Why not Unify American and British English

Prof. M Zahidul Haque

Prof. M Zahidul Haque

For those among us who have set our computers to “British English” mode, the computer marks certain words as incorrect while typing in English. The reason for this is that the device’s language is pre-programmed in American English.

For example, in British English, the word “color” is spelled with “our” (colour), whereas in American English, it is spelled with “or” (color). Similarly with many other words of same type, such as, ‘Behaviour’ is also written as ‘behavior’.

If we look at the gradual development of both American and British English it would be evident that the differences between American and British English emerged due to historical, cultural, and geographical factors which include, spelling differences, Pronunciation changes, Vocabulary variations, Grammar differences, Colonial influences. For instance, Noah Webster’s spelling reforms simplified British spellings to make them more phonetic (e.g., “traveler’ vs. ‘traveller).

British pronunciation evolved, particularly in Received Pronunciation (RP), while American pronunciation remained closer to older English dialects.

Different words developed for the same objects or concepts due to cultural divergence, for example, “truck” in the U.S. vs. “lorry” in the UK.

Some grammatical structures differ, such as the use of the present perfect tense e.g., “I’ve just eaten” in British English vs. “I just ate” in American English. In fact, American English incorporated words from Native American, Spanish, Dutch, and other immigrant languages, while British English was influenced by its own colonial interactions.

Despite their differences, American and British English are still regarded as one language because they share the same fundamental grammar, structure, and a vast majority of vocabulary.

It appears that American and British English is regarded as one language-- then why the differences should continue? English language experts should sit together and re-arrange and unify words appropriately and logically. For instance, an elevator is a mechanical device (a small room or compartment in a tall building) that carries people or goods up and down between different levels of the building. In American English, this device is called ‘Elevator’ while in British English ‘Lift’. The point is, ‘elevator’ sounds rather scientific and appropriate, so, why not accept it as a universal word in Standard English language?

Unifying American and British English would remove confusions and lessen extra-study load among the English language learners and students.

(Prof. M Zahidul Haque is a former Professor and Course Instructor of English

at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University and Agricultural Training Institute,

Dhaka)