Americanisms: Linguistic Frameworks Flashcards
What are Americanisms?
Americanisms are in short American Standard Forms that are different to the British Standard.
Give me an example of Americanism in terms of Discourse?
Colloquialisms such as ‘y’all’, ‘rad’ and ‘tubular’
Give me an example of an Americanism in terms of graphology?
Orthographically, Americanisms change some of their spellings
Such as adding ‘u’ in nouns like ‘colour’, changing the consonant s to z in n nouns like ‘standardize’ or ‘conversationlization’.
Give me an example of an Americanism in terms of Lexis and Semantics?
Americanisms have different names for different types of things. For example, in the lexical field of food there are ‘bagels’ (for donuts), ‘eggplants’ (for zucchini), & ‘candy (for sweets)
Give me 2 differences in Grammar with ASE.
• In terms of Grammar, ASE tends to use the simple past for recent actions in the present for e.g. ‘I broke your nose. Will you forgive me? Comparison to BSE. Where they would present perfect.
What is the notable pronunciation difference that was found in New York Department Study?
The rhetoric overt prestige “R” does not touch anywhere in the mouth it acts similarly to a vowel.
Give me all the four variations of the ‘T’ variation.
Firstly, at the beginning of the word the pronunciation of ‘T’ is strong such as in ‘table’ or ‘take.’
If in the middle of a word the pronunciation turns to a soft middle ‘d’ such as in ‘water.’
Thirdly, the ‘T’ consonant can become silent if it’s after n such as in ‘interview’ becomes ‘innerview.’
Lastly, the ‘T’ is held. This occurrence when an ‘n’ follows the T rather than preceding it. Strictly speaking, this ‘t’ is not a T at all as the [t] and [n] are very close in the mouth.
What pattern is there in American pronunciation?
There is a pattern of words that drop a syllables & consonants this is to reflect their pronunciation. For example, in the word ‘al-u-min-i-um’ there are 5 syllables in contrast to American Standard English it is spelt ‘al-u-min-um’ spelt with only 4 syllables. Or, BSE spelling of ‘herb’ the unvoiced glottal consonant is pronounced, in ASE the consonant is dropped.
What is another tendency feature in Americanisms in terms of phonology and stress?
Americanisms tend to also stress different syllables in different places for example in the concrete noun zebra, whereas in BSE the primary stress lies on the ‘ze’ in ASE the stress lies solely on ‘e’ extending the vowel.
EXTRA: What is yod-dropping?
A popular Americanism is yod-dropping, this is referring to the dropping of y-type sound such as in as base adjective ‘stupid’ is pronounced ‘stoopid’
How does all of what you’ve talked about/written link with Linguistic Reflectionism?
ou have talked about in ASE there is a pattern of spellings mimicking their pronunciation, this conjures up the theory of linguistic reflectionism how humans perceive the word is affected by the language that use. Culture being a heavily influence on language, this heavily affects the way language develops. In American Standard English, the culture has affected the spelling and pronunciation of the language suiting it the needs of the American people and their culture.
