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Chapter 6

English accent differences

English is spoken as a native language by some 377 million people aroundthe world (Crystal, 1995). It is spoken on every continent. Like all lan-guages, English varies in the way it is spoken from place to place. Thesevarieties are called dialects; we use the term accent when referring to onlythe phonetic aspects of a dialect.

In this chapter you will learn about:

l history of English;l various English accents.

Background

Two thousand years ago, Britain was inhabited by Celtic-speaking peopleknown as Britons, the ancestors of the present-day Welsh of Wales andBretons of France. In 55 bc, Julius Caesar visited Britain, and from ad 43Roman soldiers colonised and ruled southern Britain until the early part ofthe fifth century when Rome recalled the soldiers to help with difficulties athome. The political vacuum created by the Romans’ departure was filled bysizeable settlements of Germanic-speaking people from continental Europefrom ad 450. These people are traditionally known as the Angles, Saxons,and Jutes; in Britain they became known as the English (< Angle-ish ‘be-longing to the Angles’). They established themselves strongly, pushing backthe Britons towards the west and also south across the water to Brittany.The English seized and settled all of Britain except for Wales and the northof Scotland. Their early language is known as Anglo-Saxon or Old English.

Old English is very different from Modern English. In addition to internalchanges, English was influenced somewhat by the Scandinavians who heldmuch of England in the ninth and tenth centuries, and to a much greaterextent in the Middle English period following the conquest of the French-speaking Normans in 1066.

From the beginning, accent differences existed among the English. Cer-tainly there is considerable variation now in the local accents betweenScotland in the north and the southern coast of England. The rural accentsshow the greatest variation, although they seem to be slowly giving way to

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urban accents. There is less variation in the various accents of the cities,although generally enough to tell where someone comes from.

About the same time as the Germanic speakers invaded Britain (fifthcentury ad), Gaelic speakers from Ireland conquered much of Scotland. TheAnglo-Saxons settled in the lowlands (south and east) of Scotland, and theGaels in the north-west. Since then, the use of English has gradually in-creased and pushed Scots Gaelic back to the north-west coastal region. Thelowland dialects of English have many interesting features, such as twa/twå/ for ‘two’ and ane /en/ for ‘one’.

In the Gaelic-speaking highlands (the north and west) of Scotland, Eng-lish was introduced widely in the nineteenth century by teachers speakingmiddle-class Scottish English. As a result, highland English has standardgrammatical features with an urban Scottish accent and few of the featuresspecifically associated with rural lowland speech.

In Wales, English has steadily pushed west over the centuries, graduallyeroding the territory where Welsh is spoken. English is the native languageof more than 80% of the people of Wales. As in the Scottish highlands, Eng-lish was introduced in Wales largely through the school system with theresult that the grammar of Welsh English is essentially the same as thatof standard English although there are differences in pronunciation andvocabulary.

Ireland previously spoke Irish Gaelic, a Celtic language. Since the seven-teenth century English has been spoken there, first in Dublin, then spreadingout from the capital. The north of Ireland was colonised in the early seven-teenth century by English speakers, many of whom had Scottish accents.During the nineteenth century almost the entire country adopted Englishas its native language.

English reached North America with the British settlers in the early seven-teenth century. The earliest settlers were from England, but they were soonjoined by English speakers from Scotland and Ireland as well. Much of theWest Indies became English speaking; however, its linguistic history is a bitmore complicated, as we will see when we look at Jamaican English.

The great colonial enterprise of the nineteenth century saw English be-come established in South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand as English-speaking peoples settled in those areas. English became the predominantsecond language in other areas such as India, Singapore, Hong Kong, andmuch of Africa.

General scheme

In the rest of this chapter, we will be looking at a variety of English accents,comparing them either to RP or GA. First we will look at accents in theBritish Isles and then overseas. The purpose of these brief descriptions is,

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on the one hand, to present the variety of English for those interested inEnglish accents, and further to help speakers of accents other than RP orGA understand their own accent. These descriptions are obviously verybrief and do not pretend to be complete discussions. Readers seeking moreinformation should turn to general discussions such as Hughes and Trudgill(1996), Trudgill and Hannah (1994), Wells (1982), and Wolfram and Schilling-Estes (1998).

Minor variations exist in the consonants, but most of the variation inEnglish accents is in the vowels which are presented as a list showing asample word and the vowel used in that word. The list for RP is given inTable 6.1. and for GA in Table 6.12. Note that in the last three words, baby,runner, and sofa, it is the second vowel which is of interest, as shown by thebold print.

This presentation gives reference points to you in figuring out the pro-nunciation of other words with a fair degree of accuracy. If you want toknow how to pronounce a word in a certain accent, find a word on therelevant chart that has the same vowel in RP or GA. For example, if youwant to say plate with an Australian accent, you will find that the word hateis on the Australian list (Table 6.7), and note that it has the vowel /√j/.From your own knowledge of English, you should be able to guess that hateand plate have the same vowel. Therefore, you can make a fairly reliableguess that plate also has the vowel /√j/ in Australian English. (See Wells(1982: 122–4) for a discussion of this type of presentation.)

