American English - Revision history

ArianTazwer: Created page with "{{Short description|Variety of English language}} {{Rdf|U.S. English|Americans in England|the English language throughout North America|North American English||English American}} {{Use American English|date=March 2017}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}} {{Infobox language | name = American English | region = United States | speakers = 247.7 million, all varieties of English in the U.S. | date = 2024 | ref =
2025-11-07T10:14:55Z

Created page with "{{Short description|Variety of English language}} {{Rdf|U.S. English|Americans in England|the English language throughout North America|North American English||English American}} {{Use American English|date=March 2017}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}} {{Infobox language | name = American English | region = United States | speakers = 247.7 million, all varieties of English in the U.S. | date = 2024 | ref = <ref..."

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{{Short description|Variety of English language}}
{{Rdf|U.S. English|Americans in England|the English language throughout North America|North American English||English American}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2017}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox language
| name = American English
| region = [[United States]]
| speakers = 247.7 million, all varieties of English in the U.S.
| date = 2024
| ref = <ref name="Explore Census Data">{{cite web |url=https://data.census.gov/table/ACSST1Y2024.S1601?q=language |title=S1601: Language Spoken at Home |author=U.S. Census Bureau |date=2025-09-14 |website=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=2025-09-14}}</ref>
| speakers2 =
| familycolor = Indo-European
| fam2 = [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
| fam3 = [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]]
| fam4 = [[North Sea Germanic]]
| fam5 = [[Anglo-Frisian languages|Anglo–Frisian]]
| fam6 = [[Anglic languages|Anglic]]
| fam7 = [[English language|English]]
| fam8 = [[North American English]]
| ancestor = [[Old English]]
| ancestor2 = [[Middle English]]
| ancestor3 = [[Early Modern English]]
| dia1 = [[Southern American English|Southern]]
| dia2 = [[African-American Vernacular English|African-American]]
| dia3 = [[Western American English|Western]]
| dia4 = [[New England English|New England]]
| dia5 = [[Western Pennsylvania English|Western Pennsylvania]]
| dia6 = [[North-Central American English|North-Central]]
| dia7 = [[New York City English|New York City]]
| dia8 = [[Midland American English|Midland]]
| dia9 = [[Philadelphia English|Philadelphia]]
| dia10 = [[Northern American English|Northern]]
| dia11 = [[American Indian English|American Indian]]
| dia12 = [[Pennsylvania Dutch English|Pennsylvania Dutch]]
| dia13 = [[Cajun English|Cajun]]
| dia14 = [[Chicano English|Chicano]]
| dia15 = [[Miami accent|Miami]]
| dia16 = [[New York Latino English|New York Latino]]
| dia17 = [[California English|Californian]]
| nation = United States{{efn|Federal government (''de facto''), 32 U.S. states, five U.S. territories; see [[Languages of the United States#Official languages|article]].}}
| script = {{Ubl
| {{nowrap|[[Latin script|Latin]] ([[English alphabet]])}}
| [[Unified English Braille]]<ref name=braille>{{cite web|url=http://www.brailleauthority.org/ueb.html|title=Unified English Braille (UEB)|author=|date=November 2, 2016|publisher=Braille Authority of North America (BANA)|access-date=January 2, 2017|archive-date=November 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161123220211/http://www.brailleauthority.org/ueb.html}}</ref>}}
| isoexception = dialect
| glotto = none
| ietf = {{wikidata|property|references|P305}}
| notice = IPA
| image = File:English USC2000 PHS.svg
| imagealt = Map of the geographic distribution of American English in the United States.
}}
'''American English''', sometimes called '''United States English''' or '''U.S. English''',{{Efn|American English is variously abbreviated '''AmE''', '''AE''', '''AmEng''', '''USEng''', and '''en-US'''.{{Efn|name=fn2}}}} is the set of [[variety (linguistics)|varieties]] of the [[English language]] native to the [[United States]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Crystal |first=David |author-link=David Crystal |year=1997 |url=https://archive.org/details/englishasgloball0000crys_j7o0 |url-access=registration |title=English as a Global Language |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-53032-3}}</ref> English is the [[Languages of the United States|most widely spoken language in the U.S.]] and is an official language in 32 of the 50 [[U.S. state]]s. It is the ''[[de facto]]'' common language used in government, education, and commerce in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and in all territories except [[Puerto Rico]].<ref name="WestVirginia"/> ''[[De jure]]'', there is no official language in the U.S. at the [[Federal government of the United States|federal level]], as there is no federal law designating any language to be official. However, [[Executive Order 14224]] of 2025 declared English to be the official language of the U.S., and English is recognized as such by federal agencies.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2025-03-01 |title=Designating English as the Official Language of The United States |url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/designating-english-as-the-official-language-of-the-united-states/ |access-date=2025-07-10 |work=[[The White House]]}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2025-03-02 |title=Trump makes English official language of US |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2kgq5pzpllo |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> Since the late 20th century, American English has become the most influential form of English worldwide.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Engel |first=Matthew |year=2017 |title=That's the Way It Crumbles: The American Conquest of English |url=https://archive.org/details/thatswayitcrumbl0000enge |url-access=registration |location=London |publisher=Profile Books |isbn=978-1-78283-262-1 |oclc=989790918}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=July 20, 2017 |title=Fears of British English's disappearance are overblown |url=https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2017/07/20/fears-of-british-englishs-disappearance-are-overblown |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613 |access-date=April 18, 2019}}</ref><ref name=bbc>{{Cite web |last=Harbeck |first=James |date=July 15, 2015 |title=Why isn't 'American' a language? |url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150715-why-isnt-american-a-language |publisher=BBC Culture |language=en-GB |access-date=April 18, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Reddy |first=C Rammanohar |date=August 6, 2017 |title=The Readers' Editor writes: Why Is American English Becoming Part of Everyday Usage in India? |url=https://scroll.in/article/846112/the-readers-editor-writes-why-is-american-english-becoming-part-of-everyday-usage-in-india |access-date=April 18, 2019 |publisher=Scroll.in |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Cookies or biscuits? Data shows use of American English is growing the world over |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/more-lifestyle/cookies-or-biscuits-data-shows-use-of-american-english-is-growing-the-world-over/story-0j23x5n3jYiF3cTDJm3R0O.html |work=[[Hindustan Times]] |date=July 17, 2017 |agency=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=September 10, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gonçalves |first1=Bruno |last2=Loureiro-Porto |first2=Lucía |last3=Ramasco |first3=José J. |last4=Sánchez |first4=David |title=Mapping the Americanization of English in Space and Time |journal=PLOS ONE |date=May 25, 2018 |volume=13 |issue=5 |article-number=e0197741 |arxiv=1707.00781 |bibcode=2018PLoSO..1397741G |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0197741 |doi-access=free |pmid=29799872 |pmc=5969760}}</ref>

