2. Pronunciation of 'a'

2. Pronunciation of 'a'

Another major difference is in the pronunciation of the vowel sound in such words as laugh, fast,path,grass, dance, branch, demand, can't, half. Short in US speech, in British speech it is long and firm: Returning from the daaanse claaase, she ran a baaath. Near the end of the 18th century, southern England began to change from what is called a flat a to a broad a in these words, i.e. from a sound like the a in man to one like the a in father. The change affected words in which the vowel occurred before f, sk, sp, st, ss, th, and n followed by certain consonants. In parts of New England the same change took place, but in most other parts of the country the old sound was preserved, and fast,path, etc., are pronounced with the vowel of man. This, the flat a, must now be regarded as the typical American pronunciation. Although highly distinctive, however, the difference between the broad a and the flat a probably affects fewer than 250 words in common use.

1. Pronunciation of 'r'

1. Pronunciation of 'r'

One of the most noticeable differences between English and American pronunciation is the treatment of the r. In RP, this sound has disappeared except before vowels. It is not heard when it occurs before another consonant or at the end of a word unless the next word begins with a vowel, as in Clear away those papers. In the US, eastern New England, New York City and most of the South follow the English practice (Americans joke about New Englanders who pahk the cah in the yahd or New Yorkers who feed de holds in de pahk), but elsewhere in the States the r is pronounced in all positions. In RP, lord has the same sound as laud, while in words like car or there the r is not sounded at all but replaced by indeterminate vowels at the end. The American r, on the other hand, is pronounced before vowels and consonants and also at the end of words: air, are, arm, hear, beer, more, care, deer, fear, hair, or, peer, pure, wear, work, etc. In phonetics, this phenomenon -the pronunciation of postvocalic rs- is known as rhoticity. Apart from the south-west and some northern areas, England is non-rhotic, while Scotland and Ireland are rhotic. The first pilgrims to arrive in America in 1620 were mainly from the Midlands and East Anglia. Presumably, the non-rhotic speech in the New England area today ultimately derives from them. If this is so, later colonists from the West Country, Scotland and Ireland are responsible for the rhotic speech heard in most of the US today.

1. Irregular verbs (3)

1. Irregular verbs (3)

In American English, the past participle of get is either gotten or got, except in the structure have got, used as an alternative to have, which is the same as in British English. Click here to see the full text.

AE	BE
His tennis has gotten (or got) much better.	His tennis has got much better.
I've gotten to know him over the years.	I've got to know him over the years.
I've got a terrible headache.	I've got a terrible headache.

1. Irregular verbs (2)

1. Irregular verbs (2)

The verbs fit, quit and wet are regular in British English, but irregular in American. In the case of quit and wet, however, American usage is now well on its way to replacing British in GB. Click here to see the full text.

AE	BE
fit -fit -fit	fit -fitted -fitted
quit -quit -quit	quit - quitted - quitted
wet - wet - wet	wet - wetted - wetted

1. Irregular verbs (1)

1. Irregular verbs (1)

A number of verbs can be either regular or irregular in the Past Simple. However, in the US and in GB the forms most commonly used are not the same. Where two forms are given in the following list, the first is the more commonly employed. It will be seen that in American English, the regular form is usually preferred, and in British English the irregular. Click here to see the full text.

AE	BE
burned, burnt	burnt, burned
dived, dove	dived
dreamed, dreamt	dreamt, dreamed
knelt, kneeled	knelt
leaned	leaned, leant
leaped, leapt	leaped, leapt
learned	learned, learnt
smelled, smelt	smelt, smelled
spelled	spelt, spelled
spilled, spilt	spilt, spilled
spoiled, spoilt	spoilt, spoiled
woke, waked	woke