The following is a short list of traits which commonly distinguish Englishaccents. If you are investigating someone’s accent, you might look first atthese features.

1 Presence of non-prevocalic /®/. Accents with this /®/ are called rhotic;those without, non-rhotic.

2 Distinction of caught–cot.3 Distinction of but–put.4 Final vowel of baby: [i] or [ˆ]?

Table 6.1 RP vowels

beat i boot u peer ˆ\pit ˆ put ¨ pear ´\hate ej boat \w part åpet ´ bought ø hurt ±pat æ pot Å cure, jury ¨\path å soft Å four øbut √ palm å baby ibite aj out aw runner \

choice øj sofa \

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6 • English accent differences

5 Distinction of pat–path.6 Presence of /h/.7 Vowels of hate and boat: diphthongs or monophthongs?8 Presence of /j/ after alveolars.9 Intervocalic /t/: voiced, tapped, or glottalised.

10 Distinction of merry, marry, Mary.11 Distinction of which–witch.

In the description of accents that follow, some or all of these eleven traitsare identified as criteria for those accents.

Received Pronunciation (RP) revisited

Although RP is regarded as the standard accent of Britain, it is spokennatively by only a very small proportion of the population. Many people,particularly in the south of England, however, have an accent which is quitesimilar to RP. Even accents such as Cockney, our first example, althoughphonetically different from RP, are structurally quite similar to RP.

In terms of the criteria cited above, RP has the following traits:

1 Non-rhotic: car [kå].2 Caught–cot distinguished: [køt kÅt].3 But–put distinguished: [b√t–p¨t].4 Final vowel in baby [i]: [«bejbi]. Older RP had [î]: [«bejbî].5 Pat–path distinguished: [pæt på†].6 /h/ present: half /håf/.7 Hate and boat have diphthongs: [hejt b\wt].8 /j/ present after alveolars: tune, dune, news [tjun djun njuz].9 Intervocalic /t/ glottalised non-finally, especially with younger speakers:

city [«sˆ÷íti].10 Merry, marry, Mary all distinguished: [«m´®i «mæ®i «me\®i].11 Which–witch not distinguished: both [wˆtß].

Among younger RP and near-RP speakers, one notices that poor, pour,and paw are merged as [pø]. The phoneme /®/ among these speakers isoften a labiodental approximant [ ]̆: very [«v´˘i].

Certain words show variability in almost all accents of English, includingRP:

again(st) [\«˝´n(st)] [\«˝ejn(st)]either [«aj∂\] [«i∂\]Sunday (and other days) [«s√ndi] [«s√n»dej]often [«Åfn§] [«Åftn§]kilometre [kˆ«lÅmˆt\] [»kˆl\«mit\]

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The Sounds of Language

Garage is notoriously variable. In RP, [«˝æ»®åΩ] and [«˝æ»®ådΩ] are bothcommon, as well as [«˝æ®ˆdΩ]. (In GA, [˝\«®åΩ] has the greatest prestige, but[˝\«®ådΩ] is common. In Canada, [˝\«®åΩ] is most commonly heard, but manypeople say [˝\«®ædΩ] or even monosyllabic [˝®ædΩ].)

The accents outside North America are more like RP. In the descriptionsin this chapter, they are compared to RP, and the important points wherethey differ from RP are noted. North American accents are similarly com-pared to GA.

Note: In this chapter, the variety of sounds presented makes it necessary tointroduce some symbols which are not discussed until later in the book.

Cockney

A well-known non-RP, working-class accent of the City of London is Cock-ney, traditionally defined as spoken by someone born within the sound ofthe Bow Bells. Structurally, Cockney is not very different from RP, but thereare a number of phonetic differences.

Table 6.2 Vowels of Cockney

beat i boot u peer i\ªpit ˆ put ¨ pear ´\ªhate æj boat æ∏ª part åpet ´ bought ø hurt ±pat ´¢, ´j pot Å cure, jury ¨\ªpath å soft Å four øbut √ palm å baby ibite åj out æ\ª runner \

choice øj sofa \

1 The phoneme /h/ is lost: half [åf], help [´oªp].2 Non-final /ø/ is realised as [o]; a morpheme-final [ø] is kept when a

suffix is added. This creates a contrast between words such as paws andpause.

paw [pø] paws [pøz] pause [poz]

3 Glottal stop is common before voiceless stops and regularly replacesintervocalic and final /t/: stop [stÅ÷p], butter [«b√÷\].

4 /l/ becomes the glide [oª] before consonants and at the end of words.This development is spreading to other southern English accents. The [ ª]diacritic shows that in bell the [o] is a glide: will [wîoª], shelf [ß´oªf].

5 Often, /†/ and /∂/ are replaced by /f/ and /v/: Arthur [«åf\], other[«√v\].

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6 • English accent differences

6 Initial /t/ is affricated: tea [tsi].7 Specific words: the /d\/, they /ej/, nothing /«n√fˆ˜k/.

Yorkshire

A West Yorkshire accent is presented here as an example of northernEnglish.