Varieties of American English include many patterns of [[pronunciation]], [[vocabulary]], [[grammar]], and particularly [[spelling]] that are unified nationwide but distinct from other forms of English around the world.{{sfn|Kretzchmar|2004|pages=262–263}} Any [[North American English|American or Canadian]] accent perceived as lacking noticeably local, [[Ethnicity|ethnic]], or cultural [[markedness|markers]] is known in [[linguistics]] as [[General American]];<ref name=":0" /> it covers a fairly uniform [[dialect continuum|accent continuum]] native to certain regions of the U.S. but especially associated with broadcast [[mass media]] and highly educated speech. However, historical and present linguistic evidence does not support the notion of there being one single mainstream American [[Accent (sociolinguistics)|accent]].{{sfn|Labov|2012|pp=1–2}}{{sfn|Kretzchmar|2004|page=262}} The sound of American English continues to evolve, with some local accents disappearing, but several larger regional accents having emerged in the 20th century.<ref name="PBS">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/speak/ahead/|title=''Do You Speak American?'': What Lies Ahead?|publisher=PBS|access-date=August 15, 2007}}</ref>

==History==
The use of English in the United States is a result of [[British colonization of the Americas]]. The first wave of English-speaking settlers arrived in [[North America]] during the early 17th century, followed by further migrations in the 18th and 19th centuries. During the 17th and 18th centuries, dialects from many different regions of [[England]] and the [[British Isles]] existed in every American colony, allowing a process of extensive [[Dialect levelling|dialect leveling]] and [[koineization|mixing]] in which English varieties across the [[Thirteen Colonies]] became more homogeneous compared with the varieties in the British Isles.{{sfn|Kretzchmar|2004|pp=258–9}}{{sfn|Longmore|2007|pp=517, 520}} English thus predominated in the colonies even by the end of the 17th century's first immigration of non-English speakers from [[Western Europe]] and [[Africa]].

