AMERICAN USAGE

In the years after the United States entered World War II, the differences between British English and American English have rapidly decreased. U.S. forces stationed in England, Telstar, the exchange of television and radio programs, the Universal Copyright Convention (making it unnecessary for American publishers to reset English books in order to secure full-term U.S. copyright)--all have been among the contributing factors. In literary and scholarly material, the distinguishing features of American English are now often only spelling and pronunciation. In popular writing and speech, however, many differences especially in the vocabulary of everyday life, colloquialisms, and slang, are still easily recognizable. An Englishman with no personal knowledge of America might have difficulty in understanding some American words and phrases, even with the help of an English dictionary that include definitions “chiefly” or “originally” U.S.

美国的用法

在美国进入二次大战后的一些年里，英式英语与美式英语之间的差异已迅速缩小。美国军队驻扎英国，电视之星，电视与广播节目的交流，世界版权公约（使美国出版商没有必要调整英语书籍以保护美国版权）---这些都成为了起作用的因素。在文学与学术材料中，目前美式英语的区别性特征只是拼写和发音。然而，在公众的书写和言谈中，尤其在日常生活、口语以及俚语词汇中的许多差别依然易于识别。但一个对美国一无所知的英国人在理解一些美国词汇和短语方面可能会有困难，即使有包含美国定义的“主要的”或“独创的”的英语词典帮助。

Although in all language usage ultimately triumphs over etymology, spelling, and grammar, English is slower than the United States in accepting innovations. The verb contact, for example, after first being unrecorded in English dictionary, has gone through successive later editions as “U.S. slang,” “U.S. colloquial,” “chiefly U.S.,” and finally with no indications of being either “U.S.” or substandard. Recognise and judgement, formerly so spelled by most British writers, now are often recognize and judgment, as they have long been in the United States. According to Sir Ernest Gowers in the 1965 revision of Fowler’s Modern English Usage, the English have proved “ready pupils” of America’s preference for phrasal verbs—meet up with, lose out, miss out on, step off, face up to, and similar combinations of verb and adverbial particle. But combinations such as these in both countries are used for the most part in speech and informal writing. There remain some characteristics of American speech and writing that, Gowers says, “the English continue to resist.”

尽管在所有的语言用法中最终战胜了词源、拼写和语法，但在接受创新方面，英国要比美国慢一些。例如，动词接触（contact），最初未被列入英语词典中，经过后续的版本成为了“美国俚语”，“美国口语”，“主要是美国”，但最终既没有显示是“美国的”，也没有显示不合规格。以前大多数的英国作家都是这样拼写Recognise(识别)和judgement(判断)的，现在通常是这样拼写recognize 和judgment，因为在美国它们一直是这样拼写的。根据欧内斯特·高尔斯爵士于1965年对福勒《现代英语用法》修订本的说法，英语已证明美国人是偏爱短语动词的“好学生”--- meet up with（偶遇）、lose out（失败）、miss out on（错过）、step off（走下）、face up to（勇敢地面对），以及类似的动词和副词小词的组合。但在两个国家中像这样的这些组合主要是用于言谈和非正式的写作。在美国人的言谈和写作中仍留有某些特征，高尔斯说“那是英国人持续的抵抗”。

Pronunciation. As every American knows, one spoken sentence will identify the speaker as English, not only by the difference in pronunciation of individual vowels, sounds, and words, but also by inflection, cadence, and stress. The English can similarly identify their visitors from the United States by accent and their “nasal twang.” American speech is usually slower and, as Mencken pointed out in the first part of this article, more forthright, if also more monotonous.