1 This accent is non-rhotic.2 The vowels of but and put are the same: [b¨t]–[p¨t].3 Generally /h/ has been lost: hat /æ÷/.4 For some speakers, there are two contrasts:

plate, mate [e] boat, nose [o]weight, eight [ej] knows [ow]

5 Final /t/ is often realised as glottal stop: bite /ba´ ª÷/.6 Specific words: make [m´k], take [t´k]

Scotland

Until 1603, Scotland had a separate monarch, and until 1707, was politicallyindependent from England. It is not surprising, then, that it has its ownstandard accent different from RP, although some Scots do speak RP. Gram-matically, standard Scottish English is quite similar to the standard accentof England. Lowland Scotland also has a traditional local accent, known asScots or sometimes Lallans, which has maintained a literary presence, as inthe poetry of Robert Burns. The accent described here is that of educatedspeakers of central Scotland.

The transcription [aeª] represents a diphthong starting at [a] with a fol-lowing glide to an [e] position.

Table 6.3 Vowels of Yorkshire

beat i boot u peer i\ªpit ˆ put ¨ pear ´\ªhate e boat o part åpet ´ bought ø hurt ±pat æ pot Å cure, jury ¨\ªpath æ soft Å four ø\ªbut ¨ palm å baby ˆbite a´ª out aw runner \

choice øj sofa \

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Table 6.4 Scottish vowels

beat i boot ∏ peer irpit ˆ put ∏ pear erhate e boat o part arpet ´ bought ø hurt \rpat a pot ø cure, jury ∏rpath a soft ø four orbut √ palm a baby ebite aeª, √j out √w runner \r

choice Åj sofa √

1 Scottish English is rhotic, the r is usually a tap [‰] or even a trill [r]: notefern [f´‰n], pearl [p´‰l].

2 The RP vowels /¨/ and /u/ are merged as /∏/ (a high central vowel,pronounced farther forward than the RP /u/: look, Luke [l∏k].

3 The RP vowels of words such as bath and hat are merged, both having alow front vowel (lower than the /æ/ of hat).

4 Initial /h/ is retained: half [haf].5 The mid vowels /e o/ are monophthongs.6 The which–witch distinction is maintained: /„ˆtß wˆtß/.7 The unstressed vowel corresponding to schwa is often /√/: sofa [«sof√].8 Words such as fir, there, fur are often distinguished as /fˆr, ∂´r, f¨r/.9 Length differs in Scottish English from other accents.

a. At the end of a morpheme, vowels, except /ˆ/ and /√/, are long:

row [roÚ] rowed [roÚd] road [rod]agree [√«˝riÚ] agreed [√«˝riÚd] greed [˝rid]

In these examples, row and agree have long vowels at the end of amorpheme. This length is retained when the past tense morpheme isadded, producing a contrast with road and greed, which have shortvowels.b. Vowels, except /ˆ/ and /√/, are long before the consonants /v ∂ z r/:

move [m∏Úv] seethe [siÚ∂] size [saÚe ªz] pour [poÚr]

10 The alternations described in 9a. apply to diphthongs as well; for thediphthong of tie, there is an alternation of quality as well.

tie [taÚeª] tied [taÚeªd] tide [t√jd]cow [k√Úw] cows [k√Úwz] loud [l√wd]toy [tÅÚj] toys [tÅÚjz] Lloyd [lÅjd]

Note that tied, cows, and toys consist of two morphemes each, whereastide, loud, and Lloyd consist of only one.

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11 Most Scottish speakers also use a voiceless velar fricative /x/ in wordssuch as loch /løx/, and in many place names – Tulloch /«t√l√x/.

Belfast

From the seventeenth century onwards, English speakers settled in north-ern Ireland. The English of Ulster, particularly the northern areas, is stillquite similar to Scottish English. Southern Ulster English is more like that ofthe midlands of England. The modern urban speech of Belfast has elementsof both these communities. There are a number of similarities betweenUlster English and GA, reflecting the large Ulster settlement in the US.

1 This accent is rhotic. The tongue position for [®] is a little farther backthan in RP, more as in GA.

2 There is often a caught–cot contrast: [køt]–[kÅt].3 The RP vowels of words such as bath and hat are merged, both having a

low front vowel (lower than the /æ/ of hat).4 The phonemes /√/ and /¨/ are distinct, but the distribution may be

different from that in RP.5 The phoneme /h/ is present: hat [hat].6 The which–witch distinction is maintained: /„ˆtß wˆtß/.7 The lateral /l/ is clear in all environments.8 Intervocalic /t/ is often voiced or even a tap as in GA.9 The words bay, say, day have the vowel [´].

Dublin

In Eire, English has been spoken since the seventeenth century, and it isoften influenced by Irish Gaelic features. The accent shown here representsan educated accent of Dublin.

