British and American English

This article examines the differences between British and American English in the areas of vocabulary, spelling and phonology. In particular, it compares standard British (also known as Received Pronunciation, or RP) and American speech of no particular dialect. Lexical differences between British and American English are, for the most part, common to all dialects of American English; for the purposes of phonology and phonetics, this article uses Midland American English (usually perceived to be the least marked American dialect) as an object of comparison.

American and British English both diverged from a common ancestor, and the evolution of each language is tied to social and cultural factors in each land. As an example, the conservatism of speakers in the American South has preserved many of the phonological features of 18th-century British English. This means that upper-class BrE speakers today (who are mistakenly perceived to be very culturally conservative) are actually more innovative, linguistically, than English speakers in today's American South. It is also possible to see a certain amount of Americanization in the British English of the last 50 years. This influence is not entirely one-directional, though, as, for instance, the previously BrE 'flat' for 'apartment' has gained in usage among American twentysomethings.

Vocabulary

Lexical differences are:

British	American
aerodrome [mostly obsolete]	airport
(aero)plane	airplane
aeroport [obsolete]	airport
autumn	autumn/fall
barrister [courtroom representation]	lawyer
beetroot	beet
bonnet	hood
boot car	trunk
braces	suspenders
(round) brackets	parentheses
car-park	parking lot
chips	(French/french) fries
cockerel/cock	rooster
(potato) crisps	(potato) chips
curtains	drapes/draperies/curtains
drawing room [mostly obsolete: class connotations]	living room
dustbin	trash can/garbage can
dustman	garbage collector/garbageman
estate car	station wagon
film	movie
flat	flat/apartment
(Association) football	soccer
lift	elevator
full stop	period
gnat [rare]	mosquito
knickers	panties
lorry/truck	truck
nappy	diaper
off-licence	liquor store
pants/underpants	underwear/underpants
pavement	sidewalk
petrol(eum)	gasoline/gas
railway	railway/railroad
road	road/pavement
rubber	eraser
rug	blanket
saloon	sedan
solicitor [mainly deskwork; cf barrister]	lawyer
spanner	wrench
subway	pedestrian tunnel
swede (vegetable)	turnip or rutabaga, depending on region
sweets	candy
sweetshop	candy store
tarmac(adam)	tar
tea [sometimes]	supper, dinner
tiffin	lunch, luncheon
tin	can
tomato sauce, ketchup	ketchup
torch [with a battery]	flashlight
trousers	trousers/pants
underground	subway
vegetable marrow	squash
wallet	pocket-book
windscreen	windshield
wing	fender
(unofficially zéd) Z	zêe

Usage

• The expression 'I guess', common in AmE, is usually replaced in BrE by 'I reckon' or 'I think'.
• In British, one goes 'to hospital' or 'to university'; in American, one goes 'to the hospital' or 'to the university'. However, one goes 'to college' in both.
• American English generally prefers the singular for collective nouns: 'the government is considering' where British has 'the government are...'. Thus, while 'the United States is topping the medals table', 'England are losing another Test Match'.

Spelling

There are a number of spelling differences, some systemic (most notably in suffixes), and others in individual words.

Suffixes

The most striking differences between the spelling of AmE and BrE are in these suffixes (the accents show stress and pronunciation, see English phonemes):

British	-	American	-
-ence	defénce	-ense	defénse
	lîcence noun		lîcense
	offénce		offénse
l + l + suffix	dîalling	-l + suffix	dîaling
	trávelled		tráveled
	màrvellous		màrvelous
-l	fulfíl	-ll	fulfíll
	enrôl		enrôll
	instål		inståll
	instíl		instíll
-ógue	cátalogue	-óg	cátalog
	dîalogue		dîalog
	démagogue		démagog
-our	clámour	-or	clámor
	còlour		còlor
	fâvour		fâvor
	flâvour		flâvor
	harbour		harbor
	hónour		hónor
	lâbour		lâbor
	ráncour		ráncor
	(Many words, however, have -or in both: dóctor, asséssor, sqùalor.)
-p + suffix	kídnapping	-pp + suffix	kídnáping
	wörshípped		wörshíped
-re	céntre	-er	cénter
	mêtre length		mêter
	manoeûvre		maneûver (also no o)
	ôchre (ch as k)		ôcher (ch as k)
	scéptre		scépter
	thêatre		thêater
	(But in both, mêter machine, not distance, eûchre *yûker)
-tt + suffix	carburétted	-t + suffix	carburéted

