THE SEMANTIC SIMILARITIES OF DIFFERENT NOUN … · LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA...

THE SEMANTIC SIMILARITIES

OF DIFFERENT NOUN VOCABULARIES

BETWEEN BRITISH AND AMERICAN ENGLISH

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfiliment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

NENSIA MADEIRA KU

Student Number: 104214092

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2016

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

i

THE SEMANTIC SIMILARITIES

OF DIFFERENT NOUN VOCABULARIES

BETWEEN BRITISH AND AMERICAN ENGLISH

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

NENSIA MADEIRA KU

Student Number: 104214092

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA 2016


vi

always behumble and gentle.

be patient with each other,making allowance foreach other’s faults

because of your love.

Ephesians 4:2


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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First of all I would like to thank my Almighty God for all the blessings

and help to complete this undergraduate thesis. My biggest thanks especiallygo to

my beloved mother, Alice, as the best mother in the world,thanks for all the

prayers, support, encouragement, love and faithfulness in my difficult time.To my

beloved late father, Joao, thanks a lot for always working hard and trying to do the

best to support my education all the time. Thank you so much for everything. My

greatest thanksgo to my best two Singaporeanteachers,Lishan and Siew Lee for all

the support during my education in university, for the prayers, love and care,for

always encouraging and being there for me during my hardest time. I wouldalso

like to thank my sisters,Dirce, Luci, Rina and Oka for theirsupport, prayers and

materials that I need. My partner Cerillio, thank you for the support, prayer, love

and also spirit for me to complete my thesis as soon as possible. Thank you to my

daughter Deborah for always coloring my day and giving me spirit to complete

this thesis immediately.

My best gratitude to my advisor, Mr. Harris HermansyahSetiajid, M.Hum.,

forthe guidance, patience, direction and the encouragement that are very useful

and helpful in completing this thesis. I would like to thank my co-advisor Mrs.

BernardineRia Lestari, M.S., for her worthy correction for the topic of this thesis

and suggestion to improve the quality of this undergraduate thesis. Iwould also

like to thank all my lecturers in English Letters Departmentfor sharing their

knowledge during the time.

My wonderful thanks to my best friends,Febri, Lisma, Lia, Meity, Susi,

Diana, Mika and Liba, forthe support, help and give me the spirit when I need it.

My last words, I would like to say thank you for all friends whom I cannot

mention their names one by one.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ............................................................................................... iAPPROVAL PAGE ................................................................................................ iiACCEPTANCE PAGE .................................................................. iiiSTATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ............................................................. ivLEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH.. vMOTTO PAGE ............................................................................................. viACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................... viiTABLE OF CONTENTS.............................................................................. viiiLIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................ xLIST OF ABBREVIATION ......................................................................... xiABSTRACT.................................................................................................. xiiABSTRAK .................................................................................................... xiii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ............................................................... 1A. Background of the Study ............................................................ 1B. Problem Formulation ................................................................. 3C. Objectives of the Study .............................................................. 4D. Definition of Terms .................................................................... 4

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE .......................................... 6A. Review of Related Study............................................................. 6

1. A Comparison Analysis of American and British Idioms…… 62. An investigation of awareness of the differences in

British and American vocabulary and spelling……………… 7B. Review of Related Theories ........................................................ 8

1. Vocabulary ............................................................................ 82. Componential Analysis ......................................................... 8

a. Common Component ..................................................... 9b. Diagnostic or Distinctive Components........................... 9

C. Review of Related Backgrounds ................................................ 101. Social-cultural causes ............................................................ 102. Technological causes............................................................. 113. Linguistic causes ................................................................... 11

D. Theoretical Framework ............................................................... 12

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY ........................................................... 13A. Object of the Study...................................................................... 13B. Approach of the Study ................................................................ 14C. Method of the Study.................................................................... 14

1. Data Collection...................................................................... 142. Data Analysis......................................................................... 15


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CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS .............. 18A. The similar meanings of different noun vocabularies between certain

British and American English from Oxford Advanced Learner’sDictionary………………………………...……………………. 181. The similar meanings of different noun vocabularies between

British and American English ............................................... 18a. Clothing Vocabulary ...................................................... 19b. Building Vocabulary ....................................................... 20c. Street objects Vocabulary................................................ 21d. Sport Vocabulary............................................................. 21e. Food Vocabulary ............................................................. 22f. Vehicle Vocabulary ......................................................... 23g. Home Appliances Vocabulary......................................... 24h. Occupation Vocabulary ................................................... 25i. Parts of car Vocabulary ................................................... 26

2. The differences between American and British noun vocabulariesbased on the users’ perspective from the survey ................... 27

B. The Semantic Properties of Componential Analysis betweencertain American and British noun vocabularies ........................ 321. Componential analysis of Clothing Vocabulary.................... 332. Componential analysis of Building Vocabulary.................... 353. Componential analysis of Street Objects Vocabulary ........... 364. Componential analysis of Sport Vocabulary......................... 375. Componential analysis of Food Vocabulary ......................... 376. Componential analysis of Vehicle Vocabulary ..................... 387. Componential analysis of Home Appliances Vocabulary..... 418. Componential analysis of Occupation Vocabulary ............... 429. Componential analysis of Parts of Car .................................. 42

CHAPTER V: COUNCLUSION ............................................................... 45

BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................... 47

APPENDICES ............................................................................................. 48Appendix 1: .................................................................................................. 49Appendix 2:................................................................................................... 50Appendix 3: .................................................................................................. 51


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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Common and Diagnostic Components

Table 3. Differences between British and American English Vocabularies

Grafic 4. Differences of the word ‘vest’ between BrE and AmE

Table 4.1. Clothing Vocabulary

Table 4.2. Building Vocabulary

Table 4.3. Street Objects Vocabulary

Table 4.4. Sport Vocabulary

Table 4.5. Food Vocabulary

Table 4.6. Vehicle Vocabulary

Table 4.7. Home Appliances Vocabulary

Table 4.8. Occupation Vocabulary

Table 4.9. Parts of Car Vocabulary

Table 4.10.The Result of the Survey

Table 4.11.American/British Using Their Respective Vocabularies

Table 4.12.American/British Using Their Respective Vocabularies


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LIST OF ABBREVIATION

BrE British English

AmE American English

C/B Clothing/British

C/A Clothing/American

B/B Building/British

B/A Building/American

SO/B Street Object/British

SO/A Street Object American

S/B Sport/British

S/A Sport/American

F/B Food/British

F/A Food American

V/B Vehicle/British

V/A Vehicle/American

HA/B Home Appliances/British

HA/A Home Appliances/American

O/B Occupation/British

O/A Occupation American

PoC/B Part of Car/British

PoC/A Part of Car/American


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ABSTRACT

NENSIA MADEIRA KU.The Semantic Similaritiesof different NounVocabularies between British and AmericanEnglish.Yogyakarta: Departmentof English Letters, Faculty of Letter, Sanata Dharma University, 2016.

This undergraduate thesis is an attempt at analyzing certainsemantic similaritiesofdifferent noun vocabularies between British and American English. The data onthis study were collected from Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of currentEnglish6th edition, published in 2000.

After a brief historical introduction on chapter I that have led to the differentiationof the two varieties, this study aims at answering the two problems. First problemis divided into two parts, first part is analyzing certaindifferent vocabularies thathavesimilar meaningsbetween BrE and AmE and second part is analyzing theusers’ perspective based on the survey.Second problem is analyzing the semanticfeatures of componential analysis between the two varieties.

To make sure the similarmeanings of different words between British andAmerican English in the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, the researcherreports the results of a survey among the speakers of the twovarieties just to seehow British and American are wellunderstood by each other and whether they areaware of those differences or not. Furthermore, to answers the second problem,the componential analysis of meaning is used to verify the specific meaning ofeach word between BrE and AmE.

The first finding of the study is that the result of finding the different words thathave similar meanings through dictionary which shows the total of 52 differentwords between British and American English. Second finding is the result fromthe survey shows that American respondents get higher score rather the Britishone. The percentages of British respondents who choose the correct answers are54.29% for clothing vocabulary, 80% for food vocabulary, 71.43% for streetobjects, 52.38% for home appliances, 100% for sport, 85.71% for occupation,80.93% for parts of car, 85.71% for building and 66.67% for vehicle. Then thepercentages from American respondents of the correct answers are 100% ofclothing vocabulary, 82.58% of food, 85.71% of street objects, 90.48% of homeappliances, 100% of sport, 100% of occupation, 100% of parts of car, 100% ofbuilding and 90.48% of vehicle. Meanwhile, the analysis of using thecomponential analysis shows that all the differences between British andAmerican wordsconsistof the same components, which means that all the differentwords have the similar meanings.


xiii

ABSTRAK

NENSIA MADEIRA KU. The Semantic Similarities of different Noun

Vocabularies between British and American English. Yogyakarta: Progma

Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universita Sanata Dharma, 2016.