Firsthand descriptions of a fairly uniform American English (particularly in contrast to the diverse regional dialects of British English) became common after the mid-18th century,{{sfn|Longmore|2007|p=537}} while at the same time speakers' identification with this new variety increased.<ref name = "Paulsen2022">{{Cite book
| vauthors=Paulsen I
| title = The emergence of American English as a discursive variety Tracing enregisterment processes in nineteenth-century U.S. newspapers
| place = Berlin
| publisher = Language Science Press
| date = 2022
| format = pdf
| url = http://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/341
| doi = 10.5281/zenodo.6207627
| doi-access = free
| isbn = 978-3-96110-338-6
}}
</ref>
Since the 18th century, American English has developed into some new varieties, including regional dialects that retain minor influences from waves of immigrant speakers of diverse languages, primarily European languages.<ref name="Hickey">Hickey, R. (2014). ''Dictionary of varieties of English''. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 25.</ref><ref name=bbc/>

Some racial and regional variation in American English reflects these groups' patterns of geographic settlement, segregation, and resettlement. This can be seen, for example, in the influence of 18th-century Protestant [[Ulster Scots people|Ulster Scots]] immigrants (known in the U.S. as the [[Scotch-Irish Americans|Scotch-Irish]]) in [[Appalachia]] developing [[Appalachian English]] and the 20th-century [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]] bringing [[African-American Vernacular English]] to the [[Great Lakes region|Great Lakes]] urban centers.<ref name="Hickey"/><ref>Mufwene, Salikoko S. (1999). "North American Varieties of English as Byproducts of Population Contacts." ''The Workings of Language: From Prescriptions to Perspectives.'' Ed. Rebecca Wheeler Westport, CT: Praeger, 15–37.</ref>

==Phonology==
{{main|General American}}
{{see also|American and British English pronunciation differences|Comparison of General American and Received Pronunciation}}
===General American===
Most American English accents fall under an umbrella known as [[General American]]. Rather than one particular accent, General American is a spectrum of those American accents that Americans themselves do not associate with some particular region, ethnicity, or socioeconomic group. General American features are used most by Americans in formal contexts or who are highly educated. Regional accents whose native features are perceived as General American include the accents of the North Midland (parts of the Midwest), Western New England, and the West.

The General American sound system's scope of influence and degree of expansion has been debated by linguists since the term was first used roughly a century ago. Many late-20th and early-21st century studies are showing that it is gradually ousting the regional accents in urban areas of the South and the interior North, New York City, Philadelphia, and many other areas. It can generally be said that younger Americans are avoiding their traditional local features in favor of this more nationwide norm. Furthermore, even General American itself appears to be evolving, with linguists identifying new features in speakers born since the last quarter of the 20th century, like a [[cot-caught merger|merger of the low-back vowels]] and a potentially [[low-back-merger shift|related vowel shift]], that are spreading across the nation.

===Phonological features===
Phonological (accent) features that are typical of American dialects—in contrast to British dialects—include features that concern consonants, such as [[Rhoticity in English|rhoticity]] (pronunciation of all historical {{IPA|/r/}} sounds), [[flapping|T and D flapping]] (with ''metal'' and ''medal'' pronounced the same, as {{IPA|[ˈmɛɾɫ̩]}}), [[dark L|velarization of L]] in all contexts (with ''filling'' pronounced {{IPA|[ˈfɪɫɪŋ]}}, not {{IPA|[ˈfɪlɪŋ]}}), and [[yod-dropping]] after [[alveolar consonant]]s (with ''new'' pronounced {{IPA|/nu/}}, not {{IPA|/nju/}}). Like many British accents, [[T glottalization]] is the norm in American accents, though only in particular [[phonetic environment|environments]] (with ''satin'' pronounced {{IPA|[ˈsæʔn̩]}}, not {{IPA|[ˈsætn̩]}}).<ref name="Wells 1982"/>

American features that concern vowel sounds include various [[vowel merger]]s before {{IPA|/r/}} (so that ''Mary'', ''marry'', and ''merry'' are all commonly [[Mary–marry–merry merger|pronounced the same]]), raising and gliding of pre-nasal {{IPA|/æ/}} (with ''man'' having a higher and tenser vowel sound than ''map''), the [[weak vowel merger]] (with ''affecting'' and ''effecting'' often pronounced the same), and at least one of the {{sc2|LOT}} vowel mergers. Specifically, the [[father–bother merger|{{sc2|LOT}}–{{Sc2|PALM}} merger]] is complete among most Americans and the [[cot-caught merger|{{sc2|LOT}}–{{Sc2|THOUGHT}} merger]] among roughly half. A three-way {{sc2|LOT}}–{{sc2|PALM}}–{{Sc2|THOUGHT}} merger is also very common.<ref name="Wells 1982">{{Accents of English|242–248|hide2=y|hide3=y}}</ref><ref>Vaux, Bert; Golder, Scott (2003). "[http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/q_28.html Do you pronounce 'cot' and 'çaught' the same?]" The Harvard Dialect Survey. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Linguistics Department.</ref> Most Americans pronounce the [[diphthong]] {{IPA|/aɪ/}} before a [[voiceless consonant]] different from that same vowel before a [[voiced consonant]]: thus, in ''price'' and ''bright'' versus in ''prize'' and ''bride''. For many, outside the South, the first element of the diphthong is a higher and shorter vowel sound when in pre-voiceless position as opposed to pre-voiced position. All of these phenomena are explained in further detail under General American.

