View source for American English

{{Short description|Varieties of English native to the United States}}
{{Redirect|U.S. English|the political organization|U.S. English (organization)|the English language throughout North America|North American English|other uses|American English (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2017}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = American English
| region           = [[United States]]
| speakers         = 242 million, all varieties of English in the United States
| date             = 2019
| ref              = 
| speakers2        = 
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
| fam3             = [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]]
| fam4             = [[North Sea Germanic]]
| fam5             = [[Anglo-Frisian languages|Anglo–Frisian]]
| fam6             = [[Anglic languages|Anglic]]
| fam7             = [[English language|English]]
| fam8             = [[North American English]]
| ancestor         = [[Old English]]
| ancestor2        = [[Middle English]]
| ancestor3        = [[Early Modern English]]
| dia1             = [[Southern American English|Southern]]
| dia2             = [[African-American Vernacular English|African-American]]
| dia3             = [[Western American English|Western]]
| dia4             = [[New England English|New England]]
| dia5             = [[Western Pennsylvania English|Pittsburghese]]
| dia6             = [[North-Central American English|Wisconsin-Minnesota]]
| dia7             = [[New York City English|New York]]
| dia8             = [[Midland American English|Midland]]
| dia9             = [[Philadelphia English|Delaware Valley]]
| dia10            = [[Northern American English|Northern]]
| dia11            = [[American Indian English|Native American]]
| dia12            = [[Pennsylvania Dutch English]]
| dia13            = [[Cajun English|Cajun]]
| dia14            = [[Chicano English|Chicano]]
| dia15            = [[Miami accent|Miami]]
| dia16            = [[New York Latino English|New York Latino]]
| nation           = [[United States]] (Federal, 32 U.S. states, five U.S. territories; see [[Languages of the United States#Official languages|article]])
| script           = {{Ubl
| {{nowrap|[[Latin script|Latin]] ([[English alphabet]])}}
| [[Unified English Braille]]<ref name=braille>{{cite web|url=http://www.brailleauthority.org/ueb.html|title=Unified English Braille (UEB)|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date=November 2, 2016|publisher=Braille Authority of North America (BANA)|access-date=January 2, 2017|archive-date=November 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161123220211/http://www.brailleauthority.org/ueb.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>}}
| isoexception     = dialect
| glotto           = none
| ietf             = {{wikidata|property|references|P305}}
| notice           = IPA
}}
'''American English''', sometimes called '''United States English''' or '''U.S. English''',{{Efn|American English is variously abbreviated '''AmE''', '''AE''', '''AmEng''', '''USEng''', and '''en-US'''.{{Efn|name=fn2}}}} is the set of [[variety (linguistics)|varieties]] of the [[English language]] native to the United States.<ref>{{cite book |last=Crystal |first=David |author-link=David Crystal |year=1997 |url=https://archive.org/details/englishasgloball0000crys_j7o0 |url-access=registration |title=English as a Global Language |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-53032-3}}</ref> English is the [[Languages of the United States|most widely spoken language in the United States]] and, since 2025, the official language of the United States.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2025-03-02 |title=Trump makes English official language of US |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2kgq5pzpllo |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> It is also an official language in 32 of the 50 [[U.S. state]]s and the ''[[de facto]]'' common language used in government, education, and commerce in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and in all territories except [[Puerto Rico]].<ref name="WestVirginia"/> Since the late 20th century, American English has become the most influential form of English worldwide.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Engel |first=Matthew |year=2017 |title=That's the Way It Crumbles: The American Conquest of English |url=https://archive.org/details/thatswayitcrumbl0000enge |url-access=registration |location=London |publisher=Profile Books |isbn=9781782832621 |oclc=989790918}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=July 20, 2017 |title=Fears of British English's disappearance are overblown |url=https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2017/07/20/fears-of-british-englishs-disappearance-are-overblown |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613 |access-date=April 18, 2019}}</ref><ref name=bbc>{{Cite web |last=Harbeck |first=James |date=July 15, 2015 |title=Why isn't 'American' a language? |url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150715-why-isnt-american-a-language |publisher=BBC Culture |language=en-GB |access-date=April 18, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Reddy |first=C Rammanohar |date=August 6, 2017 |title=The Readers' Editor writes: Why Is American English Becoming Part of Everyday Usage in India? |url=https://scroll.in/article/846112/the-readers-editor-writes-why-is-american-english-becoming-part-of-everyday-usage-in-india |access-date=April 18, 2019 |publisher=Scroll.in |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Cookies or biscuits? Data shows use of American English is growing the world over |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/more-lifestyle/cookies-or-biscuits-data-shows-use-of-american-english-is-growing-the-world-over/story-0j23x5n3jYiF3cTDJm3R0O.html |work=[[Hindustan Times]] |date=July 17, 2017 |agency=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=September 10, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gonçalves |first1=Bruno |last2=Loureiro-Porto |first2=Lucía |last3=Ramasco |first3=José J. |last4=Sánchez |first4=David |title=Mapping the Americanization of English in Space and Time |journal=PLOS ONE |date=May 25, 2018 |volume=13 |issue=5 |pages=e0197741 |arxiv=1707.00781 |bibcode=2018PLoSO..1397741G |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0197741 |doi-access=free |pmid=29799872 |pmc=5969760}}</ref>

Varieties of American English include many patterns of pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and particularly spelling that are unified nationwide but distinct from other forms of English around the world.{{sfn|Kretzchmar|2004|pages=262–263}} Any [[North American English|American or Canadian]] accent perceived as lacking noticeably local, ethnic, or cultural [[markedness|markers]] is known in [[linguistics]] as [[General American]];<ref name=":0" /> it covers a fairly uniform [[dialect continuum|accent continuum]] native to certain regions of the U.S. but especially associated with broadcast mass media and highly educated speech. However, historical and present linguistic evidence does not support the notion of there being one single mainstream American [[Accent (sociolinguistics)|accent]].{{sfn|Labov|2012|pp=1–2}}{{sfn|Kretzchmar|2004|page=262}} The sound of American English continues to evolve, with some local accents disappearing, but several larger regional accents having emerged in the 20th century.<ref name="PBS">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/speak/ahead/|title=''Do You Speak American?'': What Lies Ahead?|publisher=PBS|access-date=August 15, 2007}}</ref>

