2.2 American English

The World's Most Influential Variety

For most people on Earth, American English is the version of English they meet first and most often. Through Hollywood films, streaming platforms, social media, popular music, and technology, American English has become the strongest single influence on how the language is changing worldwide. As a Norwegian student, you have probably absorbed American pronunciation and vocabulary without even noticing -- saying "awesome" or pronouncing your /r/s the American way.

Why does American English dominate? The reasons stack up: over 330 million native speakers; the global reach of Hollywood, Netflix, YouTube, and TikTok; the way Silicon Valley shaped the language of the internet (website, email, app, blog); the power of the US dollar and American business culture; and the pull of American universities. But just like Britain, the United States is not linguistically uniform. A speaker from Boston sounds nothing like one from Atlanta, and both differ from speakers in California, Minnesota, or New York City.

General American and Its Many Cousins

The accent perceived as "neutral" or "standard" in the USA is called General American (GA). It is what national news broadcasters use and what most American-English courses teach. GA has clear features: it is rhotic, pronouncing the /r/ in all positions ("car" = /kɑːr/, "better" = /ˈbɛtər/). It uses t-flapping, turning the /t/ between vowels into a quick voiced flap, so "butter" sounds like "budder" and "water" like "wadder." It takes a flat /æ/ in BATH words ("bath," "dance," "grass"), and in many areas it has the cot-caught merger, where those two words sound identical.

But GA is only one thread. Southern American English uses "y'all" as a plural "you," turns "ride" into "rahd," and says "fixin' to" for "about to." New England / Boston English can be non-rhotic -- "Park the car" becomes "Pahk the cah." New York City English has its rounded "coffee" vowel and sometimes turns "this" into "dis." Midwestern English is often considered closest to GA. And African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is a systematic, rule-governed variety -- not "broken English" -- with features like the habitual "be" ("He be working" means he works regularly) and copula deletion ("She nice"). AAVE has had a massive influence on global popular culture, slang, and music. To see the difference between American and British vocabulary in action, picture taking the elevator (lift) to the second floor (first floor), walking past the parking lot (car park), and standing in line (queuing) at the drugstore (chemist's) -- before buying cookies (biscuits) and chips (crisps) at the store (shop).

Why 'Color' Lost Its U: Noah Webster

Why does American spelling differ from British? Much of the credit -- or blame -- goes to one man: Noah Webster (1758-1843), the American lexicographer who published An American Dictionary of the English Language in 1828. Webster deliberately simplified spellings to make English more phonetic, and also to mark American English as distinct from British English as a matter of national identity.

Webster's changes gave us the spellings you see in American texts today. He dropped the "u" in colour to make color, arguing it was unnecessary and not pronounced. He flipped centre to center to better reflect pronunciation, changed defence to defense, simplified travelled to traveled, trimmed catalogue to catalog, turned programme into program, grey into gray, cheque into check, and plough into plow. The guiding principle was always that spelling should match pronunciation and be as simple as possible.

It is important to remember that these differences are matters of convention, not correctness. Both the British and American systems are internally consistent and equally valid. The practical rule is simply to be consistent within a single text -- do not mix British and American spellings in the same essay. Pulling all this together: American English is the most globally influential variety today, dominant in media, technology, and business. General American serves as its broadcasting standard, yet the USA holds enormous internal diversity, from Southern and Boston English to New York City English and AAVE. The variety differs from British English in pronunciation, vocabulary, and spelling -- much of the spelling traceable to Webster's deliberate reforms. Understanding American English and its variations is essential for navigating the English-speaking world.

Summary

American English is the most globally influential variety today, spread by American dominance in media, technology, and business. Its broadcasting standard, General American (GA), is rhotic, uses t-flapping, and takes a flat /æ/ in BATH words. But the USA brims with internal diversity -- Southern English, Boston English, New York City English, and the systematic, culturally influential African American Vernacular English (AAVE). American English differs from British English in pronunciation (rhotic versus non-rhotic, t-flapping), vocabulary (elevator, sidewalk, gas), and spelling (color, center, defense) -- with many spelling differences traceable to Noah Webster's deliberate 1828 reforms. These spelling differences are matters of convention, not correctness; the key is to stay consistent within a single text.