英语专业论文外文翻译.docx
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英语专业论文外文翻译
1.Introduction
AmericaisoneofthecountriesthatspeakEnglish.BecauseofthespecialNorthAmericanculture,developinghistoryandthesocialenvironment,AmericanEnglishhasformeditscertainuniqueformsandthemeaning.ThenitturnedintoAmericanEnglishthathasthespecialfeaturesoftheUnitedStates.
AmericanEnglishwhichsometimesalsocalledUnitedEnglishorU.SEnglishistheformoftheEnglishlanguagethatusedwidelyintheUnitedStates.AstherapiddevelopmentofAmericaneconomy,anditssteadypositionandstrongpowerintheworld,AmericanEnglishhasbecomemoreandmorewidelyused.Asin2005,morethantwo-thirdsofEnglishnativespeakersusevariousformsofAmericanEnglish.
ThephilologistsoftheUnitedStateshaddividedtheEnglishoftheUnitedStatesintofourmajortypes:
“Americancreating”;“Oldwordsgiventhenewmeaning”;“WordsthateliminatedbyEnglish”;“ThephoneticforeignphrasesandthelanguagesthatarenotfromtheEnglishimmigrates”[1].
Comparedtotheotherlanguages,AmericanEnglishismuchsimpleonwordspelling,usageandgrammar,anditisoneofthereasonsthatAmericanEnglishissopopularintheworld.
ThethesisanalyzesthedifferencesbetweenAmericanEnglishandBritishEnglish.Withthemainpart,itdealswiththedevelopmentofAmericanEnglish,itspeculiaritiescomparedtothatofBritishEnglish,itscausesandtendency.
2.AnalysestheDifferences
AsweEnglishlearners,whenwelearningEnglishinourjuniororseniorschool,wealreadycameacrosssomewordsthathavedifferentspellings,differentpronunciationsordifferentexpressions,whichcanberepresentedbyfollowingcontrastedwords:
spellingsin"color"vs."colour";pronunciationsin"sec-re-ta-ry"vs."sec-re-try";expressionsin"firstfloor"equalsto"thegroundfloor".Withtheabovewords,theformerrepresentsAmericanEnglish,andthelatterrepresentsBritishEnglish.Theyarenoterrorsbutjustthedifferencesbetweenthetwolanguages.
TobeconsistentintheuseofEnglish,andmoreimportantly,tobeunderstoodeasily,thereisaneedforthenonnativespeakertoknowthatwhichwordshavedistinctmeaningsandpronunciationsdependingonwhethertheyareusedbyaBritonoranAmerican.Thisisnecessarynotonlyforthesakeofcommunication,butalsoforavoidingembarrassment.
ManydifferencesexistbetweenAmericanEnglishandBritishEnglishwehavealreadyknew.However,therearestillmanydifferencesthatwearenotfamiliarwith.Inthispart,theauthorwillanalyzethedifferencesinseveralcategorieslikespelling,pronunciation,grammar,usageandsoon.
2.1Spelling
TherearemanydifferencesbetweenBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglishintermsofspelling.Afteranalysisbysomelinguists,itissaidthattheAmericanEnglishhasadifferenttendencyinpronounce,accordingtoeconomicalandphoneticstandards.Americanspellingtendstoreflectpronunciation,andBritishspellingtendstoreflectgrammaticalorhistoricalimplicationsaswell.Lettersthatnotneededarebeingkickedout,andwordsarespelledashowtheysound.Thefollowingexamplescanexplainthis.
With"our"inwordsofBritishEnglishlikecolour,humour,flavour,etc.arechangedto"or"intheequivalentwordsofAmericanEnglish,likecolor,humor,flavor,etc.Withthepronounceletter"u"beingkickedout.Wordsendingwith"-re"inBritishEnglisharechangedto"-er"inAmericanEnglish.Accordingtoitspronunciation,like"centre"and"metre"inBritishEnglish,but"center"and"meter"inAmericanEnglish.
Moreexamplesareasfollows:
(withtheformerisAmericanEnglishandthelatterisBritishEnglish)[2]
centercentre;check(money)cheque;colorcolour;curbkerb;graygrey;honorhonour;inquireenquire;jailgaol;jewelryjewellery;laborlabour;organizationorganization.
2.2Pronunciationdifferences
Thereareofcoursegreatregionaldifferencesinpronunciationwithinbothcountries.Forinstance,basket,theword“a”inafter、classandbasketpronounce[æ]inAmericanEnglish,but[ɑ:
]inBritishEnglish.(ThefollowingexamplesmentionedallcomefromOxfordAdvancedLearner’sEnglish–ChineseDictionary)
(1)Thereis[hw]thatcorrespondwith[w]inAmericanEnglish.suchaswhich,white,when,why.InBritishEnglish:
[wit∫],[wait],[wen],[wai],butinAmericanEnglish:
[hwit∫],[hwait],[hwen],[hwai].
(2)Thereis[r]behindthevowelinAmericanEnglish,suchas:
far,poor.InBritishEnglish:
[fa:
],[pu],butinAmericanEnglish:
[far],[pur],[hir].
(3)InBritishEnglish[l]pronouncessurdbeforethevowel,(clearl),andpronouncesmix(混音)behindthevowel(darkl);However,inAmericanEnglish,nowordpronounces[l].Forinstance,like,filling,till,well.