==History==
The use of English in the United States is a result of [[British colonization of the Americas]]. The first wave of English-speaking settlers arrived in [[North America]] during the early 17th century, followed by further migrations in the 18th and 19th centuries. During the 17th and 18th centuries, dialects from many different regions of [[England]] and the [[British Isles]] existed in every American colony, allowing a process of extensive [[Dialect levelling|dialect leveling]] and [[koineization|mixing]] in which English varieties across the [[Thirteen Colonies]] became more homogeneous compared with the varieties in the British Isles.{{sfn|Kretzchmar|2004|pp=258–9}}{{sfn|Longmore|2007|pp=517, 520}} English thus predominated in the colonies even by the end of the 17th century's first immigration of non-English speakers from [[Western Europe]] and [[Africa]]. 

Firsthand descriptions of a fairly uniform American English (particularly in contrast to the diverse regional dialects of British English) became common after the mid-18th century,{{sfn|Longmore|2007|p=537}} while at the same time speakers' identification with this new variety increased.<ref name = "Paulsen2022">{{Cite book
| vauthors=Paulsen I
| title = The emergence of American English as a discursive variety Tracing enregisterment processes in nineteenth-century U.S. newspapers
| place = Berlin
| publisher = Language Science Press
| date = 2022
| format = pdf
| url = http://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/341
| doi = 10.5281/zenodo.6207627
| doi-access = free
| isbn = 9783961103386
}}
</ref>
Since the 18th century, American English has developed into some new varieties, including regional dialects that retain minor influences from waves of immigrant speakers of diverse languages, primarily European languages.<ref name="Hickey">Hickey, R. (2014). ''Dictionary of varieties of English''. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 25.</ref><ref name=bbc/>

Some racial and regional variation in American English reflects these groups' geographic settlement, their [[de jure]] or [[de facto]] segregation, and patterns in their resettlement. This can be seen, for example, in the influence of 18th-century Protestant [[Ulster Scots people|Ulster Scots]] immigrants (known in the U.S. as the [[Scotch-Irish Americans|Scotch-Irish]]) in [[Appalachia]] developing [[Appalachian English]] and the 20th-century [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]] bringing [[African-American Vernacular English]] to the [[Great Lakes region|Great Lakes]] urban centers.<ref name="Hickey"/><ref>Mufwene, Salikoko S. (1999). "North American Varieties of English as Byproducts of Population Contacts." ''The Workings of Language: From Prescriptions to Perspectives.'' Ed. Rebecca Wheeler Westport, CT: Praeger, 15–37.</ref>

==Phonology==
{{main|General American}}
{{see also|American and British English pronunciation differences|Comparison of General American and Received Pronunciation}}
===General American===
Most American English accents fall under an umbrella known as [[General American]]. Rather than one particular accent, General American is a spectrum of those American accents that Americans themselves do not associate with some particular region, ethnicity, or socioeconomic group. General American features are used most by Americans in formal contexts or who are highly educated. Regional accents whose native features are perceived as General American include the accents of the North Midland (parts of the Midwest), Western New England, and the West. 

The General American sound system's scope of influence and degree of expansion has been debated by linguists since the term was first used roughly a century ago. Many late-20th and early-21st century studies are showing that it is gradually ousting the regional accents in urban areas of the South and the interior North, New York City, Philadelphia, and many other areas. It can generally be said that younger Americans are avoiding their traditional local features in favor of this more nationwide norm. Furthermore, even General American itself appears to be evolving, with linguists identifying new features in speakers born since the last quarter of the 20th century, like a [[cot-caught merger|merger of the low-back vowels]] and a potentially [[low-back-merger shift|related vowel shift]], that are spreading across the nation.

===Phonological features===
Phonological (accent) features that are typical of American dialects&mdash;in contrast to British dialects&mdash;include features that concern consonants, such as [[Rhoticity in English|rhoticity]] (pronunciation of all historical {{IPA|/r/}} sounds), [[flapping|T and D flapping]] (with ''metal'' and ''medal'' pronounced the same, as {{IPA|[ˈmɛɾɫ̩]}}), [[dark L|velarization of L]] in all contexts (with ''filling'' pronounced {{IPA|[ˈfɪɫɪŋ]}}, not {{IPA|[ˈfɪlɪŋ]}}), and [[yod-dropping]] after [[alveolar consonant]]s (with ''new'' pronounced {{IPA|/nu/}}, not {{IPA|/nju/}}). Like many British accents, [[T glottalization]] is the norm in American accents, though only in particular [[phonetic environment|environments]] (with ''satin'' pronounced {{IPA|[ˈsæʔn̩]}}, not {{IPA|[ˈsætn̩]}}).

American features that concern vowel sounds include various [[vowel merger]]s before {{IPA|/r/}} (so that ''Mary'', ''marry'', and ''merry'' are all commonly [[Mary–marry–merry merger|pronounced the same]]), raising and gliding of pre-nasal {{IPA|/æ/}} (with ''man'' having a higher and tenser vowel sound than ''map''), the [[weak vowel merger]] (with ''affecting'' and ''effecting'' often pronounced the same), and at least one of the {{sc2|LOT}} vowel mergers. Specifically, the [[father–bother merger|{{sc2|LOT}}–{{Sc2|PALM}} merger]] is complete among most Americans and the [[cot-caught merger|{{sc2|LOT}}–{{Sc2|THOUGHT}} merger]] among roughly half. A three-way {{sc2|LOT}}–{{sc2|PALM}}–{{Sc2|THOUGHT}} merger is also very common. Most Americans pronounce the [[diphthong]] {{IPA|/aɪ/}} before a [[voiceless consonant]] different from that same vowel before a [[voiced consonant]]: thus, in ''price'' and ''bright'' versus in ''prize'' and ''bride''. For many, outside the South, the first element of the diphthong is a higher and shorter vowel sound when in pre-voiceless position as opposed to pre-voiced position. All of these phenomena are explained in further detail under General American.

