"U.S. English" redirects here. For the political organization, see U.S. English (organization). For the English language throughout North America, see North American English. For other uses, see American English (disambiguation).
American English
Region
United States
Native speakers
242 million, all varieties of English in the United States (2019) 67.3 million L2 speakers of English in the United States (2019)
Language family
Indo-European
Germanic
West Germanic
North Sea Germanic
Anglo–Frisian
Anglic
English
North American English
American English
Early forms
Old English
Middle English
Early Modern English
Writing system
Latin (English alphabet)
Unified English Braille[1]
Official status
Official language in
United States (32 US states, five non-state US territories) (see article)
Language codes
ISO 639-3
–
Glottolog
None
IETF
en-US[2][3]
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English,[b] is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States.[4] English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances is the de facto common language used in government, education and commerce. It is also the official language of most US states (at least 30 out of 50). Since the late 20th century, American English has become the most influential form of English worldwide.[5][6][7][8][9][10]
American English varieties include many patterns of pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and particularly spelling that are unified nationwide but distinct from other English dialects around the world.[11] Any American or Canadian accent perceived as lacking noticeably local, ethnic or cultural markers is known in linguistics as General American;[5] it covers a fairly uniform 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.[12][13] The sound of American English continues to evolve, with some local accents disappearing, but several larger regional accents having emerged in the 20th century.[14]
^"Unified English Braille (UEB)". Braille Authority of North America (BANA). November 2, 2016. Archived from the original on November 23, 2016. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
^"English". IANA language subtag registry. October 16, 2005. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
^"United States". IANA language subtag registry. October 16, 2005. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
^Crystal, David (1997). English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-53032-3.
^ abEngel, Matthew (2017). That's the Way It Crumbles: the American Conquest of English. London: Profile Books. ISBN 9781782832621. OCLC 989790918.
^"Fears of British English's disappearance are overblown". The Economist. July 20, 2017. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
^Harbeck, James (July 15, 2015). "Why isn't 'American' a language?". BBC. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
^Reddy, C Rammanohar (August 6, 2017). "The Readers' Editor writes: Why Is American English Becoming Part of Everyday Usage in India?". Scroll.in. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
^"Cookies or biscuits? Data shows use of American English is growing the world over". Hindustan Times. The Guardian. July 17, 2017. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
^Gonçalves, Bruno; Loureiro-Porto, Lucía; Ramasco, José J.; Sánchez, David (May 25, 2018). "Mapping the Americanization of English in Space and Time". PLOS ONE. 13 (5): e0197741. arXiv:1707.00781. Bibcode:2018PLoSO..1397741G. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0197741. PMC 5969760. PMID 29799872.
^Kretzchmar 2004, pp. 262–263.
^Labov 2012, pp. 1–2.
^Kretzchmar 2004, p. 262.
^"Do You Speak American?: What Lies Ahead?". PBS. Retrieved August 15, 2007.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
AmericanEnglish, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States....
American life. The American resentment against the policies of the British government was rarely transferred to English settlers who came to America in...
General AmericanEnglish, known in linguistics simply as General American (abbreviated GA or GenAm), is the umbrella accent of AmericanEnglish spoken...
General American African-AmericanEnglish African-American Vernacular EnglishAmerican Indian English Cajun English Chicano English Miami Latino English New...
and transcription delimiters. Midland AmericanEnglish is a regional dialect or super-dialect of AmericanEnglish, geographically lying between the traditionally-defined...
Western AmericanEnglish (also known as Western U.S. English) is a variety of AmericanEnglish that largely unites the entire Western United States as...
differing varieties of the English language, so the term 'British English' is an oversimplification. Likewise, spoken AmericanEnglish varies widely across...
General AmericanEnglish are American dialects with clearly distinct sound systems that have developed over time, including Southern AmericanEnglish, the...
The AmericanEnglish Coonhound, also referred to as the English Coonhound or the Redtick Coonhound, is a breed of coonhound that originated in and is...
Northern AmericanEnglish or Northern U.S. English (also, Northern AmE) is a class of historically related AmericanEnglish dialects, spoken by predominantly...
accents of AmericanEnglish are any of those associated with the Midwestern region of the United States, and they include: General AmericanEnglish, the most...
variations in English orthography, the two most notable variations being British and American spelling. Many of the differences between American and British/Commonwealth...
American Indian English or Native AmericanEnglish is a diverse collection of English dialects spoken by many American Indians and Alaska Natives, notwithstanding...
Wikipedia's first edition. English Wikipedia is hosted alongside other language editions by the Wikimedia Foundation, an American nonprofit organization....
with varieties of English outside North America. The most recent work documenting and studying the phonology of North AmericanEnglish dialects as a whole...
another usage is preferred. Words with specific American meanings that have different meanings in British English and/or additional meanings common to both...
Inland Northern (American) English, also known in American linguistics as the Inland North or Great Lakes dialect, is an AmericanEnglish dialect spoken...
Standard AmericanEnglish may refer to: AmericanEnglish, the set of varieties of English spoken in the United States General AmericanEnglish, the majority...
Vernacular English General American: the "standard" or "mainstream" spectrum of AmericanEnglish Latino (Hispanic) Vernacular Englishes Chicano English (Mexican-American...
British English, Hiberno-English and Commonwealth English in AmericanEnglish, Newfoundland English and Philippine English in British English in British...
internationally. Some words are only used within North AmericanEnglish and AmericanEnglish. The process of coining new lexical items started as soon...
Southern AmericanEnglish is a diverse set of AmericanEnglish dialects of the Southern United States spoken most widely up until the American Civil War...
follow British English, as is the case for English used within the European Union. In China, both British English and AmericanEnglish are taught. The...
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (AHD) is a dictionary of AmericanEnglish published by HarperCollins. It is currently in its fifth...
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