Lecture IV

HISTORICAL FOCUS. AMERICAN ENGLISH

The First Inhabitants

No one knows exectly how people first came to North America. However,
many scientists believe that America’s first settlers were hunters who came from
Siberia. North America is a land of many geographical features. There are
mountains and deserts. There are forests, plains, lakes and oceans. American
Indians, descendants of the first settlers, lived in or near all these regions.
The Indians’ way of life depended on the geography of the area they lived in.
The Indians who settled near the ocean fished. On the Great Plains, where there
were many animals, the Indians were hunters. In places with rich soil the Indians
farmed. There were different Indian tribes. Each tribe had its own territory. Tribes
had different languages and customs.
Europe’s First Explorers
From the very first, Europeans who explored North America were looking
for riches.
In the late 1400’s Spain began searching for another wather route to the East.
Instead of it, Spanish explorers found a new continent. A mapmaker called it the
New World – the land across the Atlantic that was not part of Asia.
On October 12, 1492, Columbus stepped ashore, holding the Spanish flag. He
thought that he had reached a group of islands near the coasts of China and India
which were called the Indies. That’s why he called the people he saw Indians.
Columbus made three more voyages to the New World. But he never knew that
he had discovered a new world. He was sure that he had approached China and
India from the east.
A Period of Colonization
Many people left Europe and came to the New World. They brought their
customs and traditions with them. Sometimes they even brought the names of their
home towns or countries. As a result, there are many places in America which have
the names of European towns. There are places called New London, New Orleans,
New Paris, St. Petersburg and Moscow.
In 1664, during the war between The Netherlands and England, an English
fleet sailed into the harbour of New Amsterdam. The English forces were much
stronger than the garrison of New Amsterdam, and the Dutch surrendered. The
King of England gave New Netherlands and New Amsterdam as a present to his
brother, the Duke of York. The Duke renamed the colony and the town New York.
People from England also came to the New World and started colonies.
Although these first settlements were very small, they soon grew. By the 1750’s
there were 13 English colonies along the eastern coast of North America. In
England there were people who disagreed with the teaching of the Church of
England. In 1620 a large group of such people left England and sailed to North
America on ship called The Mayflower. These people were called Pilgrims. They
wanted to find a place where they could worship as they wanted. The Pilgrims
settled in present-day Massachusetts. Their first winter was very hard. Many
people died from cold. But the colony survived.
In England there was another group of people who disagreed with the teaching
of the Church of England. They said that the services of the Church of England had
become too complicated and too rich and took too much money. They wanted to
make the Church of England more modest, to ”purify” it. For this reason they were
called Puritans. The Puritans also decided to sail to North America, to establish a
Puritan Church there and to worship as they thought proper. The Puritans set sail in
1630. Many Puritans were richer than the Pilgrims. Their journey was very
different from the Pilgrims’ trip on the Mayflower. One thousand people took part
in it. They sailed in 15 ships full of supplies and tools.
The Puritans also came to Massachusetts. They explored the coastline and
found an excellent harbour. They settled there and called the place Boston.
The English settlements on the Atlantic coast grew into 13 colonies. The
colonies can be divided into three regions: the New England colonies, the Middle
colonies and the Southern colonies. As the colonies grew, they began to trade with
each other and with Great Britain. With the growth of trade, the ways of life in the
colonies were changing. In the early colonial years people had to make or grow
everything they needed themselves. But as the colonies grew, some people left
their farms to work in the growing colonial towns and cities. They became priests,
lawyers, bankers and merchants.
Education was highly valued in New England. In 1636 Harvard College was
founded near Boston. It was the first college in the 13 colonies. Later it grew into
the famous Harvard University.
Many people believed in religious toleration. William Penn founded the colony
of Pennsylvania for that purpose. As a young man, Penn joined a religious group
called the Society of Friends. The Friends, or Quakers, as they called themselves,
believed in the goodness of all people. They also refused to fight in any wars. Like
the Pilgrims and Puritans, the Quakers were not allowed to practice their religion
in England. In 1681 William Penn made an agreement with the English king.
Penn’s father who was an admiral in the English navy, had died in 1670. The King
had owned him a lot of money. Now he pwned this money to William Penn. As a
payment for the debt, he gave Penn some land in America. Penn called this land
Pennsylvania, which means “Penn’s woods”. It was a beautiful land of thick
forests, rich soil and clean rivers. Soon Pennsylvanis was settled by people of
many different nations.
Philadelphia was the first settlement in Pennsylvania. This name means
“brotherly love” in Greek. For 300 years Philadelphia has been known as the City
of Brotherly Love.
Trouble with Britain
The years from the 1750’s until the mid-1770’s were uneasy times in the
colonies. The colonists argued with the British King about their rights and
freedom. In 1764 Brirtain’s Parliament passed a law taxing the colonies. It was
called the Sugar Act.
The Sugar Act put a tax on sugar, wine and other products that were shipped
to the colonies from countries other than Great Britain. When ships landed in the
colonies with these products, a tax had to be paid by the people who ordered the
goods.
 The colonists refused to pay the tax: they did not want to pay taxes passed by
the British Parliament. They wanted to decide themselves whether a tax was
necessary.
The Stamp Act. In 1765 Parliament passed a new tax law – the Stamp Act.
The Stamp Act put a tax on all printed paper goods that colonists bought.
Colonists had to pay a tax when buying books, newspapers and playing cards. A
person who finished college had to pay a tax on the diploma. Lawyers had to pay a
tax on the wills, agreements and other documents. To show that the tax had been
paid, a stamp seller put a stamp on the paper.
The Boston Tea Party. Three ships loaded with tea came into the port
Colonists refused to unload the ships. The British governor of Boston said that the
ships would stay in the harbour until the colonists agreed to pay the tax on the tea.
On the night of December 16, 1773, some colonists, dressed as American Indians,
climbed aboard the ships. They opened hundreds of boxes of tea and threw them
into the water. If there was no tea, they said angrily, there would be nothing to tax.
This evening became known as the Boston Tea Party.