发音。正如每个美国人都知道的那样，一个口语句子就会识别那个说话的人是英国人，不仅是由于个别的元音、声音和单词发音的区别，而且还由于音调变化、讲话时的抑扬顿挫和重音。英国人同样能通过口音和 “鼻化音”认出来自美国的访问者。美国人的讲话通常较慢，就像门肯在该文的第一部分中指出的那样，虽然也更单调，但更直截了当。

Although speech in the United States, as in Britain, differs geographically and among classes, most Americans pronounce bath, fast, calf, and usually aunt with the same vowel as in cat; British English pronounces the a as in father. In the speech of most Americans, the r in words like father retains its strong (retroflex) quality, which in England is almost lost. Most Americans give a more even stress to unaccented syllables than do the British or, on the other hands, drop unaccented syllables entirely. The American usually says “lit’a-rer-e,””lab’ra-tor-e”; the Englishman, “lit’ra-ri,” “la-bor’a-tri.” The –ile in such words as fertile, facile, and hostile is regularly pronounced “il” in the United States, in Britain usually “il.” But the English say “el” in profile and ”il” in Anglophile, while the Americans say “il” in both. Many words beginning with wh (whistle, wharf) retain the “h” in American speech but not in English. In the United States schedule is pronounced with an initial “sk” sound, not “sh,” as in England; clerk rhymes with jerk, not, as in England, with dark; and leisure with seizure, not treasure. Margarine was originally pronounced with hard “g” in England (as in Margaret), but now the American pronunciation with g sounded as “j” has triumphed.

像英国的情况一样，尽管美国的言谈也因地理而不同，而且在各阶层中，大多数美国人都将bath（沐浴）、fast（迅速的）、calf（小牛）和通常的aunt（姑妈）发成与cat（猫）相同的元音；英式英语发的a音就像father（父亲）中的a音。在大多数美国人言谈中，单词中的r 像father（父亲）保留了它强烈（卷舌的）性质，而在英格兰几乎已消失了。大多数美国人甚至会比英国人更重读无重音的音节，另一方面，或者完全放弃无重音的音节。美国人通常读作“lit’a-rer-e,””lab’ra-tor-e”；而英国人读成“lit’ra-ri,” “la-bor’a-tri”。在像fertile（肥沃的）、facile（轻率的）和hostile（敌对的）这样的单词中的–ile，在美国经常读成“il”，在英国通常是“il”。但英国人在profile（侧面）中读“el”，在Anglophile（亲英者）中读”il”，而美国人在两者中都读“il”。在美国人的言谈中，许多单词都以保留了“h” 的wh（whistle（哨子），wharf（码头））开始，但英国没有保留。在美国，schedule（进度表）的发音是以“sk”开始的，而不是像英格兰那样以“sh”开始；clerk（职员）与jerk（混蛋）押韵，而不是像在英格兰那样与dark（黑暗的）押韵；leisure（闲暇）与seizure（夺取），而非珠宝（treasure）。在英格兰，Margarine（人造黄油）最初带有发硬音的“g”（像Margaret（玛格利特）一样），但现在将g发成“j”音，已经获胜。

Many Americans pronounce noun and verb with the accent on the first syllable in such words as address, progress, contract, whereas the British stress the first syllable of the noun but the second syllable of the verb. Most Americans pronounce against with an “e,” either with an “e,” and been with an “I”; most British use “a,” “I,” and “e,” respectively, in these words. But these and other differences in pronunciation cause no misunderstanding in either country, and unless the British pronunciation comes naturally to an American, it is usually regarded in the United States as an affectation.

许多美国人发名词和动词音时重音都在第一个音节上，例如address（地址）、progress（进步）、contract（合同）这样的单词，而英国人重读名词的第一个音节，却重读动词的第二个音节。大多数美国人发against（反对）音时都带一个“e”，发either（两者都）时带一个“e”，而发been（是）时带一个“I”；在这些单词中，大多数英国人会分别使用“a” “I” and “e”。但这些和其它发音上的差别在两国都不会造成误解，除非美国人的英式发音很自然，否则在美国这通常被认为是一种做作。

Spelling. The first indication that any piece of writing is by an American rather than by an Englishman is the spelling. The –or ending of words such as favor, harbor, neighbor is standard in the United States, although the British –our is still sometimes retained in glamour and Saviour. Meager, meter, specter, and similar words derived from French are regularly spelled with –er, but theatre is widely retained, as in Britain. The doubling of the final consonant before a suffix beginning with a vowel has now been dropped in American usage in such words as traveling, jeweler, marvelous, though the usual British panelling and kidnapped are still preferred by some writers. Catalog, quartet, program are typical of the American preference for shorter forms, while England continues the French spelling catalogue, quartette, programme.

