Sometimes that makes them even funnier. The assembly instructions that came with my computer desk said, "When attempting this step it is advisable to be two persons."
I have tried to be at least one person at all times since then.
What is it like in America is that we speak American, we think we speak English but the English can testify that that isn't so, we speak American.
American is divided into Yankee (with several sub-dialects such as Brooklynese, Maine trawler and Baaston droll.) Southern (with subs of Georgia Mountain Cracker, Mississip Sip and Tennessean Drip) Western (Texan, Okie, Folkie, and Apache) and Californian (people in Oregon and Washington either don't speak or no one is interested enough to go listen to them to make a distinction.)
There you go.
Joe
Those aren't languages, or even dialects. They are regional variations in pronunciation.
Have you ever wondered why there is no Filipino version on any of those instructions?
How do they decide which language to print in the instruction manual? The Filipino market is large considering a population of 90 million.
ike it or not Englih has become as close to a world language as there has ever been. And when I say English I am speaking of American English. My son has been teaching English to foreigners for over 25 years both in the states and Europe.
Joe Nation wrote:
There you go.
Joe
Thank you, but does that mean you don't learn any other language in school except for 'english'?
au1929 wrote:ike it or not Englih has become as close to a world language as there has ever been. And when I say English I am speaking of American English. My son has been teaching English to foreigners for over 25 years both in the states and Europe.
Well, au, believe it or not:
in most educational institutions worldwide, pupils/students learn English first, and later (if!) AE!
The only difference between English English and American English is pronunciation.
rufio wrote:The only difference between English English and American English is pronunciation.
Some have a quite different opinion ... and e.g. German universities have seperated institutes for each. :wink:
Well, rufio, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and idiom...
D1D, yeah, pretty much we don't have to learn any other languages until at least junior high (12-14 years old)... Some schools are becoming more enlightened, however, and offer language instruction (usually Spanish or French) in younger grades -- again, it's usually not required. Most colleges require a few semesters of a foreign language but on the whole, it's a rare American who is fluent in more than one language (unless brought up with it in the home)... It's changing, as we slowly realize the importance of other languages and people, but America was very insular for a long time...
Well, I started learning Hebrew in 2nd grade (though I guess that was through a religious school and probably doesn't represent most) and I started learning Spanish then too, though it wasn't taught very well and I didn't absorb most of it. Of corse, most of the stuff I learned in elementary school wasn't taught very well anyway.
How is Brit English grammatically different from American English? I can understand them fine....
British English is most significantly different as far as grammar goes in that in America the use of present perfect versus simple past is not a distinction that is as commonly made.
"Did you eat?" is considered correct in American English's grammar in all situations while in British English it should be "Have you eaten?" if there is a connection with the present (e.g. "are you hungry now?").
I could go on forever about the minor differences but that is one that I consider to be a big one, and also one in which I overwhelmingly prefer Vritish grammar.
I think some of their vocabulary is absurd so it's all good.
That sounds more cultural or locational to me, Craven. I would say "have you eaten" and I'm American. Vocabulary aside, they're the same langauge that I know of - closer than ebonics, probably.
I'll look at that link, Walter...
All differences between British and American English are "cultural" or "locational" Rufio.
I fully agree that the differences are not great and they do not stop people who speak "British English" or "American English" understanding each other.
[An aside: similar perhaps like, who sometimes why differs between a language and a dialect:
Quote:The difference between a language and a dialect can be political rather than linguistic. For example, linguistically, Croatian and Serbian are closely related dialects of the same language. However, they are written in different scripts and are spoken by people of different religions living in Catholic Christian Croatia and Orthodox Christian Serbia respectively. They are considered different languages for political reasons.
Macedonian is considered by Bulgarians as a dialect of their language while Macedonians themselves consider it a separate language. Since Bulgaria has long claimed Macedonia as part of its territory, the reasons for each view are obvious!
Low German (spoken in Northern Germany) and Dutch (Netherlands) are linguistically dialects but politically separate languages. Low German and Swiss German are mutually unintelligible but are both considered to be German. There are more differences between Italian spoken in different cities in Italy than between Danish, Norwegian and Swedish.
The main language of Iraq and Morocco are both called Arabic but they differ greatly. The Mandarain speaking government of China considers China's other languages (like Cantonese and Wu) to be dialects whereas they are often very different.
]
Of course, Craven. My point is, is that enough to call them different languages? I wouldn't think that one would require a separate class for each. I mean, within America itself (I guess in Brit English, that would be "themselves"?) there are quite a few creative uses of the word "anymore" in any case.
I don't doubt that the line is kind of fuzzy - even without political issues. Portugese and Spanish are very close, and I've actually heard from someone who used to live in China that the various "dialects" of Manderin are mutually unintelligeable when spoken, but are all written the same, and there's something similar for English and Old English. I once read something in Ladino (written in the Hebrew alphabet with Hebrew pronunciation) and I could understand it as nearly prefect Spanish. I've heard Yiddish is fairly close to Hebrew as well, though I don't know by how much.
But I don't think Brit and American English are really all that close to that line, is all. Stylistic variation can be found within langauges as well as across them.
rufio wrote:I've heard Yiddish is fairly close to Hebrew as well, though I don't know by how much.
I really wouldn't bet on that, rufio: Yiddish has lexically most potent Germanic components (gleaned from a number of Upper and Central German dialects), although there is a Semitic component as well (containing postclassical Hebrew and Aramaic that the first settlers brought with them to Europe from the Middle East).
rufio wrote:Of course, Craven. My point is, is that enough to call them different languages?
I don't know. I'm inclined to agree with you in your delienation of languages on face value but do note that that is a question I did not seek to answer. I was hoping to limit my participation to the less contestable "what grammar differences" question.
rufio wrote:.. I've actually heard from someone who used to live in China that the various "dialects" of Manderin are mutually unintelligeable when spoken, but are all written the same, and there's something similar for English and Old English.
Have you tried reading old English? I like to fancy that I am good with languages, even those I have not studied. But Old English (even in writing) is not something I'd consider similar to modern English.
But pergaps you did not have Old English in mind and a more recent variety.
