Characteristics of American English Characteristics of American English 1 . Creativeness 2 . Conservativeness 3 . Heterogeneity(多相性) 4 . Relative Uniformity in Speech 5 . Popularity of Slang 6 . Preference for Big Words 7 . Verbose and Plain Style in Writing 8 . Vulgarity and Casualness 9 . Simplicity in Word-form Creativity 1 .在旧词的基础上，自由运用词缀或者运用拼缀法(blending)和逆生法(backformation)来创造新词 e.g. debug defog smog brunch come from “smoke” and “fog”come from “breakfast” and “lunch” Creativity 2 .创造一些根本不存在的新词。
e.g. pizzazz cinerama skyscraper (informal) a lively and exciting quality or stylea wide-screen presentation of films a very tall building in a city Conservativeness 美式英语是在1 7世纪英格兰所用的语言，即莎士比亚、弥尔顿、班扬时期所用的语言基础上发展起来的与现在标准的伦敦英语相比，美式英语具有古老性其主要表现在用词方面 e.g. mad(angry) He was mad about losing the chance. guess(suppose/believe/think) I guess you are wrong.另外，美式英语的语音和标准的伦敦音相比，也有点老式，具有1 7和1 8世纪英国英语的特点 Popularity of Slang 在美式英语中，最贴近人们生活和最能反映平民要求与社会生活特征的是俚语俚语的风格新颖时髦，不落俗套，生动诙谐，表达多样 e.g. to badmouth dismiss exhausted to criticizegive sb. the airpooped out Popularity of Slang 不同的社会群体往往有自己特定的生活圈，因此不同的阶层和地区有各自不同的俚语。
College Slang e.g. He is just a booker. (He studies too much.) Youre out of your tree. (Youre out of your mind.)为了赶时髦，俚语常常更新，从而有大量的同义词出现 e.g. money TV set dough/jack/peanuts/beanstelly/the box/idiot box/the one eyed monster To sum up, as the numbers and power of American speakers of English grew, so the US began to be an independent center for the global diffusion of the English language. The emergence of American English was closely related to social customs and national characters. This uniqueness makes it possible for American English to thrive and to innovate. Differences between AmE and BrE American English and British English are the two foremost varieties of the English language and serve as reference norms for other varieties. They have often been compared and contrasted. Nevertheless, it is true that American and British English, in their spoken forms, are rarely mutually problematic. Differences in pronunciationDifferences in spellingDifferences in vocabulary and idiomDifferences in grammar Differences in pronunciationWordCarTiresomeFastFogFragile BrE AmE k: krtasm tarsmf:st fstfg f:gfrdal frdl Differences in spelling-our/-or-re/-er-l/-ll-ise/-ize-ce/-se Colour ColorCentre CenterFulfill FulfilRealise RealizeDefence Defense Other examplesBrE AmEOmelette OmeletProgramme ProgramTyre TireChinese煎蛋饼程序、节目轮胎 Differences in vocabulary and idiomChinese十亿眼镜一楼中学句号BrE AmEThousand million BillionSpectacles EyeglassesGround floor First floorSecondary school High schoolFull stop Period Differences in grammar(Time expressions)BrE 1 st May, 2 0 1 8 1 /5 /1 8 The first of May, twenty eighteen AmE May1 , 2 0 1 8 5 /1 /1 8 May the first , twenty eighteen Differences in grammar(Perfective forms)BrE Have you eaten yet? They have already left. Ive just seen him in the lobby. AmE Did you eat yet? They left already. I just saw him in the lobby. Thank you! 。