The War for Independence

On the cold Wednesday morning of April 19, 1775, the tension which existed
between the colonists and the British led to shooting. British soldiers met a group
of armed colonists at Lexington. A shot was fired. That shot was the start of the
War of Independence, in which a brave group of colonists fought mighty Great
Britain.
In the spring of 1775 the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia.
They met to organize an army and navy to defend and support colonial rights.
In June 1775 the Congress appointed George Washington commander-in-chief
of the colonial army.
By the following year more and more people had come to believe that the
colonies should be independent.
In the spring of 1776 the Continental Congress decided to take action. Thomas
Jefferson, a young Virginian, was asked to write a declaration explaining why the
colonies should be free.
 In the declaration Jefferson described his ideas about human rights. Jefferson
said that all people had the right to life and liberty. No government could take
these rights away. Jefferson blamed the King for ignoring colonial laws, ruining
trade and making people pay high taxes.
On July 4, 1776, the Congress adopted Jefferson’s Declaration of
Independence. The colonies stated that they were no longer a part of Great
Britain. A new nation was born.
The war lasted six years. It was a difficult war for both sides. The British were
fighting far from their homeland. Supplies had to be sent from across the ocean.
Although the Americans lacked supplies and military training, they were fighting
on the land which they knew well. And they were fighting to protect their newly
declared independence. Thousands of women followed their husbands and sons to
army camps to help them. Many people in Europe admired the colonies’ fight for
freedom. Some Europeans even came to America to help in the fighting.
On October 19, 1781, the war was over with the victory of the Americans.
In 1783 the British and Americans met in Paris and signed a treaty. In the
Treaty of Paris Great Britain agreed to recognize the independence of the USA.
The Americans had won their revolution.
On April 30, 1789, George Washington promised to”preserve, protect and
defend the Constitution of the United States.” With this promise, Washington was
places in office, or “inaugurated” as the President of the United States.
The Gold Rush
In 1848 gold was discovered near San Francisco, and the first great gold-rush
began. When the news became known, farmers, lawyers, sailors, soldiers and
school teachers rushed to California by whatever means they could. Within a year
100,000 people, only 8,000 of whom were women, had reached the coast of
California. More than half of them had travelled overland across the American
continent. “Gold fever” began to spread. Settlements throughout the US were
deserted. Homes, farms and stores were abandoned as everybody raced for
California. Many came by sea, and in July 1850 more than 500 ships were
anchored in San Francisco Bay, many of which had been deserted by gold-hungry
sailors. A few people became fabulously rich, but it was a risky business.
Miners had a hard life with few comforts. They lived in huts and tents. There was
not much law and order in the mining towns. To protect themselves from thieves,
most miners slept with their guns beside them.
Some people became rich by selling goods to the miners. One person who
made his fortune was a German businessman named Levi Strauss. He bought
strong denim canvas and used it to make sturdy overalls. He called them Levis.
Today, more than a century later, these blue denim pants are worn all over the
world.
The gold rush helped to change California from a frontier area into a state. In
1850 California became the thirty-first state.

