The uninvited attendees of English. (Language).(Brief Article)

ENGLISH USAGE varies from country to country, changes over time and reflects different levels of education. Most obvious are the differences between English and American pronunciation. Many words have the stress on the first syllable in English but on the second or third syllable in American usage: for example, formidable, temporarily, voluntarily, exquisite, controversy, intricacy. But the reverse also occurs; in American, in contrast to English, usage, words like laboratory and research have the stress on the first syllable. In some cases, the second syllable almost disappears, for example fragile or missile (which in American usage rhymes with whistle).

Shift of stress from the first to the second or third syllable is also common among the less well educated in England and Australia. Thus, one hears capi'talism, deft'cit. (The apostrophe after, rather than before, the stressed syllable follows the practice of the Concise Oxford Dictionary.)

The reverse shift of stress, from the second to the first syllable, has become fashionable, even among English and Australian literati. There are a lot of cases where the noun has the stress on the first syllable but the verb used to have it on the second; e.g. contract, protest, conflict, convict, contest, consort, conduct. We used to say "I proTEST!" and speak of contrac'tors. Now even educated people are "pro'testing" and "con'tracting". Also ro'bust instead of robust'.

There are Americanisms which are believed to go back to the Pilgrim Fathers, such as gotten where we would say got and proven where we would say proved, and differences of pronunciation: for example Americans say "eether", "tomayto" and "skedule". Other Americanisms which have crept into Australian (and English?) usage are "out the window", "out of Chicago" (instead of "out from") and "absolutely" as an affirmative. And of course there are different spelling conventions. In American usage, the "u" drops out of such words as labour and behaviour; Americans "memorize" and "industrialize"; they go to the "theater" or to a "center". The American vocabulary also sometimes differs from the British and Australian: sidewalk instead of footpath, apartment instead of flat. Some Americanisms have been adopted; Australians now talk of "guys", rather than "chaps" or "fellows".

While all the preceding examples of differences of usage reflect national or ...