English in America

Luminia GUBI, the 3rd year student,

Faculty of Letters,
Balti State University Alecu Russo
Abstract: English is a language that penetrated a lot of countries and became one of the
most popular spoken language in the World. During its broadening a great part of America
has been affected. Now, we know that Americans speak english but its historical backgournd,
its varieties in America are known by very few people.
Key-words: americanisms, jamesown, Plymouth colony, Mayflower
I.

The History of the English Language in America: Periods in the History of

American English.

Language is so basic to human activity that there is nothing human beings do that does not
influence and in turn is not influenced by the language they speak. As George Bernard Shaw
sustained England and America are two countries separated by a common language.
America and England have the same language but at the same time they are so different.
Today, I would like to tell you how English appeared in America. English settlement in
America began with Jamestown in the Virginia Colony in 1607. Than the second successful
colony was Plymouth Colony, founded in 1620 by people who later became known as
the Pilgrims.
They, unlike the Puritans, had left the Anglican Church and sought to establish their own
separatist theocracy in America1. The Pilgrims were a closely organized minority in the
colony, who controlled it during its early decades. Plymouth Colony was not chartered, but
became part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691. Fearing their children were losing
their English heritage and religious beliefs, the resumption of war and their inability as noncitizens to find decent jobs, a small group from the Leiden church made plans to settle in
Northern Virginia - as New England was known at the time. They planned to make the
crossing to America in two ships, the Speedwell and Mayflower. However, after many
problems the Speedwell was forced to return to England where the group was reorganized. In
their second attempt to cross the Atlantic, they boarded the Mayflower in September 1620
bound for the New World. They arrived as winter was settling in and endured significant
hardships as they struggled to establish a successful colony at Plymouth.
In general, the history of the American English can be subdevided into three big events:2
1. The Colonial period, initiated by the establishment of the first permanent Englishspeaking colony at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607.3 Though ,English speakers had
established contact with the New World, both directly or indirectly, before this time,
the Jamestown colony began the creation of a new variety of the language.
1 https://www.themayflowersociety.org/about-the-pilgrims20/pilgrim-history
2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_American

Three factors brought this new variety into existence:

a. The exposure of English speakers to new experiences on the American continent
that required new ways of talking about them;
b. The begetting of a native population to whom those experiences and the new ways
of talking were normal;
c. The obstacle that distance made for communication with their fellow English
speakers in the motherland.
As a result began the period of American English.
2. The National period, beginning with the American Declaration of Independence from
England in 1776. Many American colonists had from the beginning displayed
independence and self-assertion. During this period, English- speaking Americans
spread over the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific, in the process absorbing and
being influenced by the cultures of other settlers. This period is called the
adolescence of American English.
3. The International period, beginning with the Spanish-American War of 1898.
The Colonial period of American history was the foundational one for American English. It
began with the isolation of groups of English speakers in Britain.4 The ocean separating the
colonies from the motherland was a grave impediment to frequent and free
intercommunication.
The language of the colonies and that of the mother country began to drift apart.
The drift between American and British usage was widened by the fact that in the new land
the colonials had to cope with a new environment new topography, new flora and fauna,
new economic and social conditions. Their response to that challenge was inevitably reflected
in their language, most apparently in the vocabulary. New words were borrowed and coined.
Old words changed their meanings and uses under the pressure of the new environment.
In addition, on the North American continent the English colonists encountered speakers of
other languages French, Spanish, Dutch, German, Amerindian, African. Although other
languages have heavily influenced English throughout its history, the foreign influences on it
in America were unique.
The American vocabulary had expanded significantly, drawing on both foreign and native
resources. As a result, the colonies grew closer together in culture, opinion, and language,
just as they were collectively growing farther apart from and less dependent on the
motherland. British visitors to the colonies in the eighteenth century remarked on the
uniformity and propriety of American English.
II.

Characteristics of American English

Despite the comparative uniformity of standard English throughout the world, there clearly
are variations within the language, even within a single national variety, such as American
English. All speakers of English share a common linguistic system and a basic set of words.
But American English differs from British English, Australian English, and other national
varieties in many of its pronunciations, words, spellings, and grammatical constructions.
3 http://www.wearetheenglish.com/english-in-america
4http://autocww.colorado.edu/~flc/E64ContentFiles/LinguisticsAndLanguages/AmericanEnglish.html