The Pioneers
In the middle of the 18th century much of the land west of the Appalachian
Mountains was a rich wilderness. It was a hunting ground for the American
Indians. Bear, deer and wild turkey were plentiful. Many colonists wanted to claim
some of this land for themselves.
The first settlers in new areas, people who opened the way west for others,
were called pioneers. Pioneer life was hard for everyone: men, women, children.
Families left their friends, their belongings when they moved west. But they all
brought two things with them: their courage and their dreams of a better life.

The Civil War

In the middle of the 19th century the country’s future seemed bright, except for
one large problem.
Southerners wanted slavery to be allowed in the new western lands.
Norhterners were against allowing slavery there. Many people hoped that a
peaceful solution could be found to the differences between the North and the
South. But in the end, the differences led to war.
These were sad years when the people of the United States faced each other on
the bettlefield.

The Slave System

 The democracy that was spreading in the first half of the 1800’s was not shared
by black Americans. Most blacks were slaves. By 1830 all the Northern states
outlawed slavery. In the South, the rich planters needed much slave labour on their
huge plantations, so the Southern states remained slave states.
More and more people in America were beginning to understand that slavery
was shameful, that there should be no place for slavery in the democratic society.
There appeared people who demanded to abolish slavery. These people were called
abolitionists. ( Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, a story about
slavery.).
There was a secret route to help slaves to escape from the South to freedom in
the North and Canada. This secret route was called the “Underground Railroad”.
People who knew the way guided slaves along a footpath.

The Road to War

The election of 1860 showed that the USA was a divided country. Abraham
Lincoln was the candidate of the Republican Party. He was a very popular man.
He was a lawyer by education and believed that slavery was wrong. The Northern
states were on the side of Lincoln. The Southern states were against him. Lincoln
won the national election and became President.
The Southern states decided to form their own nation. On February 4, 1861, the
Southern states formed the Confederate States of America. Jefferson Davis
became President. Lincoln was against a war. But soon the Confederacy occupied
several federal forts in the Southern states and on April 12, 1861, Confederate
troops opened fire. Both sides had certain advantages that they thought would help
them to win the war. The North had more soldiers, more supplies and better
transportation. The South had better generals and was fighting on home ground.
Robert E.Lee, probably the greatest soldier of the Civil War, commanded the
Southern armies. At the beginning of the Civil War President Lincoln asked him to
command the Union troops. But he was from Virginia. Lee loved the USA and he
did not believe in slavery. But ha felt that he could not fight against his neighbours
from Virginia.
 The battle of Gettysburg was the decisive battle of the Civil War. In June 1863
Lee marched into Pennsylvania. The Union army met Lee’s forces at Gettysburg
on July 1. For two days the armies battled. And the Confederates were forced to
retreat.
In the summer of 1864 a Union general, William T. Sherman, captured Atlanta,
Georgia. As his troops marched they destroyed plantations, towns and farms.
Sherman wanted to destroy everything that could help the South. On April 9, Lee
surrenderd and with his surrender the war was over.
After the war the South was in ruins. The fields that had been planted in cotton
were overgrown with weeds. The economy was destroyed. Freed slaves had no
place to live and no way to make a living. Confederate soldiers were allowed to go
home but their homes were destroyed too, they couldn’t find jobs in the ruined
economy.

