造成英式英语和美式英语差异的原因有哪些?
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造成英式英语和美式英语差异的原因有哪些?
造成英式英语和美式英语差异的原因有哪些?
造成英式英语和美式英语差异的原因有哪些?
希望这对你有帮助O(∩_∩)O~
1. 美语与英语在单词拼法上的差异
美语与英语在单词拼法上的差异主要有两种:一种是单词发生变化使得个别字母不相同,另一种是美语单词较为简化.前者如enquire(英)与inquire(美),这两个单词的第一个字母不相同.但都是商品交易前,一方向对方洽询有关商品的价格、数量、交货时间及付款条件等的询价;“车胎”的英语单词在英国用tyre,在美国则是tire;“睡衣”的英式英语是pajamas,美语则是pyjamas;“执照”,“特许证”的英式英语用licence,美语则用license.这类单词仅一个字母不同,发音上有的相同,有的则相似.
美语的单词一般比英语单词要简单.近年来,美语越来越趋向简化,充分体现了美国人生活和工作高效快捷的现代化特性.这些较为简化的词大都源于英语,大量词汇在英语里仍然保持原貌.而进入美语后,这些单词就逐渐变得简单起来,从而使用起来较为方便.如较常见的单词colour(颜色),在美语里就拼写成color,少了一个“u”字母;refrigerator(电冰箱)美语是fridge,美语比原单词要简单得多.美语单词的简化现象是美语与英语在单词拼法上的差异的主要表现.
2. 美语与英语在日期、数字表达方面的差异
在日期方面,美英英语的表达方式是有差别的.以日为先,月份为后,此为英国式;美国式则与此相反,以月为先,日期则在后.如一九九六年三月二日的写法:
2nd March, 1996(英)
March 2, 1996(美)
在美式的写法中,1st, 2nd, 3rd的st, nd, rd是不使用的.由于日期书面表达不同,读法也不一样.如1987年4月20日,英式的写法是20th April, 1987,读成the twentieth of April, nineteen eighty-seven;美式的表达是April 20, 1987,则读成April the twentieth, nineteen eighty-seven.同样,全部用数字表达日期时,英美也有差别.1998年5月6日按照英国式应写成6/5/98,而按照美国式应写成5/6/98;01.08.1998是英国式的1998年8月1日,按照美国的表达方式却是1998年1月8日,美国的1998年8月1日应写成08,01,1998.
在数字口头表达方面,两国也存在着差别.$175(175美元)英语读成a(one) hundred and seventy five dollars,美语读成one hundred seventy five dollars,常省略and;表达连续同样数字的号码时,英语习惯用double或triple,美语一般不这样用,如电话号码320112,英语读成three two zero, double one two,美语则读成three two zero one one two, 999 234英语读成nine double nine (triple nine) two three four,美语则读成nine nine nine two three four,不过美国人也把连续三个相同的号码读成three 加上这个数字的复数形式,如999读成three nines.
3. 美语与英语在书信方面的差异
商务英语书信(Business or Commercial English Correspondence)是指交易时所使用的通信.在美国,常用Business writing,它包括书信、电报、电话、电传、报告书、明信片等.
英语和美语在书信体例方面存在着一定的差异,比如信头和称呼、书信格式、遣词、结尾客套语等均有所不同.一般来说,英国书信较为保守,许多英国人喜欢用老式书信体,用词较为正式刻板,而美国书信语言非常生气、有活力,格式也较为简便.因此当我们写信的对象是英国或其旧殖民地国家时,要使用标准式英语Queens English;如果写信的对象是美国或美国势力范围的地区时,就要用美国英语.当然,英国式的语言文化近年来也有变化,但总体来说,两者间的差异是很明显的.
商业英文书信,一般都要求用打字机或电脑整齐地打印,左边各行开头垂直的,称为垂直式或齐头式(Block style),美国常用这种格式;每段的第一个词缩进去,称为缩进式或锯齿式(indented style),英国常用此格式.垂直式的职务及签名都在左边的边栏界线,这种格式,在极度尊重工作效率的美国公司,已普遍采用.
正式的商业英语书信要在称呼的上方写上收信公司名称和地址或收信人的名字全称、职务及地址,称为信内地址(Inside address).信内地址的写法也有垂直式和缩进式之分,垂直式和称美国式将各行并列,缩进式或称英国式将各行依次退缩.不过,笔者注意到,近来英国商业书信信内地址并未依次缩进,似乎与美国式相同.此外,在美国还流行一种普通收信人地址的写法,就是在书信的Inside Address中,把门牌号和街名都省略掉.