Skripsi ini merupakan upaya untuk menganalisi kesamaan semantik dari

perbedaan tertentu antara kosakata bahasa Inggris British dan Amerika. Sumber

data pada penelitian ini adalah dari kamus Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

of current English, edisi 6, terbitan tahun 2000.

Setelah pengenalan singkat mengenai sejarah yang menyebabkan perbedaan

antara dua varietas ini, penilitian ini bertujuan untuk menjawab dua permasalahan.

Masalah pertama dibagi menjadi dua bagian, bagian pertama adalah menganalisis

perbedaan kosakata tertentu yang memiliki makna yang sama antara bahasa

Inggris British dan Amerika, dan bagian kedua adalah menganalisis perspektif

dari para pengguna. Permasalahan kedua adalah menganalisis fitur semantik dari

komponen analisis antara dua varietas.

Untuk memastikan perbedaan makna antara kosakata bahasa Inggris British dan

American dalam kamus Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, peneliti

melampirkan hasil dari penilitian antara pembicara dari dua varietas hanya untuk

melihat apakah British dan Amerika dengan baik memahami satu sama lain dan

apakah mereka sadar dengan perbedaan tersebut atau tidak. Selanjutnya, untuk

menjawab masalah kedua, komponen analisis digunakan untuk membuktikan arti

khusus dari setiap kata antara BrE and AmE.

Temuan pertama dari penelitian ini yaitu pada kamus ditemukan total 52

perbedaan kata antara Bahasa Inggris British dan Amerika. Temuan kedua adalah

hasil survey menunjukkan bahwa responden yang merupakan pengguna Bahasa

Inggris Amerika memperoleh nilai yang lebih tinggi dibandingkan dengan

responden pengguna Bahasa Inggris British. Persentase dari responden pengguna

Bahasa Inggris British yang memilih jawaban benar sebesar 54.29% pada

kosakata pakaian, 80% pada kosakata makanan, 71,43% pada objek jalan, 52.38%

pada peralatan rumah, 100% pada olahraga, 85.71% pada pekerjaan, 80.93% pada

bagian mobil, 85.71% pada bangunan dan 66.67% pada kendaraan. Kemudian

persentase dari responden pengguna Bahasa Inggris Amerika yang memilih

jawaban benar sebesar 100% pada kosakata pakaian, 82.58% pada kosakata

makanan, 85.71% pada objek jalan, 90.48% pada peralatan rumah, 100% pa da

olahraga, 100% pada pekerjaan, 100% pada bagian mobil, 100% pada bangunan

dan 90.48% pada kendaraan. Sementara itu dari hasil analisis komponen makna

menunjukan bahwa semua perbedaan antara kata-kata bahasa inggris British dan

Amerika terdiri dari komponen yang sama, yang berarti bahwa semua kosakata

yang berbeda memiliki arti yang sama.


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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

English belongs to the Indo-European family of languages, a vast group

with many branches, thought to be derived from a common ancestor-language

called Proto-Indo-European. The words we use in English are derived from a wide

range of sources, mostly within this family. The earliest sources are Germanic,

Norse, and Romanic. Later, they are the languages of Europe more generally, and

most recently with developments in such areas as medicine, electronics,

computers, and communications, they have been worldwide. It is difficult to be

sure exactly what we mean by an “English” word. Most obviously, words are

English if they can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxons (Thorold, 1919:1792).

Four centuries ago, English is the language that has enjoyed by far the

fastest growth within recent times, it was outstripped by French, German,

Spanish, and Italian and today it has almost as many speakers as the four put

together. English is the language of over three fifths of the world’s radio stations.

It has a literature as flourishing as any, and has recently become one of the leading

tongues of international scholarship and scientific research. More than half of the

world’s scientific and technical periodicals are printed entirely of partly in

English.

1


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Historically, English belongs to the West Germanic branch of Indo-

European, having developed from the Anglo-Saxon of the invaders from the

continental North Sea coast who wrested control of Britain from its Romanized

Celtic inhabitants in the sixth and seventh centuries of our era (Pei, 1984:316-

317).

In Pei’s book he wrote about the story of language and the difference

between the English of British and that of America which was first noted around

the middle of the eighteen century, and the first statement concerning the

“language of the United States” appears in 1778 (1984:326).

By the beginning of the nineteenth century, British writers complained that

the language of the former American colonies was as far removed from English as

Italian is from Latin. American writers of the period hotly retorted that American

English was less corrupt than British English, and from the standpoint of

historical phonology they seemed justified in their assertion. Meanwhile, G. B.

Shaw used to claim that England and America are two countries separated by the

same language. The fact of the matter is, however, that the two languages have in

recent times been drawing closer and closer, by reason especially of the radio and

of the numerous American soldiers stationed in Britain, which bring the spoken

language peculiarities of one section of the Anglos-Saxon world to the other.

British terms and pronunciations which fifty years ago would not have been

understood in America are now commonplace and vice verse (1984:326-327).


3

American English had sufficiently changed to differ from British English,

yet until World War I (1914-18) BrE tended to influence AmE. Since that time,

however, BrE has come under the influence of AmE through American motion

pictures, novels, plays, musical comedies, and, subsequently, American tourists,

troops, and television programs.

From the description above we know that the English language is

composed of two major varieties which are American English and British English.

American English (AmE) is the form of English used in the United States. It

includes all English dialects used within the United States. Meanwhile, British

English (BrE) is the form of English used in the United Kingdom. It includes all

English dialects used within the United Kingdom. These two varieties become

into one common language and they are used together as International English

language. These two languages are almost similar, but both actually have some

differences which many of non-native speakers do not know, such as the

differences in pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, idioms

and formatting of dates and numbers.

As what to be the concerned, this research is going to find out the

similarities meaning of different noun vocabularies between British and American

English. This study is necessary for non-native speakers to know and understand

not only for the sake of communication, but also to avoid embarrassment. There

are many common mistakes that could happen if we do not know the meaning of

both English words especially for the non-native speakers.


3

For example, if there is a British tells an American that she has left her

child’s ‘dummy’ in the ‘pram’ and its ‘nappy’ in the ‘boot’, she will look at her

with strange looks. And if there is an American then tells the British woman that

she has nice ‘pants’, he may well wonders why she doesn’t seem to take his

remark as a compliment. This thing happened just because the differences words

between American and British which have different meaning. In America

dummies and nappies are called pacifiers and diapers, while prams and boots are

called baby carriages and trunks. For Americans pantsare trousers but for British

pants is what you wear under your trousers.

There are also many words that are used almost continually by Americans

which are understood by most British people, and vice verse, for example, most

British people know that Americans call biscuits “cookies” and flat “apartments”,

similarly, Americans know that yard is called garden in Britain and truck are

lorry.

B. Problem Formulation

The following questions are formulated in an attempt to study the

variation of American and British English words.

1. What are the similar meanings of different noun vocabularies between certain

British and American English and the users’ perspective based on the survey?

2. What are the semantic properties of the certain British and American English

noun vocabularies?


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C. Objectives of the Study

The objectives of the study are, first, to find out all the similar meanings of

differentnouns between British and American English vocabularies, then

categorizing them into each part, second, to analyze the results of the

questionnaires from the respondents and third to classify the semantic properties

of some British and American noun vocabularies by using the theory of

componential analysis.

D. Definition of Terms

In order to avoid misunderstanding, some definitions of terms are needed.

Vocabulary as explained by Good (1973:143) as the words having

meaning when heard and seen even though not produce by individual himself to

communicate with others and the words are considered essential for minimal use a

language.

According to Hornby (1989:1447) that vocabulary is 1). All the words that

people know or uses. 2). All the words in a particular language. 3). The words that

people use when they are talking. 4). A list of words with its meaning especially

in book for learning foreign language.

Based on the definition from some experts above the researcher concludes

that vocabulary is the total number of words in a language or a list of words with

their meanings which contained in dictionary with the explanation of their

meaning.