-ise and -ize

Spellings with -ise are common in British English, but -ize has been for centuries the standard spelling of Oxford University Press (in contrast to Cambridge UP which uses -ise) and there is some evidence to suggest that the -ise variant predominated in the UK only after 1945; thus, a spelling such as realize is not a good example of an 'American' spelling. The typical 'British' spelling reflects the French spelling from which these words were borrowed, though many originally came from Greek -ιζειν (which used z) via Latin. Some words, such as advertise, can supposedly only be spelt with s regardless of which side of the Atlantic they are used; however, spellings such as advertize are readily found nowadays.

ae and oe become e

In Latin and Greek words where British has ae or oe, AmE usually has a solitary e: aesthétic becomes esthétic and foêtus becomes fêtus.

Other spellings

Other individual spelling variations are:

British	American
ádze	ádz
alumínium	alûminum
ánalyse	ánalyze
áxe	áx
chéque money	chéck all meanings
connéxion/connéction	connéction only (cf. compléxion in both)
côsy	côzy
diaérisis (both *dî-érisis)	diérisis
dràught cold, net, liquids, game, horse	dráft all meanings
fíllet	fílet
furŏrê	fûrŏr
grèy	grây
jeŵellery	jeŵelry
júdgement	júdgment
largésse	can also be largéss
môuld	môld
moustàche	mústache
múm mother	mòm
ómelette	ómelet
páralyse	páralyze
plòugh	plòw
práctíse verb (BrE noun is práctíce)	práctíce: AmE uses only práctíce, reflecting the pronunciation (not -îse/-îze).
prôgramme arts	prógram
pyjàmas	pajàmas
refléxion/refléction	refléction only (cf. compléxion in both)
roûble	rûble
scéptical	sképtical
skílful	skíllful
súlphur, súlphate, súlphide	súlfur, súlfate, súlfide
tŷre car	tîre car, tired
wílful	wíllful

Also: dôve is an American alternative to dîved as past tense of dîve, with the same spelling as the bird dòve; matinée (mátinèe) normally has a written é accent in BrE but no accent in AmE.

Pronunciation

The pronunciations discussed here are standard British (also called Received Pronunciation), which is associated with London and the Home Counties, and General American, heard in much of the United States and Canada.

Postvocalic r

Most strikingly, ‘postvocalic’ r, that is to say r after a vowel and in the same syllable, is silent in BrE, but pronounced in AmE, in words like fàrm, càrve, cürve, swërve, fïrst, nŏrth, cŏrd, bïrth, ëarth. For some speakers of both, it is heard finally before a vowel in the next word: 'My car isn't ready' ('rizzent') and even an invisible r can be heard: 'relations between China(r)and Russia'; this however is less common in BrE than it used to be.

An r between two vowels can have an effect on the first vowel: márry can sound like Mãry. The e in véry can sound like a stressed schwa. BrE ór is AmE ŏr: BrE órifice, órigin, fóreign, AmE ŏrifice, ŏrigin, fŏreign.

A word like móral can in AmE sound like *mŏrrl. BrE úr is AmE ür: BrE coúrage, cúrrency AmE coürage, cürrency and BrE òr is similarly altered: BrE wòrry AmE wörry.

a

BrE à is very often in AmE a long á: cán’t, lást, fást, hálf, ráther, láther. But not in fàther, Coloràdo, Chicàgo (Sh-), pajàmas (BrE pyjàmas) nor before r: fàrm, stàrve nor before -lm: càlm, pàlm, bàlm. And in some place names where BrE has á, à is preferred by many Americans: one hears Milàn, Vietnàm, Ugànda and Ànkara.

