Exploring the links between the evolution of American English and a revolution in the country
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Although English is the most widely spoken language across the globe adopted by people in different parts of the world with their own dialects, pronunciation and slang, the ways in which the British and Americans speak it are most popular. Both US and Britain have different spellings, pronunciations, and even meanings attached to the same words, and official communication in English across the globe is primarily divided between these two. But few people know that American English gained its distinct form through changes that date back to the time when the United States became independent on July 4, 1776. But the evolution that led to this began even before the Declaration of Independence was signed and the first of the American colonies were established in the 17th century, per IFL Science.
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According to The International Center for Language Studies, the British colonizers introduced the English language to the Americans when they reached the continent on their ships from different parts of Europe back in the 16th century. However, there were no standardized English spellings until Noah Webster published his first dictionary in 1806. But English scholars had been publishing their own dictionaries even before that, and many alleged that Webster had altered spellings of several words to create a distinct American version. It was possibly one of the ways for the Americans to demonstrate their freedom from the British rulers.
One of the first distinctions between American and British English was found in a 1699 travel book called "A Trip to New England" by English writer Edward Ward. "Notwithstanding their sanctity, they [the New Englanders] are very profane in their common dialect," Ward wrote in his book. While the British considered American English to be a "sloppy" version of their mother tongue, the evolution in the American pronunciation of English and syllables continued. According to IFL Science, British geographer Francis Moore made a comment in 1735 regarding the way people speak the language in the "New World."
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“It stands upon the flat of a Hill; the Bank of the River (which they in barbarous English call a bluff) is steep," he said back then while referring to the town of Georgia where he observed people speak English. John Witherspoon, a Scottish churchman and one of the Founding Fathers who signed the Declaration of Independence, revealed in 1781 how he wasn't a fan of the English language getting reshaped in America either. “I have heard in this country, in the senate, at the bar, and from the pulpit, and see daily in dissertations from the press, errors in grammar, improprieties, and vulgarisms which hardly any person of the same class in point of rank and literature would have fallen into in Great Britain,” Witherspoon wrote five years after the declaration was signed.
According to Time Magazine, British and American English continued to grow apart over time. At one point, Webster made a controversial remark. “Great Britain, whose children we are,” he claimed. “And whose language we speak, should no longer be our standard for the taste of her writers is already corrupted and her language on the decline.” Following that, American English has remained distinct with its pronunciations and spellings that separate it from British English to this day.
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In addition to spellings, Britannica mentioned that there are "grammatical differences too which are less important and harder to describe." One of the common distinctions between the two forms is that most words ending in -our in British English are spelled without the u in American English.