5

Semanticsis the study of meaning in language (Harford, 1983:1). As

explained by Palmer (1976:1) semantic is the technical term used to refer to the

study of meaning, and since meaning is a part of language, semantics is a part of

linguistics. So, semantic is the study of meaning in language which concerned

with the meaning of words, it is a fact that meaning is a part of language.

Componential Analysis is an analysis of the semantic components of a

word that views the meaning of a word as consisting of a bundle of semantic

components or a bundle of semantic elements (Adisutrisno, 2008:20).

Componential analysis is another attempt used to describe the meaning of a word.

Example:

Word The bundle of semanticomponents

Woman [+female]

[+human]

[+adult]

[- young]

[-male]


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6

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter deals with 3 major parts. The first part is reviewingthe similar

topics which are done by other researchers, Fatmawati’s thesis and

Lindell’sjournal. The second part discusses aboutsome related theories which

would be applied in this thesis. The third part will discuss about the review of

related backgrounds, the words formation process, and a brief history of

differences English vocabulary. The last part is theoretical framework upon which

the present study is based. The study is useful for finding the similar and different

point of views between the last studies and this present thesis.

A. Review of Related Studies

1. Fatmawati’s thesis “A Comparison Analysis of American and British

Idioms”

Fatmawati’s undergraduate thesis discusses the comparison analysis of

American and British idioms, by using a qualitative method with a descriptive

analysis from dictionary and short story. The dictionary that she uses to analyze is

English and American Idioms which is written by Richard A. Spears and the short

story is You were perfectly fine by John Millington Ward. Through this method,

she tries to find the differences meaning between American idioms and British

idioms.


7

She analyses the thesis by divided into two parts. First is the definition of

idiom and the second is types of idioms. The first one is divided into three criteria

both semantic and syntactic, which are: semantic opacity, or what has come to

beknown as “no compositionality”, criterion relates to the apparent morphological

and transformational deficiencies of idioms, and criterion is the lack of

substitutability in idioms; their “lexical integrity”. Meanwhile, the second one is

divided into three subclasses: pure idioms, semi-idioms, and literal idioms.

2. Lindell’s journal “An investigation of awareness of the differences in

British and American vocabulary and spelling”

This journal An investigation of awareness of the differences in British and

American vocabulary and spelling, by finding his data he decided in investigating

the Swedish students, whether Swedish students are aware and consistent in their

English use. In the field of language acquisition, he decided to adopt a

sociolinguistic approach to the research. The investigation will examine the level

of awareness, and the abilities Swedish students possess, in order to distinguish

between AmE and BrE.

The focus of this present thesis is different from Fatmawati’s and Lindell’s

journal. This research focuses only on the noun vocabulary differences that have

similar meanings between BrE and AmE. Then,these two thesis from two

researchers aim to compare the differences between American and British Idioms

and the other is an investigation of awareness of the differences in British and

American vocabulary and spelling. In this present thesis is to discuss the


8

similarities meaning of different noun vocabularies between British and American

English whichfound in the Oxford dictionary.

B. Review of Related Theories

1. Vocabulary

Theory of vocabulary according to Richards (2002:255), vocabulary is the

core component of language proficiency and provides much of the basis for how

well learners speak, listen, read, and write. Jackson and Amvela (2000:11) say

that the terms of vocabulary, lexis, and lexicon are synonymous.

Another supporting definition comes from some experts. Nunan

(1999:101) states that vocabulary is a list of target language words. Furthermore,

Richards and Schmidt (2002:580) states that vocabulary is a set of lexeme,

including single words, compound words, and idioms. Vocabulary is the total

number of words in a language; all the words known to a person or used in a

particular book, subject, etc; a list of words with their meaning, especially one that

accompanies a textbook (Hornby, 1995:1331). Those definitions show that

vocabulary is the first element that the English learners should learn in order to

master English well besides the other English components and skills.

2. Componential Analysis

According to semantics (word meaning), Componential Analysis is an

analysis of the semantic components of a word that views the meaning of a bundle

of semantic elements. Another theory comes from Jackson in “Words and their

meaning” (1996:83) and Nida in “Componential Analysis of Meaning” (1975:32).


9

They categorize the types of components into two main types, i.e. common

component and diagnostic or distinctive component.

a. Common component

This is the central component which is shared by all the lexemes in the

same semantic domain or lexical field.

b. Diagnostic or distinctive components

They serve to distinguish the meaning from others from the same domain.

A very simple example to explain these two types is provided by the words man,

woman, boy, girl, and other related words in English (Leech, 1976:96). These

words all belong to the semantic field of ‘human race’ and the relations between

them may be represented by the following matrix.

Tabel 1. Common and Diagnostic Components of the words man, woman,

boy, and girl.

Components Man Woman Boy Girl

[human] + + + +

[adult] + + - -

[male] + - + -

Semantics


10

In the semantic domain of man, woman, boy, and girl, [human] is the

common component, and they are distinguished by [adult], [male], [female] as the

diagnostic components. The meanings of the individual items can then be

expressed by combinations of these features:

Man + [human] + [adult] + [male]

Woman + [human] + [adult] - [male]

Boy + [human] - [adult] + [male]

Girl + [human] - [adult] - [male]

C. Review of Related Background

British English and American English represent two different varieties of

the English language is a commonplace. It is also commonly assumed that most of

the differences can be found in the vocabulary.

The main causes of the vocabulary differences between British and

American English are in part social-cultural, in part technological, and in part

linguistic.

1. Social-cultural causes

There have been certain social and cultural developments since the early

days of the emergence of what had become the United States. For example, the

educational systems in the two countries developed somewhat differently, leading

to differences in such words as form and grade, and many others. Co-ed was

originally an American word (a noun denoting a female student at a coeducational

school) that came to be used also in Britain, where it is used as an adjective only


11

meaning “coeducational.” Different sports had also emerged, developing their

own terminologies. Whereas people in Britain are well known for playing cricket,

people in the United States are equally well known for their love of baseball.

2. Technological causes

Technology has also product different vocabularies in British and

American English. For example, the car industry developed in a parallel but

distinct way in both countries, and, as a result, what was called windscreen in

England was referred to by the word windshield in the United States.

3. Linguistic causes

The task of naming new social-cultural and technological objects and

experiences had to be undertaken by specific linguistic process. One linguistic

process that was used to meet the demands of naming the new was borrowing.

Independent linguistic change may also be responsible for differing vocabulary

items in British and American English. New words may be made up of old

resources in one variety. For example, American English has new words like

lengthy, Americanism, Briticism, and others, which are American words made up

of the old resources of the English language. For example, lengthy is a

combination of the word length and the ending (suffix) -y, and the word

Americanism consists of the adjective American and the ending –ism. These

words and endings had all been in the English language for a long time before

American English put them to new use.

There are two additional linguistic processes which are: the extension of

meaning and the narrowing of meaning. An example for meaning extension is the


12

American use of the word school. The meaning of the word is generalized in

American English. While in British English school is applied mainly to pre-

university education (except in some institutional names, such as the London

School of Economics), Americans employ the word without any such restriction.

The narrowing of meaning can be demonstrated by the word corn. Corn in

England primarily means “grain,” which is thus a part of the meaning off such

plants as wheat, maize, oat, etc. The meaning of corn in America was narrowed to

what the British call maize.

D. Theoretical Framework

The theory which has been discussed will help the researcher to answer all

problem formulations. The theory is applied as a basic understanding to the topic

being discussed. The theory about componential analysis in semantic word

meaning will be used to analyze the similar meaning of different noun

vocabularies between British and American English words. After finding the noun

vocabulary differences between these two English words, this theory will be used

to analyze these data by using componential analysis.


13

13

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

This chapter explained about the object of the study discussed in this

research and definition about the approach used in analyzing the data. Since this

research focused on knowing and understanding the similarities meaning of noun

vocabulary differences between British and American English words, a certain

method and data were needed to conduct the research. The tools used for collect

the data were Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.

A. Object of the Study

The object of the study were 52 different nouns between American and

British English that have the similar meanings. in the category of clothes,

building, food, vehicle, home appliances, street objects, sport, occupation and

parts of car. It consisted of 26 words of American English and 26 words of British

English, which in clothing there are 10 different words which consisted of 5

words of BE and 5 words of AE, in building there are 6 different words, in food

there are 10 different words, in vehicle there are 6 different words, in home

appliances there are 6 different words, in street objects there are 4 different words,

in sport there are 2 different words, in occupation 2 different words and in parts of

car there are 6 different words. All the data were taken from Oxford Advanced

Learner’s Dictionary. This dictionary was chosen because it hadcomprehensive

values in the term of definition and word classes.