Studies on historical usage of English in both the United States and the United Kingdom suggest that, while spoken American English deviated away from [[Early Modern English|period British English]] in many ways, it is [[Linguistic conservatism|conservative]] in a few other ways, preserving certain features 20th- and 21st-century [[British English]] has since lost: namely, rhoticity. Unlike American accents, the [[Received Pronunciation|traditional standard accent]] of (southern) England has evolved a [[trap–bath split|''trap–bath'' split]]. Moreover, American accents preserve {{IPA|/h/}} at the start of syllables, while perhaps a majority of the regional dialects of England participate in [[H-dropping|/h/ dropping]], particularly in informal contexts.

==Vocabulary==
{{main|American English vocabulary|American English regional vocabulary}}
{{see also|Comparison of American and British English#Vocabulary}}

The process of coining new lexical items started as soon as English-speaking colonists in North America began borrowing names for unfamiliar flora, fauna, and topography from the [[Native American languages]].<ref name="Skeat">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_M7kCAAAAIAAJ |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_M7kCAAAAIAAJ/page/n1 1] |quote=moose etymology. |title=Principles of English etymology: The native element – Walter William Skeat |publisher=At the Clarendon Press |access-date=June 1, 2015|last1=Skeat |first1=Walter William |year=1892 }}</ref> Examples of such names are ''[[Virginia opossum|opossum]], [[raccoon]], [[squash (fruit)|squash]]'', ''[[moose]]'' (from [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]]),<ref name="Skeat" /> ''[[wigwam]]'', and ''[[moccasin]]''. American English speakers have integrated traditionally non-English terms and expressions into the mainstream cultural lexicon; for instance, ''[[en masse]]'', from [[French language|French]]; ''[[cookie]]'', from [[Dutch Language|Dutch]]; ''[[kindergarten]]'' from [[German language|German]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://german.about.com/library/blvoc_gerloan.htm|title=You Already Know Some German Words!|website=About.com|access-date=January 9, 2017|archive-date=June 7, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607060111/http://german.about.com/library/blvoc_gerloan2.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> and ''[[rodeo]]'' from [[Spanish language|Spanish]].<ref>{{cite thesis |url=http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI9308630/ |title="The history of Mexican folk foodways of South Texas: Street vendors, offal foods" |pages=1–421 |publisher=Repository.upenn.edu |date=January 1, 1992 |access-date=June 1, 2015|last1=Montano |first1=Mario }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ROmDu-bYMRYC&q=rodeo&pg=PA1 |title=What's in a Word?: Etymological Gossip about Some Interesting English Words – Robert M. Gorrell |access-date=June 1, 2015|isbn=9780874173673 |last1=Gorrell |first1=Robert M. |year=2001 |publisher=University of Nevada Press }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p1krAAAAYAAJ&q=gaufre%20&pg=PA9|title=The Pocket Gophers of the United States|last=Bailey|first=Vernon|date=1895|publisher=U.S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy|language=en|access-date=June 1, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=osQAtpUtDvkC&q=stoop&pg=PR7 |title=The American Language: A Preliminary Inquiry Into the Development of English ... – H. L. Mencken |date= January 1, 2010|access-date=June 1, 2015|isbn=9781616402594 |last1=Mencken |first1=H. L. |publisher=Cosimo }}</ref> Landscape features are often loanwords from French or Spanish, and the word ''[[wikt:corn|corn]]'', used in England to refer to wheat (or any cereal), came to denote the [[maize]] plant, the [[Corn production in the United States|most important crop]] in the U.S.

Other common differences between UK and American English include: ''aerial'' (UK) vs. ''antenna'', ''biscuit'' (UK) vs. ''cookie/cracker'', ''car park'' (UK) vs. ''parking lot'', ''caravan'' (UK) vs. ''trailer'', ''city centre'' (UK) vs. ''downtown'', ''flat'' (UK) vs. ''apartment'', ''fringe'' (UK; for hair hanging over the forehead) vs. ''bangs'', and ''holiday'' (UK) vs. ''vacation''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.studyenglishtoday.net/british-american-english.html|title=British vs. American English – Vocabulary Differences|website=www.studyenglishtoday.net|access-date=April 18, 2019}}{{dead link|date=March 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

Most [[Mexican Spanish]] contributions came after the [[War of 1812]], with the opening of the West, like ''[[ranch]]'' (now a common [[ranch house|house style]]). Due to Mexican culinary influence, many Spanish words are incorporated in general use when talking about certain popular dishes: cilantro (instead of coriander), queso, tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas, tostadas, fajitas, burritos, and guacamole. These words usually lack an English equivalent and are found in popular restaurants. New forms of dwelling created new terms ''([[Land lot|lot]], waterfront)'' and types of homes like ''[[log cabin]], [[adobe]]'' in the 18th century; ''[[apartment]], [[Wikt:shanty|shanty]]'' in the 19th century; ''project, [[Condominium (living space)|condominium]], [[townhouse]], [[mobile home]]'' in the 20th century; and parts thereof ''([[driveway]], breezeway, [[backyard]])''.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}} Industry and material innovations from the 19th century onwards provide distinctive new words, phrases, and idioms through [[railroad]]ing (see further at [[rail terminology]]) and [[transport]]ation terminology, ranging from types of roads (''dirt roads'', ''[[freeway]]s'') to infrastructure ''([[parking lot]], [[overpass]], [[rest area]]),'' to automotive terminology often now standard in English internationally.<ref>A few of these are now chiefly found, or have been more productive, outside the U.S.; for example, ''jump,'' "to drive past a traffic signal"; ''block'' meaning "building", and ''center,'' "central point in a town" or "main area for a particular activity" (cf. Oxford English Dictionary).</ref> Already existing English words—such as ''[[General store|store]], [[Retailing|shop]], [[lumber]]''—underwent shifts in meaning; others remained in the U.S. while changing in Britain. Science, urbanization, and democracy have been important factors in bringing about changes in the written and spoken language of the United States.<ref>{{cite thesis|url=https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=9117&context=gradschool_disstheses|title=Trends in Word Compounding in American Speech|author=Elizabeth Ball Carr|date=August 1954|publisher=Louisiana State University}}</ref> From the world of business and finance came new terms (''[[merger]], [[Layoff|downsize]], [[Net income|bottom line]]''), from sports and gambling terminology came, specific jargon aside, common everyday American idioms, including [[English language idioms derived from baseball|many idioms related to baseball]]. The names of some American inventions remained largely confined to North America (''[[elevator]]'' [except [[Elevator (aeronautics)|in the aeronautical sense]]], ''[[gasoline]]'') as did certain automotive terms (''[[truck]]'', ''[[Trunk (car)|trunk]]'').{{Citation needed|date=April 2019}}