Words or phrases of American origin, and those used in America but not so much elsewhere,
are called Americanisms.
1. Different Pronuciation
Americans tend to sound different from a large group of English speakers who sound more
British, such as those in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. For example 5, most
Americans pronounce an r sound after the vowel in words like barn, car, and farther, while
speakers from the British English group do not. Also, some British English speakers
drop h sounds at the beginning of words, so that he and his are pronounced as if they were
spelled ee and is.
In some cases there are differences between American English and British English in the
rhythm of words. British speakers seem to leave out a syllable in words like secretary, as if it
were spelled secretry, while Americans keep all the syllables. The opposite is true of other
words, such asspecialty, which Americans pronounce with three syllables (spe-cial-ty) while
British speakers pronounce it with five syllables (spe-ci-al-i-ty). Vowels and consonants may
also have different pronunciations. British speakers pronounce zebra to rhyme
with Debra, while American speakers make zebra rhyme with Libra. Canadian and British
speakers pronounce the word schedule as if it began with an sh sound, while Americans
pronounce it as if it began with an sk sound.
2. Words Differentiation
The most frequently used words are shared by speakers of different varieties of English.
These words include the most common nouns, the most common verbs, and most function
words (such as pronouns, articles, and prepositions). The different varieties of English do,
however, use different words for many words that are slightly less common.(for example)6.
3.

Spelling

American English spelling differs from British English spelling largely because of one
man, American lexicographer Noah Webster. In addition to his well-known An American
Dictionary of the English Language (1828), Webster published The American Spelling
Book (1783, with many subsequent editions), which became one of the most widely used
schoolbooks in American history.7
4. Grammar
The grammar of educated speakers of English differs little among national varieties. In the
speech of people with less access to education, grammatical variations in regional and social
5 http://image.slidesharecdn.com/britishvsamerican-140102112108-phpapp02/95/british-vs-american8-638.jpg?cb=1388661726
6 http://allenglish.blox.pl/resource/Be_Ae.jpg
7 https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/9f/e8/87/9fe8878af71670305e4b42c49441f697.jpg

varieties of American English are very common 8. One major difference between British and
American English is that the two attach different verb forms to nouns that are grammatically
singular but plural in sense. In American English, the team is..., or the government
is... (because they are viewed as single entities), but in British English,the team are..., or the
government are... (because teams and government are understood to consist of more than one
person).910
Most of learn English as a foreign language and this is British English. This happens
because Britain has had a longstanding interest in teaching English and has publishers and
institutions in place to promote it. American English is taught more and more, however,
because of the worldwide success of American business and technology. English has truly
become a world language in science and business, and over time it will come to have more of
an American English sound.
III.

Conclusion

From my point of view being able to speak English allows us to communicate

effectively in numerous countries, and this opens up lots of possibilities. We wont have to
worry about getting lost when we travel to an English-speaking country, as we ll easily be
able to ask for directions, and taking guided tours. There is a proverb "A new language
a new world". Step by step, the globe is getting smaller with the development of
communication means and increase in transportation velocities. People of different
countries and nations have to get along well with the progress in world trade and
technology as well as with each other. English is not only the main language of business,
but also the main language of social interaction. Although most countries have their own
language, English is the one language that unites the entire world. No matter, if American
English is different from British English, the most important is if we want to study and to
get ready for the social life. English is commonly spoken throughout much of the world
due to Great Britians expansion during the colonial age. People in Australia, New
Zealand, Canada, parts of Africa, India, and many smaller island nations speak
English. English is the commonly adopted second language in Germany, Norway, Sweden,
Denmark and the Netherlands.11 Speaking English opens these countries and cultures up to
us. I think it is high time to realize that the desire of changes begins from us and the best
thing we can do is to learn and to know the importance of the english language.

8 http://images.myshared.ru/17/1085524/slide_10.jpg
9 http://image.slidesharecdn.com/brevsame-110610112629-phpapp02/95/british-english-vs-americanenglish-14-728.jpg?cb=1307705638
10 http://blog.esl-languages.com/blog/learn-languages/english/british-american-english-differences-varieties/

11 http://www.5minuteenglish.com/why-learn-english.html

Bibliography:
1. https://www.themayflowersociety.org/about-the-pilgrims20/pilgrim-history
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_American
3. http://www.wearetheenglish.com/english-in-america
4.http://autocww.colorado.edu/~flc/E64ContentFiles/LinguisticsAndLanguages/AmericanEng
lish.html
5. http://image.slidesharecdn.com/britishvsamerican-140102112108-phpapp02/95/british-vsamerican-8-638.jpg?cb=1388661726
6. http://allenglish.blox.pl/resource/Be_Ae.jpg
7.https://smediacacheak0.pinimg.com/736x/9f/e8/87/9fe8878af71670305e4b42c49441f697.jg
8.http://images.myshared.ru/17/1085524/slide_10.jpg
9. http://image.slidesharecdn.com/brevsame-110610112629-phpapp02/95/british-english-vsamerican-english-14-728.jpg?cb=1307705638
10. http://blog.esl-languages.com/blog/learn-languages/english/british-american-englishdifferences-varieties/
11. http://www.5minuteenglish.com/why-learn-english.html