14

B. Approach of the Study

Approach of the study was the semantic approach. The semantic approach

meant in this study was specifically in term of componential analysis between

certain American and British vocabulary. Componential analysis (feature analysis

or contrast analysis) was the analysis of words through structured sets of semantic

features, which were given as “present”, “absent” or “indifferent with reference to

feature”. Shortly, Componential analysis was a method typical of structural

semantics which analyzed the structure of a word's meaning.

Example:

Man [+ male] [+ adult]

Woman [– male] [+ adult]

Boy [+ male] [– adult]

Girl [– male] [– adult]

C. Method of the Study

1. Data Collections

This study relied on a dictionary as the main source of the data. Since the

study was a dictionary analysis, the data would be taken only from Oxford

Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. In this research, population study was taken.

It meant that all the data would be analyzed in this study. Since all population was

analyzed, no samples were taken. The population data in this research consisted of

26 American English words and 26 British English words. All the data became 52

English words. The 26 of American English words had its partner in British

English words. The technique in collecting the data was by finding the differences


15

of noun vocabularies between British and American English words and

categorized them in each fields such as clothing, building, street objects, sport,

food, vehicle, home appliances, occupation and parts of car. There are some

examples in the table below:

Table 3. Differences between British and American English nounvocabularies

No BritishEnglish

No AmericanEnglish

Meaning

1/C/B Trousers 1/C/A Pants a piece of clothing for your legsand the lower part of your body

2/B/B Shop 2/B/A Store a building where you buy things3/SO/B Pavements 3/SO/A Sidewalk a flat part at the side of a road

for people to walk on4/F/B Biscuit 4/F/A Cookie a kind of small thin hard cake

that is usually sweet5/V/B Lorry 5/V/A Truck a big vehicle for carrying heavy

things

The letter ‘C’ stand of the word clothes, letter ‘B’ for Building, letter ‘S and O’

for Street Object, ‘F’ for Food, and ‘V’ is for Vehicle. All the data would be

analyzed to see how they are different in certain semantic properties by using the

componential analysis, and also from the users’ perspective.

2. Data Analysis

There were two steps used in order to answer the problem formulations in

this study. First, to find all the similar meanings of different nounvocabularies in

both English languages and categorized them into each part, then the researcher

would explain all the differencesof nouns that had been categorized, and there is


16

also an analysis of the result of the questionnaires from the respondents. The

researcher only used Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Then, second,in

order to answer the second problem in understanding the semantic properties

between British and American different English words, the researcher using

componential analysis to find the features of the words and every definition in

every word would be noted to show the similarities or differences among its

partner.

This approach was used since all the data needed a clarification for the

meaning of the words itself, and the researcher first tried to find all the differences

between American and British English words and categorized them into each part

then explained it. After analyzing those words that had been categorized, the

researcher would formulate the features of the words by using the componential

analysis to show what was present and absent between those differences words.

Below is the example of using the componential analysis that the researcher going

to use for the analysis of the problem formulation two.

Example:

Cooker[+ gas]

[+ oven]

[+ electricity]

[+ hob]

[+ gas ring]

Stove [+ gas]

[+ oven]

[+ electricity]

[+ hob]

[+ gas ring]


17

CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

When American and British people meet, the first obvious difference is

their accent and the pronunciation of words. However, the major differences

probably lied in the choice of vocabulary differences, this shows how to treat the

two varieties as two different languages. This research is divided into two

problems. The first part presents the noun vocabulary differences between British

and American English words that have similar meanings, and also reports the

results of a survey among speakers of the two varieties to verify how well

American and British speakers understand each other. The second part presents

the semantic properties by using the semantic features of componential analysis.

A. The similar meanings of different noun vocabularies between certain

British and American English from Oxford Advanced Learner’s

Dictionary

1. The similarities meaning of different noun vocabularies between certain

British and American English

A thorough scanning of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, found

a total of 52 words showing the differences of nouns between AmE and BrE

vocabularies which referred to the same things. All the data of different noun

vocabularies had been categorized into each field, which consisted of 10 different

words in clothes, 6 different words in building, 10 different wordsin food, 6

different words in vehicle, 6 different words in home appliances, 4 different

17


18

wordsin street objects, 2 different words in sport, 2 different words in occupation

and 6 different words in parts of car.

a. “Clothing” Vocabulary

There are many differences between BrE and AmE related to clothing

vocabulary. Table 4.1 below will present the data about the differences in clothing

vocabulary.

Tablet 4.1 Clothing Vocabulary (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)

No BritishEnglish

No AmericanEnglish

Meaning

1/C/B Trousers 1/C/A Pants a piece of clothing for your legsand the lower part of your body

2/C/B Pants 2/C/A Underwear a small piece of clothing that youwear under your other clothes,around the middle of your body tocover your bottom

3/C/B Dinner-jacket

3/C/A Tuxedo a black jacket worn by men in theevening for formal occasions

4/C/B Vest 4/C/A Undershirt a piece of clothing that you wearunder your other clothes on thetop part of your body

5/C/B Waistcoat 5/C/A Vest a short piece of clothing withbuttons down the front but nosleeves, usually worn over a shirtand under a jacket, often formingpart of a man’s suit

The table above shows that there are 10 different words between British

and American nouns that have the same meaning. First differences are American

pants which are British trousers. In England, pants referred to a piece of clothing

that meant to cover the hip area down from waist and often reached down to

groin, which in American call it underwear. Americans prefer to call trousers

pants and pants for them are underwear. If we talk about formal clothes there are 2


19

different words which are ‘tuxedo’ and ‘dinner-jacket’. ‘Dinner-jacket’ sounds

uncommon for usbut it is actually British vocabulary of American tuxedo, they are

different words that name the same things which are man's short jacket without

tails, and usually worn with matching trousers and a bow tie for formal occasions.

Other differences that also create confusion are such as British and American vest,

although the word vest is use in both languages, but actually they are referred to

the different things. British vest is what American call undershirt, and what

Americans mean with vest is the British waistcoat. Following are two pictures

which used to clarify the meaning between BrE vest and AmE undershirt with

BrE waistcoat and AmE vest.

Graphic 4. Differences of the word ‘vest’ between BrE and AmE

Picture BrE AmE

Vest Undershirt

Waistcoat Vest

b. “Building” Vocabulary

Buildings terminology might be quite confusing in these two countries,

table below will show those differences with the similar meanings.


20

Table 4.2 Buildings Vocabulary (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)

No BritishEnglish

No AmericanEnglish

Meaning

6/B/B Shop 6/B/A Store a building where you buythings

7/B/B Chemist’s 7/B/A Pharmacy/DrugStore

a shop/store that sellsmedicines, soap and otherpersonal goods, or a place in ahospital where medicines areprepared

8/B/B Flat 8/B/A Apartment a group of rooms for living in,usually on one floor of a houseor big building

The nouns shop and store are used somewhat differently in American and

British English. In general, Americans use store the way British use shop. Most

British shops would be called stores in the US where the noun shop is more often

used to mean a small retail establishment, such as an antique shop or a gift shop.

Other differences about building vocabulary are the words chemist’s and

pharmacy or drugstore, British would say go to the chemist’s, while Americans go

to a pharmacy or a drugstore, where they can buy medicines and other items such

as body care products and other personal goods. Pharmacy can be a shop, part of a

shop, or part of a hospital. Pharmacy or drugstore are the usual words in American

English, but in British English usually it refer to the part of a hospital that

prepares and gives out medicines as a pharmacy, but the ususal word for a shop

where medicines are prepared and sold is call a chemist’s in British. Other

differences in building which are already known by these two varieties they are

apartment and flat. Apartment is called in American which meant a set of rooms

for living in, while in British is called flat, which meant a set of rooms for living


21

in, including a kitchen, usually on one floor of a building, but these both words

are referred to the same things.

c. “Street objects” vocabulary

Certain words are shared by British and American English such as,

‘parking meter’, ‘pedestrian’, and ‘traffic’ they are shared by the two varieties.

However, there are still some street objects that have different name between

these two varieties but referred to the same thing. Table 4.3 below will show some

different noun vocabularies of ‘street objects’.

