America is ruling the English language – everyone knows that[1].’ Everyone knows that? But how? The increasing commercial and economic power of countries like the United States might mean that American English will one day begin to have an impact beyond its own borders. Or maybe it does? Despite the apparent differences between American English and British English, the American language slowly has an impact on British English, and the impact is continuing to increase. During centuries the British Empire dominated the world, becoming the global language. Its dominance expanded in Europe and in the Far East. However, globalization resulted in picture rotation.
Now, the most obvious is Britain's young generation is conditioned by the impact of American English, and this trend is continually expanding. What is the cause of all these - Americanisation, globalization, or the United Kingdom itself? These are questions to answer!
In 1995 His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, was reported by ‘The Times’ as complaining to a British Council audience that American English is ‘very corrupting.’2 Primarily, he meant that people are apt to invent all sorts of nouns and verbs and make words that should not even be. That began over 400 years ago when the Americans were colonized, and the form of English split into two varieties: British English and American English. During centuries the leading language has remained British English: however, as a result of globalization, the influence of American English and even other Englishes becomes inevitable. The aim of the thesis is to seek the causes of influence of American English on British English, and whether it is ‘corruption’ or natural change.
‘American English has a global role at the beginning of the 21st century comparable to that of British English at the start of the 20th., informed the Oxford Guide to World English[2]. Who in the world has not heard of Coca Cola, McDonald's, IBM, General Motors, Microsoft, or Boeing? It is clear that American industries have made their own forms of conquest. Yet, British English is hugely important as an international language and plays an important part even in countries where the United Kingdom has historically had little influence, such as in Western Europe and in far-flung places like Japan, South Korea, and China. However, as a result of Americanisation, this situation is rapidly changing.
Americanisation, is the influence of the United States on popular culture - language, cuisine, technology, business practices, or political techniques of other countries. The term has been used since at least 1907. Critics sometimes give Americanisation a negative connotation. But naturally, in the early 20th century it was designed to prepare foreign-born residents of the United States for full participation in citizenship. Americanisation in British English, in other words, Americanisms – coined in the 17th century by John Witherspoon, on the analogy of Scotticism, mean a custom, linguistic usage or other feature peculiar to America, its people or their culture. These words continue to harass British English because of the use of the Internet and other aspects, because the Internet was developed chiefly in America, and the majority of Web sites are in American English.
Matthew Engel, the author of ‘Americanisms: 50 of Your Most Noted Examples’, warned readers that American imports like a truck, apartment, and movies are well on their way to ousting native lorries, flats, and films[3]. As a parting shot, Engel warned that the English love of Americanisms, if unrestrained, will lead to ‘51st statehood[4].’ However, according to the article by Parsley ‘Americanisms are ruining the English language’ there has been much discussion on the BBC web site about the apparent scourge of Americanisms entering British English, as a slight aside from politics. Parsley says that his own position is that this battle has been lost; his stepdaughter, age 8, already speaks fluent General American.7 ‘Why unnecessary?’, claims Ian James Parsley. ‘What is unnecessary about faze? How would this be expressed otherwise? Its use really doesn’t faze me! Or just, hospitalize’ ‘Why say, “The accident meant I ended up in a hospital.” when you can just say, “The accident hospitalized me?[5]”’ If this is so wrong, why allow realize, institutionalize, etc?
In many countries of the world today, most people's familiarity with English comes from films, television, and other types of American entertainment. American English is currently the dominant influence on World English, especially British English mostly because of population, economy, higher education, the publishing industry, global mass media, culture, and political and economic position. But even with all this influence from many other languages, the heart of the English language remains the Anglo-Saxon of Old English.
English is a West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects brought by Germanic invaders into Britain. Initially, Old English was a diverse group of dialects, reflecting the varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England. Eventually, one of these dialects, Late West Saxon, came to dominate. The word ‘English’ was in Old English ‘Englisc’, which comes from the name of the Angles - Engle, their land of origin.