New foreign loanwords came with 19th and early 20th century European immigration to the U.S.; notably, from [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]] ''([[chutzpah]], schmooze, bupkis, [[glitch]]'') and [[German language|German]] (''[[hamburger]], [[Hot dog|wiener]]'').<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19970923 |title=The Maven's Word of the Day: gesundheit |publisher=[[Random House]] |access-date=May 29, 2013}}</ref>{{sfn|Trudgill|2004}} A large number of English colloquialisms from various periods are American in origin; some have lost their American flavor (from ''[[OK]]'' and ''cool'' to ''[[nerd]]'' and ''[[24/7]]),'' while others have not ''([[have a nice day]], for sure);''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oup.com/oald-bin/web_getald7index1a.pl?nav=on&which_entry=009421%23x1%23x1%23day&selected_word=day&search_word=day |title=Definition of day noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary|publisher=Oup.com |access-date=May 29, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oup.com/oald-bin/web_getald7index1a.pl?nav=on&which_entry=036903%23x1%23x1%23sure&selected_word=sure&search_word=sure#sure_adv |title=Definition of sure adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary|publisher=Oup.com |access-date=May 29, 2013}}</ref> many are now distinctly old-fashioned ''(swell, groovy).'' Some English words now in general use, such as ''hijacking, [[disc jockey]], boost, bulldoze'' and ''[[jazz]],'' originated as American slang.

American English has always shown a marked tendency to [[Anthimeria|use words in different parts of speech]] and nouns are [[functional shift|often used as verbs]].{{sfn|Trudgill|2004|p=69}} Examples of nouns that are now also verbs are ''interview, advocate, vacuum, lobby, pressure, rear-end, transition, feature, profile, hashtag, head, divorce, loan, estimate, X-ray, spearhead, skyrocket, showcase, bad-mouth, [[vacation]], major,'' and many others. [[Compound (linguistics)|Compounds]] coined in the U.S. are for instance ''[[foothill]], [[landslide]]'' (in all senses), ''[[Wikt:backdrop|backdrop]], [[teenager]],'' ''[[brainstorming|brainstorm]], [[Wikt:bandwagon|bandwagon]], [[hitchhike]], smalltime,'' and a huge number of others. Other compound words have been founded based on industrialization and the wave of the automobile: five-passenger car, four-door sedan, two-door sedan, and station-wagon (called an estate car in British English).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theword.cz/inotherwords/american-vs-british-smackdown-station-wagon-vs-estate-car/|title=The Word » American vs. British Smackdown: Station wagon vs. estate car|access-date=April 18, 2019}}</ref> Some are euphemistic ''([[human resources]], [[affirmative action]], [[correctional facility]]).'' Many compound nouns have the verb-and-preposition combination: ''stopover, lineup, tryout, spin-off, [[shootout]], holdup, hideout, comeback, [[makeover]],'' and many more. Some prepositional and [[phrasal verb]]s are in fact of American origin (''win out, hold up, back up/off/down/out, face up to'' and many others).<ref>British author [[George Orwell]] (in ''English People'', 1947, cited in OED s.v. ''lose)'' criticized an alleged "American tendency" to "burden every verb with a preposition that adds nothing to its meaning (''win out'', ''lose out'', ''face up to'', etc.)".</ref>

Noun endings such as ''-ee (retiree), -ery (bakery), -ster (gangster)'' and ''-cian (beautician)'' are also particularly productive in the U.S.{{sfn|Trudgill|2004|p=69}} Several verbs ending in ''-ize'' are of U.S. origin; for example, ''fetishize, prioritize, burglarize, accessorize, [[weatherization|weatherize]],'' etc.; and so are some [[back-formation]]s ''(locate, fine-tune, curate, donate, emote, upholster'' and ''enthuse).'' Among syntactic constructions that arose are ''outside of, headed for, meet up with, back of,'' etc. Americanisms formed by alteration of some existing words include notably ''pesky, phony, rambunctious, buddy, [[sundae]], skeeter, sashay'' and ''kitty-corner.'' Adjectives that arose in the U.S. are, for example, ''lengthy, bossy, [[cuteness|cute]]'' and ''cutesy, punk'' (in all senses), ''sticky'' (of the weather), ''through'' (as in "finished"), and many colloquial forms such as ''peppy'' or ''wacky''.

