The American Language / A Preliminary Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States

This study traces the development and distinctiveness of English as spoken in the United States, surveying colonial origins, the language's growth after independence, and the social, regional, and immigrant influences that shaped vocabulary, pronunciation, spelling, grammar, and idiom. It catalogs Americanisms, loanwords, changed meanings, and pronunciation shifts; analyses tendencies such as lost distinctions, honorifics, euphemisms, word-formation processes, and international exchanges; and offers sketches of vulgar speech and suggestions for further, more scientific inquiry. The tone combines empirical examples and personal observation to map divergences from British usage and to propose lines for future philological research.