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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 .
The English language descends from Old English, the West Germanic language of the Anglo-Saxons. Most of its grammar, its core vocabulary and the most common words are Germanic. [ 1 ] However, the percentage of loans in everyday conversation varies by dialect and idiolect , even if English vocabulary at large has a greater Romance influence.
English-language scholar William A. Kretzschmar Jr. explains in a 2004 article that the term "General American" came to refer to "a presumed most common or 'default' form of American English, especially to be distinguished from marked regional speech of New England or the South" and referring especially to speech associated with the vaguely-defined "Midwest", despite any historical or present ...
The following are lists of words in the English language that are known as "loanwords" or "borrowings," which are derived from other languages. For Old English-derived words, see List of English words of Old English origin. English words of African origin; List of English words of Afrikaans origin. List of South African English regionalisms
American English has always shown a marked tendency to use nouns as verbs. [13] Examples of verbed nouns are interview, advocate, vacuum, lobby, pressure, rear-end, transition, feature, profile, spearhead, skyrocket, showcase, service (as a car), corner, torch, exit (as in "exit the lobby"), factor (in mathematics), gun ("shoot"), author (which disappeared in English around 1630 and was ...
English etymology is the study of where English words came from. It may refer to: History of the English language; English words of Greek origin; List of Greek morphemes used in English; List of Greek and Latin roots in English; Latin influence in English; List of Latin words with English derivatives; Lists of English words by country or ...
An Index by Region, Usage, and Etymology to the Dictionary of American Regional English, Volumes I and II. Publication of the American Dialect Society 77 (1993). Tuscaloosa AL: University of Alabama Press. An Index by Region, Usage, and Etymology to the Dictionary of American Regional English, Volume III.
British English and North American English, the two major varieties of the language, are together spoken by 400 million people. The total number of English speakers worldwide may exceed one billion. [32] There have been attempts to predict future English evolution, though they have been met with skepticism. [33]