Name: 英式英語與美式英語的差異 (How Are British English and American English Different?)
Uploaded: 2018-10-19T21:01:30.000Z
Duration: 11 min 49 s

Welcome to the Langfocus channel and my name is Paul.

歡迎來到 Langfocus 頻道，我是保羅，

未來進行式

Today we'll be answering the question “How are British English and American English Different?”

今天我們要來談談英式英語和美式英語的差別，

- one of the most commonly asked questions by learners of English.

這是學英文的人最常問的問題之一，

And hopefully native speakers of English will learn a thing or two from this video as well.

也希望英文母語人士也能從這個影片學到一些東西，

The truth is that both British and American English have numerous varieties, in other

事實上，英式和美式英語各有許多變體─

words various accents and dialects, so in (the main part of) this video I will try to

也就是口音和方言，所以在影片中

focus on the most standard, non-regional variety of each one.

我主要會聚焦在標準的英式和美式英語。

Disclaimer: I'm not American, I'm Canadian.

先聲明：我不是美國人，我是加拿大人

But I'm confident that we will someday be Americans after the invasion.

但我有信心我們有一天都會變成美國人，在美國文化侵略之後

Standard Canadian English is very very close to General American English, so I will say

標準的加拿大英語跟一般的美式英語非常接近，

the American examples myself, unless there's some specific need to distinguish American pronunciation

所以我會自己提供美式英語的例子，除非需要分清楚

美式和加拿大英語的發音時，才會有加拿大英語的例子

There are several ways in which Britain English and the American English different: vocabulary,

英式和美式英文的差異有多面向：單字、

In the US, people generally say “garbash” or “trash”, while in the UK they generally

美國人通常稱垃圾為 garbage 或 trash，而在英國，

這個句子可以照字面意義或象徵意涵來理解。

Americans “go on vacation”, while Brits “go on holidays”.

美國人說 go on vacation，英國人則說 go on holidays

And this is also possible in American English.

In the US people rent “apartments”, while in the UK they rent “flats”.

美國人稱公寓為 apartment，英國人則是叫 flat

In the US, if your apartment is at street level, then you live on the first floor, and

在美國，如果你住公寓的一樓，你會說你住在第一層樓，

the person above you lives on the second floor.

In the UK, you live on the ground floor, and the person above you lives on the first floor.

而在英國，一樓叫做 ground floor，樓上的人是住在「第一層樓」

If that person above you is unable or just too lazy to take the stairs, in the US they'd

如果樓上的人沒辦法或是太懶惰不爬樓梯，

在美國他們會搭 elevator (電梯)；

When you're bored at home, in the US you might turn on the TV, while in the UK you would

當你在家裡很無聊，在美國你會打開電視，

When you step outside of your building to go for a walk, in the US you might walk on

當你出去散步，在美國你會說你走在 sidewalk (人行道)上面，

the sidewalk, while in the UK you walk on the pavement.

And if you're tired of walking, in the US you might take the subway.

如果你不想走路了，你會去搭捷運，在美國搭捷運的英文是 take the subway

In the US, it's perfectly to wear pants when you're riding the subway, but in the UK you'd

搭地鐵的時候穿長褲比較好，美國人稱長褲為 pants；

better wear some TROUSERS too because pants means underpants.

英國人則是 trousers，因為 pants 在英國的意思是內褲

And specifically women's underpants are sometimes called knickers in the UK.

女性內褲有時會特別被稱為 knickers

So when someone overreacts, in the US you might say “Don't get your panties in a bunch!”

因此當有人反應過度時，美國人可能會說 「別讓 panties (內褲) 變成一團 (不要反應過度)！」，

In the UK you'd say “Don't get your knickers in a twist!”.

英國人則說「別讓 knicker (內褲) 歪掉 (不要反應過度)！」

Now I can't show this video to my 6 year old students!

現在我不能把這個影片給我六歲的學生看了！

Don't worry, they'll watch it on their phones during recess.

