Abstract: Tracing back to the original, American English is rooted in British English, the main part of them are the same, yet because of the differences between the two culturesuch as different locations, social customs and historic backgrounds, there are some differences emerging in American English and British English, especially in pronunciation. Respectively, scholars call the two kinds of pronunciation systems GA(General American) and RP( Received Pronunciation). Such differences can lead puzzles to students during their English study in China. To assist the students learning English, this paper, which is based on the two speeches by Barack Obama and David Cameron, the leaders of the two countries, illustrates the differences in vowel, consonant, combined letters and stress pronunciation between American English and British English. Then, combining with the situations and reasons listed by the author, the paper also gives some advice to Chinese students to help them avoiding the mixed usage during their English learning.
Keywords: American English; British English; difference; pronunciation; English learning
摘要:尽管美国英语来源于英国英语,但是由于两国地理位置,社会文化,历史背景等的差异, 美国英语和英国英语出现了差异, 尤其是语音方面的差异更为明显。学者们将这两个发音体系分别称为RP和GA。而这两种发音的差异会给学生的英语学习带来很多迷惑,所以,为了帮助学生克服这一困难,本文以美国总统奥巴马和英国首相卡梅伦的演讲为基础,比较了美国发音和英国发音的差异。并且本文结合中国学生学习英语过程中, 英音和美音的混合使用及导致这种混用的原因,就英语学习给学生提出了一些意见。
关键词:美国英语; 英国英语; 差异; 发音; 英语学习