The USA in the late 19th Century

In the period between 1800 and 1900 the United States changed from a small
farming nation to a big industrial country. During these years the USA was not
very involved in the affairs of other countries. Towards the end of the 19th century,
however, this situation was changing.
American industry developed very rapidly after the Civil War. Whole families
of immigrants moved into the US from all the countries of Europe and there was
work on land for all who were willing to work hard. The population increased
quickly. The industrial revolution was coming to an end. The railroad network was
growing fast actively promoting the development of the western part of the
country. New states gradually came into being on these lands. Andrew Carnegie
learned that iron was a poor construction material for the railroads. He knew that
steel would be a stronger building material. He built a huge steel mill which began
producing steel using the Kelly-Bessemer method. Carnegie was an educated
person, especially he loved libraries. He opened more than 2,800 of them in the US
and abroad. He also started the now famous Carnegie Hall in New York.
 The latter part of the 19th century also saw the rise of the modern American
city. Electricity was widely used. With the appearance of sky-scrapers cities were
able to grow vertically as well as horizontally.
In 1867 the US bought Alaska, in 1898 it annexed the Hawaiian Islands. The
Spanish-American war was resulted in US acquisition of Puerto Rico, the
Philippine Islands and in a US quasi-protectorate over Cuba.

The Twentieth Century

Between 1900 and 1945 the USA faced many problems at home and overseas.
The country went through a period of economic growth. Then it suffered through
hard times. By the late 1930s Germany, Italy and Japan had disrupted world peace.
America tried to keep neutral. On Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese bombs fell on Pearl
Harbour, a US naval base in Hawaii. The US declared war, and 4 days later
Germany and Italy declared war to the US. Before the war ended with the defeat of
Japan, the US developed and used the atomic bomb. By 1945 the USA had
become the strongest and richest country in the world.
Soon after the World War II, relations between the USA and the USSR
worsened, the cold war intensified. In 1948 the US played the leading role in
forming a new alliance of Western nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO). In the Korean War the US played the chief part in combat actions
between the North and South Korea.
In 1964 the US Congress decided to send American soldiers to Vietnam to help
South Vietnam in his fighting with North Vietnam. The USSR and China helped
North Vietnam. In 1973 all sides agreed to stop fighting. This war provoked
increasing opposition at home, manifasted in marches and demonstrations in which
thousands of people were arrested.
After World War II the USA has been changing rapidly. Television and
computers have changed home life and business. Scientists have conquered many
diseases and made space travel a reality.
But in the last decades of the 20th century Americans have faced other
problems. Blacks, women and other groups of population have been demanding
better treatment. People have grown concerned about dirty air and water.
 AMERICAN ENGLISH

