British English or American English?

[Siebenbürgerin]

Which of them do you prefer? I've to say I like the sound of British English better, the accent seems nicer than the American one in my view.

[mvbeleg]

You should probably disambiguate between American accents VS. British accents and American English VS. British English as written languages.

Certain British accents are quite sophisticated sounding and pleasant to the ears. The posh ones sound pretentious. I prefer the American Midland and Philadelphia area accents. To me they have a plain and candid sounding quality.

Here are some links related to the geography of the major accents divisions in the United States:

http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atla.../TelsurIN.html

http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atla...NE/Map1NE.html

http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atla...psM/Map1M.html

http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atla...psS/Map1S.html

http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atla...psW/Map1W.html



As for the written languages, the rules for American English are much stricter and better standardized. I prefer American English.

[Stygian Cellarius]

I cannot be 100% sure on this because I have not looked into it myself, but I once learned (From my German language teacher) that American English is closer to the original English language because it went through fewer language reforms than in Britain; Webster being the one and only language reform we've had in America after we split from England.
So from that I would suspect American English follows the rules closer; being that (from what I've read personally regard old english, middle English etc.) there seems to be a correlation with the greater antiquity of English, the more it follows its rules. For example: just the other day I was reading the Canterbury Tales in Middle English and the few passages I read I noticed that every word with a long vowel had its associated "e" at the end. Something not strictly followed any longer. Granted some words today that were once spoken with a long vowel are spoken with a short vowel and therefore you would expect to see the "e" ending more often in old literature. But regardless, they still followed it, it seems without exception, whereas today there are exceptions.

I wish we would go back to it and reform it further by limiting the letter "c" to the "ch" sound for example. All it's other sounds can be satisfied with a "k" or "s".

My German teacher also said that English in itself (American or British) is closer to the original Germanic language that existed when German and English split. Once again due to the fact that German had more reforms than English. Which seems to be the case given that I can fairly easily read, say...Norwegian or Swedish (with zero training) than German (which required training).

[Papa Koos]

I cannot be 100% sure on this because I have not looked into it myself, but I once learned (From my German language teacher) that American English is closer to the original English language because it went through fewer language reforms than in Britain; Webster being the one and only language reform we've had in America after we split from England.
So from that I would suspect American English follows the rules closer; being that (from what I've read personally regard old english, middle English etc.) there seems to be a correlation with the greater antiquity of English, the more it follows its rules. For example: just the other day I was reading the Canterbury Tales in Middle English and the few passages I read I noticed that every word with a long vowel had its associated "e" at the end. Something not strictly followed any longer. Granted some words today that were once spoken with a long vowel are spoken with a short vowel and therefore you would expect to see the "e" ending more often in old literature. But regardless, they still followed it, it seems without exception, whereas today there are exceptions.

I wish we would go back to it and reform it further by limiting the letter "c" to the "ch" sound for example. All it's other sounds can be satisfied with a "k" or "s".

My German teacher also said that English in itself (American or British) is closer to the original Germanic language that existed when German and English split. Once again due to the fact that German had more reforms than English. Which seems to be the case given that I can fairly easily read, say...Norwegian or Swedish (with zero training) than German (which required training).

I wish we would go back to it and reform it further by limiting the letter "c" to the "ch" sound for example. All it's other sounds can be satisfied with a "k" or "s".

I00% agreement here.

I like British English more than the most prevalent mid-western American English (flat & boring). I call it "broadcast speak".

I thoroughly enjoy Southern English as spoken by the folks in northern Mississippi (Good examples would be the writer William Faulkner and the historian Shelby Foote).

[BritishWitch]

I'm amazed that there even exists a "British English"! I had been brought up to believe that there was English and American English.

[triedandtru]

I do think it depends upon the accent and dialect. Grammatically correct and proper English sounds absolutely lovely and distinguished. Cockney, slang British hurts my ears more so than even the most incorrect use of grammar and ignorant-sounding Southern droll. Now a Southern accent with decently proper English is quite pleasant. So, again, I would say it greatly depends upon the speaker and which portion of America or Britain they are from.

[Thusnelda]

No harm intended, but for my German ears British English always sounds a little bit snooty and uppish. I know that there´re some different English dialects within Britain but I´m refering to the "typical" British English here, spoken by the Queen, by the BBC or even Mr. Bean for instance.

American English hasn´t that "snooty" - some may call it sophisticated - touch. I consider it as more laid back and easygoing. But it´s just a personal and subjective preference, of course.

[Huginn ok Muninn]

I like listening to someone like Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear, but despise listening to the chavvish yakking of thuggish lower class Brits. I guess that goes for thoughtless chatter in any accent or language.

[BritishWitch]

Okay, I've just returned from reading about the evolution of the English language and I can't recall there being a section where British became English and vice versa.

Could the title of the thread please be changed. It is so offensively ignorant of more than one section of the Germanic world, it is unreal!

[triedandtru]

I'm amazed that there even exists a "British English"! I had been brought up to believe that there was English and American English.

I think it should make sense that Brit would be brought up to understand that there is English and American English, just as an American would be brought up to believe there to be a British English and American English.

No harm intended, but for my German ears British English always sounds a little bit snooty and uppish. I know that there´re some different English dialects within Britain but I´m refering to the "typical" British English here, spoken by the Queen, by the BBC or even Mr. Bean for instance.

American English hasn´t that "snooty" - some may call it sophisticated - touch. I consider it as more laid back and easygoing. But it´s just a personal and subjective preference, of course.

I have heard another German speaker describe British English this way. Then again, they were not very fond of the English.