Table 6.5 Belfast vowels

beat i boot ∏ peer i®pit ˆ put ∏ pear e®hate ´\ª boat o part apet ´ bought ø hurt ˆ®pat a pot Å cure, jury u®path a soft Å four øbut √ palm å baby ˆbite ´j out æw runner \®

choice øj sofa \

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Table 6.6 Irish vowels

beat i boot u peer i®pit ˆ put ¨ pear e®hate e boat o part a®pet ´ bought åÚ hurt √®pat a pot å cure, jury u®path a soft å four o®but √ palm aÚ baby ibite åj out aw runner \®

choice øj sofa \

Table 6.7 Australian vowels

beat πj boot ¨w peer ipit ˆ put ¨ pear ehate √j boat Åw part apet e bought ø hurt \pat ´ pot Å cure opath a soft Å four øbut √ palm a baby ibite åj out æw runner \

choice øj sofa \

1 Australian English is non-rhotic.2 The vowel of path and palm is a front /a/, as is the vowel of part and car.3 Initial /h/ is frequently lost: hat [æt].4 Intervocalic /t/ is often voiced: city [«sˆdi].

1 This accent is rhotic.2 The RP vowels of words such as bath and hat are merged, both having a

low front vowel (lower than the /æ/ of hat).3 The phoneme /h/ is present.4 For some speakers, the phonemes /√/ and /¨/ are merged as [¨].5 The which–witch distinction is maintained: /„ˆtß wˆtß/.6 Words such as fir, fur, fern are distinct as [fˆ®, f¨®, f´®n].7 /l/ is clear in all environments.8 For some speakers, /†/ and /∂/are commonly realised as dental stops

[t ∞] and [d∞]. This is a Gaelic influence.

AustraliaAustralian English is structurally very similar to RP; there are, however,a number of phonetic differences. Within Australia, there is little regionalvariation, although social variation may be quite marked (Mitchell andDelbridge, 1965).

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6 • English accent differences

5 The vowels of pet and pat are higher than in RP.6 Schwa is more frequently used in unstressed syllables than in RP: stop it

[«stÅp \t]. The weak forms of it and at are both [\t].7 The lateral /l/ is dark in all positions: leave ["πjv].

New Zealand

Table 6.9 Vowels of South African English

beat i boot u peer i\ªpit ˆ/\ put ¨ pear eÚhate \j boat \w/√Ú part åpet e bought ø hurt ±pat ´ pot Å cure, jury ¨\ªpath å soft Å four øbut √ palm å baby ˆbite aÚ out åw runner \

choice øj sofa \

Table 6.8 The vowels of New Zealand English

beat πj boot ∏ peer ˆ\ªpit \ put ¨ pear e\ªhate √j boat √w part apet e bought ø hurt Épat ´ pot Å cure, jury ¨\ªpath a soft Å four øbut √ palm a baby ibite åj out æw runner \

choice øj sofa \

1 The vowel of kit is pronounced [\]; also /¨/ after /w/ is pronounced [\].Unstressed vowels are normally realised as [\]. All this has the result thatwoman and women are both pronounced [«w\m\n].

2 For many speakers, there is neutralisation of certain vowels before /l/:

fellow, fallow [f´l\w]will, wool [w\l]

3 Younger speakers are no longer distinguishing which and witch, pronounc-ing both as [wˆtß].

4 Intervocalic /t/ is sometimes voiced to [‰], as in GA.

South Africa

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1 The phoneme /h/ is present.2 The phoneme /t/ is often voiced or tapped intervocalically: better [«be‰\].3 Which and witch are both pronounced with [w].4 The /ˆ/ phoneme has two allophonic realisations: [ˆ] and a more central-

ised [ ˆ ‹].

[ˆ] in stressed sylls next to velars lick, big, sing, kit, giftafter /h/ hitword initially innbefore postalveolars fish, ditch, bridge

[ ˆ ‹] elsewhere bit, lip, tin, slim, minutes, limited (both sylls)

5 Consonant clusters as in doctor, captain are pronounced without overlap,i.e., with audible release.

6 The voiceless stops /p t k/ are often unaspirated.

West Indies

English in the West Indies is quite varied, although generally British-oriented in its phonology. Some West Indians speak RP or near-RP; almostall speakers there are aware of RP and will tend to shift their accenttowards RP in formal social situations. In addition to ordinary English, mostof the English-speaking islands have languages which linguists call creoles.These are full-fledged languages with a very interesting history. The WestIndies also has creoles based on French, Portuguese, and other languages.(For general information about creoles, see Holm, 1988; Romaine, 1988; fordetails of West Indian English, see Roberts, 1988.) We will use the non-creole English spoken in Jamaica as an example of West Indian English.

