Trans-Atlantic Street Names

Abstract

Abstract

The British and American national varieties of the English Language differ in a multitude of ways: orthographic, phonological, syntactic, lexical, and onomastic. One of the onomastic difference is in the street names, including both their generic and specific parts. British street-name generics include terms like crescent and mews, which are atypical of American use. American generics include terms like boulevard, atypical of British use. The specifics also differ, whether they are descriptive (British High Street versus American Main Street) or commemorative (British Great Queen Street versus American Madison Avenue). The street names of London and New York City, the largest and commercially most important cities of the two nations, are illustrative of onomastic and cultural differences between Britain and America.