This document summarizes the development of American English. It discusses how English spread through settlement and exploitation colonies, producing different varieties. Settlement colonies saw large numbers of English speakers migrating to places like North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Exploitation colonies included Asian, African, and Central American nations where English was imposed. American English began diverging from British English during colonial times and acquired regional differences through settlement. It discusses differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, spelling, and grammar between American and British English. The development of American English has also been influenced by languages of immigrant groups to the US. The document also defines Standard American English and describes characteristics of General American pronunciation.

1. SUBMITTED TO SIR HASSAN ABAS
SUBMITTED BY ANUM SHAHZADIE
M.PHIL APPLIED LINGUISTICS
DEVELOPMENT
OF AMERICAN
ENGLISH

2. THE SPREAD OF ENGLISH TO OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD
CAN BE SEEN AS A VERY IMPORTANT FIRST STEP TOWARDS
GLOBALIZATION. IN GENERAL, THE SPREAD HAS BEEN
THROUGH SETTLEMENT AND COLONIZATION. SALIKOKO
MUFWENE CONSIDERS BOTH OF THESE FALLING UNDER
THE LABEL COLONIZATION, SO HE TALKS OF SETTLEMENT
COLONIES AND EXPLOITATION COLONIES. ENGLISH WAS
SPREAD THROUGH BOTH KINDS OF COLONIES,
PRODUCING DIFFERENT RESULTANT VARIETIES
DEVELOPMENT OF
AMERICAN ENGLISH

3. Settlement colonies
• Is a colony (a territory ruled by another
country) for the purpose of settlement
Exploitation colonies
• Is the national economic policy of
conquering a country to exploit its natural
resources and its native population

4. • Large numbers of English speakers moved
to places like North America (the USA and
Canada), Australia, New Zealand and (to a
certain extent) South Africa
In settlement colonies

5. • including Asian (Singapore, Malaysia,
Brunei, Burma, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh), African (Nigeria, Sierra Leone,
Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Zimbabwe) and
Central American (Jamaica, Trinidad and
Tobago, Belize, Guyana) nations.
In exploitation colonies

6. • Variety of the English language spoken in the
United States. Although all Americans do not
speak the same way, their speech has enough
in common that American English can be
recognized as a variety of English distinct from
British English, Australian English, and other
national varieties. American English has grown
up with the country. It began to diverge from
British English during its colonial beginnings and
acquired regional differences and ethnic flavor
during the settlement of the continent. Today it
influences other languages and other varieties
of English because it is the medium by which
the attractions of American culture–its
literature, motion pictures, and television
programs–are transmitted to the world.
American English

7. • American English differs from British English,
Australian English, and other national
varieties in many of its pronunciations,
words, spellings, and grammatical
constructions. Words or phrases of
American origin, and those used in
America but not so much elsewhere, are
called Americanisms.
Continued…

8. • there are differences between American
English and British English in the rhythm of words.
British speakers seem to leave out a syllable in
words like secretary, as if it were spelled
secretry, while Americans keep all the syllables.
The opposite is true of other words, such as
specialty, which Americans pronounce with
three syllables (spe-cial-ty) while British speakers
pronounce it with five syllables (spe-ci-al-i-ty).
Vowels and consonants may also have
different pronunciations. British speakers
pronounce zebra to rhyme with Debra, while
American speakers make zebra rhyme with
Libra. Canadian and British speakers
pronounce the word schedule as if it began
with an sh sound, while Americans pronounce it
as if it began with an sk sound.
Pronunciation

9. • The most frequently used words are shared by
speakers of different varieties of English. These
words include the most common nouns, the
most common verbs, and most function words
(such as pronouns, articles, and prepositions).
The different varieties of English do, however,
use different words for many words that are
slightly less common–for example, British crisps
for American potato chips, Australian billabong
for American pond, and Canadian chesterfield
for American sofa. It is even more common for
the same word to exist with different meanings
in different varieties of English. Corn is a general
term in Britain, for which Americans use grain,
while corn in American English is a specific kind
of grain.
Words

10. • 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.
Spelling

11. • 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 hospita.
Grammar

12. • The first wave of English-speaking settlers
arrived in North America during the 17th
century, followed by further migrations in
the 18th and 19th centuries. Since then,
American English has been influenced by
the languages of West Africa, the Native
American population, German, Irish,
Spanish, and other languages of successive
waves of immigrants to the US.
Development…

13. • The variety of the English language that is
generally used in professional writing in the
United States and taught in American
schools. Also known as General American.
Standard American English

14. • General American, like British Received
Pronunciation (RP) and most standard
language varieties of many other societies,
has never been the accent of the entire
nation. However, it has become widely
spoken in many American films, TV series,
national news, commercial ads, and
American radio broadcasts.
Continued…

15. • The label General American is often used
to describe a variety of speech that lacks
any of the stereotypical markers of regional
speech or of the speech of particular social
groups, as in the omission of the (r) sound in
words like car and card. It should be noted,
however, that this label still permits a great
deal of regional and social variation. In
other words, General American should not
be identified with any specific American
accent.
Continued…

16. he phoneme /ʍ/ is present only in varieties that
have not undergone the wine–whine merger. /ʍ/ is
often analyzed as a consonant cluster of /hw/. Also,
many Americans realize the phoneme /ɹ/ (often
transcribed as /r/) as post alveolar, with some
possible retroflexion.[8] /t/ undergoes t-glotalization
to produce a glottal stop before a syllabic nasal or
in absolute final position, in words like mutton and sit
[ʔ]. Otherwise, intervocalic /t/ (and /d/) generally
become [ɾ] through intervocalic alveolar flapping
when between a stressed syllable and an unstressed
one. Also, the distinction between "clear" [l] and
"dark" [ɫ] is much less noticeable in General
American than other English dialects, with even the
"clear" variant pronounced in General American
with some degree of velarization.
Consonant

17. • General American has sixteen or
seventeen vowel sounds that can be used
in stressed syllables as well as two that can
be used only in unstressed syllables. Most of
the vowel sounds are monophthongs.
Vowel

18. Thank you :)
submitted by Anum shahzadie
Submitted to Sir Hassan