1 West Indian English is generally non-rhotic; only Barbados is regularlyrhotic.

Table 6.10 West Indian vowels

beat i boot u peer epit ˆ put ¨ pear ehate e boat o part aÚpet ´ bought aÚ hurt √pat a pot a cure opath a soft aÚ four obut √ palm aÚ baby ˆbite aj out øw runner a

choice aj, øj sofa a

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6 • English accent differences

2 Note especially the vowels /a/ and /aÚ/; /a/ corresponds to RP /æ Å \/,and /aÚ/ corresponds to RP /å ø/.

3 The consonant /h/ is generally absent.4 The dental fricatives /†/ and /∂/ are often pronounced as alveolar stops

/t/ and /d/:

this thing /dˆs tˆ˜/ mother /mada/

5 Certain consonant clusters are reduced:

fact /fak/ mask /maÚs/ west /w´s/

6 The glide /j/ is sometimes found after initial velar stops: garden /˝jaÚdn§/,car /kjaÚ(®)/

India

English is spoken as a second language by a large number of people in SouthAsia: Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. It is a native language forsome. Although the characteristics of Indian English were originally due tothe fact that speakers spoke an Indian language natively, and thus acquiredEnglish with an Indian accent, these characteristics have now become estab-lished as the norm for Indian English. Nevertheless, RP still serves as a modelfor educated people. Obviously, there is considerable variation in such alarge area, based both on education and on different native languages.

1 Some speakers may be rhotic.2 Stops are frequently unaspirated.3 The fricatives /† ∂/are often realised as [t ∞ d∞].4 The stops /t d/ are often retroflex [ˇ Î ].5 The lateral /l/ is clear in all positions.6 The stress pattern of Indian English is syllable-timed (see Chapter 14).

Table 6.11 Vowels of Indian English

beat i boot u peer ipit ˆ put ¨ pear ´hate e boat o part åpet ´ bought ø hurt \pat a pot Å cure ¨path å soft Å four obut √ palm a baby i…bite aj out aw runner \

choice øj sofa \

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General American (GA) revisited

In terms of the criteria cited on pp. 110–11, GA has the following traits:

1 Rhotic: car [kå®].2 Caught–cot distinguished: [køt kåt].3 But–put distinguished: [b√t–p¨t].4 Final vowel in baby [i]: [«bejbi].5 The vowels of pat–path are not distinguished: [pæt pæ†].6 /h/ present: half /hæf/.7 Hate and boat have diphthongs: [hejt bowt].8 /j/ variably present after alveolars: tune, dune, news [tjun djun njuz];

more often present in eastern areas than in the west.9 Intervocalic /t/ tapped: city [«sˆ‰i].

10 Merry, marry, Mary not distinguished: [«m´®i «m´®i «m´®i].11 Which–witch variably distinguished: [„ˆtß wˆtß]. This distinction com-

mon in the south-eastern United States, and less so elsewhere.

A change in the vowel pattern for part of the GA area is currently inprogress in the urban north central region, known as the Northern CitiesVowel Shift (Labov, 1991). It is strongest in cities such as Chicago, Detroit,Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse. As shown in Figure 6.1, there is a circulartype of change affecting the low vowels. The symbol [√¡] is pronouncedfarther front than the usual GA [√].

[å] → [æ] lock [læk], calm [kæm][æ] → [´] cat [k´t], can’t [k´nt][´] → [√¡] pet [p√¡t], wreck [®√¡k][√¡] → [√] but [b√t]

For some GA speakers, dark ["] is replaced by a glide [{ª] before fricat-ives, especially before [f v] and sometimes before [s z]; the vowel quality of

Table 6.12 GA vowels

beat i boot u peer ˆ®pit ˆ put ¨ pear ´®hate ej boat ow part å®pet ´ bought ø hurt \®pat æ pot å cure, jury ¨®path æ soft ø four ø®but √ palm å baby ibite aj out aw runner \®

choice øj sofa \

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6 • English accent differences

´� √¡� √�

æ� å�

Figure 6.1 GA: Northern cities vowel shift

this glide is like an unrounded [oª]: golf [˝å{ªf], elves [´{ªvz], else [´{ªs], wells[we{ªz].

New England

The accent of eastern New England has many features different from GA.The accent of most western New England speakers is generally GA.

1 This accent is non-rhotic, with linking [®]; the north-eastern area is, how-ever, rhotic.

2 A rounded central vowel between [´] and [o] is used by some speakers; itis known as New England Short /o/: [ü]: road, home, stone, coat, whole,smoke, yolk, toad, folks, bone – cf. rode /ow/.

3 Note the vowel in path; as in RP, it is distinct from pat.4 Aunt is frequently [ånt], distinct from ant [ænt].

New York City

New York City English has a number of features which are quite distinctfrom other areas of the US. Many people in New York City speak GeneralAmerican. The accent described here is a traditional one.