別擔心，他們會在下課休息時間用手機看

Going back to the word “pants” for a moment, it can also be used in British English as

回到 pants 這個字，它在英式英語

an adjective, meaning something is “crappy” or “it sucks”.

也可以是一個形容詞，意思是指某個東西很爛、很糟糕，

In American English, you might say “That album sucks”.

在美式英語，人們會說「這個專輯很討厭」

So I'll try to focus on General American English, and for the UK - Received Pronunciation.

我會聚焦在通用美式英語、和標準的英式英語

These are the accents you're likely to hear on CNN and the BBC, respectively.

這是在 CNN 和 BBC 你可能分別會聽到的口音

American English is rhotic, meaning that “r” sounds are always clearly pronounced.

R 在美式英語是兒化音 (捲舌)，有清楚發音；

British English is non-rhotic, meaning that the “r” sound is not pronounced unless

在英式英語則是沒有捲舌，除非後面有母音

Notice that the final r sound is not pronounced in British English.

可以注意到最後的 R 在英式英語中不發音

“Father” ends in a simple schwa vowel /ˈfɑː.ðə/.

「父親」這個字的發音是以一個中央母音 /ə/ 結束

And in “car” the a vowel sound is lengthened in place of the “r” sound.

而「汽車」這個字的母音延長，取代 "r" 的發音

Now, the thing about British non-rhotic dialects that I find pretty wild is something called

我覺得英式英語不捲舌很難駕馭的地方是

That means that people sometimes add an r-sound to a word that doesn't actually have one,

這是指如果後面的字是以母音為開頭，

if it's followed by a vowel in the next word.

人們有時會在沒有 R 發音的字加上這個音，

For example, in the sentence “I saw a film”.

例如在這個句子 I saw a film. (我看了一部電影)

In British English it sometimes sounds like this: “I saw'r a film”.

在英式英語這句聽起來會像是 I saw'r a film.

So you can hear that there's an “r” sound connecting “saw” and “a”.

可以聽到 saw 和 a 中間有 r 的音

I once had British on-the-job trainer, and she said “Hello my name is Paula and I'll

我曾經遇過一個英國的在職培訓員，她說「你好我叫寶拉，

我記得我當時在想：「你說你叫寶樂？

什麼？你不講你自己的名字嗎？」

In British English (and again, I must emphasize that I'm talking about the accent referred

在英式英語 (我必須再次強調我是參考標準的英式英語)

to as Received Pronunciation), t sounds are pronounced as hard Ts, in other words voiceless

In the US, they sometimes sound like /ɾ/ (an alveolar tap) instead of /t/ (an alveolar

在美式英語， T 有時聽起來像 /ɾ/ (齒齦閃音) 而不是 /t/

This normally occurs in an unstressed syllable, between 2 vowel sounds, or between a vowel

這常常發生在沒有重音的音節、在兩個母音之間、

and a rhotic sound (like an “r” sound).

或是在母音或兒化音之間 (例如 r 音)

所以美式英語「奶油」的發音是

In the US: Stop fighting! /stɑp ˈfʌɪɾɪŋ/.

美國人說：「不要打了！」 (美式英語)

In the UK: Stop fighting! /stɒp ˈfʌɪtɪŋ/.

You may have also noticed the “o” sound in the word “stop” was a little different,

你可能注意到 stop 裡 o 的發音有一點不同

In the word “stop”, the American “o” sound is an unrounded vowel /ɑ/ while the

以在 stop 這個字來說，美式英語的 o 比較像母音 /ɑ/

Another example: US hot /hɑt/ UK: /hɒt/.

There is also the “o” diphthong in the word “know” US /noʊ/ (US).

在英語發音中也有雙母音，例如 know (知道)

In the UK: /nəʊ/ . In the UK the sound is a schwa followed by /ʊ/ as in “put”.

在英式英語母音的部分發音是中央母音加上 put 的母音發音 (/ʊ/)