拼写。由美国人而不是英国人书写的任何文章的第一象征就在于拼写。诸如在欢心（favor）、海港（harbor）、邻居（ neighbor）这类词结尾的那个—or在美国是标准的写法，尽管英国的—our有时依然被保留在魅力（glamour）和救世主（Saviour）这样的单词中。贫乏的（Meager）、仪表（ meter）、 幽灵（specter）以及来源于法语类似的词通常拼写都有—er，但剧场（theatre）如同在英国一样被普遍地保留下来。在美式用法中以元音开头的后缀前的最后一个辅音的重复现已被省略，比如像旅行（traveling）、珠宝商（jeweler）、了不起的（marvelous），虽然一些作家通常更喜欢英国的镶板（panelling）和诱拐（panelling）。目录（Catalog）、四重奏（ quartet）、 规划（program）是典型的美国人偏爱的简略形式，而英格兰继续着目录（catalogue）, 四重奏（quartette）, 规划（programme）的法语拼写。

Many words regularly spelled with an –ize ending in the United States are often spelled with –ise in England (realise, recognise, scrutinise), but English dictionaries usually include both forms. Although, as we have seen, England still prefers the long forms of some words (programme, abridgement), in others she uses short forms not yet generally accepted in the United States: skilful, fulfil. Practice, noun and verb, is so spelled in America, and licence is allowed for both, while in England the verbs retain the older spelling with s licence—to practise, to license. The older t spelling and pronunciation in the past tenses and past participles of such words as leapt, leant, learnt, spoilt are much more common in England. Gipsy and pyjamas are the first spellings in most English dictionaries; in America, gypsy and pajamas are given first, with former spellings as variants.

在美国，许多单词通常以–ize结尾，而在英格兰通常拼写成–ise（认识到realise，认可recognise,细看scrutinise），但英语词典通常包括了两种形式。正如我们所看到的，尽管英格兰依然偏爱一些单词（规划programme, 缩写abridgement）的长形式，但在其它方面她使用了尚未被美国普遍接受的简写形式：熟练的（skilful），完成 （fulfil）。在美国，名词和动词是这样拼写的，实践（Practice）和执照（licence）两者都是允许的，而在英格兰动词保留了老的带s 的拼写--- to practise，to license。在英格兰，像跳跃（leapt）、 倾斜（leant）、 学到（learnt）、宠坏的（ spoilt）这类单词的过去时和过去分词中较旧的t的拼写和发音更为常见。在大多数英语词典中吉普赛人（Gipsy） 和 睡衣（pyjamas）是最早出现的拼法；在美语词典中，gypsy 和 pajamas排在了首位，用以前的拼写作为变体。

In spite of these and many other differences, neither the British nor the American reading public is as disturbed as formerly by the other’s preferences. Whereas the spelling in British books used to be carefully changed to American usage before publication in the United States, and American spelling changed to British before publication in England, this is seldom now felt to be necessary in either country, except in children’s books and textbooks.