By the 19th century, the expansion of the British Empire led to the spread of English in the world and as a result of the Colonisation European languages (including English) came to be used in places far from Europe for administration, education, and commerce, either as the mother tongue or as a foreign and second language. The establishment of the first permanent English-speaking colony in North America in 1607 was a major step towards the globalization of the language. British English was only partially standardized when the American colonies were established. Isolated from each other by the Atlantic Ocean, the dialects in England and the colonies began evolving independently.
Currently, there are approximately 75 territories where English is spoken either as a first language (L1) or as an unofficial or institutionalized second language (L2) in fields such as government, law, and education. It is difficult to establish the total number of Englishes in the world, as new varieties of English are constantly being developed and discovered, e.g. Arabic English is called Arablish, Chinese English - Chinglish, French - Franglish, Hebrew – Heblish, Hindi – Hinglish, etc. The undeniable truth is that varieties exist in all languages.
‘The British Ambassador walked briskly into the foyer of a Washington hotel, and stopped for a moment to speak with one of the bright-buttoned servitors in the lobby after he walked on, an assistant manager who had noted the incident, went over to the boy and said, “What did the Ambassador want?” “I don't know,” answered the bellboy. “He couldn't speak English[6]”’. The American who hears British English, like the Englishman who hears American English, knows with certainty that they hear a different form of English, and they are likely to assume the differences reside in roughly equal proportion in the pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and writing of the two forms of English.
1. Phonological Differences: The differences in pronunciation on either side of the Atlantic have been well known since Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers provided their own take on the subject with the song ‘Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off’ in the 1937 film ‘Shall We Dance’. The pair famously sang: ‘You Say neither and I say neither... let’s call the whole thing off.’ Basic phonological differences are as follows:
a. Some words are written with a + consonant e.g. fast, after having different pronunciations: with /ɑː/ in standard southern British English, and with /æ/ in American and some other varieties of English.
b. The vowel in home, go, open and in similar other words is pronounced /əʊ/ in standard southern British English, and /oʊ/, in American English.
c. In standard southern British English, r is only pronounced before a vowel sound. In most kinds of American English (and most other British varieties) r is pronounced in all positions where it is written in a word. Hence, words like car, turn, offer sound very different in British and American speech9.
d. In many varieties of American English, ‘t’ and ‘d’ both have a very light voiced pronunciation (/d/) between vowels: for example, writer and rider can sound the same (/ˈraɪ.də r / and /ˈraɪ.tə r / in British English)9.
2. Lexical Differences: With the development of the new continent, new words were necessarily brought in British English to describe new things: split-level (in real estate), carpetbagger (in politics), commuter (in transportation), and a variety of vocabulary to distinguish among professions. Many words originated as American slang, e.g. hijacking, boost, jazz, etc.
There are a number of English idioms or idiomatic phrases that have essentially the same meaning but show lexical differences between the American and British version, for instance, the Americans knock on wood and beat a dead horse, while the British touch wood and flog a dead horse. Both British English and American English use the expression ‘I couldn't care less.’ to mean the speaker does not care at all. Some speakers of American English use it interchangeably with ‘I could care less.’ In both areas, saying, ‘I don't mind.’ often means ‘I'm not annoyed.’ (for example, by someone's smoking) while ‘I don't care.’ often means the matter is trivial or boring. However, in answering a question such as, ‘Tea or coffee?’ if either alternative is equally acceptable an American may answer, ‘I don't care.’ while a British person may answer, ‘I don't mind.’ Either sounds odd to the other.
3. Grammatical Differences: The commonest differences can be grouped under three headings: differences concerning verbs; differences concerning noun or pronoun; differences concerning preposition. In addition, there are a small number of miscellaneous differences.
a. American people use a past simple tense in some cases where British people use a present perfect because, in American English, the past simple is often used to give news.
b. In British English, it is fairly common to use shall with the first person to talk about the future, unlike Americans, do, e.g. ‘I shall/will never forget this favour.’ in British English, and ‘I will never forget this favor.’ in American English[7].
c. American and British English often differ in their treatment of agreement with collective nouns, i.e. nouns with singular form but plural meaning, such as committee, family, government, enemy, etc. ‘Mexico wins against New Zealand.’ in American English, and ‘Mexico win against New Zealan.’ in British English10.