Table 4.3 Street Objects Vocabulary (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)

No BritishEnglish

No AmericanEnglish

Meaning

9/S/B Pavements 9/S/A Sidewalk a flat part at the side of a road forpeople to walk on

10/S/B Flyover 10/S/A Overpass a bridge that carries one road overanother one

The term ‘pavement’ is BrE which mean the flat part at the side of road

that people usually use to walk on. Many Americans will be confused if someone

uses the term ‘pavement’when referring to the pedestrian walkway because the

alongside the street which is designated for pedestrians is called ‘sidewalk’ in

AmE. And what is British call ‘flyover’ is called ‘overpass’ in American.

d. “Sport” Vocabulary

There are also some differences in sport vocabulary. Table 4.4 below will

show the differences.


22

Table 4.4 Sport Vocabulary (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)

No BritishEnglish

No AmericanEnglish

Meaning

11/S/B Football 11/S/A Soccer a game for two teams of elevenplayers who try to kick a round ballinto the other team’s goal on a field

They are one and the same. Soccer is what the Americans call it, football

is what British and the rest of the world calls it. So, American Soccer and British

Football are the same sport.

e. “Food” Vocabulary

The research demonstrates how many differences in term of food. Table

4.5 below will show those differences in food vocabulary.

Table 4.5 Food Vocabulary (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)

No BritishEnglish

No AmericanEnglish

Meaning

12/F/B Biscuit 12/F/A Cookie a kind of small thin hard cakethat is usually sweet

13/F/B Aubergine 13/F/A Eggplant a large purple vegetable that iswhite inside

14/F/B Courgette 14/F/A Zucchini a long vegetable that is green onthe outside and white on theinside

15/F/B Maize 15/F/A Corn a tall plant with big yellow seedsthat you can eat

16/F/B Prawn 16/F/A Shrimp a small sea animal with a shelland a lot of legs that turns pinkwhen you cook it

The table above shows that British ‘biscuit’ is American ‘cookie’ and what

is American call ‘biscuit’ is British ‘scone’. Also some fruit and vegetables terms

are different, such as the British aubergines, courgette and maize which in


23

American are eggplants, zucchini and corn. Corn also has another meaning in area

of skin, which means a small, painful area of hard skin that forms on the foot,

especially on the toes. Furthermore, American as regards seafood, what

Americans call shrimp are call prawn by the British. The word shrimp can also

indicate to a person as ‘a short or small person’. Besides those differences, the

British use the same words for most categories of meat as beef, pork, and lamb.

f. “Vehicle” Vocabulary

Many differences between British and American English are related to the

transport vocabulary. Table 4.6 below will show those differences.

Table 4.6 Transport Vocabulary (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)

No BritishEnglish

No AmericanEnglish

Meaning

17/V/B Coach 17/V/A Bus a large road vehicle thatcarries a lot of people alongthe road and stops often sothey can get on and off

18/V/B Underground 18/V/A Subway an underground railwaysystem in a city

19/V/B Lorry 19/V/A Truck a big vehicle for carryingheavy things

In British people would say take a couch, while the Americans say they

take a bus, these two different words are referred to the same transportation, but

the word ‘couch’ also has another meanings, which are ‘teacher and part of

vehicle’. For example in sport it is mean a person who is responsible for

managing and training a person or a team (a basketball coach), and a coach is also

an expert who trains someone leaning or improving a skill that one related to

performing (an acting coach). If it is a part of vehicle, coach is the less expensive


24

sections of an aircraft that most people sit in, a coach is also one of the separate

parts of a train, and it is also a kind of old-fashioned vehicle pulled by one or

more horses. In Americans people will take subways, whereas in Great Britain

this means of transport is called an underground. Other vehicle different is the

American ‘truck’ which is called ‘lorry’ in Britain.

g. “Home appliances” Vocabulary

About home appliances, American and British English have many words

in common. Table 4.7 below will show those differences that both varieties have

in common.

Table 4.7 Home appliances Vocabulary

(Oxford Advanced Learner’sDictionary)

No BritishEnglish

No AmericanEnglish

Meaning

20/HA/B Toilet 20/HA/A Bathroom a room where you can washand have a bath or shower.(AE) a room with a toilet in it

21/HA/B Cupboard 21/HA/A Closet a piece of furniture withshelves and doors for storingthings

22/HA/B Cooker 22/HA/A Stove A large piece of equipment forcooking food, containing anoven and gas or electric ringson top.

About rooms, American and British English have many words in common.

However, Americans use the euphemism bathroom as a polite synonym for the

word toilet, because many Americans consider the term toilet indelicate, but the

British called a bathroom is a toilet, because for them what is American call toilet


25

is call toilet bowl. The word cupboard is used with different meanings in the two

varieties. The British cupboard can be used to store all sorts of things whereas

Americans use it only in kitchens. Americans would be very surprised to be told

to put their clothes in a cupboard, since they use a closet to put their clothes. Stove

and cooker are also two different words between AmE and BrE, but both words

are referred to the same item. Stove also means a piece of equipment for heating a

space inside a room, often using wood or a form of coal as a fuel.

Besides that most furniture items also have the same names in the two

varieties that can create great confusion however. To an American ‘a bureau’ is a

piece of furniture with drawers for holding things such as towels or items of

clothing. British use the expression ‘a chest of drawers’. To a British a bureau is a

piece of furniture, but with a top part that opens and makes it a writing table. An

American would call this a writing table. In American English, a cot is a light

narrow bed that can be folded up, for example for camping. In fact, the British call

this type of be a camp bed. To speakers of British English a cot is a small bed for

a baby with tall sides that have bars, something Americans refer to as a crib.

h. “Occupation” Vocabulary

Not only have differences in clothing, building, home appliances etc, but

the two varieties also shared the differences in occupation vocabulary. Table 4.8

below will show two differences words between BrE and AmE which have the

same meaning.


26

Table 4.8 Occupation Vocabulary (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)

No BritishEnglish

No AmericanEnglish

Meaning

24/O/B Postman 24/O/A Mailman a person whose job is to take(deliver) letter and packages topeople’s homes

There are two different words in occupation, which are postman and

mailman. In UK people said it ‘postman’ which mean someone who delivers the

post (mail) to, and collects the post from residential or commercial addresses, or

from public mailboxes. In the US people will more commonly say mailman rather

than postman. Postman is understood, but sounds old-fashioned. Both are two

different names but referred to the same occupation.

i. “Parts of Car” Vocabulary

British and American English not only have differences in vehicle, but

they both also shared the differences in parts of it, such as a table 4.9 below.

Table 4.9 Parts of Car Vocabulary (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)

No BritishEnglish

No AmericanEnglish

Meaning

25/PoC/B Bonnet 25/PoC/A Hood the front part of a carthat cover the engine

26/PoC/B Number plate 26/PoC/A License plate the flat piece ofmetal on the frontand back of a carthat has numbers andletter on it

27/PoC/B Boot 27/PoC/A Trunk the part of a carwhere you can putbags and boxes,usually at the back


27

In Britain, the metal cover the front part of a car where the engine is called

a bonnet but in America it called a hood. Bonnet is also a type of hat that covers

the ears and is tied under the chin, usually worn by babies. Number plate is very

common in BE, but in AE they called it license plate, but both will be

understood.When you get a taxi, you can put your bags in the boot, which is at the

back of the car which American called it trunk. A boot can also describe a shoe

and a trunk can also describe an elephant’s nose.

2. The differences between British and American English noun vocabularies

based on the users’ perspective from the survey.

This part attempts to analyze the result of the questionnaire which had

been given to American and British native speakers.

To ensure whether the differentnoun vocabularies that have similar

meaning between British and American English which written in the Oxford

Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, a survey has been led among speakers of the two

varieties. Because of the limitation of the respondents, this survey just found a

total of 14 respondents from these two varieties, they were asked to complete the

questionnaire by choosing the words that usually they used to name the items that

showed in the questionnaire papers.

The experiment using a questionnaire were elaborated by choosing the

items from the examples of vocabulary differences described in this research, for a

total of 26 items for each variety of English. There are 14 respondents, and all the


28

respondents were informed about the aims of this research, and asked to fill in the

questionnaire onlyon the basis of their own knowledge, without using dictionaries.

The native speakers from these two varieties were contacted through the social

networks, and asked to complete the questionnaire anonymously.

Finally, as the same items were given to the two samples. The results of

the questionnaires were compared. Table below reports the results of the

questionnaire.