(4)Whenthephoneticsymbol[t]appearsbetweenthetwovowelsandbehindtheaccentuationorbetweenthevoicedconsonantandthevowel,itwillpronounce[d].Suchascity:
[`sidi].
2.3Vocabularydifferences
TheaverageuseofthetotalEnglishvocabulary,thenumberofwordswhichareusedonlyinoneortheothercountryisverysmall,buttheproblemforlearnersofEnglishisthatthesewordsareamongthemostcommoninthelanguage.TherearemanywordsthatareusedalmostexclusivelybyAmericans,whichareunderstoodbymostBritons,andviceversa.Butthereareothersthatcancausedifficulty.Forexample,mostBritonsknowthatAmericanscallbiscuitscookiesandflatsapartments,butnotsomanyknowwhatanalumnusorafenderis.Similarly,AmericansknowthatwhattheycalltheiryardiscalledagardeninBritainandthattrucksareLorries,butcommonBritishEnglishwordslikepistolsoroff-licensemaymeannothingtothem.
2.3.1Samemeaning,differentwords
ThemajorityofthesignificanceinglossarybetweenAmericanEnglishandBritishEnglishisidentical,buttherestillexistssomedifference.Forexample,thesamethingcanbeexpressedbydifferentwordsinbothlanguages.Thefollowingexamplesaretypical.
AmericanEnglish:
BritishEnglish:
bathroom,toilet,W.C./orloo;closet,cupboard;
corn,maize;drugstore,chemist's;
gas/gasoline,petrol; line,queue;oven,cooker;
round-tripticket,returnticket;suspenders,braces;truck,lorry;
underpass,subway;undershirt,vest;
vacation,holiday;etc.[4]
2.3.2.Samewords,differentmeaning
TheidenticalwordexpressesthedifferentmeaningbetweenBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglish.
Forexample:
Word
AmericanEnglish
BritishEnglish
rubber
condom
Toolusedtoerasepencilmarkings
date
appointment
day
dresser
Awardrobeassistant
cupboard
2.4Grammar
BritishEnglishandAmericanEnglishgrammararethesameinmostsense;therearehoweversomeinterestingvariations.Forexample,therearedifferencesincertainverbforms.InAmericanEnglish,thepasttenseoffitisfit;inBritishEnglish,itisfitted.AmericanssayI'vegottentoknowherwell;whileBritish:
I'vegottoknowherwell.
OtherdifferencesinvolvedtheuseofthepresentperfectinBritishEnglishandsimplepastinAmericanEnglishincludealready,justandyet.
BritishEnglish:
I'vejusthadlunch
I'vealreadyseenthatfilm
Haveyoufinishedyourhomeworkyet?
AmericanEnglish:
IjusthadlunchORI'vejusthadlunch
I'vealreadyseenthatfilmORIalreadysawthatfilm.
Haveyourfinishedyourhomeworkyet?
ORDidyoufinishyourhomeworkyet?
Asanotherexample,AmericansaremuchmorelikelytobetechnicallycorrectintheagreementofcollectivenounandverbformthanBritons.SoinstandardAmericanEnglishitwouldbe:
TheteamisplayingwellthisseasonwhereasinBritishEnglish,itiscommonandacceptabletosaytheteamareplayingwell.Similardifferencescanbeseenintheuseofwordslikegovernment,committeeetc.:
Thegovernmentis...(AmericanEnglish).Thegovernmentare…(BritishEnglish).
2.5Usage
TherearecountlessothersmallandinterestingdifferencesbetweenAmericanEnglishandBritishEnglish,whichcomeundertheheadingofusage.TaketheusefulexpressionusedinAmericanEnglishthrough,meansuptoandincluding.e.g.TheexhibitionisshowingMarchthroughJune.TheequivalentexpressioninBritishEnglishisfromMarchtoJune,butthisisambiguous.DoestheexhibitioncloseattheendofMayortheendofJune?
Toavoidanymisunderstanding,itisnecessarytosaysomethinglike:
TheexhibitionisshowingfromMarchtotheendofJune.
Asanotherexample:
forAmericans,thenumberbillionhas9zeros(athousandmillion);formostBritonsithas12zeros(amillionmillion).ZeroitselfisamorecommonwordinAmericanEnglishthaninBritishEnglish,wherenaughtismorewidespread.Americanssaythenumber453asfourhundredfiftythree,whereasinBritainitwouldbesaidfourhundredandfiftythree.Timeexpressingalsoisdifferent,andmaycauseconfusionlike4/12/1981(monthfirst)intheUSAand12/4/1981(dayfirst)intheUK.
2.6Thecausesofthedifferences
AtfirsttherewerenodistinctionsbetweenBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglishknowntousinthedevelopmentofcontemporaryEnglish.Butlaterinthe20thcentury,Americaemergedtobeagreatpowerandbegantoparticipatethepracticeoftheworldaffairs.DuringtheWorldWarII,Americademonstratedagreatstrengthintheleadershipoftheworldinworldvariousforums.Andaftertheworldwar,Americaemergedtobeoneoftheonlytwosuperpowersintheworld.Thusandthus,thedistinctivewaysAmericansspoken,wrotewasbeinganalyzed,studiedorlearnedbythepeopleofothercountries,includingevenBritish.
WhatarethecausesthatledtoAmericanEnglishdistinctivefromBritishEnglish?
Orwemaysayexactlywerethereanycha