Table 6.13 Vowels of New England

beat i boot u peer ˆ\ªpit ˆ put ¨ pear æ\ªhate ej boat ow part apet ´ bought Å hurt ±pat æ pot Å cure, jury ¨\ªpath a soft Å four o\ªbut \ palm å baby ibite aj out aw runner \

choice øj sofa \

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Table 6.14 Vowels of New York City

beat i boot u peer ˆ\ªpit ˆ put ¨ pear ´\ªhate ej boat ow part å\ªpet ´ bought o\ª hurt ±pat ´\ª pot å\ª cure, jury ¨\ªpath ´\ª soft ø\ª four ø\ªbut √ palm å\ª baby ibite åj out aw runner \

choice øj sofa \

1 These accents are generally non-rhotic.2 The diphthong /aj/ is commonly realised as [a]: I tied my tie [»a »tad

ma «ta].3 The hoarse–horse distinction is common:

1 The accent is non-rhotic.2 Older speakers have [±j] in hurt. I recall a lecture given by a professor

with an older upper-class New York accent who spoke on The third personof the Hittite verb [∂\ »†±jd »p±js\n \v ∂\ «hˆ»tajt »v±jb].

3 Note the numerous [\ª]-glides.4 Some speakers have [t d] for /† ∂/.5 The higher vowel in pat, path is similar to the change taking place in the

Northern Cities Vowel Shift shown in Figure 6.1 above.

US South

The accents of the south-east of the United States are quite diverse; thefollowing comments are only generally true.

Table 6.15 Vowels of southern US English

beat i boot u peer ˆ\ªpit ˆ\ put ¨\ pear ´\ªhate ej boat ow part åpet ´\ª bought ø hurt ±pat æ\ª pot å cure, jury ¨\ªpath æ\ª soft ø four ø\ªbut \ palm å baby ˆbite aj out aw runner \

choice øj sofa \

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6 • English accent differences

/o\ª/ hoarse, pork, borne, four, fore, force, course, cored, ore, oar, ford,port, forge, wore, boarder, oral, mourning

/ø/ horse, fork, stork, born, for, north, cord, lord, form, or, tort, short,George, war, border, York, aural, morning

4 Before any nasal, /´/ is realised as [ˆ]: ten, tin [tˆn]; tempo [«tˆmpow].5 In much of the south, the vowel /ow/ is pronounced [\w], similar to RP.

This phenomenon seems to be spreading, even to areas outside the south.6 In some southern speech, [l] may be lost before consonants, as in wolf,

help: [w¨\•f h´\•p] or even [w¨f h´p].7 Note the common casual forms: isn’t [« ˆdn §t], wasn’t [«wådn§t].

African American Vernacular English

African American Vernacular English (AAVE) originated in the US southbut is now spoken widely in urban areas throughout the country. Thestronger characteristics of this dialect are grammatical rather than phono-logical. Interestingly, the phonetic features which distinguish it from thesouthern accent just discussed are generally consonantal in nature.

1 Final stop devoicing: bid [bˆt].2 Consonant cluster reduction: best [b´s], left [l´f].3 Final /†/ often becomes /f/: bath [bæf].

Canada

Canadian English is very close to GA. In the late eighteenth century largenumbers of loyalists settled in Ontario and in the Maritimes. The accentof Ontario was later carried westwards; there is little accent difference inmiddle-class speech from Halifax to Victoria. The Maritimes show greaterdifferences, and Newfoundland English is different enough to be given aseparate treatment below.

Table 6.16 Vowels of African American Vernacular English

beat i boot u peer ˆ\ªpit ˆ\ put ¨\ pear ´\ªhate ej boat ow part åpet ´\ª bought ø hurt ±pat æ\ª pot å cure, jury ¨\ªpath æ\ª soft ø four ø\ªbut \ palm å baby ˆbite aj out aw runner \

choice øj sofa \

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The Sounds of Language

Table 6.17 Canadian vowels

beat i boot u peer ˆ®pit ˆ put ¨ pear ´®hate ej boat ow part å®pet ´ bought å hurt \®pat æ pot å cure, jury ¨®path æ soft å four ø®but √ palm å baby ibite aj, √j out aw, √w runner \®

choice øj sofa \

1 The contextual variation for the diphthongs/aj/ and /aw/ forms a distinctive featureof Canadian English, commonly known asCanadian Raising. Before voiceless sounds,the vowel portion of these diphthongs ishigher than that used before voiced soundsor at the end of a word. We can symbolisethis higher vowel as [√] (Figure 6.2).

ride [®aÚjd] write [®√jt]lie [laÚj] like [l√jk]wives [waÚ jvz] wife [w√jf]loud [laÚwd] lout [l√wt]how [haÚw] mouth [m√w†]house (v.) [haÚwz] house (n.) [h√ws]

Notice that because of vowel lengthening before voiced consonants andin open syllables, the unraised vowels are allophonically longer than theraised ones.

2 Cot–caught are merged as /å/. In western Canada, some speakers havethis vowel as [Å] or [ø]. Before /l/, /å/ is allophonically [Å]: doll [dÅl];collar, caller [«kÅl\®].

3 In words such as borrow, sorrow, orange, where GA has /ø/, some speakersof Canadian English have /o/: /«bo®ow, «so®ow, «o®ˆndΩ/.

4 The vowel /æ/ is pronounced quite low: [æ¢]. Canadian English doesnot participate in the Northern Cities Vowel Shift found in the US de-scribed above.

5 The glide /j/ is lost after coronal consonants /t d n/; e.g., /tun, dun,nu/ tune, dune, new. This loss is common in GA, but almost universal inCanadian English.

