Do Americans spoil the traditional beauty of English language?

Question

English, as it is in England, is considered to be chaste by many. Many argue that Americans are harming the language. There is also an opinion shared by many that non-native speakers of English (like Indians, Pakistanis and other Asians) have made valuable contributions. Your views please!

Answer 1

A language is not a static thing. It is constantly evolving. I think it's impossible to say that evolution of a language is either good or bad - it just IS. It's also unavoidable and has happened plenty in your England English, not just to "Americanized" English. It happens in all languages.

As cultures embrace ideas, knowledge, traditions, and words from other cultures, those things become part of the new language, often in a form similar to the language of the culture from which they came. This is a good thing!

Answer 2

I live in England and I completely disagree.

The greatness and the beauty of the English language is its mongrel nature.

From a germanic root with many norse influences, and most of the higher vocabulary borrowed from latin or french even the very basis of English is a jumble of different languages.

Now a huge number of words in English have been begged, stolen or borrowed from other languages, and even more have been brought back into standard english from corruptions by non-"English" speakers of English. Take the example of the word gaol. Since the American corruption of this to jail, the word has been reimported to England. You will hardly ever see the word spelled as "Gaol" in the UK anymore. This isn't corruption - it is part of an ongoing process of language evolution.

America has far more speakers of English than England. The "puritans" are actually an intellectual minority. Most people concerned with the English language, wherever they are, see that Indian English, Australian English, American English, Caribbean English etc all have a positive effect on the single standard language that is English.

Answer 3

Contrary to this, I think English is greatly being harmed by native speakers.
The Yobs and many others in England cannot even spell simple words. They speak in their own style/slang and expect everyone else to comprehend them.

You have Yorkshiremen, Cockney, Scouse and whathaveyou, all these are far away from the Queen's English.

Whereas in America, excepting certain slang words used by Hispanics and Blacks, everyone basically speaks in simple plain English, irrespective of their slang. A Texan may have that Southern drawl, a New Yorker slightly different way of pronunciation and maybe an African-American, a casual way of talking, but they all try to keep it simple, without altering the original word.

I find it easier these days to understand a Scotsman, than many a young Englishman.

Answer 4

Don't think too many people but the British think about the dialects of the English Language. In fact there are many differences between English in the USA depending on where you live.

Think the British are still pissed about losing the American Revolution back in the 1770s.

Answer 5

Being an American, I'd have to say that American slaughter virtually every language they can. That's where a lot of our words come from after all. However, it's genetic, because the word England is simply a slurred version of Angle(sp?) Land from way back when the Angles first inhabited the island, and that occurred long before America was even in existence

Answer 6

Here we go with bashing Americans again. It is typical no matter what country your in that English words are twisted mostly by young people and used as Slang words.