anesthetist
15. angina
16. Antarctic
17. apartheid
18. aplomb
19. arctic / Arctic
20. argot
21. ask
22. assimilation
23. asterisk
24. athlete
25. auxiliary
26. banal
27. barbiturate
28. blackguard
29. boatswain
30. bogeyman
31. bouquet
32. bowline
33. breeches
34. brooch
35. bulimia
36. buoy
37. C
38. cabal
39. cache
40. cadre
41. catacomb
42. Celt / Celtic
43. centenary
44. cerebral
45. Ch
46. choleric
47. clique
48. clothes
49. colander
50. comptroller
51. conch
52. coupon
53. covert
54. culinary
55. dais
56. debacle
57. deify / deity
58. demagogic demagogy
59. despicable
60. desultory
61. diphtheria
62. diphthong
63. disastrous
64. disparate
65. dissect
66. dissimilation
67. doughty
68. dour
69. dwarf
70. ebullience ebullient
71. -ed
72. either
73. envelope
74. environment
75. epoch
76. err
77. escalator
78. escape
79. espresso / expresso
80. et cetera
81. exquisite
82. February
83. flaccid
84. forecastle
85. formidable
86. forte
87. fulminant fulminate
88. fulsome
89. fungi
90. G
91. genealogy
92. genuine
93. genus
94. gerrymander
95. gibberish
96. governor
97. grievous
98. gunwale
99. H
100. harass
101. hegemony
102. height
103. heinous
104. herb
105. hoof
106. hovel / hover
107. impious
108. inherence / inherent
109. integral
110. interest
111. intrusion
112. inveigle
113. jewelry
114. junta
115. juvenilia
116. kerchief
117. kilometer
118. kudos
119. L
120. lasso
121. leeward
122. leisure
123. length
124. library
125. lived
126. lower / lour
127. machinate
128. mainsail
129. mauve
130. mayoral
131. metathesis
132. millenary
133. mineralogy
134. mischievous
135. moot
136. mores
137. naphtha naphthalene
138. neither
139. niche
140. nuclear
141. often
142. ophthalmia
143. -or
144. panegyric
145. penalize
146. poinsettia
147. portentous
148. posthumous
149. potpourri
150. primer
151.pronunciation spelling
152. prosody
153. pumpkin
154. quark
155. quasi
156. quay
157. quixotic
158. ration
159. Realtor
160. remonstrate
161. renaissance Renaissance
162. renege
163. renown
164. ribald
165. roof
166. row
167. sarcophagi
168. scarify
169. schism
170. scone
171. secretive
172. sheik
173. shone
174. similar
175. sloth
176. sonorous
177. spelling pronunciation
178. spontaneity
179. strength
180. the
181. tomato
182. topgallant topmast topsail
183. trauma
184. troth
185. valet
186. vase
187. victual
188. whilst
189. wizen
190. Xmas
191. zoo- / zo-
Pronunciation Challenges
Pronunciation Challenges Confusions and Controversy Differences Between American and British English
While there are certainly many more varieties of English, American and British English are the two varieties that are taught in most ESL/EFL[2] programs. Generally, it is agreed that no one version is "correct" however, there are certainly preferences in use. The most important rule of thumb is to try to be consistent in your usage. If you decide that you want to use American English spellings then be consistent in your spelling (i.e. The color of the orange is also its flavour - color is American spelling and flavour is British), this is of course not always easy - or possible. The following guide is meant to point out the principal differences between these two varieties of English.
Use of the Present Perfect
In British English the present perfect is used to express an action that has occurred in the recent past that has an effect on the present moment. For example:
I've lost my key. Can you help me look for it?
In American English the following is also possible:
I lost my key. Can you help me look for it?
In British English the above would be considered incorrect. However, both forms are generally accepted in standard American English. Other differences involving the use of the present perfect in British English and simple past in American English include already, just and yet.
British English:
I've just had lunch
I've already seen that film
Have you finished your homework yet?
American English:
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?
Possession
There are two forms to express possession in English. Have or Have got
Do you have a car?
Have you got a car?
He hasn't got any friends.
He doesn't have any friends.
She has a beautiful new home.
She's got a beautiful new home.
While both forms are correct (and accepted in both British and American English), have got (have you got, he hasn't got, etc.) is generally the preferred form in British English while most speakers of American English employ the have (do you have, he doesn't have etc.)[3]
The Verb Get
The past participle of the verb get is gotten in American English. Example He's gotten much better at playing tennis. British English - He's got much better at playing tennis.
Vocabulary
Probably the major differences between British and American English lies in the choice of vocabulary. Some words mean different things in the two varieties for example:
Mean: (American English - angry, bad humored, British English - not generous, tight fisted)
Rubber: (American English - condom, British English - tool used to erase pencil markings)
There are many more examples (too many for me to list here). If there is a difference in usage, your dictionary will note the different meanings in its definition of the term. Many vocabulary items are also used in one form and not in the other. One of the best examples of this is the terminology used for automobiles.
American English - hood British English - bonnet
American English - trunk British English - boot
American English - truck British English - lorry
Once again, your dictionary should list whether the term is used in British English or American English.
For a more complete list of the vocabulary differences between British and American English use this British vs. American English vocabulary tool.
Prepositions
There are also a few differences in preposition use including the following:
American English - on the weekend British English - at the weekend