Studies on historical usage of English in both the United States and the United Kingdom suggest that, while spoken American English deviated away from [[Early Modern English|period British English]] in many ways, it is [[Linguistic conservatism|conservative]] in a few other ways, preserving certain features 20th- and 21st-century [[British English]] has since lost: namely, rhoticity. Unlike American accents, the [[Received Pronunciation|traditional standard accent]] of (southern) England has evolved a [[trap–bath split|''trap–bath'' split]]. Moreover, American accents preserve {{IPA|/h/}} at the start of syllables, while perhaps a majority of the regional dialects of England participate in [[H-dropping|/h/ dropping]], particularly in informal contexts.

==Vocabulary==
{{main|American English vocabulary|American English regional vocabulary}}
{{see also|Comparison of American and British English#Vocabulary}}

The process of developing new lexical items began as soon as [[British English|British]] English-speaking colonists in North America began borrowing names for unfamiliar flora, fauna, and topography from the [[Native American languages]].<ref name="Skeat">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_M7kCAAAAIAAJ |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_M7kCAAAAIAAJ/page/n1 1] |quote=moose etymology. |title=Principles of English etymology: The native element – Walter William Skeat |publisher=At the Clarendon Press |access-date=June 1, 2015|last1=Skeat |first1=Walter William |year=1892 }}</ref> Examples of such names are ''[[Virginia opossum|opossum]], [[raccoon]], [[squash (fruit)|squash]]'', ''[[moose]]'' (from [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]]),<ref name="Skeat" /> ''[[wigwam]]'', and ''[[moccasin]]''. American English speakers have integrated traditionally non-English terms and expressions into the mainstream cultural lexicon; for instance, ''[[en masse]]'', from [[French language|French]]; ''[[cookie]]'', from [[Dutch Language|Dutch]]; ''[[kindergarten]]'' from [[German language|German]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://german.about.com/library/blvoc_gerloan.htm|title=You Already Know Some German Words!|website=About.com|access-date=January 9, 2017|archive-date=June 7, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607060111/http://german.about.com/library/blvoc_gerloan2.htm}}</ref> and ''[[rodeo]]'' from [[Spanish language|Spanish]].<ref>{{cite thesis |url=http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI9308630/ |title="The history of Mexican folk foodways of South Texas: Street vendors, offal foods" |pages=1–421 |publisher=Repository.upenn.edu |date=January 1, 1992 |access-date=June 1, 2015|last1=Montano |first1=Mario }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ROmDu-bYMRYC&q=rodeo&pg=PA1 |title=What's in a Word?: Etymological Gossip about Some Interesting English Words – Robert M. Gorrell |access-date=June 1, 2015|isbn=978-0-87417-367-3 |last1=Gorrell |first1=Robert M. |year=2001 |publisher=University of Nevada Press }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p1krAAAAYAAJ&q=gaufre%20&pg=PA9|title=The Pocket Gophers of the United States|last=Bailey|first=Vernon|date=1895|publisher=U.S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy|language=en|access-date=June 1, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=osQAtpUtDvkC&q=stoop&pg=PR7 |title=The American Language: A Preliminary Inquiry Into the Development of English ... – H. L. Mencken |date= January 1, 2010|access-date=June 1, 2015|isbn=978-1-61640-259-4 |last1=Mencken |first1=H. L. |publisher=Cosimo }}</ref> Landscape features are often loanwords from French or Spanish, and the word ''[[wikt:corn|corn]]'', used in England to refer to wheat (or any cereal), came to denote the [[maize]] plant, the [[Corn production in the United States|most important crop]] in the U.S.

Other common differences between UK and American English include: ''aerial'' (UK) vs. ''antenna'', ''biscuit'' (UK) vs. ''cookie/cracker'', ''car park'' (UK) vs. ''parking lot'', ''caravan'' (UK) vs. ''trailer'', ''city centre'' (UK) vs. ''downtown'', ''flat'' (UK) vs. ''apartment'', ''fringe'' (UK; for hair hanging over the forehead) vs. ''bangs'', and ''holiday'' (UK) vs. ''vacation''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.studyenglishtoday.net/british-american-english.html|title=British vs. American English – Vocabulary Differences|website=www.studyenglishtoday.net|access-date=April 18, 2019}}{{dead link|date=March 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

Most [[Mexican Spanish]] contributions came after the [[War of 1812]], with the opening of the West, like ''[[ranch]]'' (now a common [[ranch house|house style]]). Due to Mexican culinary influence, many Spanish words are incorporated in general us