The suffix -ary has a silent a in traditional BrE, but in AmE it is sounded as é: díctionary, vocábulary (*dícshənéry, vəcábyəléry). Indeed, featuring as it does in so much in pop music, the AmE sound has become increasingly common in BrE, and this is also the sound of both varieties in the equivalent adverbs: necessarily (*néssəssérily). Similarly in BrE labóratory AmE láboratŏry one o is stressed, rendering the other redundant: BrE *labóratry, AmE *lábratŏry. Similarly cátegŏry, perémptŏry in AmE, and also céremôny, álimôny and ácrimôny where BrE has o as schwa. However, both varieties have a schwa sound for the a when the preceding syllable is the stressed one: suppleméntary (*súpləméntəry), compliméntary (*compləméntəry).

BrE åu and åw are AmE àu and àw: BrE åwful, låw, cåught, AmE àwful, làw, càught, but BrE AmE wår, AmE wårrior BrE ẁarrior. BrE ŏught and is AmE *ót or *àt; similarly with cåught, bŏught, fŏught and other words with this ending (see English spellings, Retroalphabetical List).

wh-

In words beginning wh- (apart from who, which is pronounced *hoô in both varieties) the h is ignored in BrE but sounded before the w in AmE, so that whén and whístle are pronounced *hwén and *hwíssle.

-ile

The suffix -île in BrE is usually schwa in AmE so that vólatîle becomes *vólatle, stérîle *stérral, frágîle *frájle and míssîle *míssle, sounding like míssal prayers.

-duce

The suffix -dûce, as in redûce, indûce, prodûce verb and próduce noun is dyoôss or -joôss in BrE but -doôss in AmE.

-age

In three similar words from French, where BrE has an anglicised version, AmE prefers to keep the French model, so á in the first syllable cedes its stress to the suffix -àge (this is not to be confused with the cockney pronunciation of 'garage' as 'garridge', for example):

British	American
bárràge (-àzh)	barràge (*bəràzh)
gáràge (-àzh)	garàge (*gəràzh)
mássàge (-àzh)	massàge (*məssàzh)

t and d between vowels

In AmE t and d between vowels, of which the first vowel is stressed, are voiced and sound like d, though actually the sound is a [ɾ] (a 'tap' or 'flap', i.e. a very rapid contact just behind the top front teeth): lâter, *lâ[ɾ]er, bútter, *bú[ɾ]er, lítter, *lí[ɾ]er, shoôting, *shoô[ɾ]ing; BrE speakers keep these as t or d. In AmE twénty, t blends with the n and disappears altogether. The 'flap' often appears as the Scottish English pronunciation of /r/. BrE speakers often partially or completely 'glottalise' t where AmE speakers produce a flap. This glottal stop [ʔ] is common in London English, for example: bu[ʔ]er 'butter'. It also often replaces /t/ at the end of a syllable: ca[ʔ] 'cat'. The glottal stop, which is formed by the vocal cords briefly coming together to restrict airflow, is not a phoneme of English and so speakers will usually identify it as a variant of t.

Other pronunciations

Other individual differences are:

British	American
addréss	áddress
ádult	adúlt
advërtísement	ádvertîsement (cf. ádvertise in both)
alumínium	alûminum (different spelling, too)
Al-Qàêda (-Kŷda)	Al-Qâeda
ámateur (eur as schwa: ámətə)	ámateur; or various more phonetic variants, typically ámateûr (*ámatyure)
ámbergrìs	ámbergrís
amen *à-mén	*â-mén
ántì-	ántî-
ápparâtus (either stressed)	apparátus
ásthma (*ássma)	*ázma
áristocrat	arístocrat
àunt	áunt uncle (= ánt insect)
authóritative	authŏritâtive
Baghdád	Bághdad
Bërnard	Bernàrd, generally, although not always
bêta	bèta
bòrough (*búrə)	bòrôugh town (= búrrow ground)
càdre (-der)	càdrè
capíllary (kəp-)	cápillãry
Caribbêan (*Cárri-bêən)	Caríbbêan (-bêən)
Cécil (*Séssle)	Cêcil (*Sêazle)
cérebral	cerêbral
chágrín (sh-)	chagrìn (*shəgrêen)
charàde (sh-)	charâde (sh-)
cigarétte	cígarette
clìchè	clichè (where the American is closer to the French; the French accent may be written: cliché)
cómplex	compléx
cómrâde	cómráde
córrugate	cörrugate
coyôtê	*kîôte
dâta	dáta
Dâvíes (= Dâvis)	Dâvìês (-êez)
débris (*débrêe or dâybrêe)	*dəbrêe; the French accent may be written: débris
derby (à)	dërby
defénce	dêfense (this pronunciation is for sport only, but always the different spelling)
dêtail	detâil
dôcîle	dócile (*dóssle)
dýnasty	dŷnasty
Edinburgh (-brə)	(-bóro)
eîther	êither
entreprenëur	entrepreneûr (both ón-)
êra	éra (= BrE érror)
erâse (-z)	erâse (-s)
ërr	érr
évidently	evidéntly
explêtive	éxpletive
fålcon	fálcon
fígure (*fígə)	(can be *fígyùr)
fíllet rhymes with bíllet, t pronounced	*filây (after French)
furŏrê	fûror (different spelling, too)
gàla	gâla
génuíne	génuîne
gêyser water (= gêezer man)	geŷser
grimâce	grímace
hárass	haráss
hegémony (híg-)	hégemôny (héj-)
hërb	*ërb
húrricane (a as schwa: -cən)	húrricâne
ídyll idyllic	îdyll = îdle lazy = îdol god
improvisâtion (o as schwa, -əvî-)	improvisâtion (-óví-)
inquîry = enquîry	ínquiry = enquiry (*ínkwəry)
îron (*îən)	(*îrən or *îərn)
jágûar (*jágyûə)	jáguàr (*jágwàr)
kílomêtre	kilómeter (different spelling, too)
Kósovo	Kôsovo
labóratory	láboratŏry
Lébanon (-ən)	Lébanón
léisure	lêisure
lêver	léver
lieuténant (léft-)	(lût-)
massëuse (after French)	masseûse
Maurice (= Mórris)	Maurìce (*Mərìs, after French)
moôg	môog (can be capital M in both)
Móscôw	can be Móscòw
moustàche (*məstàsh)	mústache (*mústásh, also different spelling)
múltì-	múltî-
Mùslim	Múslim
nåusea (-zìə)	(-shə)
neîther	nêither
nónchalant (ch as sh)	*nonshalàn
offénce	óffense (sport only, but always)
páprika	paprìka
partisán (-zán)	pàrtisan (-zən)
përfume	perfûme
prêdecessor	prédecessor
prémier government	premìêr (= premìêre)
prémiére performance	premìêre (= premìêr)
prívacy	prîvacy (but prîvate in both)
prôcess	prócess
prôgress noun	prógress noun: progréss verb in both
qùadruplet (second u as schwa)	quadrûplet (similarly with quínt- etc.)
râbid	rábid
récŏrd noun (rhyming with cŏrd)	récord (o as schwa: -kərd)
renâissànce	rénaissànce
resëarch	rêsëarch
resŏurce	rêsource
réspîte	réspíte
roûte journey (= roôt plant)	ròute (= ròut victory)
sándwich (-ídge)	(-ích)
scenàrio	scenãrio
schédule (shé-)	(ské-)
simultâneous (sí-)	(sî-)
spínach (-ídge)	(-ích)
stâtus	státus
stràta	strâta (= BrE strâighter)
stràtum	strâtum
thòrough (*thúrə)	thòrôugh
tomàto	tomâto (cf. potâto in both, ‘potàto’ being an invention of Cole Porter)
vàse (-z)	vâse (*vâce, rhyming with báse)
vërmouth	vermoûth
vítamin	vîtamin
yógurt	yôgurt

See also

• British English
• American English
• English language