在英文书信中要使用敬语,最普遍的敬语是Mr, Mrs和Miss(用于未婚女性).英国人常在男性的姓名之后用Esq. (Esquire的缩写),不过在商业上也在慢慢地改用Mr. Mmes. (Madam的复数形式),用于二个女士以上.Messrs(Mr的复数形式)用于二个以上的男人,或用于二个以上的男人组成的公司或团体.在英国式英文信里,Mr, Mrs, Messrs,均不加缩写句点,相反地趋向于进步自由的美语反而加缩写句点如Mr., Mrs., Messrs..
4. 在称呼方面,商业上最普遍的有Gentlemen(美国式)与Dear Sirs(英国式)二种,相当于我国的"敬启者"或"谨启者".如果信是写给各个公司单位的,不是写给某个具体人的,美语用Gentlemen(复数形式),英语用Dear Sirs.如果对方公司只一人时,必须使用Sir/Dear Sir.称呼后一般要使用标点符号,英国式采用逗号(comma),美国式用分号(colon).
书信结尾客套语(complimentary close)有多种,相当于我国书信在结尾时使用的"敬礼"、"致敬"、"顺安"等句.最为典型的美国式写法是Sincerely和Best regards,典型的英国式表达有Yours sincerely(熟人或知道对方姓名),Best wishes, kind regards 和yours faithfully(不知姓名).此外,英国式的客套语还有特别礼貌的格式,但除了特殊情况外,现在不再使用.
历史原因及地域原因。就像在中国,每个地方也是有每个地方的方言。
Why Do Britons and Americans Spell Words Differently?
The first question is why are British and American spellings different for certain words?
Noah Webster
The first answer is to blame No...
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Why Do Britons and Americans Spell Words Differently?
The first question is why are British and American spellings different for certain words?
Noah Webster
The first answer is to blame Noah Webster, of Webster's Dictionary fame. He believed it was important for America, a new and revolutionary nation, to assert its cultural independence from Britain through language. He wrote the first American spelling, grammar, and reading schoolbooks and the first American dictionary. He was also an ardent advocate of spelling reform, and thought words should be spelled more like they sound.
Many years before he published his well-known American Dictionary of the English Language, he published a much smaller, more radical dictionary he called a Compendious Dictionary that included spellings such as w-i-m-m-e-n for "women" and t-u-n-g for "tongue." That dictionary was skewered and he dialed it back a lot on the spelling reform for his final masterpiece. Yet still, Noah Webster, his affection for spelling reform, and the success of his final dictionary in 1828, are the reasons Americans spell words such as "favor" without a "u" (1), "theater" with an "-er" instead of an "-re" at the end, spell "sulfur" with an "f" and not a "ph" in the middle, and why "aluminium" became "aluminum (2)."
A Separated Population
There are some word differences that we can't lay at Webster's feet. For example, "while" and "whilst" mean the same thing, but as far as I can tell, nobody really knows why "whilst" survived in Britain but not America. According to World Wide Words (3), "whilst" is considered to be more formal than "while," even in Britain. So if I had to guess, I'd say "whilst" probably fell out of favor in America because we are a less formal nation, and geographic separation of the two populations also let the language change differently in the two countries, but really, I'm just making things up at this point. If anyone has a better answer, please post it in the comments.
Why Do Britons and Americans Use Single and Double Quotation Marks Differently?
On to a difference where I at least have a hint of an answer!
In America we use double quotation marks to enclose a quotation, and single quotation marks if we need to enclose another quotation inside the first quotation. In British English, it's the opposite. Single quotation marks are used for everyday purposes such as enclosing a stand-alone quotation (4, 5).
In 1908, an influential British style guide called The King's English, states that "The prevailing [method] is to use double marks for most purposes, and single ones for quotations within quotations." So to spell it out for you, the author, Fowler, was saying that at the time the British did it the same way we do it now in America. But Fowler went on to advocate for single quotations marks, saying it is more logical to use them for regular quotations, and to reserve double quotation marks for quotations within quotations (6). He didn't explain why he thought it was more logical; he just said it was. Given that the British method now follows Fowler's stated preference, I presume that Fowler is the reason the British now use single quotation marks where Americans primarily use double quotation marks--that he was influential enough to make that change happen. But that one little paragraph from The King's English is the only proof I have, so if you know of some other reason Britons made the change, please leave a comment below.
Typesetters Quotations Versus Logical Quotations
There's another difference in how Americans and Britons treat quotation marks. In the U.S. we put periods and commas inside quotation marks, and in Britain they put periods and commas outside quotation marks. My admittedly U.S.-centric memory trick is to remember "Inside the U.S., inside quotation marks. Outside the U.S., outside quotation marks."
