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==History==
==History==
The use of [[English]] in [[Colonial America]] was inherited as a result of British settlement of the [[Thirteen Colonies]]. The first wave of English-speaking settlers arrived in Virginia and New England in the 17th century. During that time, there were also a few speakers in North America of [[Dutch]], [[French]], [[German]], [[Spanish]], [[Swedish]], [[Scots]], [[Welsh]], [[Irish]], [[Scottish Gaelic]], [[Finnish]], as well as numerous [[Native American]] languages. To a very small extent, he American dialect spoken commonly throughout the USA comes from the intertwining of many of these languages and dialects.
The use of [[English]] in [[Colonial America]] was inherited as a result of British settlement of the [[Thirteen Colonies]]. The first wave of English-speaking settlers arrived in Virginia and New England in the 17th century.
In the South the colonists came mostly from the western part of England, and the distinctive accents of those regions helped shape the southern accent.
By contrast the migrants to New England or [[Yankees]] came from the east of England, and brought along a different accent.
In the 18th century the Scots arrived, from Scotland and Ulster (Northern Ireland), bring yet another dialect.
During the colonial era, there were also a few speakers in North America of [[Dutch]], [[French]], [[German]], [[Spanish]], [[Swedish]], [[Welsh]], [[Irish]], [[Scottish Gaelic]], [[Finnish]], as well as numerous [[Native American]] languages. To a very small extent, he American dialect spoken commonly throughout the USA comes from the intertwining of many of these languages and dialects.
By 1800 there were three main dialect areas, with slightly different pronunciations and much the same vocabulary: Northern (New England, New York and due west), Southern (Virginia to Georgia, and due west), and Midland (Pennsylvania and the lower Midwest).
With the arrival of radio in the 1920s, the Midland version became standard American pronunciation.
===Webster===
===Webster===
In many ways, compared to British English, American English differs in its grammar, phonology and vocabulary. Many of these differences were amplified by separate attempts in both Britain and the United States to standardize English usage. For example, [[Noah Webster]], and his Webster's dictionary, was influential in firmly establishing many of the American spellings now in use today. Webster's dictionaries redefined Americanism within the context of an emergent and unstable American cultural identity. Webster's identification of his project as a "federal language" shows his competing impulses towards conservatism or regularity and innovation. The contradictions of Webster's project comprised part of a larger dialectical play between liberty and order within Revolutionary and post-Revolutionary political debates.
In many ways, compared to British English, American English differs in its grammar, phonology and vocabulary. Many of these differences were amplified by separate attempts in both Britain and the United States to standardize English usage. For example, [[Noah Webster]], and his Webster's dictionary, was influential in firmly establishing many of the American spellings now in use today. Webster's dictionaries redefined Americanism within the context of an emergent and unstable American cultural identity. Webster's identification of his project as a "federal language" shows his competing impulses towards conservatism or regularity and innovation. The contradictions of Webster's project comprised part of a larger dialectical play between liberty and order within Revolutionary and post-Revolutionary political debates.
The [[Chicago Tribune]] also embarked on its own effort to simplify spelling and make it more phonetic.
The [[Chicago Tribune]] also embarked on its own effort to simplify spelling and make it more phonetic.
==Today==
==Today==
Today American English is simpler and more phonetic than British English. Sometimes as an expression of [[anti-American]] sentiment, however, non-Americans will insist that use of British English is exclusively proper English, the implication being that American English is somehow "non-standard", which assumes that standards are still being set by the smaller country.
Today American English is simpler and more phonetic than British English. Sometimes as an expression of [[anti-American]] sentiment, however, non-Americans will insist that use of British English is exclusively proper English, the implication being that American English is somehow "non-standard", which assumes that standards are still being set by the smaller country.