尽管有这些和许多其它的差别，但无论是英国或是美国的广大读者不再像以前那样受到对方偏爱的困扰。然而，在美国出版前，英国书籍中的拼写都要小心地改成美式用法，而在英格兰出版前，美式的拼写也要改成英式的拼写，现在两国几乎没有人感到这是必要的，除了在孩子的图书和课本中。

Vocabulary.  Although it might be hard to decide whether an essay on classical music, for example, was written by an American or an Englishman from the evidence of the vocabulary, a contemporary novel would almost inevitably contain words peculiar in their meaning to one country or the other. Most Americans know the meaning of pram, lorry, lift, and petrol, but would surely say baby carriage (or baby buggy), truck (or van), elevator, and gas. An English reader would understand drugstore, faucet, eraser, cookie, but would use chemist, tap, rubber, biscuit. Other typical examples of difference are:

U.S.                                                                   British

¯¯¯                                                                    ¯¯¯¯¯¯

candy                                                                           sweets

corn                                                                             maize

checkers                                                                      draughts

apartment                                                                   flat

hood, trunk (of an automobile)                                  bonnet, boot (of a motor car)

pit (of a fruit)                                                              stone

suspenders                                                                 braces

garters                                                                        suspenders

monkey wrench                                                          spanner

(house) trailer                                                             bus-caravan

sled                                                                             sledge

flashlight                                                                     electric torch

词汇。例如，从词汇的证据来看，虽然可能很难决定一篇有关古典音乐的随笔是一位美国人或是英国人所写，但一部当代的小说几乎不可避免地会包含一些对一个国家或另一个国家意义独特的单词。大多数美国人都知道手推童车(pram)，卡车（lorry），电梯（ lift）和汽油（ petrol）的含义，但他们肯定会说童车（baby carriage (or baby buggy)），卡车（truck (or van)），电梯（elevator），和汽油 （gas）。一位英国读者会理解药房（drugstore），水龙头（ faucet）， 橡皮擦（eraser），曲奇（ cookie），但他也会明白 化学家（chemist），轻拍（ tap）， 橡胶（rubber）， 饼干（biscuit）。其它典型的差异例子有：

美国                                                                 英国

¯¯¯¯                                                                 ¯¯¯¯

糖果                                                                            甜食

谷物                                                                           玉米

西洋棋                                                                        国际跳棋

公寓套房                                                公寓

（汽车的）引擎盖，后备箱                          （汽车的）引擎盖，后备箱

（水果的）核                                                              果核

裤子背带                                                                背带

吊袜带                                                                   吊袜带

活动扳手                                                                扳手

（房子）挂车                                                         活动房式拖车

雪橇                                                                           雪橇

手电筒                                                                   手电筒

None of the individual words in either list is unused in the other country, but at least one sense of each is different. In addition, Americans use words in combinations not generally found in British usage—to stop off on a journey, for example, or stop over for the night; during hard times they talk of breadlines. In slang and colloquialisms the differences are legion: “in, between the pages,” “down below the bridge” are often heard in American speech; a (U.S.) bum is a (British) loafer, and a bouncer is a (British) chucker-out.

在两个列表中的个别单词都在另一个国家使用，但至少从某种意义上说它们是不同的。另外，美国人使用的单词组合通常在英国的用法中是找不到的---例如，在旅途中停下，或晚上的路途停留；在困难时期他们谈论领取救济品的队伍。在俚语和口语中，差别是很大的：“在...内（in）在页面之间”，“在下面（down）在桥下”在美国人的言谈中常能听到；（美国的）流浪汉（bum）就是（英国的）懒汉鞋（loafer），而美国的保镖（bouncer）就（英国的）护场人员（chucker-out）。

Grammar and Idiom.  Although in scholarly speech and writing Americans employ few deviations from accepted English grammar, Americans tend to discard some traditional constructions much more readily than the English. The distinction between shall and will, the use of the subjunctive, and the rules of the gerund are often not observed even by well-educated Americans. Nouns become verbs in speech and writing almost without the user’s conscious thought: “He gestured his approval”; “he was paged at the hotel.” Prepositions are dropped, shortened, or modified in such constructions as “I’ll see you [on] Friday,” “he flopped on [to] the ground,” “[with] in the past four months,” “the first time in [for] years”; and the American aim to rather than aim at is now becoming prevalent even in England. Americans often say all of, in back of, when the English would say all and behind.

