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1DifferencesbetweenBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglishAbstract:Iwanttoexplainthedifferencesinthefollowingaspects:pronunciation,spelling,grammar,vocabulary.Iwillcomparethesetwolanguagesintheoryandusesomeexamplesinordertomakeitclear.Ithinkwecanlearnmoreandunderstandingbetterthroughthiskindofresearch.Keywords:differences,AmericanEnglish,BritishEnglish,pronunciation,spelling,grammar,vocabulary.Englishisoneofthemostimportantlanguagesintheworldbecauseit’swidelyused.TherearemanycountriesusedEnglishastheirofficiallanguageandletEnglishclassbeoneofthecompulsoryclassesinstudents’education.Undoubtedly,whenitcomestoscience,technology,internationalcommunicationandsoon,Englishplaysanirreplaceablerole.However,asforus,languagelearners,areoftenmistakenbythesetwolanguage,especiallyinlisteningandunderstanding.Wearemorelikelytobeconfusedbythem.Asaresult,Iwanttofindsomespecialcharactersofthesetwolanguageswhichmayhelpusmasterthesetwolanguagesbetter.AsImentionedabove,Iwilltrytoillustratethedifferencesfromfouraspects.andIhopeaftermyresearch,Iwillhaveabetterideatowardthesetwolanguages.A.DifferencesinpronunciationIfthedifferencesofspellingandevenpartofthevocabularybetweenBritishandAmericanEnglishoftenpassunnotices,thevariantofpronunciationoraccentwouldreadilyidentifyaspeakerasbelongingtoonecountryortheother.Thechiefdifferenceslieinthevowelsounds,butastoconsonants,therearestillsomedifferences.1.Consonants:InBritishEnglish,theletterrisnotpronouncedbeforeconsonant;attheendofaword,rispronouncedifthenextwordbeginswithavowelbutnototherwise,e.g.,farm/fa:m/,door/dɔ:/,amemberof/[memb[[v/;whereasrispronouncedinallpositioninAmericanEnglish:farm/farm/,door/dɔr/,amemberof/[memb[r[v/.Thedigraphwhispronounced/w/inBritishEnglish,but/hw/inAmericanEnglishe.g.,when/wen/,AmE./hwen/WordBritishAmericanate/et//eit/depot/`dep[u//`di:p[u/leisure/`leʒ[//`li:ʒ[/schedule/Fedju:l//skedjul/vase/va:z//veis,veiz/Inregardtostress,althoughidenticalsystemsofstressandrhythmareusedbyBritish2andAmericanEnglish,itshouldbeaddedthatBritishtendstoemphasizethesyllableswithprimarystresswhileobscuringothersyllables,whereasinAmericanspeechapolysyllabicwordshasastrongersecondarystressthaninBritishEnglish:AmericanBritishEnglish`addressad`dressadver`tisementad`vertisementde`tail`detail`laboratoryla`boratory`recessre`cessDifferencesofvowelsoundsbetweenBritishandAmericanEnglishBritAmE.KeywordsBritishAmerican/a://æ/fast,advance/fa:st/,/[d`va:ns//fæst/,/[d`væns//C//a/hot,stop/hCt/,/stCp//hat/,/stap//C//C:/dog,moth/dCg/,/mCW//dC:g/,/mC:W//ju://u:/tube,absolute/tju:b/,/`AbsElju:t//tu:b/,/`AbsElu:t//iEr//I(:)r/hero/`hiErou//`hi:rou//uEe//I(:)r/curious/`kjuEriEs//`kjutiEs//Qr//E:r/hurry,scurry/`hQri/,/`skQri//hE:ri/,/`skE:ri//ai//E/agile/`AdVail//`AdVEl//e//i:/leisure,premier/`leVE/,/`premiE//`li:VE/,/pri:miE/B.DifferencesinspellingToputitinanutshell,theAmericanandBritishsystemsareessentiallythesame,buttherearefewwords’spellinghaveobviousdifferences.Therearetwomajorfactors:oneisbecausetheEnglishwhichthecolonistsbroughttothenewcontinentallowedgreatvariationinspelling;theotherisNoahWebsterandeminentpersonslikeBenjaminFranklinproposednumerousreformsonspelling.Inbrief,thereareregularitiesinthespellingofAmericanEnglishandBritishEnglish.Someexamplesfollow:DivergencesBritishspellingAmericanspellingour--orcolour,neighbourcolor,neighborou--omould,smouldermold,smolderre--ercentre,theatrecenter,theatergue--gcatalogue,dialoguecatalog,dialogll--ltravelling,skillfultraveling,skillful3mme--mprogramme,grammeprogram,gramomissionofslient--eaxe,judgementax,judgmentce--sedefence,licencedefense,licensee--ienquire,encloseinquire,inclosey--ityre,dyketire,dikec--ksceptic,discskeptic,disks--zcosy,tsarcozy,tzarxion-ctionconnexion,inflexionconnction,inflectionae--eaesthetic,encyclopaediaesthetic,encyclopediaise--izenaturalise,utilisenaturalize,utilizeBritishAmericancheque,cigarettecheck,cigaretdraught,gaol,greydraft,jail,graykerb,plough,pyjamascurb,plow,pajamasStorey,waggonstory,wagon.C.DifferencesingrammarOnthewholeAmericanandBritishEnglishusethesamegrammarsystem.Differencesarefewinnumberandtriflinginnature.Thefollowingaresomemaindivergences:1.Theuseofsubjunctive:AmericanEnglishgenerallypreservesthetraditionalsubjunctiveform,whereasBritishEnglishcommonlyaddsshouldtothesubordinateclauseexceptinlegalorformalcontexts.Example:Isuggestthatthemeetingshouldbepostponed.(BrE)Isuggestthatthemeetingbepostponed.(AmE)Itisimportantthatthemotionshouldbeplacedontheagenda.(BrE)Itisimportantthatthemotionbeplacesontheagenda.(AmE)2.Thetreatmentofarepeatedsubjectaftertheindefinitepronounone:BE:oneisrepeated,asinOnecannotsucceedunlessonetrieshard.AE:heisused,asinOnecannotsucceedunlesshetriedhard.3.Pastparticipleformsforget:..AmEhastwopastparticipleformsforget(gotandgotten)whereasBrEhasonlygot.4.Differencesinpreposition:AmEBrEMaryaimstobecomeawriter.Maryaimsatbecomeawriter.Let’scheckthatout.Let’scheckuponthat.Pleasefillouttheform.Let’sfillintheform.Myplanisdifferentthanyours.Myplanisdifferentfromyours.HestartshisvacationonFriday.Hestartshis