There are about twice as many speakers of American English as of other

varieties of English, and four times as many as speakers of British English. The
leading position of the US in world affairs is partky responsible for this.
Americanisms have also been spread through advertizing, tourism,
telecommunications and the cinema. There are many differences in idiom and
vocabulary between British and American English.
Endlish may be said to have traveled to North America with the ship
“Mayflower” in 1620. The earliest English colonists in the New World were
speaking Elizabethan English, the language of Shakespeare, when they came to
America. This is important and necessary for our undrstanding of some of the
distinctive features, which American English was to develop later on.
The first English speakers to arrive met Native Americans who spoke many
different languages. To trade with them, the Europeans learned words from the
local languages, and some of these words became part of American English.
Native Americans also worked as guides, leading the European traders about the
country. The Europeans learned the Native American names for the places they
were passing through. Over half the states now have Native American names.
American English is very flexible and has absorbed many words from the
languages of immigrants.
Modern Americans must recognize their debt to American Indian languages for
such words as “mocassin”, “toboggan”, “moose” and many others which entered
American English because of the colonists’ need to describe things that were
unfamiliar to them.
From Native Americans through Spanish came new terms for exotic foods:
tomatoes, avocado, chili. Other Indian terms became part of the vocabulary: to go
on the war path, pipe of peace, fire water, to bury the hatchet.
At least half of the states have Native American names, as do cities, rivers,
lakes: Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and so
on.
 All these words sounded very exotic. That is why they were widely used by
colonists.
The recent influences of French are largely from southwestern Louisiana,
where French is still spoken by half a million people. Among the words are
“banquette” (sidewalk), “pirogue” (boat).
Spread by films, books and TV, Americanisms – especially American slang –
have found their way to Great Britain, more and more blurring the distinctions
between the two forms of the English language.
Lecture V

CANADA, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND

ENGLISH OVERSEAS

Canada . General Information

Canada is situated on the north of Northern America, washed by the Atlantic
Ocean in the east, the Pacific Ocean in the west, and the Arctic Ocean in the north
and in the northeast by the Baffin Bay and the Davis Strait, which separate it from
Greenland. On the south and on the north Canada borders on the USA.
Canada is the world’s second largest country after Russia. The total area is
about 10 million sq. km. Canada is slightly larger than the USA. Its major cities,
such as Toronto, Monreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Edmonton, Calgary are centres of
commerce and industry.
The climate of Canada varies from temperate in the south to subarctic and arctic
in the north. The highest Canadian point is Mount Logan 5, 959 m. The population
of Canada is about 32 million people. There are two state languages: English and
French. English is spoken by 60% of population; French is spoken by 23% of
people.
Most of Canada’s inhabitants live in the southern part of the country and vast
areas of the north are sparsely inhabited. The country is divided into ten provinces
( Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova
Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan) and three territories
(Northwest Territories, Yukon Territory, Nunavut Territory).
The name “Canada” is derived from an Iroquoian term meaning “village”.
Among the great rivers of Canada there are the Saint Lawrence River, The
Ottawa River, the Saint John River and others.
Canada has over 15% of the world’s known fresh water volume. The longest
river in Canada is the Mackenzie (2,635 miles), which flows into the Arctic Ocean.
The government type is confederation with parliamentary democracy. The
capital of Canada is Ottawa.
Canada became independent from the UK on July, 1, 1867.
 The racial and ethnic makeup of the Canadian people is diversified. About
35% of the population is composed of people of the British origin. People of the
French origin total about 25% of the population. The population of Canada is
composed of people of various ethnic groups, such as German, Italian, Ukrainian,
Scandinavian, Polish, Hungarian, Greek, and Native American. Blacks have never
constituted a major segment of the Canadian population.
The largest religious community in Canada is Roman Catholic. Nearly half of
Canadians who are Roman Catholic live in Quebec. The largest Protestant
organization is The United Church of Canada. A great number of Buddhists,
Hindus and Skhs have been brought to the country in recent years by immigration.

Exploration of Canada
Many Europenn and Scandinavian explorers came to Canada. They explored
some of the rivers, fished along the shores, trading with the Indians and hunted for
furs. Norsemen from Norway had settlements in Iceland. Some historians think
that some Irish people tried to live in Eastern Canada about 850 A.D. French and
English explorers came to Canada to look for a passageway to the riches of China
and the Orient. They were not very interested in what they found there – trees,
animals, fish and difficult living conditions. Instead of sending experienced
farmers and craftsmen, both countries sent the poor and homeless to Canada. These
people could not set up strong settlements. For the next 60 years, fur was the main
interest in Canada. The fur traders and the women who came to be their wives,
became the first European settlers and explorers of the new land.