A number of words and meanings that originated in [[Middle English]] or [[Early Modern English]] and that have been in everyday use in the United States have since disappeared in most varieties of British English; some of these have cognates in [[Scottish Lowlands|Lowland Scots]]. Terms such as ''[[autumn|fall]]'' ("autumn"), ''[[faucet]]'' ("tap"), ''[[diaper]]'' ("nappy"; itself unused in the U.S.), ''[[candy]]'' ("sweets"), ''[[Frying pan|skillet]]'', ''[[eyeglasses]]'', and ''[[obligate]]'' are often regarded as Americanisms. ''Fall'', however, came to denote the season in 16th century England, a contraction of Middle English expressions like "fall of the leaf" and "fall of the year".<ref>{{OEtymD|fall}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=August 2020}} ''Gotten'' ([[past participle]] of ''get'') is often considered to be largely an Americanism.<ref name=bbc/><ref>''A Handbook of Varieties of English'', Bernd Kortmann & Edgar W. Schneider, Walter de Gruyter, 2004, p. 115.</ref> Other words and meanings were brought back to Britain from the U.S., especially in the second half of the 20th century; these include ''hire'' ("to employ"), ''I guess'' (famously criticized by [[H. W. Fowler]]), ''[[baggage]]'', ''hit'' (a place), and the adverbs ''overly'' and ''presently'' ("currently"). Some of these, for example, ''[[monkey wrench]]'' and ''[[wastebasket]]'', originated in 19th century Britain. The adjectives ''mad'' meaning "angry", ''smart'' meaning "intelligent", and ''sick'' meaning "ill" are also more frequent in American (and Irish) English than British English.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.com/images/elt/oald7/synald7_angry.gif |title=angry |publisher=Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary |url-status=dead |access-date=May 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309172328/http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.com/images/elt/oald7/synald7_angry.gif |archive-date=March 9, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.com/images/elt/oald7/synald7_intelligent.gif |title=intelligent |publisher=Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary |url-status=dead |access-date=May 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309172334/http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.com/images/elt/oald7/synald7_intelligent.gif |archive-date=March 9, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/dictionary/ill |title=Definition of ill adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary |publisher=Oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com |access-date=May 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527173051/http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/dictionary/ill |archive-date=May 27, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Linguist [[Bert Vaux]] created a survey, completed in 2003, polling English speakers across the United States about their specific everyday word choices, hoping to identify regionalisms.<ref>Vaux, Bert and Scott Golder. 2003. [http://dialect.redlog.net/ The Harvard Dialect Survey] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430083828/http://dialect.redlog.net/ |date=April 30, 2016 }}. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Linguistics Department.</ref> The study found that most Americans prefer the term ''sub'' for a long sandwich, ''soda'' (but ''pop'' in the Great Lakes region and generic ''coke'' in the South) for a sweet and bubbly [[soft drink]],<ref>Katz, Joshua (2013). [http://www4.ncsu.edu/~jakatz2/files/dialectposter.png "Beyond 'Soda, Pop, or Coke{{' "}}]{{dead link|date=March 2025}}. North Carolina State University.</ref> ''you'' or ''you guys'' for the plural of ''you'' (but ''y'all'' in the South), ''[[Sneakers#Names and etymology|sneakers]]'' for athletic shoes (but often ''tennis shoes'' outside the Northeast), and ''[[shopping cart]]'' for a cart used for carrying supermarket goods.

==Grammar and orthography==
{{Main|American and British English grammatical differences|American and British English spelling differences}}
American English and [[British English]] (BrE) differ in somewhat minor ways in their grammar and writing conventions. The first large American dictionary, ''An American Dictionary of the English Language'', known as [[Webster's Dictionary]], was written by [[Noah Webster]] in 1828, codifying several of these spellings.

Differences in grammar are relatively minor, and do not normally affect mutual intelligibility; these include: typically a lack of differentiation between adjectives and adverbs, employing the equivalent adjectives as adverbs ''he ran quick''/''he ran quickly''; different use of some [[auxiliary verb]]s; formal (rather than notional) agreement with [[collective noun]]s; different preferences for the past forms of a few verbs (for example, AmE/BrE: ''learned''/''learnt'', ''burned''/''burnt'', ''snuck/sneaked'', ''dove/dived'') although the purportedly "British" forms can occasionally be seen in American English writing as well; different prepositions and adverbs in certain contexts (for example, AmE ''in school,'' BrE ''at school''<!--when it means "to be a student"-->); and whether or not a definite article is used, in very few cases (AmE ''to the hospital'', BrE ''to hospital''; contrast, however, AmE ''actress Elizabeth Taylor'', BrE ''the actress Elizabeth Taylor''). Often, these differences are a matter of relative preferences rather than absolute rules; and most are not stable since the two varieties are constantly influencing each other,<ref>Algeo, John (2006). ''British or American English?''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-37993-8}}.</ref> and American English is not a standardized set of dialects.

Differences in [[orthography]] are also minor. The main differences are that American English usually uses spellings such as ''flavor'' for British ''flavour'', ''fiber'' for ''fibre'', ''defense'' for ''defence'', ''analyze'' for ''analyse'', ''license'' for ''licence'', ''catalog'' for ''catalogue'' and ''traveling'' for ''travelling''. Noah Webster popularized such spellings in America, but he did not invent most of them. Rather, "he chose already existing options on such grounds as simplicity, analogy or etymology."<ref>Algeo, John. "The Effects of the Revolution on Language", in ''A Companion to the American Revolution''. John Wiley & Sons, 2008. p.599</ref> Other differences are due to the [[francophile]] tastes of the 19th century [[Victorian era]] Britain (for example they preferred ''programme'' for ''program'', ''manoeuvre'' for ''maneuver'', ''cheque'' for ''check'', etc.).<ref>Peters, Pam (2004). ''The Cambridge Guide to English Usage''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-62181-X}}, pp. 34 and 511.</ref> AmE almost always uses ''-ize'' in words like ''realize''. BrE prefers ''-ise'', but also uses ''-ize'' on occasion (see: [[Oxford spelling]]).

There are a few differences in punctuation rules. British English is more tolerant of [[run-on sentences]], called "[[comma splice]]s" in American English, and American English prefers that periods and commas be placed inside closing quotation marks even in cases in which British rules would place them outside. American English also favors the double quotation mark ("like this") over the single ('as here').<ref name="APA">{{cite web
|url= http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2011/08/punctuating-around-quotation-marks.html
|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
|title=Punctuating Around Quotation Marks
|publisher=Style Guide of the American Psychological Association
|year=2011
|format=blog
|access-date=March 21, 2015}}</ref>

AmE sometimes favors words that are [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphologically]] more complex, whereas BrE uses clipped forms, such as AmE ''transportation'' and BrE ''transport'' or where the British form is a [[back-formation]], such as AmE ''burglarize'' and BrE ''burgle'' (from ''burglar''). However, while individuals usually use one or the other, both forms will be widely understood and mostly used alongside each other within the two systems.