The reason for this difference begins with the introduction of movable type. Before typesetting, nobody paid too much attention to where they put periods and commas relative to quotation marks, but periods and commas became a problem with the advent of typesetting because they were so tiny. Printers found that the periods and commas were more stable when they were placed inside closing quotation marks, so that's the way they started doing it (7, 8).
Again, our British friend Fowler seems to have made the difference in his book The King's English. (9) Typesetting technology had advanced to the point where it wasn't necessary to shield periods and commas anymore, and he argued for what he considered a more logical system of letting the context of the sentence determine where the period and comma should go. The British seem to have taken his suggestion to heart and Americans seem to have ignored it.
Because of these origins, it is sometimes said the British use logical quotations and Americans use typesetters quotations.
Pronunciation Differences
Finally, you may be wondering why there are pronunciation differences between British and American speakers of English (not to mention Canadians, Australians, and others). The general idea is that regional and national pride and changing ideas about what sounded like "proper" speech, at least to some degree played a role in changing the British sounding speech of the American colonists to what we hear today in America. It's far too complex to cover here, so I'll refer you to a PBS show called "Do You Speak American?" which talks about regional dialects too (10).
Summary
So, in summary, American English is different from British English because of the revolutionary leanings of a dictionary writer (Noah Webster), typesetting conventions, geographical separation, and the opinion of one influential style guide author (H.W. Fowler).
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1. 美语与英语在单词拼法上的差异
美语与英语在单词拼法上的差异主要有两种:一种是单词发生变化使得个别字母不相同,另一种是美语单词较为简化。前者如enquire(英)与inquire(美),这两个单词的第一个字母不相同。但都是商品交易前,一方向对方洽询有关商品的价格、数量、交货时间及付款条件等的询价;“车胎”的英语单词在英国用tyre,在美国则是tire;“睡衣”的英式英语是pajamas...
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1. 美语与英语在单词拼法上的差异
美语与英语在单词拼法上的差异主要有两种:一种是单词发生变化使得个别字母不相同,另一种是美语单词较为简化。前者如enquire(英)与inquire(美),这两个单词的第一个字母不相同。但都是商品交易前,一方向对方洽询有关商品的价格、数量、交货时间及付款条件等的询价;“车胎”的英语单词在英国用tyre,在美国则是tire;“睡衣”的英式英语是pajamas,美语则是pyjamas;“执照”,“特许证”的英式英语用licence,美语则用license。这类单词仅一个字母不同,发音上有的相同,有的则相似。
美语的单词一般比英语单词要简单。近年来,美语越来越趋向简化,充分体现了美国人生活和工作高效快捷的现代化特性。这些较为简化的词大都源于英语,大量词汇在英语里仍然保持原貌。而进入美语后,这些单词就逐渐变得简单起来,从而使用起来较为方便。如较常见的单词colour(颜色),在美语里就拼写成color,少了一个“u”字母;refrigerator(电冰箱)美语是fridge,美语比原单词要简单得多。美语单词的简化现象是美语与英语在单词拼法上的差异的主要表现。
2. 美语与英语在日期、数字表达方面的差异
在日期方面,美英英语的表达方式是有差别的。以日为先,月份为后,此为英国式;美国式则与此相反,以月为先,日期则在后。如一九九六年三月二日的写法:
2nd March, 1996(英)
March 2, 1996(美)
