1

British English (BrE) is a term used to differentiate the form of the English language used in the United Kingdom from other forms of the English language used elsewhere.

British English (BrE) (inglese britannico) è un’espressione usata per distinguere la varietà di lingua inglese utilizzata all'interno del Regno Unito dalle altre forme di inglese in uso altrove.

2

It includes all the varieties of English used within the UK, including England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Essa comprende tutte le varianti di inglese usate all'interno del Regno Unito comprese Inghilterra, Scozia, Irlanda del Nord e Galles.

3

There is no formal definition of British English other than that it is English as used in the United Kingdom.

Non esiste una definizione formale di British English all'infuori di quella che afferma che sia l'inglese cosi come viene impiegato nel Regno Unito.

4

As with many other aspects of British culture, the language is governed by convention rather than formal code:

Così come accade per molti altri aspetti della cultura britannica, il linguaggio è regolato da convenzioni piuttosto che da un esplicito insieme di regole.

5

there is no equivalent body to the Académie française, and the authoritative dictionaries (e.g. Oxford English Dictionary, Chambers Dictionary, Collins Dictionary) record usage rather than prescribe it.

Non c'è un organo equivalente all'Académie française e gli autorevoli dizionari (ad esempio Oxford English Dictionary, Chambers Dictionary, Collins Dictionary) registrano l'uso della lingua piuttosto che stabilirlo.

6

As a result there is a significant variety in grammar, usage, spelling, and vocabulary within English as used in the UK, and there can be lively idiomatic uses of the language.

Di conseguenza si ha un'ampia varietà di grammatica, utilizzo, ortografia e vocabolario dell'inglese usato nel Regno Unito e possono verificarsi estrosi usi idiomatici del linguaggio.

7

In addition, vocabulary and usage change with time, words are freely borrowed from other languages and other strains of English, and neologisms are frequent.

Inoltre, vocabolario ed uso variano con il tempo, alcuni termini sono liberamente presi in prestito da altre lingue e dialetti inglesi ed i neologismi sono frequenti.

8

While there is a meaningful degree of uniformity in formal written English in the United Kingdom, the forms of spoken English used vary considerably more than in most other areas of the world where English is spoken.

Mentre nel Regno Unito si ha un significativo grado di uniformità nell'inglese formale scritto, le forme utilizzate della lingua parlata variano ivi considerevolmente più che nella maggior parte delle altre zone del mondo dove si parla inglese.

9

Dialects and accents vary not only within regions of the UK, for example in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, but also within England.

Dialetti ed accenti cambiano non solo all'interno delle regioni del Regno Unito, come ad esempio Scozia, Irlanda del Nord, e Galles, ma anche nella stessa Inghilterra.

10

The written form of the language, as taught in schools, is universally Commonwealth English with a slight emphasis on a few words that might be more common in some areas than in others.

La lingua scritta, cosi come viene insegnata nelle scuole, è universalmente classificata come Commonwealth English, con una leggera enfasi su alcune parole che potrebbero essere più comuni in alcune aree piuttosto che in altre.

11

For example, although the words "wee" and "small" are interchangeable, one is more likely to see "wee" written by a Scot than by a Londoner.

Per esempio, sebbene i termini "wee" e "small" siano intercambiabili, è più probabile vedere la prima parola scritta da uno scozzese piuttosto che da un londinese.

12

For historical reasons dating back to the rise of London in the 9th century, the variety of language spoken in London and the East Midlands became the standard English within the Court and thus the form of language generally accepted for use in the law, government, literature and education of the British Isles.

Per ragioni storiche che risalgono alle origini di Londra nel IX secolo, la varietà della lingua parlata a Londra e nelle East Midlands divenne l'inglese standard a corte e di conseguenza la forma di linguaggio generalmente accettata nell'uso legale, politico, letterario e scolastico delle isole britanniche.

13

Although British English is often used in the United States to denote the English spelling and lexicon used outside the US, the term Commonwealth English is more accurate for this purpose.

Sebbene la definizione “inglese britannico” sia spesso utilizzata negli Stati Uniti per indicare l'ortografia e il lessico utilizzati al di fuori dei confini nazionali, l'espressione Commonwealth English risulta a tal fine più precisa.

14

The British spellings were most famously recorded in Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language (1755).

