Differences Between American English and British English in Lexicology

Abstract

As a universal language, English provides the opportunities for people from different countries to communicate conveniently. As language is changeable, English also develops constantly and produces many kinds of varieties among which, British English and American English are the two important ones. They have great differences in vocabulary, pronunciation grammar, and other aspects. The paper focuses on lexical differences between British English and American English. Although there are differences between them with the development of globalization and communication between the USA and UK, British English and American English are now influencing each other. IntroductionSince May Flower carried the first group of people from European continent to America, they brought their political system, traditional culture, as well as their languages. After that Americans set up their own policy, economy, and culture. During the 17th century, on the basis of British English, Americans created their own English which is now called American English. Although British English and American English are rooted in the same language, there are differences between them in aspects of grammar pronunciation and vocabulary. Therefore, the autor will introduce the difference between English ang British English, such as speeling, homonymy, lexicology, and so on.English retained the part characteristics of British English in vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation in the 17th century. However, due to the Renaissance, the native language of UK has undergone earth-shaking changes to a certain extent, and at the same time, American society still does not have sparked the same change of basic conditions, namely not subjected to the obvious influence of the Renaissance. Therefore, compared with British ZHENG Ling, lecturer, master, Foreign Languages College, Changchun University. DA VID PUBLISHING D DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AMERICAN ENGLISH AND BRITISH ENGLISH IN LEXICOLOGY 624English, American English showed its conservatism and inheritance, retained the language features of British English which have ceased to exist in the Elizabethan. Such as Shakespeare's time, "fall" was commonly used to represent the autumn by British people, and then was replaced by Latin vocabulary "autumn", thus "fall" has lost its meaning, and the plural meaning "waterfall", but "fall" is used today in the United States. Thus it can be seen that American English is conservative, with a certain degree of conservatism. Development of American EnglishCompared with other countries, the United States is the country following the concept of development, namely the concept of immigration has created the United States government. In the process of the formation of