Page 98 - 4805

words. For instance, the grammatical valency of the verb to push is
much narrower in AuE, than in BE and AE (e.g. in this variant it is
not used in the patterns VV en, NV en, NV ing, NprpV ing. Some patterns
of the verb are typical only of one variant (e.g. NV en and NprpV inf
— of BE, NV and NV ing — of AE). There are also some features of
dissimilarity in the word’s lexical valency, e.g. a specifically
British peculiarity observed in newspaper style is the ability of the
verb to be used in combination with nouns denoting price or
quality (to push up prices, rents, etc.).
As to word-formation in different variants, the word-building
means employed are the same and most of them are equally
productive. The difference lies only in the varying degree of
productivity of some of them in this or that variant. As compared
with the British variant, for example, in the American variant the
affixes -ette, -ее, super-, as in kitchenette, draftee, super-market,
are used more extensively; the same is true of conversion and
blending (as in walk-out — ‘workers’ strike’ from (to) walk out;
(to) major — ’specialise in a subject or field of study’ from the
adjective major; motel from motor + hotel, etc.). In the Australian
variant the suffixes -ie/-y and -ее, as well as abbreviations are
more productive than in BE.
Thus, the lexical distinctions between different variants of
English are intricate and varied, but they do not make a system.
For the most part they are partial divergences in the semantic
structure and usage of some words.

3. Local Dialects in the British Isles
In the British Isles there exist many speech varieties
confined to particular areas. These local dialects traceable to Old
English dialects may be classified into six distinct divisions:
1) Lowland (Scottish or Scotch, North of the river Tweed),
2) Northern (between the rivers Tweed and Humber),
3) Western,
4) Midland

97