Реферат на тему British and Americans variants of English. Lexical differences.

Содержание:

INTRODUCTION 3

1. REASONS FOR DISTRIBUTION OF ENGLISH. BRITISH ENGLISH 4

2. AMERICAN ENGLISH: THE HISTORY OF FORMATION 5

3. AMERICANISM AS FEATURE OF AMERICAN ENGLISH 8

4. LEXICAL FEATURES OF BRITISH AND AMERICAN ENGLISH 10

CONCLUSION 14

REFERENCES 15

Введение:

The scale of spreading the English language in the modern world is actually global. English is the language of international communication. However, due to its ubiquity, regional variants of the English language have been formed, each of them is characterized by its own features, including lexemes.

American English is a vivid example of this phenomenon. The lexical components of American English — Americanisms – are, on the one hand, English words, but on the other hand, they are the reflection of the American language picture of the world.

Despite the standard nature of British English, American English is playing an increasingly important role in international communication. This is due, first of all, to the dominance of the United States in the field of technology, science and mass culture, which has an impact on the whole world, which is also manifested in the penetration of Americanisms into other varieties of the English language, including the British English.

The purpose of the research is to identify the lexical features of the British and American variants of the English language.

The set purpose implies the solution of the following tasks:

1. Outline the reasons for the spread of English worldwide;

2. Describe the history of development of American English;

3. Describe the lexical differences between British and American English.

 

Заключение:

English today is the language of international communication, the main regional variants of which are British and American English. British English is a kind of «standard» of the English language, which has the longest history.

American English went through a long process of transformation, becoming today a separate version of the English language. It reflects the realities, culture and worldview of Americans, is inextricably linked with the history and society of the United States. The key differences from British English lie in the field of the lexical composition of the language, since the language is used to nominate new objects and reflect new realities. Americanisms serve as markers of the American language-reflected world perception.

There are significant differences between British and American English, expressed both in the meaning of words and in their spelling, which indicates a significant difference between American and British linguistic cultures.

 

Фрагмент текста работы:

1. REASONS FOR DISTRIBUTION OF ENGLISH. BRITISH ENGLISH

English is the language of international communication for all civilization, it allows people to communicate, regardless of nationality and place of residence. One of the features of the functioning of the English language is the use of it as the official language by many nations [13].

Researchers identify a number of reasons that led to the spread of the English language in the world.

Historical reasons. Active colonialism and the Enlightenment expanded the territories of the British Empire. English became the official language of the British colonies. By the time of the final disappearance of the British Empire in the XX century, the language was so deeply rooted in the former colonies that there was no reason to change its status. Furthermore, the need for diplomatic relations with such a powerful neighbor forced other European powers to also learn English.

Technological reasons. Most of today’s technology developments originate in the English-speaking United States and are covered by US patents [14].

Informational reasons. A huge number of scientific publications, fiction, films and music are being produced in English. All major universities, film companies, music labels are located and registered in the United States and other English-speaking countries.

Linguistic reasons. English, despite its richness, is quite easy to learn. Furthermore, now in the world there is a significant simplification of the language in communication between its non-native speakers, the phenomenon of World Englishes is developing [7].

The definition of English as a polyethnic, or multinational language, reflects not so much its functional role as ethnographic distribution, which is the result of its functioning as the language of international communication [4].