Table 4.10. The Results of the Survey

Item BrE AmE Item BrE AmETrousers 4 0 Pants 3 7Waistcoat 6 0 Vest 1 7Pants 0 0 Underwear 7 7Vest 5 0 Undershirt 2 7Dinner jacket 3 0 Tuxedo 4 7Biscuit 7 1 Cookies 0 6Maize 3 0 Corn 4 7Prawn 3 0 Shrimp 4 7Aubergine 7 0 Eggplant 0 7Courgette 7 0 Zucchini 0 7Flyover 4 2 Overpass 3 5Pavement 6 0 Sidewalk 1 7Cupboard 4 2 Closet 3 5Toilet 2 0 Bathroom 5 7Cooker 5 0 Stove 2 7Postman 6 0 Mailman 1 7Football 7 0 Soccer 0 7Number plate 7 0 License plate 0 7Boot 7 0 Trunk 0 7Bonnet 3 0 Hood 4 7Flat 7 0 Apartment 0 7Chemist’s 4 0 Pharmacy 3 7Shop 7 0 Store 0 7Coach 3 2 Bus 4 5Lorry 4 0 Truck 3 7Underground 7 0 Subway 0 7


29

The analysis of the results above indicates that there are some differences

that seem to be used by both varieties, and some seem barely used by their own

native speakers. The explanation can be divided into several groups.

First group is composed of differences in clothing vocabulary such as

‘pants’ and ‘underwear’, ‘pants’ is British vocabulary and ‘underwear’ is

American’s, for British pants mean underpants, but for American pants mean a

piece of clothing that covering the lower part of the body from the waist to the

foot which British call it trousers. The result of the survey shows that none of the

British respondents who chose ‘pants’ all the respondents from this two varieties

are choose ‘underwear’. Other items such as ‘dinner jacket’ and ‘tuxedo’, mostly

of the respondents were chose ‘tuxedo’. ‘Dinner jacket’ is British vocabulary of

American tuxedo but only 3 of British respondents who chose it. It shows that

those items were hardly recognized by their own native speaker.

Second group is composed of differences in food vocabulary such as

‘corn/maize’, and ‘shrimp/prawn’. The word ‘maize’ is British vocabulary but

from the result of the questionnaires only 3 British respondents choose that word,

the rest are choose ‘corn’. Another differences are the words ‘Shrimp’ and

‘prawn’. Most of the respondents choose ‘shrimp’ rather that ‘prawn’.

The third group is composed of differences in ‘street objects’ such as

words ‘flyover’ and ‘overpass’ they are equally known by speakers of both

varieties, but from the survey shows that there are many respondents more

common with the word overpass rather than flyover.


30

Fourth group is composed of differences in ‘home appliances’ such as the

words ‘cupboard/closet’, and ‘bathroom/toilet’, from the resultshows that many

British respondents preferred American vocabulary such as ‘closet’ and

‘bathroom’ rather than their own vocabulary.

The fifth group is the differences in ‘building’ vocabulary such as

‘chemist’s’ and ‘pharmacy’. From the result of the survey shows that there are

only 3 British respondents who choose the word ‘chemist’s’,the rest chose the

word ‘pharmacy’.

The sixth group is composed of differences in transportation such as

‘bus/coach’, and ‘lorry/truck’. The result of the survey found that there are only 5

respondents who choose the word coach, 3 are British and 2 are American, but for

the words ‘lorry’ and ‘truck’ from 7 British respondents only 3 are choose the

word ‘lorry’ and the rest are choose ‘truck’.

The last group is the differences in ‘parts of car’ such as ‘bonnet’ and

‘hood’. Bonner (BrE) and hood (AmE), these two different words are referred to

the same thing. From 14 respondents only 3 British respondents who choose the

word ‘bonnet’, the rest are choose the word ‘hood’.

From the explanation of the result above indicates that even those

differences vocabulary between these two varieties are appear in the Oxford

Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, but seem like lots of them do not know about it

or they are unfamiliar with their own vocabulary.


31

The table below will show the result of the percentages between the

respondents of British and American who choose the correct answers.

Table 4.11. American/British Using Their Respective Vocabularies

Items British AmericanClothing 54.29 % 100%

Food 80% 82.86%Street Object 71.43% 85.571%

Home Appliances 52.38% 90.48%Sport 100% 100%

Occupation 85.71% 100%Part of Car 80.95% 100%Building 85.71% 100%Vehicle 66.67% 90.48%

According to the table above the percentages of British respondents who

choose the correct answers are 54.29% of clothing vocabulary, 80% of food

vocabulary, 71.43% of street objects, 52.38% of home appliances, 100% of sport,

85.71% of occupation, 80.93% of parts of car, 85.71% of building and 66.67% of

vehicle. For American respondents the percentages of the correct answers are

100% of clothing vocabulary, 82.58% of food, 85.71% of street objects, 90.48%

of home appliances, 100% of sport, 100% of occupation, 100% of parts of car,

100% of building and 90.48% of vehicle. The percentages of the correct answers

in the table above is found by totalizing the correct answers from both varieties ,

then divided by the total number of the words in each group and multiplied it by

100%.


32

Table 4.12. American/British Using Their Respective Vocabularies

The percentages in the diagrams above are an average of 14 respondents

between the two varieties who chose the correct answers and each color in the

diagram represent one label each. The blue color refers to the British respondents

and the red color refers to American respondents. The 14 respondents between

these two varieties show that most of the respondents chose to use American

nouns vocabularies rather than British ones.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

British

American


33

B. The semantic properties of componential analysis between certain

American and British noun vocabularies

The followings are the semantic properties of the British and American

noun vocabularies which are listed in problem formulation two. Componential

analysis is another attempt used to describe the meaning of a word through

structured sets of semantic features, which were given as “present” or “absent”.

By using this theory for analysis we may know what are the differences and

similarities of these two varieties.

1. Componential analysis of clothing vocabulary

Word (BrE)

Trousers

[+ clothes]

[+ cover legs]

[+ button]

[+ pockets]

Word (AmE)

Pants

[+ clothes]

[+ cover legs]

[+ button]

[+ pockets]

The analysis of the semantic properties above shows that the features of

these two different words have no differences. The word ‘trousers’ (BrE) is

composed of six components of meaning which are [+ clothes], [+ long], [- short],

[+ cover legs], [+ button], [+ pockets], so did the word‘pants’ (AmE). The

analysis of this kind shows that the definitions for the words in terms of a few

components as trousers and pants = clothes + long, + cover legs, - short, + button,

+ pockets have no differences, they just 2 different words that name the same

thing.


34

Pants

[+ underpants]

[- cover legs]

Underwear

[+ underpants]

[- cover legs]

From the componential analysis above display the fact that the words

‘pants’ and ‘underwear’ shared something in common which are [+ underpants],

[+ short], [- long], [- cover legs]. We can see that pants and underwear are just

two different words, but both words referred to the same items.

Dinner-Jacket

[+ formal]

[+ long sleeves]

[+ trousers or pants]

[- short sleeves]

[+ collared]

[+ bowtie]

Tuxedo

[+ formal]

[+ long sleeves]

[+ bowtie]

[+ trousers or pants]

[- short sleeves]

[+ collared]

The semantic features above shows that the use of method of

componential analysis showed that the words ‘dinner-jacket’ and ‘tuxedo’ are

composed of the same components, which are [+ formal], [+ long sleeves],

[+ bowtie], [+ trousers or pants], [- short sleeves], [+ collared], even the result

from the survey showed that lots of the respondents did not choose ‘dinner-jacket’

but from the analysis using the semantic features of componential analysis shows

that they are the same item.


35

Vest

[+ underwear]

[+ short sleeve]

[- long sleeve]

Undershirt

[+ underwear]

[+ short sleeve]

[- long sleeve]

Here there is no differences in the features between these two words ‘vest’

and ‘undershirt’, both words consist of the same components, which are

[+ underwear], [+ short sleeve], [- long sleeve].

Waistcoat

[- long sleeve]

[+ short sleeve]

[+ bottons]

Vest

[- long sleeve]

[+ short sleeve]

[+ bottons]

The words ‘waistcoat’ and ‘vest’ are two different words but have the

same meaning, the semantic features above can show that both words really

referred to the same thing, even they have different name. It is also clarified the

words ‘vest’ between American and British English actually have different

meaning.