4. Spelling Differences: Noah Webster, who regarded the form of English spoken in the British Isles as having been ‘corrupted’ by the English aristocracy, worked with dogged determination to standardise and simplify the spelling of American English. He excised extraneous vowels: colour/color; favour/favor and transposed letters, most notably the final -re: theatre/theater; centre/center.
In British English, words that end in -l preceded by a vowel usually double the -l when a suffix is added, while in American English the letter is not doubled in an unstressed syllable; it is usually doubled if the syllable is stressed, e.g. counsel - counselling (BrE), counseling (AmE), but model – modelling (BrE), modelling (AmE)12.
5. Writing Differences: During writing, the Americans generally use MLA Style (The Modern Language Association), while the British own ACS Style (Advanced Communications System). Americans tend to write Mr., Mrs., St., Dr.; the British will most often write Mr, Mrs, St, Dr, following the rule that a full stop is used only when the last letter of the abbreviation is not the last letter of the complete word. This kind of abbreviation is known as a contraction in the UK. The use of full stops after most abbreviations can also be found in the UK, although publications generally tend to eschew the use of American punctuation. Unit symbols such as kg and Hz are never punctuated.
In British English, ‘( )’ marks are generally referred to as brackets, whereas ‘[ ]’ are called square brackets and ‘{ }’ are called curly brackets. In American English ‘( )’ marks are parentheses (singular parenthesis), ‘[ ]’ are called brackets, and ‘{ }’ can often be called curly braces. In both countries, standard usage is to place punctuation outside the parenthesis e.g. I am going to the store (if it is still open)11.
Dates are usually written differently in the short (numerical) form. Christmas Day 2000, for example, is 25/12/00 or 25.12.00 in the UK and 12/25/00 in the US, although the formats 25/12/2000, 25.12.2000, and 12/25/2000 now have more currency than they had before the Year 2000 problem[8].
‘While many variants of English have evolved, each with its own vocabulary and accents, there seems to be a threat that globalisation will eventually produce one more or less standardised form of English which is threatening to be ‘Americanised’ English. There will still be local variants but already in New Zealand we are seeing a move to accept American spelling in schools. What threats and opportunities do you see for the English language?’, asked ‘Live Chat with Simon Elmes’ programme [9]. To this question a student answered, that Malcolm, one of the interesting factoids of recent linguistic and sociolinguistic history was the story of the London school student who was caught trying to dial the fire, police and ambulance service recently with the numbers 911. This caused considerable shock in this country since the standard calling signal for the emergency services in Britain is 999. Another student claimed, ‘This is seen as evidence of the American influence in our schools too14’. 911 is, of course, the American code for the emergency services. ‘How do you spell the word ‘favourite’ at the top of your computer screen?14’ he asks. However, the experts they have spoken to in the Routes of English series reckon that there will be many Englishes in the future - many ‘codes’, as linguists call them. And we will be able to switch from a global form of English which may well be American in form, but also have available a much more domestic, colourful form of English.
On the 12th of December in 2011 we interviewed a British lecturer from American University of Armenia - Brian Richards, on the following issue of ‘The Influence of American English on British English’. The interview revealed that Brian Richards does not suppose that British English has lost its world dominance. He claims that it relates to remote corners of the world including Indonesia, South Africa or Arab countries. He concurs with the statement that as a result of globalisation another variety of English is generating, and he says, ‘I think people are now talking of producing a language different from native English. I think it certainly exists. I think it can’t be really taught. It happens’. Consequently, Mr. Richards does not see it as an issue, and he assumes that ‘we do not need to fight for that’. However, in 1899 a correspondent of ‘The New York Times’ Neal H. Ewing interviewed an English gentleman on the following issue of ‘How Americanisms Spread in England’. In The New York Times Saturday Review he mentioned, that he once discussed the subject of Americanisms with an English gentleman. It would seem from his testimony that many Americanisms are already adopted or are being adopted in England: ‘We say on the train or in the train, fireman or stoker, engineer or driver. Yes clever is proficient. Mad sometimes means angry, but not so frequently as here. Bogus! Bogus is as common as ABC…’’ Hence, the start of Americanisms began from early times, and different people take it completely differently.
