This paper analyses Americanisms in Arthur Miller's 1948 play Death of a Salesman. First, the spelling differences between the British and American editions of the play will be compared, after which attention will be given to various lexical items, phrasal verbs, and significant cultural references. The concentration will be on those features of the English language that are distinctively American in style.

Overview of the play

Arthur Miller's 1948 play Death of a Salesman tells the story of the Loman family. Willy Loman is a 63-year-old travelling salesman; he has a wife (Linda) and two sons (Happy and Biff). Despite having had a lengthy career as a travelling salesman, Loman has been demoted to working on a commission instead of a regular salary. This has resulted in Willy becoming gradually depressed, and he has attempted to take his own life on several occasions. On top of that, he has become senile and frequently engages in lengthy monologues that take place in his past.

In his daydreams, his now-grown-up sons Biff and Happy are still great future prospects; his older brother Benjamin, who is portrayed as the archetype of a successful man, is still alive to consult him. These sequences give the reader an insight between Willy's past, and his hopes and dreams and expectations. Unfortunately, these dreams and expectations do not meet in this play. Willy's ultimate belief is that personality and being well-liked is what will get you ahead in life. He has rooted his beliefs in his sons (Biff particularly), but neither son has managed to achieve success or upward mobility.

The American Dream has not been fulfilled for the Loman men. The final nail in Willie's coffin is the realization that he is in fact worth more dead than alive; through his life insurance policy, his elder son Biff might have a chance to finally make the grade.

Differences in spelling and punctuation between British and American editions of the play

The following list shows a number of notable spelling and two minor punctuation differences between the US and UK versions of the play. The American words appear first, followed by page number from the US version of the play, published by Penguin Books New York in 1998. The British equivalents followed by their page numbers are taken from the UK version of the play, published by Penguin Books London in 2000.

• behavior (2)- behaviour (8)
• caliber (50) - calibre (53)
• carburetor (23) - carburettor (28)
• center (1) - centre (7)
• check (103) - cheque (102)
• color (8) - colour (14)
• favor (57) - favour (60)
• harbor (56) - harbour (59)
• honor (100) - honour (100)
• humor (10) - humour (15)
• mold (48) - mould (52)
• mustache (30) - moustache (34)
• neighborhood (6) - neighbourhood (12)
• pajamas (28) - pyjamas (32)
• self-centered (91) - self-centred (92)
• self-centeredest (91) - self-centredest (92)
• somberly (109) - sombrely (108)

  ---

• Christmas time (41) - Christmas-time (44) [The UK version has inserted a hyphen]
• Mr. Birnbaum (20) - Mr Birnbaum (25) [The UK version has removed the period in "Mr."]

Differences in vocabulary between British and American English editions of the play

Following is a list of notable American lexical items present in the play and their British equivalents. The cited page numbers hereafter refer to the version of the play published by Penguin Books Ltd in London 2000.

• apartment houses (7) - blocks of flats
• beets (99) - beetroot
• bum (11) - tramp
• business suit (50)¹ - lounge suit
• check (91) at a restaurant - bill
• cord (electrical) (65) - flex, lead, wire
• drummer (63)² - commercial traveller, salesman
• elevator (47) - lift
• flashlight (99) - torch
• front stoop (110) - front porch
• football (80) - Refers to American football. In Britain, football refers to soccer.
• math (86) - maths
• mom (19) - mum
• nightgown (41) - nightdress
• store (24) - shop
• sneakers (25) - trainers
• subway (16) - underground, tube
• vacuum-cleaner (27) - Hoover
• vacation - (holiday)
• washroom (90) - public toilet
• windshield (9) - windscreen
• yard (7) ³ - garden
• zero (53) - nil

Notable American phrasal verbs in the play

• dime a dozen (105) - Basically a figurative way of saying that something is abundant, cheap and common (Spears 153). This phrasal verb occurs twice in the British National Corpus, whereas it occurs 84 times in the Corpus of Contemporary American English.

• comes with the territory (111) - Used figuratively to describe events or things that are to be expected under prevailing circumstances (Spears 116). This phrasal verb occurs three times in this form in the British National Corpus, while occurring a total of 107 times in the Corpus of Contemporary American English.

• knock for a loop (57) - A figurative way of expressing shock, amazement or the act of physically striking someone (Spears 378). Used within the play to express amazement or shock. Various forms of the phrasal verb are found within the Corpus of Contemporary American English, the search "for a loop" results in 110 closely matching occurrences. The phrasal verb is not found within the British National Corpus.