2. Componential analysis of building vocabulary

Word (AmE)

Store

[+ sale]

[+ place]

[- open area]

Word (BrE)

Shop

[+sale]

[+ place]

[- open area]


36

The words ‘store’ and ‘shop’ are well known as different name that

referred to the same thing. In British English ‘shop’ means any premises that sell

retail goods, and often a single kind such as electrical goods, clothes, groceries

etc. but in America the word ‘store’ tends to mean a larger establishment that is

divided into sections and sell several types of goods.

Chemist’s

[+ shop/store]

[+ medicine/drugs]

[+ soap]

[+ cosmetic]

Pharmacy/Drug Store

[+ shop/store]

[+ medicine/drugs]

[+ soap]

[+ cosmetic]

This part also showed that there are not any differences between the words

‘chemist’s’ (BrE) and ‘pharmacy/drug store’ (AmE). Both are just two different

words that they referred to the same thing.

Flat

[+ room]

[+ kitchen]

[+ toilet]

Apartment

[+ room]

[+ kitchen]

[+ toilet/bathroom]

The words ‘flat’ and ‘apartment’ are two differences words that well

known by these two varieties. British would call it ‘flat’ and Americans are more

familiar with the word ‘apartment’, both words are refer to the same thing. By

using the method of componential analysis it shows that there is no difference

between these two words.


37

3. Componential analysis of street objects

Word (BrE)

Pavement

[+ hard surface]

[+ pedestrian]

[+ stone]

[+ flat part]

Word (AmE)

Sidewalk

[+ hard surface]

[+ pedestrian]

[+ stone]

[+ flat part]

The semantic features of these two words ‘pavement’ and ‘sidewalk’ have

no differences at all, both words consist of the same components which are

[+ hard surface], [+ pedestrian], and [+ flat part]. They are two different names

that referred to the same thing.

Overpass

[+ bridge]

[+ road]

[+ highway]

Flyover

[+ bridge]

[+ road]

[+ highway]

‘Overpass’ and ‘flyover’ are composed of the same features, it shows that

both different words have no differences meaning, both are just two varieties

words of British and American English.


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4. Componential analysis of Sport Vocabulary

Word (BrE)

Football

[+ ball]

[+ player]

[+ sport]

[+ team]

[+ foot]

Word (AmE)

Soccer

[+ ball]

[+ player]

[+ sport]

[+ team]

[+ foot]

From the components above shows that the words ‘football’ and ‘soccer’

are the same sport. They consist of the same semantic features as [+ball],[+

player],[+ team] and [+sport].

5. Componential analysis of Food Vocabulary

Word (BrE)

Biscuit

[+ sweet]

[+ dry]

[+ baked]

[+ crisp]

Word (AmE)

Cookie

[+ sweet]

[+ dry]

[+ baked]

[+ crisp]

In this part there are some components such as [+ sweet], [+ dry], [+ cake],

[+crisp] and [+ baked]. Which both words have, but there is no differences found

here, all the features are same. So the words ‘biscuit’ and ‘cookie’ have the same

meaning.


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Aubergine

[+ vegetable]

[- fruit]

[+ dark purple skin]

Eggplant

[+ vegetable]

[- fruit]

[+ dark purple skin]

These two kinds of vegetables have the same features, both are name

different between British and American English but they were well known by

each others. The result of the survey also showed that all the British respondents

were chose ‘aubergine’ and all the American respondents chose ‘eggplant’. It

shows that both different words have the same meaning.

Courgette

[+ vegetable]

[+ white flesh]

[+ dark green skin]

[- fruit]

Zucchini

[+ vegetable]

[+ white flesh]

[+ dark green skin]

[- fruit]

‘Courgette’and‘Zucchini’ are also two kinds of vegetables they have

different name but referred to the same food, which characterized as [+ long],

[+ vegetable], [+ white flesh], [+ dark green skin], and [- fruit].

Corn

[+ grains]

[+ plant]

[+ yellow]

[+ cereal]

Maize

[+ grains]

[+ plant]

[+ yellow]

[+ cereal]


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These two kinds of grains have different name between BrE and AmE, but

both have the same semantic features, thus ‘maize’and‘corn’ refer to the same

thing.

Prawn

[+ crustaceans]

[+ ten legs]

[+ long tail]

[+ hard shell]

Shrimp

[+ crustaceans]

[+ ten legs]

[+ long tail]

[+ hard shell]

These two crustaceans have different name between British and American

English, British call it ‘prawn’ and American would call it ‘shrimp’ but actually

they are same crustaceans.

6. Componential analysis of Vehicle Vocabulary

Word (BrE)

Coach (BrE)

[+ vehicle]

[+ large]

[+ long]

[+ passengers]

Word (AmE)

Bus (AmE)

[+ vehicle]

[+ large]

[+ long]

[+ passengers]

In this part, we analyze the semantic features of transportvocabulary, here

the word ‘coach’ sound unfamiliar with some people, but this word actually

British vocabulary of American word ‘bus’. These two words refer to the same

item, even they have different name. From the components above both words

have same features which are [+ vehicle], [+ large], [+ long] and [+ passengers].


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Underground

[+ railway system]

[+ underground vehicle]

[+ passengers]

Subway

[+ railway system]

[+ underground vehicle]

[+ passengers]

‘Underground’and‘subway’ are two kinds of the same transportation. BrE

is ‘underground’ and AmE is ‘subway’, both are same transportation, we can see

it on the components above, it showed there is no any differences that found

between these two words.

Lorry

[+ vehicle]

[+ large]

Truck

[+ vehicle]

[+ large]

Componential analysis of the words ‘lorry’ and ‘truck’ are same, both are

different names, but they are the same vehicle, ‘lorry’ is British English, and

‘truck’ is American English.From the result of the survey, it is found that there is

only 3 respondents who chose ‘lorry’, while the rest chose ‘truck’, but here

showed that both words have no differences they have the same meaning.

7. Componential analysis of Home appliances Vocabulary

Word (BrE) Word (AmE)

Toilet

[+ toilet bowl]

[+ bath]

[+ washbasin]

[+ shower]

Bathroom

[+ toilet]

[+ bath]

[+ washbasin]

[+ shower]


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‘Toilet’ and ‘bathroom’ consist of the same semantic features. British

name it ‘toilet’ but American will more comfort to say it ‘bathroom’, but both

referred to the same thing.

Cupboard

[+ furniture]

[+ door]

[+ clothes]

Closet

[+ furniture]

[+ door]

[+ clothes]

The different words between ‘cupboard’ and ‘closet’ actually referred to

the same thing, but in British ‘cupboard’ can also use to store food.

Cooker

[+ hob]

[+ oven]

[+ gas]

[+ electric]

[+ gas ring]

Stove

[+ hob]

[+ oven]

[+ gas]

[+ electric]

[+ gas ring]

Analysis about the words ‘cooker’ and ‘stove’ showed that they are the

same item, but the word stove also has another meaning, which is a piece of

equipment for heating a space inside a room, often using wood or a form of coal

as a fuel.


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8. Componential analysis of Occupation Vocabulary

Word (BrE)

Postman

[+ male]

[+ letter]

[+ parcel]

Word (AmE)

Mailman

[+ male]

[+ letter]

[+ parcel]

‘Postman’ and ‘mailman’ are two different words but bothrefer to the same

occupation. In British people more commonly use the word ‘postman’ while

Americans use the word ‘mailman’. From the componential analysis above, it

shows that there is no any difference between these two words.

9. Componential analysis of Parts of car vocabulary

Word (BrE)

Bonnet

[+ car]

[+ metal]

[+ engine cover]

Word (AmE)

Hood

[+ car]

[+ metal]

[+ engine cover]

Lots of the respondents of the questioners chose ‘hood’ and only 2

respondents chose ‘bonnet’.They are not familiar with the word ‘bonnet’ but

actually British English of ‘hood’ is called ‘bonnet’. From the analysis above,

there is no any different between those words, they have the same meanings.

Number plate

[+ number]

[+ letter]

[+ car]

[+ metal]

License plate

[+ number]

[+ letter]

[+ car]

[+ metal]


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British people call it ‘number plate’, while in American they call it

‘license plate’, both are two different names but have the same meaning, the result

of the questioners are all correct, all the British respondents chose ‘number plate’

and all the Americanchose ‘license plate’. The semantic features above show that

there is no differences between both components, so they just two different names

but have the same meaning.

