(g) "Overall, British English is in rude health. Pronunciation differences affect virtually every word, and British pronunciation is hardly converging on American. The few grammatical differences (for example 'I will' in America, versus 'I will do' in Britain) show little sign of changing either. There is little appetite in Britain for American spelling."
(i) rude (adj): "British [attributive] vigorous or hearty <in rude health>"
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/rude
(ii) "Pronunciation differences affect virtually every word"
(A) Well, what can I say?
KK音标
https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/KK音標
(full name: Kenyon and Knott; 现今只有在台湾教育体制内采用
quote: "section 1 历史背景, section 1.1 KK音标在台湾[:] 梁实秋(1903年-1987年),在1949-1966年服务于台湾省立师范学院及其改制的国立台湾师范大学,任英语系专任教授兼系主任;在师大服务期间,主编大学英文教科书,并与远东书局合作,出版远东版初中及高中英文课本、远东版英汉词典(最新实用英汉辞典、最新实用英汉辞典增订本、远东英汉大辞典等)。当时中国大陆、香港等地采用的是英式发音的DJ [Daniel Jones, a British phonetician] 音标,但在台湾主要接触到的是美式英语,因此梁实秋在编辑英文教材与参考书时,便引进美式发音的KK音标,此举对台湾的英语文教育影响深远[1]。至今KK音标仍然是台湾学生学习英语的主要注音方式,除了台湾出版的教科书与英汉辞典以外,仍经常使用于电子辞典中。
Take notice both KK and DJ are derivatives of International Phonetic Alphabet (acronym: IPA; 国际音标).
KK音標逐漸被美語自然發音法取代; 一套英國美國都不用的音標. 唐威廉美語 ("連鎖兒童美語補習班"; founded by Andrew Shewbart; in Taiwan only), Mar 10, 2011
www.williamschool.com.tw/news.php?ID=688
("唐威廉美語許副總經理 Ian指出,而從美國辭典實際的編輯來看,不管是Merriam-Webster, Random House, American Heritage, Website's New World等等,數不盡的版本,KK音標又現身何處呢?答案是「沒有」。KK音標就在創始人最後於一九五三年修訂之後,似乎就此走入歷史。不像 DJ 音標那樣有人接續傳承。被台灣美語學習者廣泛接受的KK音標,非但英國人不用,美國人也幾乎不用,目前全世界大概只有台灣還那樣徹底地信仰KK音標,不管是辭典、教科書、參考書或語言教材,還是奉KK音標為圭臬")
(B) I have been in US since 1984 -- for 33 years! Only about four years ago did it dawn on me that Americans pronounce the vowel (ə) of "cut" vast differently from Britons (ʌ). Thus, for the word "cunt," Only in British English will confusion arise with "can't" (in British English, the difference is the length of the vowel, with a short vowel in "cunt" and a long vowel in "can't.")
(C) Moreover, Americans tend to weaken the vowel in an unstressed syllable. I learned that from a news report:
Charlie Leduff, In California, Davis and Schwarzenegger Split the Pronunciation Vote. New York Times, Sept 9, 2003
www.nytimes.com/2003/09/09/us/in ... unciation-vote.html
(covering recall election)
Quote:
"On Saturday, during a union rally, Governor [Gray] Davis took a swipe at the chunky Austrian accent of his Republican rival, the actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. 'You shouldn't be governor unless you can pronounce the name of the state'
"at a youth awards ceremony in a Latino neighborhood on Sunday, Mr Schwarzenegger turned Mr Davis's remarks to his advantage. 'He doesn't like the way I say the word California because I say Cal-ee-fornia rather than Cal-a-fornia
"Actually, Mr Schwarzenegger enunciates the word California more closely to its true Spanish root than does Mr Davis, a native New Yorker, who uses the Anglicized version.
"Lt Gov Cruz Bustamante, the grandson of Mexican immigrants * * * The bilingual Mr Bustamante, who says he will vote no on the recall[, thus helping Davis keep the job; Bustamante and Davis are both Democrats While Schwarzenegger Republican] and yes for himself as the replacement governor, has in recent appearances spoken like a man who wants Mr Davis's job. * * * For the record, Mr Bustamante pronounces it Cal-a-fornia when speaking English and Cal-ee-for-nee-a when speaking Spanish.
* International Phonetic Alphabet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet
(IPA; section 4 Usage, section 4.3 Dictionaries. section 4.3.1 English: Oxford, Cambridge -- and to a large extent Merriam-Webster -- dictionaries use IPA)
* California
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/california
("Pronunciation[:] California/ˌkalɪˈfɔːnɪə/ ")
This is also the way we pronounce in Taiwan.
* Guide to Pronunciation. Merriam--Webster, undated
https://assets2.merriam-webster. ... o-pronunciation.pdf
("More detailed information can be found in the Guide to Pronunciation in Webster's Third New International Dictionary. * * * Those characters [in this pronunciation symbols] which have corresponding symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) are shown with their IPA equivalents. * * * \l [superscript] ə, l [subscript]ə\ in stressed syllables as in humdrum, abut. (IPA [ʌ]) ")
(D) In years past (unless I was writing blogs here), I used Collinsdictionary.com, which is based in London. But many times, I found the accent in that website was placed in the wrong syllables -- and I said so when once the website asked for comment in a pop-up. Today, thanks to Wikipedia I learn that British and American English frequently stress syllables.
American and British English pronunciation differences
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Am ... ciation_differences
, where section 1.1 French stress lists buffet and coupé.
* In US, buffet (n; all-you-can-eat food in a restaurant) has the accent in the second syllable, and buffet (v, to hit) in the first syllable. Oxforddictionaries has the latter pronounced the same, but places the accent in the former (ˈbʌfeɪ or ˈbʊfeɪ). For BOTH definitions the word is French in origin.
buffet
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/buffet
* Compare
coupé (n; French): "2 usually coupe [no accent] :a 2-door automobile often seating only two persons; also : one with a tight-spaced rear seat — compare SEDAN [which has 4 seats]"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coupe
with
coupe (n; also coupé): "a car with a fixed roof, two doors, and a sloping rear"
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/coupe
(Pronunciation[:] coupe /kuːp/)
I have not heard anyone in US pronounced coupe in TWO syllables.
(iii) "The few grammatical differences (for example 'I will' in America, versus 'I will do' in Britain) show little sign of changing either."
(A) 'Shall' or 'Will.' Oxforddictionaries.com, undated.
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/usage/shall-or-will
(B) Catherine Soanes, What's the Difference Between 'Will' and 'Shall'? Blog, Sept 25, 2013.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Am ... matical_differences
("Shall we dance? [section heading]
Although shall is far less common than will, which has over 7 million occurrences on the OEC, all is not entirely lost with regard to shall! It has its place in the limelight when it comes to questions, when it’s used in British and American English to make suggestions or offers, or to ask for advice:
Shall I shut the door?
Where shall we go today?
Shall we go for a drink?")
* In the second and third examples, certainly one may say will, but it is no longer an invitation but purely a future tense. (Ditto "Will we dance?" Say you and a girl-/ boy-friend are planning tonight's activities, whether to include dancing in a club.)
* OEC stands for The Oxford English Corpus.
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/explore/oxford-english-corpus
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