==Subvarieties==
{{image frame
|content={{Map of American English}}
|max-width=600
|caption=The map above shows the major regional dialects of American English (in [[all caps]]) plus smaller and more local dialects, as demarcated primarily by Labov et al.'s ''[[The Atlas of North American English]]'',{{sfn|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=148}} as well as the related Telsur Project's [http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atlas/home.html#regional regional maps]. Any region may also contain speakers of a "General American" accent that resists the marked features of their region. Furthermore, this map does not account for speakers of ethnic or cultural varieties (such as [[African-American English]], [[Chicano English]], [[Cajun English]], etc.).
|mode=scrollable
}}

While written American English is largely standardized across the country and spoken American English dialects are highly mutually intelligible, there are still several recognizable regional and ethnic accents, alongside mostly minor distinctions in vocabulary, grammatical structures, and other features.

===Regional accents===
{{Main|Regional vocabularies of American English|North American English regional phonology}}
The regional sounds of present-day American English are reportedly engaged in a complex phenomenon of "both convergence and divergence": some accents are homogenizing and [[accent leveling|leveling]], while others are diversifying and deviating further away from one another.{{sfn|Labov|2012}} In 2010, [[William Labov]] noted that Great Lakes, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and West Coast accents have undergone "vigorous new sound changes" since the mid-nineteenth century onwards, so they "are now more different from each other than they were 50 or 100 years ago", while other accents, like those of New York City and Boston, have remained stable in that same timeframe.{{sfn|Labov|2012}}

Having been settled longer than the American West Coast, the East Coast has had more time to develop unique accents, and it currently comprises three or four linguistically significant regions, each of which possesses English varieties both different from each other as well as quite internally diverse: [[New England]], the [[Mid-Atlantic states]] (including a [[New York accent]] as well as a unique [[Mid-Atlantic American English|Philadelphia–Baltimore accent]]), and the [[Southern United States|South]]. As of the 20th century, the middle and eastern [[Great Lakes area]], Chicago being the largest city with these speakers, also ushered in certain unique features, including the [[fronting (phonetics)|front]]ing of the {{sc2|LOT}} {{IPA|/ɑ/}} vowel in the mouth toward {{IPA|[a]}} and [[tenseness|tensing]] of the {{sc2|TRAP}} {{IPA|/æ/}} vowel wholesale to {{IPA|[eə]}}. These sound changes have triggered a series of other [[vowel shift]]s in the same region, known by linguists as the "[[Inland North]]".{{sfn|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=190}} The Inland North shares with the [[Eastern New England English|Eastern New England dialect]] (including [[Boston accent]]s) a [[back vowel|backer tongue positioning]] of the {{Sc2|GOOSE}} {{IPA|/u/}} vowel (to {{IPA|[u]}}) and the {{Sc2|MOUTH}} {{IPA|/aʊ/}} vowel (to {{IPA|[ɑʊ~äʊ]}}) in comparison to the rest of the country.{{sfn|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|pp=230}} Ranging from northern New England across the Great Lakes to Minnesota, another Northern regional marker is the variable fronting of {{IPA|/ɑ/}} before {{IPA|/r/}},{{sfn|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=111}} for example, appearing four times in the stereotypical Boston [[shibboleth]] ''Park the car in Harvard Yard''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Vorhees|first=Mara|title=Boston. Con Pianta. Ediz. Inglese|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a0sQ5UzkiQUC&pg=PA52|year=2009|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=978-1-74179-178-5|page=52}}</ref>

[[File:Non-RhoticityUSA.png|thumb|upright=1.15|The red dots show every U.S. metropolitan area where over 50% non-rhotic speech was documented among some of that area's white speakers in the 1990s. Non-rhoticity may be heard among [[African-American English|black speakers]] throughout the whole country.<ref>Labov, p. 48.{{incomplete short citation|date=March 2025}}</ref>]]
Several other phenomena serve to distinguish regional U.S. accents. [[New England English|Boston]], [[Western Pennsylvania English|Pittsburgh]], [[North-Central American English|Upper Midwestern]], and [[Western American English|Western U.S. accents]] have fully completed a merger of the {{Sc2|LOT}} vowel with the {{Sc2|THOUGHT}} vowel ({{IPA|/ɑ/}} and {{IPA|/ɔ/}}, respectively):{{sfn|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=60}} a [[cot–caught merger|''cot–caught'' merger]], which is rapidly spreading throughout the whole country. However, the South, Inland North, and a Northeastern coastal corridor passing through Rhode Island, New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore typically preserve an older ''cot–caught'' distinction.{{sfn|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=190}} For that Northeastern corridor, the realization of the {{sc2|THOUGHT}} vowel is particularly [[markedness|marked]], as depicted in humorous spellings, like in ''tawk'' and ''cawfee'' (''talk'' and ''coffee''), which intend to represent it being [[tenseness|tense]] and [[diphthong]]al: {{IPA|[oə]}}.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=New England |chapter-url=http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atlas/Atlas_chapters/Ch16_2nd.rev.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atlas/Atlas_chapters/Ch16_2nd.rev.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live |last1=Labov |first1=William |last2=Ash |first2=Sharon |last3=Boberg |first3=Charles |title=The Atlas of North American English: Phonetics, Phonology and Sound Change |date=January 1, 2005 |quote=This phonemic and phonetic arrangement of the low back vowels makes Rhode Island more similar to New York City than to the rest of New England}}</ref> A [[æ tensing|split of {{sc2|TRAP}}]] into two separate [[phoneme]]s, using different ''a'' pronunciations for example in ''gap'' {{IPA|[æ]}} versus ''gas'' {{IPA|[eə]}}, further defines New York City as well as Philadelphia–Baltimore accents.{{sfnp|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=173}}