L'ortografia britannica fu eccellentemente raccolta nell'opera " A Dictionary of the English Language (1755)" di Samuel Johnson.

15

Historically, the widespread usage of English across the world is attributed to the power once held by the British Empire, and hence the most common form of English used by the British ruling class was the English used in south-east England

Storicamente, l’utilizzo diffuso dell’inglese nel mondo è da attribuirsi all’ antico potere dell’impero britannico, di conseguenza la forma più comune di inglese impiegata dalla classe regnante era quella in uso nel sud est dell’ Inghilterra.

16

(in the area around the capital city London, and the ancient English university towns of Oxford and Cambridge).

(l’area circostante la capitale Londra e le antiche città universitarie di Oxford e Cambridge).

17

This form of the language is associated with Received Pronunciation (RP), which is still regarded by many people outside the UK (especially in the United States) as "the British accent".

Questa forma di linguaggio è associata all’espressione Received Pronunciation (RP), ché è ancora denominata da molta gente che vive al di fuori del Regno Unito (specialmente negli Stati Uniti) “British accent”, ovvero accento inglese.

18

However, even RP has evolved quite markedly in the last 40 years.

Tuttavia, anche l’RP si è notevolmente sviluppata nel corso degli ultimi 40 anni.

19

From the second half of the 20th century to the present day, the preeminence of the English language has been augmented by the economic, military and political dominance of the United States in world affairs, and American English is often regarded as the most prominent form of English in the world today, especially with the large amount of U.S. cultural products (especially films) around the world, as well as those produced by other English-speaking nations.

Dalla seconda metà del XX secolo ai giorni nostri, la superiorità della lingua inglese è stata accresciuta dal dominio economico, militare e politico degli Stati Uniti nelle questioni mondiali, e l’inglese americano è spesso oggigiorno considerato la più importante varietà di inglese, grazie specialmente alla diffusione a livello mondiale di prodotti culturali di origine statunitense (in particolar modo films) come pure di quelli commercializzati da altre nazioni la cui lingua ufficiale è l'inglese.

20

The form of English spoken and written in the United Kingdom still has a major cultural influence, in particular on the English used in many Commonwealth countries (including Australia, South Africa, and India), as well as in the European Union.

La varietà di inglese scritto e parlato nel Regno Unito subisce ancora una forte influenza culturale che si nota particolarmente nell’inglese usato in molte nazioni del Commonwealth (incluse Australia, Sud Africa e India) come pure nell’Unione Europea.

21

Although British English is taught and used in the former British colonies of Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, American English is often taught in Chinese and Japanese schools, and in other schools throughout Asia.

Sebbene l’inglese britannico sia insegnato ed utilizzato nelle ex colonie inglesi di Hong Kong, Singapore e Malaysia, l’inglese americano è spesso insegnato nelle scuole cinesi e giapponesi e in altri istituti in ogni parte dell’Asia.

22

-ise versus -ize

-ise contro -ize

23

Words of the sort organize/organise and their derivatives can be spelt with either s or z in British English.

Parole del tipo organize/organise e i termini da loro derivati, possono essere scritti in inglese britannico utilizzando indifferente la s o la z -

24

The -ize forms are promoted by the Oxford English Dictionary.

L’Oxford English Dictionary promuove le forme terminanti in –ize.

25

British English with -ize is sometimes known as OED spelling, and may be marked by the registered IANA language tag 'en-GB-oed'.

L’inglese britannico che faccia uso della desinenza –ize è talvolta noto come ortografia OED e può essere contrassegnata dall’etichetta linguistica, conforme  IANA, “en-GB-oed”.

26

It is the spelling used by the Encyclopædia Britannica, by the United Nations, and by many international organizations and academic publications.

Questa è la forma ortografica utilizzata dall’ Encyclopædia Britannica, dalle Nazioni Unite, da molte organizzazioni internazionali e nelle pubblicazioni accademiche.

27

The -ize forms were used by The Times until the mid-1980s.

Le forme in –ize furono utilizzate dalla testata “The Times” fino alla metà degli anni ottanta.

28

The -ise forms are used by the British government and taught in the British school systems.

Le forme in –ise vengono utilizzate dal governo britannico ed impartite nel proprio sistema scolastico.

29

They are far more prevalent in common usage.