6 Which and witch are merged as /wˆtß/.

aj aw

√w√j

Figure 6.2 Thediphthongs of Canadianraising. The lower linesshow the unraised[aj aw]; the upper linesshow the raisedvarieties [√j √w]

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6 • English accent differences

7 The following list shows some irregular differences in pronunciationbetween Canadian English and GA. In many cases, the Canadian pro-nunciation is more like the British; frequently the GA pronunciation isalso used in Canada.

Canadian GA«ænti- «æn»taj- anti-«æßfÅlt «æsfølt asphaltk\«®Ål\®i «kø®\»l´ri corollary«d´kl § «di»kæl decal´® \® errh\®b \®b herb»l´f «t´n\nt »lu«t´n\nt lieutenant«mˆsajl «mˆsl § missile»m√nt®ˆ«Ål »månt®ˆ«øl Montréal«å‰\»wå «å‰\»w\ Ottawa«p®ajm\® «prˆm\r primer (book)®ˆ«zørs ®ˆ«sørs resourceßån ßown shone

(but ßown ßown shown)t(\)«®å® ~ow »tow«®ån»tow Toronto

(in casual Canadian speech often [«t®å® ~\] or [«t®ån\])våz, vejz vejs vase

8 Many words in Canada have /æ/ where GA has /å/: e.g., pasta /«pæst\/,drama /«d®æm\/, plaza /«plæz\/, Iran /ˆ«®æn/, Iraq(i) /ˆ«®æk(i)/. NoteCanadian Iranian /ˆ«®ejnˆ\n/ GA /ˆ«®ånˆ\n/.

9 Pronunciations of again(st) /\«˝ejn(st)/, either /«aj∂\®/ and laboratory/l\«bø®\»tø®i/ are common in Canada in addition to the typical GA/\«˝´n(st), «i∂\®, «læbr\tø®i/.

10 As a strong form, /bin/ been is common; a strong form /w´®/ were isoccasionally heard among older speakers. Québec is variably /kw\«b´k,k\«b´k, »kej«b´k/. Newfoundland is generally /»nufn§«lænd/ in Newfound-land, but elsewhere also /«nufn§»lænd, »nu«fawndln §d, «nufn§ln §d/. Calgaryis usually /«kæl˝\®i/, but occasionally /«kæl»˝´®i/. Some Canadians have/»aj«zaj\/ Isaiah for GA /»aj«zej\/.

Newfoundland

The accent of Newfoundland is distinct enough from general CanadianEnglish to deserve its own description. This difference is not surprising

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The Sounds of Language

considering the island’s early settlement in the sixteenth century, politicalindependence from Canada until 1949, and large numbers of fairly isol-ated outport communities. All of these factors have acted to distinguishNewfoundland English from its Maritime neighbours (Clarke, 1997;Paddock, 1981; Shorrocks, 1997). There is considerable accent variation withinNewfoundland.

Table 6.18 Newfoundland vowels

beat i boot u peer ´®pit ˆ put ¨ pear ´®hate ´Ú boat ø‹w part æ®pet ´ bought å hurt \®pat æ pot å cure, jury ø‹®path æ soft å four ø‹®but ø‹ palm æ baby ibite ø‹j out \w runner \®

choice ø‹j sofa \

1 Most of the island is rhotic with quite strong retroflexion although certaincommunities are non-rhotic.

2 Some accents of Newfoundland have the cot–caught distinction as in GA.3 The vowel /ø‹/ is a central vowel with variable rounding, lying

between [ø] and [œ].4 Raising is not so common as in the rest of Canada.5 The dental fricatives are often pronounced as alveolar stops: [t] and [d].

In some areas dental stops are used: [t ∞] and [d∞]. Some speakers substitute[f] and [v] for [†] and [∂].

6 /hj/ appears simply as /j/, in words like humour and human.7 Many speakers have a clear [l] in postvocalic position [b´l, h´lp], although

others have [º], a voiced velar approximant: bell [beº], help [h´ºp].8 Initial fricatives are sometimes voiced: [zˆ˜k] sink, [væn] fan.

Technical terms

African American accent rhoticVernacular English Lallans non-rhotic

Cockney Northern Cities ScotsCreole Vowel Shift

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6 • English accent differences

Exercises

Basic

1 Some accents of English replace all final voiceless stops with a glottal stop:

tå÷ top fˆ÷ fit d√÷ duck

Try imitating such an accent in the following words:

stop cat back wit tap rat tack stack

In the following sentence, turn the final consonants into [÷].

At eight, that bike sat outside in the dirt on top of the mat.

