Lexical Differences between American and British
English: a Survey Study
GIUSEPPINA SCOTTO DI CARLO
Università degli Studi di Napoli ‘Federico II’ (Italy)
Abstract
This work aims at analysing reciprocal comprehension between American
and British English native speakers. After a brief historical description on
the main issues that have led to a differentiation of the two languages, the
paper focuses on a description of lexical differences of everyday language
that could lead to a complete failure of communication. In particular, the
paper reports the results of a survey led among speakers of the two
varieties to verify how well American and British speakers understand
each other and whether they are aware of the lexical differences. The
sample was asked to complete a questionnaire by writing the American
equivalent of 45 British items proposed and vice versa for the British
speaking sample.