Sono di gran lunga le più diffuse nell’uso comune.

30

Pam Peters (2004, -ize/-ise) relates that British National Corpus data indicates the ratio of popularity for -ise forms to -ize forms in Britain is 3:2.

Pam Peters (2004, -ize/-ise) riferisce che i dati del British National Corpus indicano che il rapporto di popolarità tra la forma –ise e la forma –ize è di 3 a 2.

31

Words like advertise, advise, arise, compromise, disguise, despise, enterprise, exercise, merchandise, revise, supervise, surprise are always correctly spelled with the -ise ending in both systems.

Parole come advertise, advise, arise, compromise, disguise, despise, enterprise, exercise, merchandise, revise, supervise, surprise risultano sempre scritte correttamente utilizzando indifferentemente le desinenze associate ad entrambi i sistemi.

British English (BrE) is a term used to differentiate the form of the English language used in the United Kingdom from other forms of the English language used elsewhere.

It includes all the varieties of English used within the UK, including England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

There is no formal definition of British English other than that it is English as used in the United Kingdom.

As with many other aspects of British culture, the language is governed by convention rather than formal code:

there is no equivalent body to the Académie française, and the authoritative dictionaries (e.g. Oxford English Dictionary, Chambers Dictionary, Collins Dictionary) record usage rather than prescribe it.

As a result there is a significant variety in grammar, usage, spelling, and vocabulary within English as used in the UK, and there can be lively idiomatic uses of the language.

In addition, vocabulary and usage change with time, words are freely borrowed from other languages and other strains of English, and neologisms are frequent.

While there is a meaningful degree of uniformity in formal written English in the United Kingdom, the forms of spoken English used vary considerably more than in most other areas of the world where English is spoken.

Dialects and accents vary not only within regions of the UK, for example in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, but also within England.

The written form of the language, as taught in schools, is universally Commonwealth English with a slight emphasis on a few words that might be more common in some areas than in others.

For example, although the words "wee" and "small" are interchangeable, one is more likely to see "wee" written by a Scot than by a Londoner.

For historical reasons dating back to the rise of London in the 9th century, the variety of language spoken in London and the East Midlands became the standard English within the Court and thus the form of language generally accepted for use in the law, government, literature and education of the British Isles.

Although British English is often used in the United States to denote the English spelling and lexicon used outside the US, the term Commonwealth English is more accurate for this purpose.

The British spellings were most famously recorded in Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language (1755).

Historically, the widespread usage of English across the world is attributed to the power once held by the British Empire, and hence the most common form of English used by the British ruling class was the English used in south-east England

(in the area around the capital city London, and the ancient English university towns of Oxford and Cambridge).

This form of the language is associated with Received Pronunciation (RP), which is still regarded by many people outside the UK (especially in the United States) as "the British accent".

However, even RP has evolved quite markedly in the last 40 years.

From the second half of the 20th century to the present day, the preeminence of the English language has been augmented by the economic, military and political dominance of the United States in world affairs, and American English is often regarded as the most prominent form of English in the world today, especially with the large amount of U.S. cultural products (especially films) around the world, as well as those produced by other English-speaking nations.

The form of English spoken and written in the United Kingdom still has a major cultural influence, in particular on the English used in many Commonwealth countries (including Australia, South Africa, and India), as well as in the European Union.

Although British English is taught and used in the former British colonies of Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, American English is often taught in Chinese and Japanese schools, and in other schools throughout Asia.

-ise versus -ize

Words of the sort organize/organise and their derivatives can be spelt with either s or z in British English.

The -ize forms are promoted by the Oxford English Dictionary.

British English with -ize is sometimes known as OED spelling, and may be marked by the registered IANA language tag 'en-GB-oed'.

It is the spelling used by the Encyclopædia Britannica, by the United Nations, and by many international organizations and academic publications.

The -ize forms were used by The Times until the mid-1980s.

The -ise forms are used by the British government and taught in the British school systems.

They are far more prevalent in common usage.

Pam Peters (2004, -ize/-ise) relates that British National Corpus data indicates the ratio of popularity for -ise forms to -ize forms in Britain is 3:2.

Words like advertise, advise, arise, compromise, disguise, despise, enterprise, exercise, merchandise, revise, supervise, surprise are always correctly spelled with the -ise ending in both systems.