Most Americans preserve all historical {{IPA|/r/}} sounds, using what is known as a [[Rhoticity in English|rhotic accent]]. The only traditional ''r''-dropping (or non-rhoticity) in regional U.S. accents variably appears today in [[Eastern New England English|eastern New England]], [[New York City English|New York City]], and some of the [[older Southern American English|former plantation South]] primarily among older speakers (and, relatedly, some [[African-American Vernacular English]] across the country), though the vowel-consonant cluster found in "bird", "work", "hurt", "learn", etc. usually retains its ''r'' pronunciation, even in these non-rhotic American accents. Non-rhoticity among such speakers is presumed to have arisen from their upper classes' close historical contact with England, imitating London's ''r''-dropping, a feature that has continued to gain prestige throughout England from the late 18th century onwards,{{sfn|Trudgill|2004|pp=46–47}} but which has conversely lost prestige in the U.S. since at least the early 20th century.{{sfn|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|pp=5, 47}} Non-rhoticity makes a word like ''car'' sound like ''cah'' or ''source'' like ''sauce''.{{sfn|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|pp=137, 141}}

New York City and [[Southern American English|Southern accents]] are the most widely recognized regional accents in the country, as well as the most stigmatized and socially disfavored.<ref>{{multiref2|1=Hayes, Dean (2013). "[http://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ling_etds/15 The Southern Accent and 'Bad English': A Comparative Perceptual Study of the Conceptual Network between Southern Linguistic Features and Identity]". UNM Digital Repository: Electronic Theses and Dissertations. pp. 5, 51.|2=Gordon, Matthew J.; Schneider, Edgar W. (2008). "[https://books.google.com/books?id=bGjixKTt9JcC&pg=PA67 New York, Philadelphia, and other northern cities: Phonology]". Varieties of English 2: 67–86.|3=Hartley, Laura (1999). [https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/lang_fac/17 A View from the West: Perceptions of U.S. Dialects from the Point of View of Oregon]. Faculty Publications – Department of World Languages, Sociology & Cultural Studies. 17.|4=Yannuar, N.; Azimova, K.; Nguyen, D. (2014). "[http://kata.petra.ac.id/index.php/ing/article/view/18880 Perceptual Dialectology: Northerners and Southerners' View of Different American Dialects]". k@ta, 16(1), pp. 11, 13.}}</ref> Southern speech, strongest in southern Appalachia and certain areas of Texas, is often identified by Americans as a "country" accent,<ref name="Hayes, 2013, p. 51">Hayes, 2013, p. 51.</ref> and is defined by the {{IPA|/aɪ/}} vowel losing its [[diphthong|gliding quality]]: {{IPA|[aː]}}, the initiation event for a complicated Southern vowel shift, including a "[[Southern drawl]]" that makes short [[front vowel]]s into distinct-sounding [[gliding vowel]]s.{{sfn|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=125}} The fronting of the vowels of {{sc2|GOOSE}}, {{sc2|GOAT}}, {{sc2|MOUTH}}, and {{sc2|STRUT}} tends to also define Southern accents as well as the accents spoken in the "[[Midland American English|Midland]]": a vast band of the country that constitutes an intermediate dialect region between the traditional North and South. Western U.S. accents mostly fall under the General American spectrum.

Below, ten major American English accents are defined by their particular combinations of certain vowel sounds:

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Accent name !! |Most populous city !! Strong {{IPA|/aʊ/}} fronting !! Strong {{IPA|/oʊ/}} fronting !! Strong {{IPA|/u/}} fronting !! Strong {{IPA|/ɑr/}} fronting !! [[Cot–caught merger|''Cot–caught'' merger]] !! [[Pin–pen merger|''Pin–pen'' merger]] !! [[/æ/ tensing|/æ/ raising system]]
|-
| '''[[General American]]''' || || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Partial|Mixed}} || {{No}} || pre-nasal
|-
| '''[[Inland North]]ern''' || Chicago || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || general
|-
| '''[[Midland American English|Midland]]''' || Indianapolis || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || {{Partial|Mixed}} || {{Partial|Mixed}} || pre-nasal
|-
| '''[[New York accent|New York City]]''' || New York City || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || split
|-
| '''[[North-Central American English|North-Central (Upper Midwestern)]]''' || Minneapolis || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Partial|Mixed}} || {{No}} || pre-nasal & pre-velar
|-
| '''[[New England English|{{nowrap|Northeastern New England}}]]''' || Boston || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || pre-nasal
|-
| '''[[Mid-Atlantic American English|Philadelphia/Baltimore]]''' || Philadelphia || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || split
|-
| '''[[Southern American English|Southern]]''' || San Antonio<!-- Houston is the largest city in Texas, but it barely falls under the Southern dialect, according to ANAE p. 131 -->|| {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || {{Partial|Mixed}} || {{Yes}} || Southern
|-
| '''[[Western American English|Western]]''' || Los Angeles || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || pre-nasal
|-
| '''[[Western Pennsylvania English|Western Pennsylvania]]''' || Pittsburgh || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Partial|Mixed}} || pre-nasal
|}

===Other varieties===
Although no longer region-specific,{{sfn|Trudgill|2004|p=42}} [[African-American Vernacular English]], which remains the native variety of most working- and middle-class [[African Americans]], has a close relationship to Southern dialects and has greatly influenced everyday speech of many Americans, including [[hip hop culture]]. [[Hispanic and Latino Americans]] have also developed native-speaker varieties of English. The best-studied Latino Englishes are [[Chicano English]], spoken in the West and Midwest, and [[New York Latino English]], spoken in the [[New York metropolitan area]]. Additionally, ethnic varieties such as [[Yeshivish|Yeshiva English]] and "[[Yinglish]]" are spoken by some [[American Jews|American]] [[Orthodox Jew]]s, [[Cajun English|Cajun Vernacular English]] by some [[Cajun]]s in southern [[Louisiana]], and [[Pennsylvania Dutch English]] by some [[Pennsylvania Dutch]] people. [[American Indian English]]es have been documented among diverse Indian tribes. The island state of [[Hawaii]], though primarily English-speaking, is also home to a [[creole language]] known commonly as [[Hawaiian Pidgin]], and some Hawaii residents speak English with a Pidgin-influenced accent. American English also gave rise to some dialects outside the country, for example, [[Philippine English]], beginning during the [[United States Military Government of the Philippine Islands|American occupation of the Philippines]] and subsequently the [[Insular Government of the Philippine Islands]]; [[Thomasites]] first established a variation of American English in these islands.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dayag|first=Danilo|date=2004|title=The English-language media in the Philippines|journal=World Englishes|volume=23|pages=33–45|doi=10.1111/J.1467-971X.2004.00333.X|s2cid=145589555}}</ref>

