**Sorry for the delay, I had trouble with my word document, so I had to ask for help in order to make you able to see my answers instead of the questions only.**Based on Practical English Usage by Michael Swan.
The examples are directly taken from it.
1) GRAMMAR p.39
In some cases there is only one form in British English while in American English there are two possible forms. The same is true of the opposite (BrE= 2 forms while AmE: 1 form)
Some irregular verbs have different forms in BrE and AmE.
BrE: He has probably arrived by now.
AmE: He probably has arrived by now. / He has probably arrived by now.
BrE: It looks as if it's going to rain. / It looks like it's going to rain.
AmE: It looks like it's going to rain.
2) VOCABULARY p.40
Sometimes there are differences in meaning.
Mad in BrE = crazy
Mad In AmE = angry
Different words are used to convey the same idea.
AmE = airplane
BrE = aeroplane
(Also look at the picture)
Expressions with prepositions and particles p .42
AmE = different from/than; on the weekend
BrE = different from/to; at the weekend
3) SPELLING p.42
The endings of certain type of words are different in AmE and BrE.
AmE = - or color
BrE= -our colour
AmE = -er center
BrE = -re centre
AmE = -ize organize
BrE = -ize/-ise organize /organise
4) PRONUNCIATION p.43
There many different regional accents in both countries. However, the most important differences between both are listed here:
a) There are more nasals in AmE.
b) In BrE there is a rounded short o used in: cot, dog, got, etc. differently (as the 1st vowel in father; or as in caught).
c) Some words written with a + consonants (fast, after) are pronounced differently.
AmE: /æ/ BrE: /α:/
d) The vowel in home, go, open is pronounced differently in BrE and in AmE.
e) In standard southern BrE the r is only pronounced before a vowel. For the rest, (AmE and other varieties of BrE) the r is pronounced no matter its position in the word and it affects the quality of the vowel that before it.
f) t and d have a very light voiced pronunciation between vowels. Writer and rider can sound the same as opposed to BrE.
g) Some words that sound /u:/ in AmE = /ju:/ in BrE. These sound are followed by th, d, t or n (and sometimes s or l)
Enthusiatic
Duty
Tune
New
Illuminate
h) Unstressed -ile (fertile. reptile, etc.)
AmE = /aIl/ (rhyming with turtle)
BrE =/l/ (rhyming with her tile)
i) Some long words ending in -ary, -ery or -ory are pronounced wit one more syllable in AmE.
j) Borough and Thorough are not pronounced the same in AmE and BrE.
k) Words borrowed from French are often stressed differently. The final vowel is usually stressed in AmE but not in BrE.
AmE = pa'té BrE = 'paté
What is standard English?
King Alfred's victory over the Vikings, in 878, made the government of Southern England appear in London. The language used by the King and the government make it become official. The fact that it was used in law, business, education and literature helped to make it standard.
Standard English is due to an accident.
What is a dialect?
Dialects are often seen as incorrect forms of a language, which is not true. Dialects have long history and they come from various forms of speech of the invaders. Each dialect has a grammar as rich and systematic as a standard language. A language is a dialect that has been adopted by people of importance for its use for the government and the education.
What are the characteristics of formal English as opposed to informal or spoken English?
Formality in language is used in situations where people have to be careful about the way they express themselves (Business letters or reports, meetings, etc.) Informal situations (conversations with friends, family letter, etc.) do not need formality.
Grammar p.293:
Contracted auxiliary verbs and negatives = informal
Place of prepositions can change the level of formality in a sentence.
Relative structures are different when it is formal or not.
Determiners are followed more often by singular verb forms in formal language, but by plural forms in informal language.
Subjects and object forms of pronouns can also influence the level of formality.
Leaving out words is informal.
Vocabulary p.294:
Some words and expressions are used mainly in formal situations and other words in informal or neutral ones only.
Do languages change over time? How and why?
Languages change over time. Younger people bring new forms of expression, while older ones often avoid change. The result is that people can speak the standard language but without speaking exactly the same way. There are various reasons why languages change over time. First all a communicative need for differentiate singular and plural gave place to expressions as you guys for the plural forms to replace ye. Expressions borrowed from other dialects also influenced languages. BrE is mainly influenced by AmE. Languages, over time, often simplify complicated structures as conditional structures in English. Progressive verb forms gradually became more and more used after they came into English a few hundred years ago. Even the verbs that are not usually used in the progressive tend to lose their resistance. Moreover some underground forms become accepted. In the same way, mistakes that are made by many people become normal a correct forms. Phonetically weak forms, as I've got, are so quiet that it is often not heard at all that people are now beginning to say I got. This could become a new regular form in some years.
Some more examples of changes in modern English are listed in Swan's grammar.
Whom became Who
Will and would have now practically replace 1st-person shall and should
Subjunctive were = less common
Adverbs without -ly = more common
Etc.
