美式英语主要特征简析.docVIP

【标题】美式英语主要特征简析 【作者】杨国兰 【关键词】美式英语；统一性；保守性；创新性 【指导老师】何远秀 丁健 【专业】英语 【正文】I. IntroductionThe United States has been called a nation of nations, that is to say the American nation is the inter-ethnic integration of the world’s many ethnic groups of immigrants. As the mother language of the American nation, it also can be regarded as a language of many languages. And the multi-ethnic melting pot promotes language of the United States to a rich and colorful stage.American English began in the 17th century. At the beginning of the 17th century the English language was brought to North America by colonists from England. They used the language spoken in England, that is, Elizabeth English, the language used by Shakespeare and Milton Bunyan. 1 For generations, the settlers in the Atlantic coast kept close contact to their motherland. Children were sent to England to be educated, and the colonies were economically and politically dependent to England. Thus, in the beginning, their language reflected the change of British English. But isolated communities tend to preserve old customs and beliefs. Therefore, American English preserved certain older features of the language which eventually disappeared from British English. But as the time pass by, the language slowly began to change. Sometimes, the English spoken in American changed but sometimes the language spoken in the place stayed the same, while the language in England did not participate.? American English also introduced innovations which were equally important.In order to exploit new resources in America, British colonists settled down there and from 1607to 1732 set up thirteen colonies2 like Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina and so on. In those thirteen areas English was a common language used by all people. As the time went by, the English language gradually changed on both sides of the Atlantic. The Americans adopted many words from other languages and created a large number of new words to meet