NAME _______________________________ E-MAIL _____________________________

Università di Firenze

Dipartimento di FORLILPSI

a.a. 2019-20

Corso di Laurea magistrale in Lingue e Letterature moderne europee e americane

“Characteristics and Varieties Of North American English”

John Gilbert

(N.B. This assignment is to be completed and sent by email to john.gilbert@unifi.it)

PART I

Instructions: Indicate if the following sentences are TRUE (T) or FALSE (F).

1. _____ ESL and EFL speakers have constituted the majority of the world’s English

speakers since about 1980.

2. _____ There was no strong centralizing influence on English until after the arrival of

the printing process from China in the 18th century.

3. _____ The publication of Dr. Johnson’s dictionary in 1755 was instrumental in the

standardization of English spelling.

4. _____ By the 17th century, English had reached very much its present form.

5. _____ In the 18th century, prescriptive attitudes towards English developed which

have been influential ever since.

6. _____ Lexis represents the greatest area of linguistic difference between British and

North American English.

7. _____ The British Isles comprise the largest English-speaking community in the

world.

8. _____ There are more dialects in England than anywhere else in the English-speaking

world.

9. _____ There are unmistakable 16th and early 17th century characteristics in British

English which have disappeared from North American English.

10. _____ There are 20 vowel phonemes in R.P. English but only 16 in General American.

11. _____ Most vowels are pronounced a little differently in R.P. and General American

English.

12. _____ General American and R.P. do not have the same 24 consonant phonemes.

13. _____ The consonant system is fairly the same in all present-day varieties of English,

with the major exception of the rhotic /r/.

14. _____ The greatest change in the consonant system in Later Modern English was the

disappearance during the 18th century of the /r/ before a consonant or a pause

in R.P. English.

15. _____ Irish, Scottish and General American English have a rhotic accent.

16. _____ There is a non-rhotic accent in the U.S. South and New England, and in Afro-

American English.

17. _____ Northern English is the most distinct geographic variety of English in the U.S.A.

18. _____ Canadian English is considered a dialect of North American English.

19. _____

Afro-American English, also known as “Ebonics,” is considered to be a separate

English dialect by some linguists.20. _____

21. _____

Before <-u> and <-ew> General American pronounces <n>, <d> and <t> as /

nj/, /dj/ and /tj/ (e.g. new as /nju:/).

Caribbean English is generally considered to be a linguistic continuum with

creole at one extreme and standard R.P. at the other.

22. _____ “Spanglish” is a hybrid of Latin American Spanish and North American English

which is increasingly making its way into the mainstream culture of the U.S.A.

23. _____ The great majority of new words introduced into English over the last two

centuries have come from British English.

24. _____ North Americans often think that R.P. speakers “drawl” while R.P. speakers

often think that General American English is “clipped.”

25. _____ The small extent to which various standard forms of English differ from each

other in lexis, grammar and spelling is remarkable.

PART II

Instructions: Circle the letter of the correct or most appropriate answer.

1. The greatest differences between British and North American English regard:

A. grammar

B. lexis

C. pronunciation

D. spelling

E. syntax

2. Which of the following vowel phonemes does not exist in General American English?

A. /ɑ:/

B. /æ/

C. /ɒ/

D. /ɔ:/

E. /ʌ/

3. Words like bath, fast, can’t, glass, and after are pronounced with the phoneme / æ /

in General American and / __ / in R.P.

A. /ɑ:/

B. /æ/

C. /ɒ/

D.

4.

/ɔ:/

E. /ʌ/

Words like pot, log, odd and wash are pronounced with the phoneme / ɑ:/ in

General American English and / ___/ in R.P..

A. /ɑ:/

B. /æ/

C. /ɒ/

D. /ɔ:/

E. /ʌ/

5. Which of the following is British and not North American English?

A. sidewalk B. petrol

C. French fries

D. elevator

E. cookie

6. Which of the following is British and not North American English?

A. candy

B. gasoline

C. guy

D. bloke

E. truck

7. Which of the following varieties of North American English has a non-rhotic accent?

1. Northern 2. Midland

3. Canadian

4. Afro-American 5. General American

8. Afro-American English is most similar to which of the following varieties of North

American English?

A. Canadian

B. Northern

C. New England

D. Midland

E. Southern

9. Which of the following is British and not North American spelling?

A. color B. theatre C. traveler D. program E. realize

10. The Chicano population in the U.S.A. is concentrated primarily in:

A. the Northeast B. the Northwest C. the Southwest D. the Midwest E. Florida

11. The Puerto Rican population in the U.S.A. is concentrated primarily in:

A. the Northeast B. the Northwest C. the Southwest D. the Midwest E. Florida

12. The Cuban population in the U.S.A. is concentrated primarily in:

A. the Northeast B. the Northwest C. the Southwest D. the Midwest E. FloridaNAME _______________________________

John Gilbert

Part III

Instructions: Answer the following questions (type your answers double-spaced on a

separate sheet of paper):

1. What is meant by the term “standard language”?

2. Explain the phenomenon of koinéization.

3. What are the 4 R.P. vowel phonemes which do not exist in General American English?