The Canadian Flag

The Canadian flag was first raised on top of the Peace Tower on Parliament
Hill in Otawa, on February 15, 1965. More than 2,600 designs for a flag had been
sent in to the Canadian government. There were other flags before this one, but
they all looked like the British flag. The red and white flag with the Maple leaf in
the middle is the first distinctly Canadian flag. Red and white have been Canada’s
official colours since 1921. The Maple Leaf has been a symbol of Canada since the
1700s.
 The Governor General and the Queen each have their own personal Canadian
flags. Whenever they are in canada, their flags fly over the buildings that they stay
in. The queen is the Canadian Head of State. The Governor General is her
representative in Canada.

The canadian Coat of Arms

The fleur-de-lis is a symbol of Canada’s historic connection to France. There
are fleurs-de-lis on Canada’s Coat of Arms and on the provincial flag of Quebec.
The Union Jack and the Royal Crown appear as symbols on provincial flags
and Coats of Arms. They represent the historic connection between Great Britain
and Canada.

A GLIMPS OF AUSTRALIA

General Information
The Commonwealth of Australia is a self-governing federal country. Australia
is the smallest continent, it is often called subcontinent. It is 30 times bigger than
Great Britain. The total area of the country is 7 000 000 sq. km. Only 17 million
people live there. 90% of them live on the coast, therefore the centre is almost
empty.
Australia is today an independent menber of the Commonwealth, self-
governing since January 1, 1901. There are 6 states and an island Tasmania: New
South Wales, Northern Territory, Queenland, South Australia, Victoria and
Western Australia. The capital of the country is Canberra. Federal government
works in Canberra. The biggest cities in Australia are Sydneyand Melbourne
Australian national flag consists of five white stars of the Southern Cross
and the white Commonwealth star on a blue background with Union Jack that
represents the historical link with Britain.
Australia is the country of the Aboriginal people. They understand the land
and have never tried to control it. They can survive on the land better than any
other people.
 The most famous building in Australia is the Sydney Opera House. Australia
has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. The beach is a way of life for
many Australians. Sydney has one of Australia’s most famous beaches. Bondi
Beach is famous for surfing and is a popular place for many tourists and
inhabitants to go on Christmas Day and have a barbecue.
There are many animals in Australia that it is impossible to find anywhere else
in the world. The most famous ones are kangaroos, koalas, wild dog which kills
other animals at night, and many parrots.
Australian climate is dry and warm, even hot. Australian seasons are the
antithesis of those in Europe and Northern America because Australia is south of
the Equator: summer starts in December (ends in February), autumn in March
(ends in May), winter in June (ends in August), spring in September ( ends in
November).
Seasonal variations are not extreme and temperature seldom drops below zero
on the mainland except in the mountains. The Blue Mountains are covered with
forests of blue coloured eucalyptus trees and when the sun shines, the air of the
Blue Mountains is a real, beautiful blue colour.
There are many lakes in the country, though this country is called the country
of desserts. South Australia is the driest of all the states. The only big river here is
the Murray River.
Tasmania is an island in south part of Australia. It is not big. It’s the same size
as England. There are no deserts in Tasmania. It often rains, both in winter and
summer. Only a half of million people live in Tasmania, and a large part of the
island is still covered with wild forests.
Australia is an industrial country. It is famous for its coal, nickel, zinc, gold. It
exports wool production, meat, fruit and sugar.

