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3.2 Late Modern English (1650-Present)
The main difference between Early Modern English and

Late Modern English is vocabulary. Late Modern English has
many more words, arising from two principal factors:

firstly, the Industrial Revolution and technology created a need
for new words; secondly, the British Empire at its height

covered one quarter of the earth's surface, and the English

language adopted foreign words from many countries.
From around 1600, the English colonization of North

America resulted in the creation of a distinct American variety

of English. Some English pronunciations and words "froze"
when they reached America. In some ways, American English is

more like the English of Shakespeare than modern British
English is. Some expressions that the British call

"Americanisms" are in fact original British expressions that
were preserved in the colonies while lost for a time in Britain

(for example trash for rubbish, loan as a verb instead of lend,

and fall for autumn; another example, frame-up, was re-
imported into Britain through Hollywood gangster movies).

Spanish also had an influence on American English (and
subsequently British English), with words like canyon, ranch,

stampede and vigilante being examples of Spanish words that
entered English through the settlement of the American West.

French words (through Louisiana) and West African words

(through the slave trade) also influenced American English (and
so, to an extent, British English). Today, American English is

particularly influential, due to the USA's dominance of cinema,

television, popular music, trade and technology (including the
Internet). But there are many other varieties of English around

the world, including for example Australian English, New
Zealand English, Canadian English, South African English,

Indian English and Caribbean English.

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