Vernacular language and colloquialisms in the play

The play is set in New York and Boston and the depicted characters are mainly of a lower middle-class status. Both regional and social variation is depicted in the language of the play through the vernacular language spoken by the characters. A vernacular is a non-standard variety of language, usually spoken by a lower-status group (Yule 212).

One of the features frequently found within the text is the dropping of the final -g in -ing endings of words. This reduction is evident within the play in words like goin', dreamin', tellin' (9), getting' and makin' (16). According to Finegan and Rickford (26), middle-class residents in New York pronounce the final "g" more often than working-class residents. As Yule (213) points out, another typical feature of a vernacular is the absence of forms of the verb "to be" (are, is). An omission of such forms is present in sentences such as "You gonna wash the engine, Biff?" (20), as well as in phrases such as "That funny?" (13), "You smoking?" (14) and "You crazy?" (82).

Other notable phrases that depict a low-variety include the erroneous use of is instead of has as in "A salesman is got to dream" (111), "The average young man today - is got a calibre of zero" (53) and the use of the double negative construction as in "Nobody's worth nothin' dead" (77).

In addition to vernacular language, colloquial expressions and words are frequent within the play. These include exclamations such as gee (22), gee whiz (57), words like Pop (22) for father and flunk (25) for failing an examination. The following list contains common colloquial expressions from the play followed by their standard American English equivalents.

• `cause (20) - because
• coulda (13) - could have
• gonna (20) - going to
• oughta (17) - ought to
• shoulda (39) - should have
• ya (9) - you
• y'know (9) - you know

Other highly American features in the play

There are numerous references to American culture within the play. References to American football are made with sporting terminology such as touchdown (24), and a football team - the New York Giants (80). Baseball is naturally mentioned (69) and played at Ebbets Field (54), a [former] Major League Baseball park in Brooklyn, New York, which also used to serve as a venue for football games.

The exam Biff has to take is a Regents (25) state exam, taken under the supervision of the New York State Board of Regents. And if Biff had managed to graduate high school, he would have attended the University of Virginia (25) in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Notable references to consumer culture include Chevvy or Chevy (25), short for Chevrolet; and Studebaker (9), both of which were brands of popular cars at the time. Brand names such as General Electric and Hastings refrigerators (56) are also mentioned. References to American institutions and activities related to institutions include the United States Military Academy at West Point (80), the U.S. Supreme Court (75) and jury duty (89).

There are also numerous references to American geographical locations, including states such as Florida (9), Nebraska (16), Arizona (16), and Texas (17) among others; places within the State of New York such as Long Island (17), Bushwick Avenue, Brooklyn (15), and Albany; as well as nearby communities such as Hackensack, New Jersey (78)

References to famous Americans include such people as inventor Thomas Edison (13), industrialist B. F. Goodrich (13), boxer Gene Tunney (22), comedian Jack Benny (69), American football player Harold Edward "Red" Grange (70), and financier J. P. Morgan (77).

Summary: The Main Differences Between the Two Versions Were in Spelling, Punctuation, Vernacular Expression, and References to American Cultural Phenomena

Although the versions of the play printed in the UK and the US are otherwise identical, the UK version had a number of words that were spelled differently in British Standard English from their original American English spellings. There were also minor differences in punctuation between the two versions. The use of vernacular language and colloquial expressions within the text served to portray the characters and their working class background, as well as them being natives of New York. The use of American English language and the numerous American cultural references reveal that Death of a Salesman is essentially an American play.

---

Notes

1. In the United States, a lounge suit would refer to a "woman's pyjama-type suit, suitable for relaxing and lounging about in" (Darragh 98).
2. A drummer, noun, colloquial. A salesman, especially a commercial traveller. (Darragh 86).
3. Americans use the term yard to refer to cultivated areas of flowers, vegetables, herbs or fruit, whereas this term is used by the British to refer to the area surrounding the house, whether grass or concrete. (Darragh 116).

Works Cited

• The British National Corpus. URL: https://bnc.uta.fi. Viewed 18 November 2009.
• Darragh, Glenn. A to Zed, A to Zee - A Guide to the Differences Between British and American English. Cheltenham: Stanley, 2000.
• Davies, Mark. Corpus of Contemporary American English. Brigham Young University. URL: http://www.americancorpus.org/. Viewed 18 November 2009.
• Finegan, Edward and John R. Rickford. Language in the U.S.A: Themes for the Twenty-First Century. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
• Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. London: Penguin Books Ltd, 2000.
• ---. Death of a Salesman. New York: Penguin Books Ltd. 1998.
• Spears, Richard A. McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. Chigago: McGraw-Hill, 2005.
• Yule, George. The Study of Language. Third edition. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006.