Boot

[+ space]

[+ car]

[+ wide]

Trunk

[+ space]

[+ car]

[+ wide]

‘Boot’ and ‘trunk’ consist of the same components, both are different in

name, but the meanings are same. The results of the questioner are also correct, all

the British respondents chose ‘boot’ which is British vocabulary, and all the

American chose ‘trunk’ which is American vocabulary, the result of the analysis

above also shows that there is no any differences between both words.

This method of componential analysis above is an easy way to be used to

distinguish the meaning of the words between BrE and AmE. Analysis of this

kind is useful because we can see exactly why those words have different meaning

and why they have same meaning. Through this semantic component, we can see

the specific meaning of each component that there is no any difference in

meaning, all words have the similar meanings.


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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

The research of this study is intended to analyze the certain semantic

similarities of differentnoun vocabularies between British and American English.

After analyzing the differences noun vocabularies between the two varieties, it is

found that there is a total of 52 different words which consist of 26 words of AmE

and 26 words of BrE and those differences are categorized into several groups

such as clothing, building, food, vehicle, home appliances, street objects, sport,

occupation and parts of car. The data that use in this study are collected from

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of current English 6th edition.

This study also aims to answer the problems which is presented in chapter

I. There are two problems which are analyzed in this study. The first problem is

divided into two parts, the first part is to discuss about the similar meanings of

differentnoun vocabularies between the two verities and the second part is to

discuss about the users’ perspective based on the survey. The second problem is to

analyze the semantics properties of componential analysis between certain British

and American noun vocabularies.

The second part of first problem the researcher distributed the

questionnaires to some British and American native speakers through the social

network and found total of 14 respondents from the two varieties, 7 are British

respondents and 7 are American respondents. The analysis of the results from the

survey indicates that there are some differences that seem to be known by both

varieties, but some still mix AmE and BrE. Some respondents were able to choose

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the correct variety such as‘eggplant/aubergine’, ‘courgette/zucchini’, ‘boot/trunk’,

‘number plate/license plate’, ‘flat/apartment’, ‘shop/store’,

‘subway/underground’ and ‘football/soccer’, they are equally known by speakers

of both varieties. Another respondents seem to have difficulty in choosing which

is AmE and which is BrE example like the words ‘toilet/bathroom’, ‘corn/maize’,

‘prawn/shrimp’, ‘tuxedo/dinner-jacket’, ‘underwear/pants’, ‘bus/coach’,

‘pharmacy/chemist’s’, ‘flyover/overpass’, ‘lorry/truck’, ‘hood/bonnet’. The result

from the survey shows that American respondents get higher scores rather than

British respondents, because lots of American respondents chose the right

answers.

To answer the second problem formulation, a further way to this study of

meaning is done by the process of using the semantic features of componential

analysis which is breaking down the meaning of a word into its components

which can be contrasted with other components. Componential analysis is a useful

approach because it determines the meaning of a word. This approach in this

study helps tocarry out the meaning of each word easily by using the structural

analysis. The analysis in the second problem shows that all of the semantic

features in this study consisted of the same components.

After all the differences innoun vocabularies in this study has been

analyzed, then raise the questions about what can truly be considered as ‘correct’

English, and even if it is right to talk about a ‘proper’ or ‘improper’ English

variety. Therefore, it can be said that only by a specific study on the differences of


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languages can we improve mutual intelligibility between the two varieties of

English.


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Pei, Mario. The Story of Language. New York: New American Library, 1984.

Thorold Rogers, James E. Six Centuries Work and Wages The History of EnglishLabour. London: T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd, 1919

Wagiman, Adisutrisno. Semantics an Introduction to the Basic Concepts.Yogyakarta: Andi offset, 2008.

Good, Carter Victor. The Dictionary of Education. New York: Mc Graw HillBook Company, 1959.

Hornby, A. S. The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary Of Current English sixthEdition. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2000.

Harford, James R and Heasley, Brendan. Semantics, A Coursebook. New York:Cambridge University Press, 1983.

Palmer, F.R. Semantics, Second Edition. New York: Cambridge University Press,1976.

Fatmawati, Nanik. “A Comparison Analysis of American and British Idioms” July26,2011.(http://repository.uinjkt.ac.id/dspace/bitstream/123456789/1503/1/101295-NANIK%20FATMAWATI-FAH.pdf), February 17, 2015.

Lindell, Christian. “An Investigation of awareness of the differences in British andAmerican Vocabulary and Spelling” January 17, 2014. (http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:688472/FULLTEXT01.pdf), February 26,2015.

Richards, J.C. and Willy A. Renandya. Methodology in Language Teaching. NewYork: Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Jackson, Howard. Words and Their Meaning. New York: Addison WesleyLongman Inc, 1996.

Nunan, David. Second Language Teaching & Learning. New York: Heinley andHeinley Publishers, 1999.

Hornby, A.S. Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English. London:Oxford University Press, 1995.

Nida, Eugene A. Componential Analysis of Meaning. Brussels: Mouton, 1975.

Leech, Geoffrey. Semantics. Harmondsworth: Penguin Ltd, 1976.

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49

APPENDICES


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APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Raw Data

Words List

Nouns (52 words)

No Words No Words1. Trousers 27. Pants2. Waistcoat 28. Vest3. Pants 29. Underwear4. Vest 30. Undershirt5. Dinner jacket 31. Tuxedo6. Biscuit 32. Cookies7. Maize 33. Corn8. Prawn 34. Shrimp9. Aubergine 35. Eggplant10. Courgette 36. Zucchini11. Flyover 37. Overpass12. Pavement 38. Sidewalk13. Cupboard 39. Closet14. Toilet 40. Bathroom15. Cooker 41. Stove16. Postman 42. Mailman17. Football 43. Soccer18. Number plate 44. License plate19. Boot 45. Trunk20. Bonnet 46. Hood21. Flat 47. Apartment22. Chemist’s 48. Pharmacy23. Shop 49. Store24. Coach 50. Bus25. Lorry 51. Truck26. Underground 52. Subway


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Appendix 2: The Questionnaires


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Appendix 3: Result of the Survey (14 respondents)

1. British respondents

Words R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 PercentsTrousers 4 57%Pants 3 42%Waistcoat 6 85%Vest 1 14%Pants 0 0%Underwear 7 100%Vest 5 71%Undershirt 2 28%Dinner-jacket 4 57%Tuxedo 3 42%Biscuit 7 100%Cookies 0 0%Maize 3 42%Corn 4 57%Prawn 4 57%Shrimp 3 42%Aubergine 7 100%Eggplant 0 0%Courgette 7 100%Zucchini 0 0%Flyover 4 57%Overpass 3 42%Pavement 6 85%Sidewalk 1 14%Cupboard 4 57%Closet 3 42%Toilet 2 28%Bathroom 5 71%Cooker 5 71%Stove 2 28%Postman 6 85%Mailman 1 14%Football 7 100%Soccer 0 0%Number plate 7 100%License plate 0 0%


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Boot 7 100%Trunk 0 0%Bonnet 3 42%Hood 4 57%Flat 7 100%Apartment 0 0%Chemist’s 4 57%Pharmacy 3 42%Shop 7 100%Store 0 0%Coach 3 42%Bus 4 57%Lorry 4 57%Truck 3 42%Underground 7 100%Subway 0 0%

2. American respondents

Words R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 PercentsTrousers 0 0%Pants 7 100%Waistcoat 0 0%Vest 7 100%Pants 0 0%Underwear 7 100%Vest 0 0%Undershirt 7 100%Dinner-jacket 0 0%Tuxedo 7 100%Biscuit 6 85%Cookies 1 14%Maize 0 0%Corn 7 100%Prawn 0 0%Shrimp 7 100%Aubergine 0 0%Eggplant 7 100%Courgette 0 0%Zucchini 7 100%Flyover 2 28%Overpass 5 85%


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Pavement 0 0%Sidewalk 7 100%Cupboard 2 28%Closet 5 71%Toilet 0 0%Bathroom 7 100%Cooker 0 0%Stove 7 100%Postman 0 0%Mailman 7 100%Football 0 0%Soccer 7 100%Number plate 0 0%License plate 7 100%Boot 0 0%Trunk 7 100%Bonnet 0 0%Hood 7 100%Flat 0 0%Apartment 7 100%Chemist’s 0 0%Pharmacy 7 100%Shop 0 0%Store 7 100%Coach 2 28%Bus 5 71%Lorry 0 0%Truck 7 100%Underground 0 0%Subway 7 100%


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