Abstract
After surveying the English of the British Isles in Chapter 7, in this chapter we take a further, closer look at today’s American English and its background, especially as it compares and contrasts with British English. (We will use the abbreviation AmE and BrE for these two ‘reference varieties’ in this chapter.) We make no apology for devoting further space to these two regional varieties, particularly AmE. First, between them, they represent a large proportion of all native speakers of English (over 80 per cent). Second, they have historically been the origin of the whole gamut of world-wide English. Figure 8.1 shows the global provenance of English, branching out from the two rootstocks of BrE and AmE.
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The official language of the State of Illinois shall be known hereafter as the American language, and not as the English language.
Act of Legislature of Illinois (1923)
Whose English language is it, anyway? From the tone of the new ‘BBC News and Current Affairs Stylebook and Editorial Guide’, you’d think the Brits invented it. With unmistakable disdain, the broadcastocrats in London call what we speak ‘American’.
William Safire, in the column ‘Language’, The New York Times (1993)
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Svartvik, J., Leech, G. (2016). American and British English. In: English. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-16007-2_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-16007-2_8
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-55021-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-16007-2
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