==Nationwide usage and status==
{{main|Languages of the United States}}
[[File:Population speaking English at home by PUMA.png|thumb|upright=2.1|Percentage of Americans aged 5+ speaking English at home in each Public Usage Microdata Area (PUMA) of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico according to the 2016–2021 five-year American Community Survey]]
[[File:USA states english official language.svg|thumb|upright=1.35 |alt=Map of United States Official Language Status By State|Map of U.S. official language status by state.
{{Legend|#000081|English declared the official language}}
{{Legend|#8181ff|Multiple official languages, including English (Alaska, Hawaii, South Dakota), or languages with special status (New Mexico)}}
{{Legend|#d4d4d4|No official language specified.}}]]
In 2021, about 245 million Americans, aged 5 or above, spoke English at home: a majority of the United States total population of roughly 330 million people.<ref name="ACS2021">{{cite web |title=ACS B16001 |url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=B16001:+LANGUAGE+SPOKEN+AT+HOME+BY+ABILITY+TO+SPEAK+ENGLISH+FOR+THE+POPULATION+5+YEARS+AND+OVER&g=0100000US&tid=ACSDT1Y2021.B16001&moe=true |website=ACS B16001 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=April 12, 2024}}</ref> 

Of the 50 states, 32 have adopted legislation granting official (or co-official) status to English within their jurisdictions, in some cases as part of what has been called the [[English-only movement]].<ref name="WestVirginia">{{cite web |url=http://www.us-english.org/view/1034 |title=U.S. English Efforts Lead West Virginia to Become 32nd State to Recognize English as Official Language |publisher=U.S. English |date=March 5, 2016 |url-status=dead |access-date=May 13, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401151700/http://us-english.org/view/1034 |archive-date=April 1, 2016 }}</ref><ref>"[https://www.usenglish.org/us-states-official-english-laws/ Official English]". ''U.S. English'', 2022.</ref> Typically only "English" is specified, not a particular variety like American English. (From 1923 to 1969, the state of Illinois recognized its official language as "American", meaning American English.)<ref>{{cite news |last=Crews |first=Haibert O. |date=January 23, 1923 |title=Talk American, Not English |page=10 |work=[[Champaign-Urbana Courier]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74230858/talk-american-not-english/ |via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=March 23, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Davis |first=Robert |date=September 24, 1969 |title=News Briefs: Its Legal—We Speak English |at=sec. 1, p. 3 |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74217269/news-briefs-its-legal-we-speak-english/ |via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=March 23, 2021}}</ref> 

While English has always been the language used at the federal and state levels, no official language had been designated at the federal level before 2025, when English was made the [[official language]] of the United States by [[Executive Order 14224]].<ref name=":1" /> 

[[Puerto Rico]] is the only [[United States territory]] in which another language – Spanish – is the common language at home, in public, and in government.

==See also==
{{Portal|United States|Language}}
* [[American and British English spelling differences]]
* [[Canadian English]]
* [[Dictionary of American Regional English]]
* [[International English]]
* [[Sound correspondences between English accents]]
* [[Help:IPA/English|International Phonetic Alphabet chart for the English Language]]
* [[List of English words from Indigenous languages of the Americas]]
* [[Phonological history of English]]
* [[Regional accents of English]]

==Notes==
{{notelist|refs=
{{efn|name=fn2|<code>en-US</code> is the [[language code]] for ''U.S. English'', as defined by [[ISO standard]]s (see [[ISO 639-1]] and [[ISO 3166-1 alpha-2]]) and [[Internet standard]]s (see [[IETF language tag]]).}}
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
* [[Richard W. Bailey|Bailey, Richard W.]] (2012). ''Speaking American: A History of English in the United States'' 20th–21st-century usage in different cities
* {{Cite book|last=Bartlett|first=John R.|author-link=John Russell Bartlett|year=1848|title=Dictionary of Americanisms: A Glossary of Words and Phrases Usually Regarded As Peculiar to the United States|location=New York|publisher=Bartlett and Welford}}
* [[Bryan A. Garner|Garner, Bryan A.]] (2003). ''Garner's Modern American Usage''. New York: Oxford University Press.
* {{cite book|last=Mencken|first=H. L.|author-link=H. L. Mencken|orig-year=1921|year=1977|title=The American Language: An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States |edition=4th |location=New York|publisher=Knopf|title-link=The American Language: An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States}}

===History of American English===
* Bailey, Richard W. (2004). "American English: Its origins and history". In E. Finegan & J. R. Rickford (Eds.), ''Language in the USA: Themes for the twenty-first century'' (pp.&nbsp;3–17). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Finegan, Edward. (2006). "English in North America". In R. Hogg & D. Denison (Eds.), ''A history of the English language'' (pp.&nbsp;384–419). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|American English}}
{{NIE Poster|Americanisms|year=1905}}
{{Wikiversity|American English}}
* [https://www.pbs.org/speak/ Do You Speak American]: PBS special
* [http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/maps.html Dialect Survey] of the United States, by Bert Vaux ''et al.'', [[Harvard University]].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150713193617/http://us.english.uga.edu/cgi-bin/lapsite.fcgi/ Linguistic Atlas Projects]
* [http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atlas/home.html Phonological Atlas of North America] at the [[University of Pennsylvania]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080821121056/http://classweb.gmu.edu/accent/ Speech Accent Archive]
* [http://dare.wisc.edu Dictionary of American Regional English]
* [http://aschmann.net/AmEng/ Dialect maps based on pronunciation]

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