A Synopsis of the Lexical Variations in British and American English

Abstract

The focal point of this research work is to find out the lexical distinctions between British and American varieties of English and their persistently reciprocal impacts. Over the years, both the British and American vocabularies have been influencing each other, specially due to politics, economics, diplomatic relationships, information technology and globalization. From time to time, the variance of vocabulary in the two varieties results in increasing the number of English synonyms which is, in fact, an asset for the language. But sometimes, the synonyms may cause serious differences in meaning as some words may mean something in British English; the same may denote something else in American English and vice versa. One should, therefore, be careful and consistent about their use.It is most probable that as a result of various procedures of the change in lexical meaning and language, the two varieties would someday merge by turning them into an identical entity. So, this paper intends to provide the reader and/or the user of English with the correct application of the two varieties for our day-to-day life.