2 Practice:

÷e ÷i ÷å ÷e÷i å ÷e i å ÷e i ÷å e i ÷åe i å e ÷i å e ÷i ÷å e i å÷ ÷e i å÷

3 Many accents of English distinguish voiced and voiceless [w], particularlybefore unrounded vowels. See if someone you know distinguishes which andwitch /„ˆtß – wˆtß/. Try pronouncing the following words on the left with /w/and those on the right with /„/:

witch which wet whet watt what win whimwe whee were whir went when ware where

4 There is also a distinction of /j – hj/ as in you–hue, found in most accents ofEnglish, but in only a few words. Transcribe the following according to yourown accent:

huge Hubert Hugh you hew Houston Hume

Pronounce the following nonsense pairs:

jow – hjow j\w – hj\w wå – „å ji – hji je – hjewo – „o jÅ – hjÅ j´ – hj´ wu – „u jø – hjøw¨ – „¨ w´ – „´ w\w – „\w jæ – hjæ j√ – hj√

5 Many English speakers in North America do not distinguish do and due, pro-nouncing them both as /du/. These accents do, however, distinguish /u – ju/after labials and velars, as in coot–cute and booty–beauty; after alveolars, how-ever, /ju/ does not occur.

Practise making this distinction with the pairs below. For each set, use /u/ inthe words on the left and /ju/ in the words on the right.

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The Sounds of Language

/u/ /ju/ /u/ /ju/do dew, due Dooley dulytoo tune stooge studentnoose news noon newt

Try pronouncing the following words with /ju/ after the initial consonant:

e.g.: /lju®/

lure ruse sure super lucid runic

6 Transcribe the vowel in the words below in your accent. Now find a dict-ionary (as close to your dialect as you can) and look up the sample wordsbelow. Write down the dictionary’s transcription of the vowel. You now have aconversion key to go back and forth between our transcription system and thedictionary’s:

your dict- your dict- your dict-accent ionary accent ionary accent ionary

beat ______ ______ boot ______ ______ peer ______ ______pit ______ ______ put ______ ______ pear ______ ______hate ______ ______ boat ______ ______ part ______ ______pet ______ ______ bought ______ ______ hurt ______ ______pat ______ ______ pot ______ ______ cure, jury ______ ______path ______ ______ soft ______ ______ four ______ ______but ______ ______ palm ______ ______ baby ______ ______bite ______ ______ out ______ ______ runner ______ ______

choice ______ ______ sofa ______ ______

7 Transcribe the following paragraph into your accent:

After thirty years on the force, your gut tells you more than your brain, andwhen Pete’s calm, blood-shot, hound-dog eyes saw the moist, butcheredcorpse of the world’s nicest dolphin, once the most popular animal star ontelevision and now left for the swimming vultures of the gulf to devour, heknew something both sinister and perverted was about.

8 Pick RP or GA (whichever is more different from your native accent). Find adictionary appropriate for that accent. Using Table 6.1 or Table 6.12, make aconversion key like the one you made in Exercise 6.

9 Now, using the chart you made in Exercise 8, transcribe the paragraph ofExercise 7 into RP or GA (whichever you used in Exercise 8), using our systemof transcription.

10 Look up the following words in American and British dictionaries and com-pare the pronunciations. Show your own pronunciation if it is different.

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6 • English accent differences

[American] [British] [Yours]

carry

hairy

wary

staff

disaster

aster

cloth

cross

laboratory

resource

khaki

garage

either

Advanced

11 Using the information from the main part of the chapter, transcribe theparagraph of Exercise 7 into one of the accents described in this chapter (i.e.,not RP or GA). Try to find someone with each of these accents. Ask them toread the passage in a relaxed fashion. Tape record them, if you can, to workon your transcription later. Read the passage to them as you thought it wouldbe pronounced. Ask them to correct where you went wrong. Did you makea mistake or does the person have a different accent from the one describedin the book?

12 Find someone who speaks English with an accent different from the onesdescribed in this chapter. Tape record them reading the paragraphs in Exer-cise 7. Make sure to ask them to speak in a relaxed fashion the way they wouldspeak to friends back home. Transcribe this as narrowly as you can. Transcribehow you expect them to pronounce the words below. Try to mimic their speech.Be sure to make it clear that you are learning from them and not making fun oftheir accent.

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The Sounds of Language

beat ______________ boot ______________ peer ______________pit ______________ put ______________ pear ______________hate ______________ boat ______________ part ______________pet ______________ bought ______________ hurt ______________pat ______________ pot ______________ cure ______________path ______________ soft ______________ four ______________but ______________ palm ______________ baby ______________bite ______________ out ______________ runner ______________

choice ______________ sofa ______________

13 In Exercise 24 of Chapter 5, a passage of Julius Cæsar was given in Shake-speare’s own pronunciation of the sixteenth century. Today Shakespeare is usu-ally presented on the stage in an RP accent, even in North America. Using theinformation in this chapter, transcribe the passage from Julius Cæsar into RP. ABritish dictionary might be helpful.

14 Pretend that you are Shakespeare listening to a modern performance of yourplay with the actors using an RP accent. With the transcription from JuliusCæsar that you made in Exercise 13 just above, note the points in which RPEnglish would sound odd to you (Shakespeare).

Considering how strange a modern RP accent would have sounded to Shake-speare, why do you think that directors and actors often choose RP as theaccent for his plays today?