Queuing and other idiosyncracies

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2268486
AutoresJohn Algeo (University of Georgia, autor correspondente)
Ano1989
Volume8
Fascículo2
Páginas157-163
Data de publicação1989-07-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoWorld Englishes (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0883-2919 • E-ISSN: 1467-971X
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-971x.1989.tb00651.x
OpenAlexW2148817757
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas8

The most obvious differences between British and American English are in spelling and pronunciation and in the form and reference of words. Such differences, being obtrusive, are easily identified by speakers of the other dialect. Less obvious differences are those of subtle variation in semantics and grammar, especially those that are stylistic rather than systematic. Unobtrusive differences are seldom pointed to overtly by speakers of the other dialect, but can be identified by the fact that they are eliminated when speakers of one dialect restate the meaning of a text originally in a dialect foreign to them. These generalizations are supported by an elicitation experiment in which 90 native speakers of American English were presented with a notice from a British public utility office and were asked to restate the message in their own words and then to identify any words or expressions in the original that seemed strange to them. A comparison of their paraphrases with a corresponding notice from an American utility office shows considerable accuracy in the collective sense of how American and British styles differ for public notices

American English · British English · Grammar · Linguistics · Meaning (existential · Notice · Political science · Pronunciation · Semantics (computer science · Spelling · Variation (astronomy · Categorization, perception, and language · Computer Science · History · Law · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Linguistics, Language Diversity, and Identity · Psychology