American English

C

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. Webster’s books sought to standardize spelling in the United States by promoting the use of an American language that intentionally differed from British English. The development of a specifically American variety of English mirrored the new country’s separate political development. Webster’s most successful changes were spellings with or instead of our (honor, labor for the British honour, labour); with er instead of re (center, theater for the British centre, theatre); with an s instead of a c (defense, license for the British defence, licence); with a final ck instead of que (check, mask for the British cheque, masque); and without a final k (traffic, public, now also used in British English, for the older traffick, publick). Later spelling reform created a few other differences, such as program for British programme. Canadian spelling varies between the British and American forms, more British in eastern Canada and more American in western Canada.

D

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 varieties of American English are very common as normal, systematic occurrences (not as errors). 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). Sometimes function words are used differently: The British stay in hospital but Americans stay in the hospital.

III

History of American English

American English shows many influences from the different cultures and languages of the people who settled in North America. The nature of the influence depends on the time and the circumstances of contact between cultures.

A

Colonial Period

The first settlements on the East Coast of North America in the 17th century were composed mostly of British subjects. Accounting for about 90 percent of the people, the British vastly outnumbered French and German settlers. English was therefore the only real candidate for a common American language. The settlers spoke varieties of English from various parts of England, but in the creation of American English, these varieties were leveled—that is, their differences largely disappeared. Michel Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur, a French-born writer who published under the name J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur and became famous for his book Letters from an American Farmer (1782), describes the desire of settlers to “become an American,” their common ideal to own and work their own farms, without prejudice toward neighbors whatever their neighbors’ religion or national origin. This shared goal encouraged development of a shared variety of the language, which came to be enriched by contributions from many cultures.

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As the European settlers came into contact with Native Americans, American English collected a large stock of Native American place names (Allegheny, Chicago, Mississippi, Potomac) and Native American names for things not found in Europe or Asia (moose, opossum, squash, moccasin, tomahawk, totem). Sometimes Native American words were spelled by settlers so that they looked more like English words; woodchuck, for example, probably comes from the Cree word wuchak. Cultural exchange with Native Americans was more limited than might be expected, because diseases brought by Spanish explorers and European settlers greatly reduced the Native American population in eastern North America during early settlement.

In the 18th century people from Ireland and Northern Europe joined the British settlers. By the time of the American Revolution (1775-1783), there were comparable numbers of British settlers and settlers from other European countries. Some Europeans formed separate communities, such as the Pennsylvania Germans, but most mixed with British settlers and contributed to American English words from their own languages. Examples include pumpkin, bayou, and bureau from French; cookie, waffle, and boss from Dutch; and pretzel, pinochle, and phooey from German. Scottish and Irish settlers were already English speakers, but they influenced American English with features from their own varieties—for example, pronunciation of r after vowels (while many British English speakers were losing the r after vowels) and double verb forms like might could.

Africans were imported as slaves throughout the early settlement of North America. By the American Revolution one-quarter of the American population consisted of African Americans, and as much as 95 percent of the population living in plantation areas was African American. Slaves were not allowed to share in Crèvecoeur’s American ideal, but they learned American English from their owners, overseers, and other slaves. Some slaves may have developed creole languages on plantations. A creole is made of words from different languages—in this case, English and the African languages spoken by the slaves. It also has its own grammar. Over time, especially after slavery was abolished, the language of African Americans came to have fewer creole characteristics. One authentic American plantation creole remains: Gullah, spoken by African Americans in communities on the Sea Islands off South Carolina and Georgia. African words in American English include gumbo, okra, and voodoo.

B

Territorial Expansion and Urbanization

During the 19th and 20th centuries settlers pushed westward as the United States acquired control of land from the French, the Spanish, and the Native Americans. Crèvecoeur’s American ideal of separate farms lasted well into the 20th century, and a shared sense of purpose maintained social pressure for immigrants to participate in American language and culture. This period also saw the rise of great cities, first in the East and later in other regions. Development of industries brought opportunities for immigrants to work in cities instead of on farms, and the resulting concentration of people in urban areas allowed for maintenance of immigrant languages in some quarters, while most people still found it best to learn and use American English for everyday discourse.

At the same time that settlers from other countries were adapting to English, they were influencing it as well. Settlement of the West and Southwest by northern Europeans meant contact with the Spanish-speaking settlers who were already there. As a result, American English adopted many words commonly associated with Spanish, such as enchilada, pueblo, sombrero, and tortilla, and also many words not usually thought of as Spanish, such as alfalfa, cockroach, marina, plaza, and ranch. Scandinavians established homesteads in the upper Midwest and gave American English the words smorgasbord and sauna. Other European immigrants were drawn primarily to urban areas. Jewish immigrants are particularly associated with New York City, for example, and provided such words as kosher and kibbitz. Polish immigrants, strongly associated with Chicago, provided kielbasa and pierogi; Chinese immigrants, associated with San Francisco or Los Angeles, chow mein and mahjong; Italian immigrants, associated with many cities, contributed the words spaghetti and pizza. Many other cultural groups have also had an impact on American English, often more local than national, as, for example, Cubans in Miami, Florida.

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