Overall, it seems that Americanisms penetrated into British English before 1899 (the word ‘Americanism’ was coined in 1781), and are still increasing dramatically, because of media-booms. As a result of economic and technological development the condition is justified. However, it is a natural change, even more a natural evaluation. Nevertheless, British English is a part of a culture, a part of a history, and while this culture and history exist, this language will linger with it. And as Richards states, ‘we do not need to fight for that.’
The observation taken to find out the impact of American English on British English involves British Press. According to the National Readership Survey, among newspapers ‘The Sun’ is the most-read newspaper in the UK, closely followed by ‘The Daily Mail’ and ‘bbc.co.uk’ (as an online newspaper). However, between 2008 and 2012 the change is dramatic. According to the graph, in 2008 the most popular newspapers were ‘The Guardian’, followed by ‘The Telegraph’, ‘The Times’, ‘The Sun’ and ‘The Daily Mail’ respectively. By contrast, while ‘The Sun’ has approximately 8m readers in 2008 it owed less than 4m. The same result is observed for ‘The Guardian.’ Since 2008 the popularity of ‘The Sun’ and ‘The Daily Mail’ boomed and soared, while the popularity of The Guardian nosedived, and apparently, in 2020 it will lose its market stall. Overall, it seems that ‘The Sun’, ‘The Daily Mail’ and ‘bbc.co.uk’ could prosper their product and increase their demand in the market, while ‘The Guardian’, ‘The Telegraph’ and ‘The Times’ could not preserve their upward trend.
To conduct the observation on ‘The Influence of American English on British English’ the following examples were taken from British online newspapers. As a matter of technological revolution, the usage of traditional print newspapers is declining. The number of libraries and websites now offering online access to textbooks, journals, news, and general information is steadily increasing. The study by Shaikh A. Dawn, titled ‘Paper or Pixels: What are People Reading Online?’ aims to seek out the reading habits of Internet users across five document types - journal articles, news, newsletters, literature and product information. As a result of the study documents such as online news, newsletters and product reviews were reported to be read mainly online. The study was completed and final conclusions were made in 2004, and now, it is 2012. Thus, to detect and vividly depict the language influence, basically on the younger generation, it was chosen to observe British leading online newspapers, namely ‘thesun.co.uk’, ‘thedailymail.co.uk’and ‘bbc.co.uk’.
The observation showed that the overuse of Americanisms is mostly noticed in ‘The Sun’, closely followed by ‘The Daily Mail’ and ‘bbc.co.uk.’ The influence is predominantly lexical mainly on the everyday vocabulary, namely food, clothes, family spelling, writing, and grammatical aspects. Regarding newspapers, ‘The Sun’ is on the peak, while less quantity is pitched in ‘bbc.co.uk.’ The most striking was the lexical influence - movie theater (AmE) – cinema (BrE) was found in the three mentioned, or baby carriage (AmE) – pram (BrE), fulfill (AmE) – fulfil (BrE), : sidewalk (AmE) - pavement (BrE), parking lot (AmE) - car park (BrE), takeout (AmE) - takeaway (BrE), diaper (AmE) - nappy (BrE), store (AmE) – shop (BrE), etc. or another surprising grammatical example have gotten (AmE)- have got (BrE) which was noticed in ‘The Daily Mail.’ Consequently, taking this fact into consideration, it should be mentioned, that there is something to worry about. However, the enumerated Americanisms that were noticed in ‘The Sun’ are mainly overused in ‘TV’ and ‘Showbiz’ sections. This leads to the conclusion that in this last case the American influence on British English cannot be regarded as ‘corruption’ anymore, but as a matter of necessity -a normal change, because the increased use of technology, in combination with the rise of a globalised society, means language changes are happening faster than ever, especially in places with highly diverse populations like London. The answer to the question which arises in this case – ‘What might happen to modern Standard English as it becomes global?’ is simple and predictable since many of slangs in the US are slowly used in Standard English. And as Brian Richards and many other British linguists and researcher have assumed the two varieties will probably intertwine forming General Standard English, which will comprise American English and British English with some alterations. However, if there is Standard English for all English-speaking countries, that is if it is created to be understood by all English-users, it means that it should involve not only American English, but also Chinglish, Spanglish, Hinglish, etc. And in this case what this language will look like?