语法与习语。尽管在学术演讲和写作中美国人很少脱离公认的英语语法，但美国人比英国人更容易倾向于摒弃一些传统结构。即使是受过良好教育的美国人也常常不注意将要（shall）和 将要（will）之间的区别，虚拟语气的使用以及动名词的规则。在讲话和写作中的名词几乎无需使用者有意识地思考“他做了个表示同意的手势”；“他在旅馆被找到了”。介词被放弃，缩短或在这样的语法结构中被修改，如“我会在星期五去见你”，“他扑通一声倒在地上”，“在过去的四个月里”，“这么多年的第一次”；而美国人的旨在（aim to）而不是瞄准（aim at）现在甚至在英格兰也变得很流行。美国人经常说…的全部（all of），在…后面(in back of)，而英国人会说全部（all）和在…后面(behind）。

Got in the United States has fallen into disgrace in many constructions in which it is standard in England. No American would think of writing “where the book got published” (rather than “was published”). Gotten is the accepted past participle in most senses in the United States (“after he had gotten up”), and even get is avoided in some constructions (to some Americans “she was becoming fond of me” seems much more elegant than “she was getting found of me”). Fix is almost a jack-of-all-trades in the United States: “she fixed up the papers before he left”; “he was in quite a fix.” “I loaned her” is more natural to Americans than the British “I lent her.” Around in American usage is in most senses almost invariably round in British, and until is usually preferred to the shorter (and equally correct) till. However, the longer whilst, amongst, and to a lesser extent amidst and towards are almost obsolescent in the United States. Woken, quieten are accepted forms in England, but sound colloquial to the American ear.

美国的获得（Got）一词在许多语法结构中已失宠，而在英格兰它是标准用词。美国人不会想到要写“该书出版的地点”（宁愿写成“被出版”）。在美国，在大多数的情况下Gotten是个为公众所接受的过去分词（“在他起床之后”），甚至在一些语法结构中会避免使用get这个词（对一些美国人“她开始喜欢我了”似乎比“她开始喜欢我了”优雅）。

There can be no question that America has contributed much to the English language: new words introduced by immigrants from many countries, and from pioneering into Indian country, as pointed out by Mencken, words from science, invention, and industry; shortened and more colorful forms (colorful in this sense was long considered an undesirable Americanism in England, but now is accepted). Few people, English or American, now contend that the forms of standard English usage are “right” and those of standard American usage are “wrong.” The danger in America is in too readily accepting slang, colloquialisms, and (in eagerness to be “democratic”) substandard usage in formal speech and writing. One may argue that insistence on “It is I” is obsolete, but even if 50 million Americans should say “between you and I,” at this period in the growth of language it would still be wrong.

毫无疑问，美国对英语发展贡献很大：由来自许多国家的移民以及开拓印第安领地引入的新词，正如门肯指出的那样，来自科学、发明和工业的那些词汇；简短而更加丰富多彩的形式（在这种意义上的丰富多彩长，在英格兰长久以来被认为是不受欢迎的美式英语，但现在已被接受）。现在，无论是英国人或是美国人，很少有人声称标准英语用法的形式是“正确的”，而标准的美国用法的形式是“错误的”。美国的风险就在于太轻易接受俚语、俗语，以及在正式的讲演和写作中（渴望“民主的”）不合规格的用法。有人可能会提出质疑，坚持主张“这就是我”已过时了，但是，即使五千万美国人应该说“在你和我之间”，在语言发展的这个期间，它依然是错误的。

                                       MARGARET NICHOLSON, Author of

                                   “A Dictionary of American-English Usage”

                                           玛格丽特·尼科尔森

                                        “美式英语用法词典”的作者

                                               2022年7月10日译

（译者注：该词条位列《大美百科全书》1985版，第1卷，第684页至685页）