NEW ZEALAND
The British colony of New Zealand became an independent state in 1907. It
supported the UK militarily in both World Wars.
New Zealand is a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of
Australia. The total territory of New Zealand is 268, 680 sq. km. Its climate is
temperate. The landscape of the country is mountainous with some large coastal
plains. The highest point is Mount Cook 3, 764 meters. Natural resources are
natural gas, iron, ore, sand, coal, timber, gold.
The population of New Zealand is about 3, 910,000. About 80% of the
population lives in cities.
English, Maori are both official state languages of the country.
Independence Day is celebrated on September, 26.
Government type is parliamentary democracy. Administrative divisions is the
flollowing: 93 counties, 9 districts, and 3 town districts.
Since 6 February 1952 the chief of the state is Queen Elizabeth II, represented
by Governor General.
New Zealand is a country that has volcanoes, mountains, tropical forests and
rivers of ice.
The aborigines of New Zealand are the Maoris. They call New Zealand the
Land of the Long White Cloud. Most population of New Zealand lives on the
North Island. The biggest cities of NZ are Auckland, Christchrch and Wellington.
Wellington is the capital of NZ since 1865, and one of the biggest ports.
Auckland or the former capital is the largest city of the state.
South Island is larger than the North Island. There are the highest mountains
called Alps, lakes, fiords in this part of the country. Here there is the Sunderland
Falls, where water drops form the height of 6 hundred meters.
The climate is mild at all seasons. There is no much difference of temperature
between winter and summer. North Island is where the Maoris had lived hundreds
of years before the white man came.
The first colonists appeared on the present territory of Wellington in 1840.
They called their settlement Britania. By the year 1842, there were 3 700 colonists
in the settlement of Britania and later it was renamed into Wellington.

ENGLISH OVERSEAS

Geographically, English is the most widespread language on Earth, second

only to Chinese in the number of people who speak it. It is the language of
business, technology, sport, and aviation. Outside the UK and the Republic of
Ireland, English is an important language in many countries, and the major
language of four – the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Despite the great
distances separating these five English-speaking communities from each other
and from the British Isles and great social and cultural differences between them,
the forms of English which they use remain mutually understandable.
However, there were a number of points of difference in spelling between the
English of the USA and that of Great Britain. The other countries follow the
British mode. The major differences are in pronunciation, and, to a lesser degree,
in vocabulary and grammar.
Canadian English is subject to the conflicting influences of British and
American English. On the whole British English has literary influences, while
American has a spoken one. There are no important differences in written form
between the British English and that of Australia, New Zealand, or South Africa.
The literary language of the four countries is virtually identical. Grammatically,
too, the English of all four is relatively uniform, except that each has developed its
own colloquial idioms. Thus it is in the everyday spoken language that main
differences lie.

British English
The term British English is used by linguists to contrast the form of English
used in Britain with American English, and also with Australian English,
Canadian an so on.
British English is English used throughout the UK, but it is understood as the
English of England, especially that of southeast England as used by the upper and
middle classes.
Other varieties are seen as modified, usually less acceptable forms.
Modern dialects have roots in Old English or Middle English. Dialects are
characterized by use of nonstandard forms such as double negative structures, e.g.
I don’t want none, variant pronouns such as hisself, theirselves.
Most British people can recognize Cockney, someone born in the East End of
London. Altough this name is given to anyone who speaks like a Londoner.
Cockneys change certain vowel sounds so that the vowel sound in late becomes
more like that in light. They pronounce day as [dai] instead of [dei], may as [mai]
instead of [mei]. Characteristics of a Cockney accent include dropping the letter
“h”, e.g. ‘ouse for house. They pronounce head like [ed], how like [au].
These and other peculiarities of cockney pronunciation are very well described
by the great British playright Bernard Shaw in his Pygmalion.
Scottish dialect expressions that are well known to English people are: aye for
eyes, wee for little, I dinna ken for I don’t know.
In Wales dialect usages unclude bolo for man, look you for you see. Well known
Irish dialect forms include would you be after wanting for do you want.