Observe the world as a glass of water. By adding a handful of soil into the water and stirring the substance, it is clearly seen the layers of the soil. According to the volume of the substances found in soils, first gravels are set in the bottom of the water, then thick sand, fine sand, silt, clay, water, and organic detritus respectively. To form homogeneous mixture we must stir the substance: however, it should be noted that soil does not dissolve in water, in contrast with salt, air, and many other substances, which can form homogeneous mixtures. The substances which cannot dissolve in water e.g. sand, soil, etc. form heterogeneous mixtures.
Now, the substances in the soil are World Englishes, and they are recognized in the world according to their historical background. Glass symbolizes the world, because it looks like an ‘eye’, and what is happening in it we can watch and perceive differently. In the first layer is set British English, as the English language originated in Britain, then American English, Chinglish, Hinglish, Spanglish, Yinglish, and other new-born Englishes. As many linguists and researchers conclude, there will be General Standard English combining all Englishes to be understood worldwide. However, as the test of homogeneous and heterogeneous mixtures has shown, soil cannot dissolve in water, as Englishes cannot make universal language. Perhaps, at the moment of stirring the substance, there is an optical illusion, because after a while the same picture appears. And in this way languages act, because already formed cultures cannot be intertwined. But, there is the case of American English and British English. In this case, observe a glass of water, again symbolizing the world. Let’s pour a spoonful of salt into the water, and as it was already mentioned it will form homogeneous compound. However, if we add salt over and over, the molecules of water will not be able to form compounds with the molecules of salt and will form supersaturated solution.
The same happens with languages: if someday there is created Standard English with the mixture of various cultures forming a homogeneous mixture, although the future is unpredictable. Today, China leads in population, and tomorrow maybe Armenia will. Nobody can tell. Thus, if Armenia becomes dominant, there will not be a space for Armenian English or Armlish to be included in the Standard English, because the formation will be saturated. But, probably, in the years to come, there will be various linguistic codes, and people will be able to communicate in Spanglish, Hinglish or maybe Armlish.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Algeo J. British or American English – A Handbook of Word and Grammar Patterns. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006
2. Crystal D. English as a Global Language. 2nd ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003
3. Crystal D. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. 3rd ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010
4. Gradoll David. The Future of English? UK: The British Counsil, 2000
5. Rohdenburg G. & J. Schlüter. One Language, Two Grammars? Differences between British and American English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010
6. Dawn, Shaikh A. Paper or Pixels: What are People Reading Online?’. Usability News, Vol. 6 Issue 2, July 2004 <http://www.surl.org/usabilitynews /62/online_reading.asp>
Sources
[1] Bauer L., Trudgill P. eds. Language Myths. London: Penguin Books, 1998, 176
[2] <http://www.pbs.org/speak/ahead/change/ruining/>
[3] <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14201796>
[4] <https://illinois.edu/blog/view/25/57032>
[5] <http://ianjamesparsley.wordpress.com/2011/08/04/americanisms-are-ruining-the-english-language/>
[6] <http://www.americansc.org.uk/Online/berube.htm>
[7] <http://www.grammarbook.com/english_rules.asp>
[8] <http://british-american-english.wikispaces.com/Cultural+Differences>
[9] <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14201796#dna-comments>