When will Americans call their language American not English?

Question

yo bro ya know whaaat iii mean dude, its like so far from "proper Oxford English" maybe it"s time to call it American.

Answer 1

Takes the stoopid American to come up with a dumb language like that

Answer 2

Well even "proper Oxford English" isn't exactly like "Olde English" from the Beowulf days and it's still called English. In fact it's much further removed than American English is from British English so by those standards how can we call it a different language? Just within the U.S. (where I'm from) we have different dialects and slang and still share the same common language. We may not all speak the same way but that doesn't make it foreign to our eyes and ears.

If you can still read, write, and communicate using pretty much the same rules and standards that are understood both oral and written then for all intents and purposes, it's all the same language with a bunch of subdialects.

Now if American English ever branches off and develops a different set of characters for written language or changes so drastically in form that we can't even read what an English vs. an American is writing on these forums (which we clearly can) then it might arguably be considered it a different language.

Answer 3

In order for two entitites that are currently dialects (British English and American English are dialects) to be considered separate languages, they need to be mutually unintelligble. So, it needs to be the case that a British person listening to an American understands about as much as he would if the American were speaking Spanish or German. The same needs to hold true for the American when he is listening to the English person speak.

Although British English and American English have some different vocabulary and some different phonetic rules, they are still mutually intelligible--why we can understand Sean Connery, for example. So, they can't be considered two separate languages.

I think the other part of your question to address is that most British people do not speak "proper Oxford English" or "the Queen's English". Britain has as many if not more dialects in it than America does. Would you argue for each of these to be considered its own language also? The other thing to remember is that language is constantly evolving. What is considered "proper Oxford English" today has changed slightly from even 50 years ago and certainly from 200 years ago. It isn't some static standard that we just hold dialects up to for comparison.

Answer 4

How rude and disgusting of you to assume that everyone from the United States use surfer lingo, Valspeak (using "like" in every other sentence), or talk like characters from teen comedies.

Dear sir, if you really want to isolate the "language" that Americans speak, why don't you just call it "American English"?

I guess we can bash on all the Aussies and the Kiwis, too.

Don't forget Canada! South Africa! The Philippines! Hong Kong! India!

Well I guess we can hate on Cumbrian English, too, since they speak a slightly different brand of English. And Scouse/Liverpudlian, Brummie, Manx, Scottish English, the Norfolk dialect and every other regional accent/version of English in the United Kingdom, in the United States and everywhere else.

Oh and um last time I checked, "America" is not a country, because it seems like you're implying that. Just to refresh your geography memory, there are places called Central America and South America, and Mexico is part of North America, so I'm guessing if and when your proposal takes effect, all the languages that the people from these countries speak would also be called "American".

English is increasingly becoming a world language and whether you like it or not, it will change and evolve over time.

Answer 5

For the most part, the words used are still "Proper Oxford English", but being so far away from England, American English has changed a bit. You could say it's sort of a dialect of "proper English".

Answer 6

It's a generic term which has been in use for so long (they've had independence for over 200 years now) that it will never change - and of course it also applies to the language of Australians etc. so no way would it make sense to call what the Americans speak American. Can you live with that, guys from the other side of the pond? If not, tough

Answer 7

the thing that gets to me is this (proper oxford English) thing that so many people on here obsess over.what about the majority of people in this country who don't speak it and don't even want to sound like some hooray Henry or a chinless wonder don't we speak English then I'm from south Yorkshire and Ive always thought our accent must be more like real English than oxford English, because its similar to the way the words are in the bible( thee thine) anyway Americans do speak English its English cos we invented it. American would be native American a different language completely

Answer 8

They cannot call it 'American' because it is English. It is often misused by Americans and even their accent is invented. Read your history. Benjamin Franklin after the War of Independence' decided, as one of the statesmen responsible for the Declaration of Independence' that Americans should continue to use English as a native tongue but would make subtle changes in certain words which could be spelled differently but not so much that they could not be recognised. Thus you got words like 'color' instead of 'colour' and recognize' instead of 'recognise' for example and there are many, many more. He also suggested names like 'vest' for 'waistcoat' and others.and invented the accent. There are now many differences but the only language that could be called 'American' is that spoken by it's natural inhabitants the so-called ;'Native Americans'. Why not try to learn their language and then try communicating on the streets of New York with it?

Don't forget that English is a rich and diversified language that is spoken in almost every country in the world and is the first language in many countries and the second in as many more. Be thankful that you don't speak Swahili or Monrovian.

Answer 9

Apart from a few persistent disagreements such as the doubling of certain consonants ("modelling" vs "modeling") I'd say versions of English are converging rather than diverging; there will always be local street language, wherever you go, but in the workplace it's rare for educated people to have any problems understanding one another. I used to work in a team consisting of Americans, English, Australians and New Zealanders, the only issue we had when tele- or video-conferencing was what time of day it was!

Answer 10

Ah so Bloody nice to see someone pull their head out of the loo long enough to whine that their sensibilities are offended....

The English that Americans speak is every bit as legitimate, as "Official" as that of the Britishers. It is a variation of the English that was brought over during the Colonial times, and has been modified in the same way British English is not the same as it was during that time period. The current level of "slang" in both cultures is where the major differences lie making it somewhat difficult for one group to understand the other at times but the base language, English, is the same.

Answer 11

I liked reading this thread, and was most impressed by the replies of sangmo, quatt47, and changmoieh the linguist.

The tone of your question is rather arrogant, and implies a lack of knowledge and respect for the "widespreadedness" of English in its various dialects yet in the mutual intelligibility of most of them.

I suspect you don't know much about Oxford or the English that is now actually spoken among the students and the dons. Although there may be a standard held there, I think they probably use slang and jargon to a degree too. Any Oxford students or faculty care to post their tuppence here?