在美式的写法中,1st, 2nd, 3rd的st, nd, rd是不使用的。由于日期书面表达不同,读法也不一样。如1987年4月20日,英式的写法是20th April, 1987,读成the twentieth of April, nineteen eighty-seven;美式的表达是April 20, 1987,则读成April the twentieth, nineteen eighty-seven。同样,全部用数字表达日期时,英美也有差别。1998年5月6日按照英国式应写成6/5/98,而按照美国式应写成5/6/98;01.08.1998是英国式的1998年8月1日,按照美国的表达方式却是1998年1月8日,美国的1998年8月1日应写成08,01,1998。
在数字口头表达方面,两国也存在着差别。$175(175美元)英语读成a(one) hundred and seventy five dollars,美语读成one hundred seventy five dollars,常省略and;表达连续同样数字的号码时,英语习惯用double或triple,美语一般不这样用,如电话号码320112,英语读成three two zero, double one two,美语则读成three two zero one one two, 999 234英语读成nine double nine (triple nine) two three four,美语则读成nine nine nine two three four,不过美国人也把连续三个相同的号码读成three 加上这个数字的复数形式,如999读成three nines。
3. 美语与英语在书信方面的差异
商务英语书信(Business or Commercial English Correspondence)是指交易时所使用的通信。在美国,常用Business writing,它包括书信、电报、电话、电传、报告书、明信片等。
英语和美语在书信体例方面存在着一定的差异,比如信头和称呼、书信格式、遣词、结尾客套语等均有所不同。一般来说,英国书信较为保守,许多英国人喜欢用老式书信体,用词较为正式刻板,而美国书信语言非常生气、有活力,格式也较为简便。因此当我们写信的对象是英国或其旧殖民地国家时,要使用标准式英语Queens English;如果写信的对象是美国或美国势力范围的地区时,就要用美国英语。当然,英国式的语言文化近年来也有变化,但总体来说,两者间的差异是很明显的。
商业英文书信,一般都要求用打字机或电脑整齐地打印,左边各行开头垂直的,称为垂直式或齐头式(Block style),美国常用这种格式;每段的第一个词缩进去,称为缩进式或锯齿式(indented style),英国常用此格式。垂直式的职务及签名都在左边的边栏界线,这种格式,在极度尊重工作效率的美国公司,已普遍采用。
正式的商业英语书信要在称呼的上方写上收信公司名称和地址或收信人的名字全称、职务及地址,称为信内地址(Inside address)。信内地址的写法也有垂直式和缩进式之分,垂直式和称美国式将各行并列,缩进式或称英国式将各行依次退缩。不过,笔者注意到,近来英国商业书信信内地址并未依次缩进,似乎与美国式相同。此外,在美国还流行一种普通收信人地址的写法,就是在书信的Inside Address中,把门牌号和街名都省略掉。
在英文书信中要使用敬语,最普遍的敬语是Mr, Mrs和Miss(用于未婚女性)。英国人常在男性的姓名之后用Esq. (Esquire的缩写),不过在商业上也在慢慢地改用Mr. Mmes. (Madam的复数形式),用于二个女士以上。Messrs(Mr的复数形式)用于二个以上的男人,或用于二个以上的男人组成的公司或团体。在英国式英文信里,Mr, Mrs, Messrs,均不加缩写句点,相反地趋向于进步自由的美语反而加缩写句点如Mr., Mrs., Messrs.。
4. 在称呼方面,商业上最普遍的有Gentlemen(美国式)与Dear Sirs(英国式)二种,相当于我国的"敬启者"或"谨启者"。如果信是写给各个公司单位的,不是写给某个具体人的,美语用Gentlemen(复数形式),英语用Dear Sirs。如果对方公司只一人时,必须使用Sir/Dear Sir。称呼后一般要使用标点符号,英国式采用逗号(comma),美国式用分号(colon)。
书信结尾客套语(complimentary close)有多种,相当于我国书信在结尾时使用的"敬礼"、"致敬"、"顺安"等句。最为典型的美国式写法是Sincerely和Best regards,典型的英国式表达有Yours sincerely(熟人或知道对方姓名),Best wishes, kind regards 和yours faithfully(不知姓名)。此外,英国式的客套语还有特别礼貌的格式,但除了特殊情况外,现在不再使用。
5.美语与英语在习惯用语差异
美语与英语在习惯用法上也存在着明显的差异。比如,英国英语在虚拟式中往往要加should,而美语大都不用。表示"有"或"没有"的概念,英语用to have/haven’t got,美语则用to have/don’t have;"不得不"、"必须"做什么,英语用to have got to do something,美语只须说to have to do something;"假期临时工"英语用holiday jobs,美语用summer/temporary jobs;"租用计算机"英语的表达是computer hire,美语用computer rental;"从某某学校毕业",英美表达习惯也不同,"graduate"一词,在美语里可以用于任何种类的学校,如graduate from university/school等,而在英语里,graduate仅限于大学毕业,中学毕业要用leave;当谈到某家公司待遇低的时候,英语通常的表达是It was badly paid,而美语的表达则是It didn’t pay very much;"我与老板相处得很好"英语的表达是I got ort very well with my boss,但美语则用got along代替句中的got on;"提高价格"英语用put up prices,美语用raise prices;"上计算机课"英语的表达是go on a computer course,美语则说take a computer course。
6. 通电话时,英美两国也有不同的表达方式,如果自己是办公室的秘书或接线员之类的职员,不是对方要找的人,我们常说"请稍候",英语的习惯表达是hold the line, please,美语通常用hold on;如果要求对方(如接线员)转给经理,英语的表达是Could you connect me with the manager?美语通常用介词"to"代替句中的介词"with.
当然了,美语和英语之间的差别还有别的方面的,但是美语毕竟是从英语中发展出来的。现在小学生的课本里还是多多采用英式英语的,毕竟它是比较正统的用来做学问的嘛!美式英语在口语中用的比较时髦啦,毕竟美国还是世界第一大国嘛!
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