【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 : British EnglishAmerican Englishtomato[t?180。ma:t?u][t?180。met?u]clerk[kla:k][kl?:rk]schedule[180。skedзju:l][180。skεdзul]vase[va:z][veis]。 [veiz] Dissimilarities in IntonationGenerally speaking, British people speak at fast pace with rich tone so that some words may be not pronounced clearly. Being pared with British people, American people are relatively slow and always have clear enunciation with small fluctuation. In intonation it is generally agreed that American English is flatter than British English. [J].海外英語, 2011, (5): 325. In other words, this means that British intonation is singsong while American intonation tends to be flat and monotonous. Dissimilarities in SpellingIn the process of English learning, the spelling of words is essential and inevitable. There are two major dissimilarities between British English and American English in spelling: one is the difference in some individual letters。 the other is the simpler spelling form in American English. It can be summed up as follows:1) The omission of silent letters “ue” in American spelling, such as“目錄”catalogue (BrE) amp。 catalog (AmE), “對(duì)話”dialogue (BrE) amp。 dialog (AmE), “序言”prologue (BrE) amp。 prolog (AmE).2) The omission of silent letters “u” in American spelling, such as“顏色” colour (BrE) amp。 color (AmE),“喜愛”favourite (BrE) amp。 favorite (AmE),“舉止、行為”behaviour (BrE) amp。 behavior (AmE), “勞動(dòng)”labour (BrE) amp。 labor (AmE).3) In British spelling, words end with “re”, while “er” in American spelling, such as British English“re”American English“er”centrecenterfibrefiberkilometrekilometertheatretheater4) Some words end with “se” in British English, while “ze” in American English, such asBritish English“se”American English“ze”analyseanalyzememorisememorizeorganiseorganizecivilisecivilizerecogniserecognize5) Some words end with “ence” in British English, “ense” in American English, such as“防御”defence (BrE) amp。 defense (AmE),“執(zhí)照”licence (BrE) amp。 license (AmE),“犯法行為”offence (BrE) amp。 offense (AmE).6) In American English, if the suffix “l(fā)” is unstressed syllable, it is usually don’t need double write, while British English “l(fā)” need double write. For example: traveling(AmE) amp。 travelling(BrE), leveling(AmE)amp。 levelling(BrE), quarreler(AmE) amp。quarreller(BrE), marveled (AmE) amp。 marvelled(BrE).7) The suffix “gramme” is used in British English while “gram” in American English. BrE: centigramme, decigramme, milligramme AmE: centigram, decigram, milligram 8) “xion” in British English while “ction” in American English. Examples: “關(guān)系”connextion (BrE) amp。 connection (AmE), “膚色”plexion (BrE) amp。 plection (AmE), “反映”reflexion (BrE) amp。 reflection (AmE). Dissimilarities in VocabularyWhen speaking about the lexical differences between British English and American English, they can be summarized as three points: ① same word express different meaning。 ② same meaning use different word。 ③ special words. For the sake of knowing the differences, here provide long lists of word pairs:1) Same word express different meaningBritish EnglishAmerican Englishdate日期約會(huì)corn谷物、小麥玉米dresser櫥柜化妝師overalls與皮靴相匹配的緊身褲寬松的工裝褲GallonPint20液量盎司16液量盎司Billion萬億十億2) Same meaning use different wordChineseBritish EnglishAmerican English飛機(jī)場aerodromeairport汽油petrolgas商店shopstore糖果sweetscandy秋天autumnfall公寓apartmentflat電梯liftelevator褲子trouserspaints垃圾箱dustbintrashcan公用電話亭call boxtelephone booth郵寄postmail大學(xué)一年級(jí)新生the first year studentfreshman生病illsick天線aerialantenna人行道pavementsidewalk罐頭tincan水龍頭tapfaucet地鐵undergroundsubway鐵路railwayrailroad汽車motor(car)automobile3) Special wordsThrough the process of development, British and American gradually absorb other cultures so that they have produced many new words for their own use. Since there exist great difference between Britain and America in climate, some words about geographical characteristics, animals and plants are only American English, such as everglades(美國佛羅里達(dá)洲南部的大沼澤地), canyon(峽谷), caribou(北美的馴鹿), sequoia(美國加州的紅杉), sagebrush(艾灌叢). Due to the difference of political system, the words like statehouse(州議會(huì)大樓), electoralcollege(選舉團(tuán)), and division(選區(qū)) are only used in American English. Whereas, British is a parliamentary monarchy so that words like prince(王子), duke(公爵), marquis(侯爵), count(伯爵), viscount(子爵), baron(男爵) and so on, those words only appear in British English. Dissimilarities in GrammarGenerally speaking, grammar teaching is the top priority of the second foreign language teaching. In order to master one foreign language and bee proficient in using it, the knowledge of grammar is absolutely necessary. In linguistics, grammar is the series of structural rules that governs the position of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often plemented by phonetics, semantics, and pragmatics. Linguists do not normally use the term to refer to orthographical rules, although usage books and style guides that call themselves grammars may also refer to spelling and punctuation. There are some dissimilarities between British English and American English, the main points are as follows: Dissimilarities in Certain verbs1) Past participles: The past participle for “get” in British English is “got” while American English has two: “got” amp。 “gotten”. For example: Have you got her umbrella? (BrE)。 Have you gotten her umbrella? (AmE)Some words’ past participles in American often use “d” while British use “t”. Examples are as follows:British EnglishAmerican Englishleapleaptleapedlearnlearntlearnedburnburntburneddwelldweltdwelled2) The use of “have”In Br