Differences Between British and American English

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It is interesting to see the way that the English languge has grown and changed.

Because English is a living language there are frequent changes in the meaning that words carry. These changes can be largely influenced by environment. One of the best examples of this fact is some of the distinct differences between British and American English.

To some people this might sound a bit strange, they may say... "English is English,

Right?" Because locations and cultural influences have a major impact on language//

varieties form. Varieties are formed when differences are found within the same kind of thing. This is the reason why we have both British and American English. Believe it or not// the differences that we have in the English language started a long time ago.

Before the English came to America, they all lived in England. There were no major varieties in England because the English people lived in the same place and pretty much talked the same. They were all going along their merry way until...

Enter a group of people that came from England to America, a country very far away from their homeland, and very different from what they were used to in England. sentence fragment Because of this migration many new words were introduced into what was know as the English language. sentence fragment

New locations, mingling with different cultures and being away from the changes that were also happening in England, played a major part in the forming of a new variety which we have come to know as American English.

In some ways these differences can be both funny and strange.Today if an American went to England, they pronoun/antecent agreement might be confused if an English person referred to the hood of their pronoun/antecent a...

... middle of paper ...

...about.com. 2009. The New York Times Company about.com. 1 Sep 2009 . " British/

American/American/British." about.com. 2009. about.com. The New York Times Company 1 Sep 2009 .

"Varieties of English: American and British." Switched On Schoolhouse. CD-ROM Rock Rapids, Michigan Alpha Omega Publications 2008.

// missing punctuation or word

Works Cited about.com. 2009. The New York Times Company about.com. 1 Sep 2009 . " British/

American/American/British." about.com. 2009. about.com. The New York Times Company 1 Sep 2009 .

"Varieties of English: American and British." Switched On Schoolhouse. CD-ROM Rock Rapids, Michigan Alpha Omega Publications 2008.

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