American English
Introduction
By in large, American languages (Brithenig, Scots and English) conform to their homelands' standard dialect forms. This especially in regards to the "official" registers, spelling conventions and generalities of grammar.
Of course, just like *here*, there are some minor differences among the Englishes of the world, and it should come as no surprise that the Englishes as spoken in the NAL-SLC shows some distinctive features from the Englishes spoken in England.
Morphology and Spelling Conventions
There are no significant morphological distinctions.
Unlike *here*, spellings in -re (centre), -our (colour), -ogue (catalogue), -ism (SNORisme) and -mme (programme) are retained in IB American English, thus conforming to the British mode of spelling.
The thorn (þ) is not seen quite as frequently as it is in England; it is replaced by the th digraph (probably due to Scottish influence).
Lexicon
It is in lexical matters where American English stands out as being different from British English. Some older words that have lost currency in Britain are retained in America; but most of the differences come from borrowings from Native languages, from Laurentien, from Sefaradi, from Castillian, from Louisiannaise and from mixing with Pennsylvaanisch, Scots and Brithenig.
A Pint does not refer to the same thing in the NAL as in England; in the NAL 1 Pint is the Octarius, worth 27 uc; meanwhile in England it is the Sextarius, worth 36 uc (quite a bit more).
Pronounciation
"Garage" and "Herb", &c are pronounced in a more French way.
Compared to the Federated Kingdoms, Latinisation/Francisation is common; bacteria and media have the singular forms bacterium and medium, and certain nouns use plural endings from latin.
Words which have th in French/Latin are often spelled, particularly in French-influenced areas, with a th in English and are occasionally pronounced acordingly. Eg tea is thé, anteme is antheme. (In the former, to pronounce this with a th sound is considered very pretentious; in the latter, it is more common).
The diphthongs [oʊ] and [eɪ] are generally pronounced as long [oː] and [eː] due to Scots influence. Also due to Scots influence, there exists a phenomenon where the diphthongs [aɪ] and [aʊ] are pronounced as [ɐɪ] and [ɐʊ] before voiceless consonants, a phenomenon known as American raising.
The sound [l] is generally pronounced as "dark l" [ɫ] in all positions, except in the two Caribbean provinces of the Bahamas and Jamaica, where it is almost always pronounced clear.
R is pronounced in all positions, with the exceptions of the varieties of Eastern New England, the variety of the Bahamas, and the lowland areas of Virginia and much of Carolina and Mobile. Jamaican English displays a certain degree of variation in this respect, with the standard pronunciation generally pronouncing R except in certain instances of unstressed "-er", while lower-class varieties tend to be less rhotic. There is a regional phenomenon in parts of eastern North America known as the Uvular R Sprachbund which affects French- and German-influenced dialects of Brithenig, Scots, and English, as well as the urban French and Laurentian dialects of New Francy. Uvular pronunciations are generally believed to be spreading; urban areas in the coastal provinces are most prominently affected, while much of the western part of the country as well as Alba Nuadh remain unaffected. Older generations, upper-class speakers, and rural inhabitants generally retain alveolar pronunciations, although this trait has been diminishing in the case of the latter two. In addition, English is generally noted to be less affected than French, Scots, or Brithenig. According to James Colwin, professor of English at CUNA (City University of New Amsterdam):
"It shall be recalled that the usage of the uvular trill (and perhaps by now the uvular fricative) for the phoneme /r/ is an eastern North American Sprachbund phenomenon, affecting most prominently Brithenig, Laurentian & French, and Scots, as well as many speakers of English and the archaic Swedish of New Sweden. It does not appear to have spread west of the Mississippi River, however, nor much further north than the provinces of New Hampshire and Massachusetts Bay.
The precise borders of the Sprachbund are not entirely clear, either. It has been postulated by John Swain of the University of Chicago that the Sprachbund's western borders run roughly from Trois-Rivières down to the eastern edge of the Appalachians, continuing down to the border between Jacobia and the Cherokee Nation; however, many inhabitants of Aquanishuonigy now appear to use uvular pronunciations for /r/, casting doubts on the validity of these borders. Use of [R] appears to be spreading thanks to the importance of New Amsterdam and Philadelphia in the national sphere, especially after the Second Great War." From a lecture delivered at CUNA on 16 August, 2006. -->
