Some Specific Features of American English

The pronunciation of American English and the pronunciation of British English are similar. The general impression of American English pronunciation is as follows:

· American English intonation does not rise or fall as much as that of British English, it sounds more monotonous.

· American voices usually have a higher pitch. That is why American English often seems too emphatic and American voices seem louder than those of British speakers.

· American pronunciation is more nasalized.

· There are certain differences in the pronunciation of vowels and consonants.

Though British and American spelling is the same in most cases, it differs in a few details, which sometimes leads an unexperienced student to failures in his attempts to find some unknown words in the dictionary.

If a student looks for the word “reflexion” in a small dictionary, he may be unable to identify the word, unless he recollects that there may be some differences in spelling, and that the American “exion” looks “ection” in the British usage.

The changes introduced into the American variety of English are to be found in grammar and structure as well, but they are especially evident in the vocabulary. Some English words have developed new meanings, and many of these are traceable to the development of American institutions and American ways of life. Yet the striking feature of American English innovations is their close correspondence to characteristics of the temperament and the ways of life of the people who developed them.