The Formation And Development Of American English

The research to the history of the United States may be from many aspects. In some sense, the development of American English is the portrayal of American history. The American English really recorded the process which America developed, therefore it is particularly important for us to study the American English from the historical perspective.American English is not a separate language, which originates from British English. But in the special historical, cultural and social environment of North America, it has formed a number of unique forms and meanings. With modern linguistics terms, American English is a variant of English which is formed in this special geographic environment and is influenced by the society and culture of the United States in the nearly 400 years. During North American colonial period, America continued to use the British English of the Shakespeare's time. Later, the language was unable to meet the need of expression, therefore it drew on some words from the other nations'vocabularies. As a result, great changes have occurred to the language in this new world.American English and British English have become two different styles of languages through several hundred years of development and changes in their respective societies. Even some Americans claim that their language is not 'English' but 'American English'. Now the differences between American English and British English have appeared in grammar, vocabulary, spelling and pronunciation and etc. With the development of economy, military and other areas of United States, American English is becoming more and more powerful gradually. The development of American English has a variety of factors, but the most important are the following five factors: 1. political independence. Political independence of the United States provided a free space for the development of American English and paved the way for the development of linguistic characteristics of the United States. 2. The national spirit. The American national spirit reflected primarily in the national spirit of optimism, the use of euphemisms, pragmatism and innovative spirit. 3. Historical events. The American English embodied the historical events. 4. Immigrant culture. The United States absorbed the best of the languages from every nation all over the world and added them to their own language. Credit must be given to the immigrant culture which has promoted the development of American English. 5. Indian culture. A large part of American English is from Indian language which has a great influence to American English.Of course, one main reason why English is very popular all over the world today is"power factor". American English is a strong regional English dialect; it is impossible to become completely independent of another language. American English and British English have the same roots, and with the current trend of globalization, through various ways, they are bound to be combined and shorten the gap. The are combined together: You have me and I have you. One main characteristic is that many words created by American have been accepted by British and became one standard part. There are some American words which are gradually accepted by the English. So the two languages are gradually combined and tend to be mingled.The United States is the world's unique superpower. Through various forms, the American culture influences all over the world, most of these forms can not do without the languages. Because the United States lies in the world leader status, and English is widely used in the world, American English still has its obvious advantages in the futureAny language, no matter in what form it exists, is the specific social and historical norms. Language is always developing in human group. The profound change of the United States has left a deep imprint on American English and became a key ingredient in this language. American English recorded the American civilization course of nearly 400 years. American English is like an invisible history books, by the study of which we can know about American history; it is like a chronicle which recorded the rise of a superpower of the North American continent.The development of American Language gives us the enlightenment: from the history of the development of American English, its strong position of American English resulted from its powerful economy. Only by vigorously developing economy, can we develop the nation's language and culture better, and only in this way can China be in a powerful position. I think we should keep up with the international trends to develop our mother tongue ---- Chinese.