Evolution of American English

"Freely, good sir, we will forgive your attacks upon our national character, but spare our mother tongue!"

— Thomas Jefferson in Notes on the State of Virginia, which appeared in the European Magazine and London Review in 1787.

The story of Evolution of American English is a vibrant tapestry woven with threads of independence, adaptation, and a touch of rebellion. From the moment the first English settlers set foot on American soil, the language began a dynamic transformation, a continuous process that continues to this day. This evolution, fueled by necessity, interaction, and a burgeoning national identity, resulted in "Americanisms" – words and phrases either newly created or adapted from existing English terms, ultimately crafting a dialect distinct from that spoken in Great Britain.

By 1790, when the newly formed United States conducted its first census, a population of four million souls resided within its borders. A significant 90% of these individuals were descendants of English colonists. This demographic reality solidified English as the nation’s primary language. However, even in its infancy, the language spoken across the Atlantic was diverging from its British counterpart.

As early as 1720, colonists began to observe the growing linguistic differences. But how did this divergence, this Evolution of American English, come to pass?

The reasons are multifaceted. The vast geographical distance between England and its colonies played a significant role. The Atlantic Ocean served not only as a physical barrier but also as a linguistic one, allowing independent development on both sides. Furthermore, the American landscape was a melting pot of cultures and languages. Encounters with Native American tribes led to the adoption of indigenous words, enriching the lexicon with terms describing the unique flora, fauna, and geography of the continent. Similarly, interactions with immigrants from France, Germany, Spain, and other European nations contributed to the linguistic blend. Some words that had fallen out of favor in England continued to thrive in the colonies, preserved in the American vernacular. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the pioneers faced the challenge of naming and describing a world entirely new to them. This necessitated the creation of entirely new words to articulate the unfamiliar landscape, weather patterns, animals, plants, and the myriad challenges of life in the New World.

The first official recognition of an "American dialect" came in 1756 from Samuel Johnson, a year after his monumental Dictionary of the English Language was published. Johnson’s use of the term, however, was not intended as a neutral observation. It carried a distinct air of disapproval, implying a deviation from the "proper" form of the language.

Even before Johnson’s pronouncements, as early as 1735, the English had begun to deride the burgeoning American vocabulary, branding it as "barbarous" and labeling "Americanisms" as mere "barbarisms." This condescending attitude persisted for more than a century after the Revolutionary War. English critics ridiculed and dismissed as unnecessary the hundreds of new terms and phrases that were emerging in American speech.

However, the newly independent Americans embraced their linguistic innovations. They saw their "new" American language as a symbol of their hard-won independence. As Noah Webster eloquently stated in his Dissertations on the English Language in 1789: "As an independent nation, our honor requires us to have a system of our own, in language as well as government." This sentiment resonated with other prominent figures like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Rush, who recognized the practical and political value of cultivating a distinct American identity, including a distinct American Evolution of American English.

Early examples of words that had become obsolete in England but continued to be used in the United States include:

• Fall (for autumn)
• Loan (as a verb)
• Mad (meaning angry)
• Raise (meaning to rear children)

Other words were simply "created" to fill a lexical void:

• "Groundhog," an animal unknown in England.
• "Lightning rod" (initially used for whiskey).
• "Belittle," coined by Thomas Jefferson himself in 1787.
• "Bamboozle," meaning to swindle.

In other instances, existing words underwent a semantic shift, acquiring new meanings in American usage:

• "Corn" came to refer specifically to maize, the staple grain of the Americas, rather than grains in general.
• "Creek" began to denote a small stream or brook, a usage not common in British English.
• "Lumber" was used to describe sawn timber.

The English found certain aspects of American pronunciation particularly grating. For example:

• The pronunciation of "schedule" with a "sk-" sound rather than a "sh-" sound.
• The pronunciation of "herb" with the "h" sounded.
• The pronunciation of "lieutenant" with a "loo-" sound rather than a "lef-" sound.

Perhaps the most offensive habit to the English ear was the pervasive use of contractions like "ain’t," "can’t," "don’t," and "couldn’t." These contractions, viewed as lazy and ungrammatical by British standards, became a hallmark of American vernacular.

Undeterred by the opinions of the "rest of the world," the American language continued to evolve. The westward expansion of the nation brought Americans into contact with new cultures and languages, particularly Native American and Spanish. These encounters further enriched the American vocabulary, incorporating words that reflected the landscape, customs, and experiences of the frontier. The Evolution of American English was greatly influenced by this westward expansion.

The Evolution of American English continued into the 20th century, alongside a growing sense of American pride. In the aftermath of World War I, fueled by a wave of patriotism and anti-foreign sentiment, the state of Illinois went so far as to pass an act declaring "American" as the official language of the state, explicitly rejecting the term "English." In 1923, the Illinois General Assembly stated:

"The official language of the State of Illinois shall be known hereafter as the ‘American’ language and not as the ‘English’ language."

A similar bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that same year, but it ultimately failed to pass.

Ironically, after centuries of developing its distinct character, the Evolution of American English is now witnessing a period of convergence with British English. The pervasive influence of American movies, music, electronics, and global travel is blurring the lines between the two dialects. While distinct differences remain, the increasing exposure to each other’s language is leading to a gradual blending of vocabularies and expressions.

As Milford M. Mathews wrote in his preface to A Dictionary of Americanisms in 1951:

" ‘Americanism’ means a word or expression that originated in the United States. The term includes outright coinages and foreign borrowings, which first became ‘English’ in the United States, as well as older terms used in new senses first given them in American usage."