American English.
Today, there are some differences in vocabulary, pronunciation, and spelling
between American and British English. Sometimes, the differences in spelling are
because Americans wanted to make things simpler, so that a word would be
spelled the way it is pronounced.
Grammar
a) Americans use Past Simple in some cases where British people use Present
Perfect, ( He just went home. He has just gone home.)
b) Americans use the verb “have” a little differently in some cases.
( Do you have a problem? Have you got a problem?)
c) The following verbs are different in AE and BE. ( Burn, dream, learn,
smell, spoil). They are regular in AE, while in BE they are irregular.
d) There are some differences in the use of propositions. ( meet with smb –
AE; meet smb – BE. Stay home – AE; stay at home – BE. Protest smth –
AE; protest against smth – BE.
Spelling
a) in AE final – l is not usually doubled in an unstressed position: traveler,
leveling.
b) Some words end in – ter in AE and in – tre in BE: center – centre, theater
– theatre.
 c) Some words end in – or in AE but in – our in BE: color – colour, behavior
– behaviour.

Pronunciation
a) Americans pronounce [ ] where British people pronounce [a:]: can’t, fast,
glass, class.
b) In BE “r” is pronounces before a vowel. In AE it is pronounced in all
positions in a word: car, turn, offer.
c) In AE the sound [ju:] after s,t,d,n, is replaced by [u:]: duke, due, reduce.

Canadian English
Canada is officially a bilingual country. English and French are both official
languages, but only 12 per cent of the population is bilingual. 60 per cent speaks
English, 27 per cent are Frencch speaking. The rest speaks other languages such as
Eskimo, Indian, German, Ukrainian and Italian.
The most surprising thing about the English currently used now in Canada is its
homogeneity. Regional differences exist, but they are subtle. Almost any American
can detect a Canadian in a few minutes’ talk; and a Canadian can recognize most
Americans.
Canadian speech has tended to preserve a national identity. The Canadians
listen to the American radio stations, see mainly American films, read American
magazines and fiction. Neverthrless, strong as the American influence is it has its
limits. The most important limit is set by growing national self-confidence in
Canada. Some counter-balance to American influence has also been provided by
Canadian participation in two world wars. Young Canadians served for various
periods, usually alongside troops from the UK. They brought back a rich
vocabulary of English idioms and slang.
Australian English
Australian English differ from ordinary English both in vocabulary and in
pronunciation so that the term “Australian English” is useful and legitimate. But
Australian English is still English, and the vocabulary, even of colloquial
conversation, is not very different from that of educated Southern English.
 Many terms, such as kangaroo, boomerang, dingo come from the Aboriginal
language and many others from the Cockney dialect spoken by the first settlers, the
Londoners.
There are many extensions of the word bush. A person lost or unable to find his
way can be said to be bushed. Ropeable means angry. The term derives from an
animal so excited and wild that it had to be roped.
There are two types of Australian speech – Broad Australian and Educated
Australian. Broad Australian is not Cockney. Australian English is particularly
interesting for its rich store of highly colloquial words and expressions. Australian
colloquialisms often involve shortening a word: smoko (from smoking) means “tea
or coffee break; beaut (short for “beautiful”) means “great”. Because of the
current popularity of Australian TV programmes and films, British people are now
using some of these words too.
New Zealand English
The differences between New Zealanders and Britons are subtle and not easy
to detect. The non-Maori New Zealander has a skin the color of a white man, he
speaks the same language, though with a different accent and with a few
unfamilliar words. He dresses in the same manner, though more informally.
You will seldom hear the word “Sir” in New Zealand. An introducing in NZ
will go like this: “Bill, this is Jack Green”. Bill will grasp your hand and say:
“How are you, Jack?”. If he calls you “Mr. Green”, there is probably something
wrong with you.
A large number of people, born and bred in NZ, speak English as correctly as
the best speakers in England.
Among the pioneers, and especially among those who became the first school
teachers, there were many people who came from London and spoke with what is
called a Cockney accent. The result, when in the long run a homogeneous manner
of speech had been developed throughout the country, was that this type of
pronunciation prevailed, and both the various dialects, the Scottish, the Irish and
the more correct type were more or less completely submerged. There is also a
tendency to speak too fast, to run the words together into a confusion in which the
individual sounds are indistinguishable.