Pronunciation of English in different countries

9. [t] is affricated, [s] is heard before the vowel: top [tsop].

Northern and Midland Accents

    Midland accents, Yorkshire, for example, West Midland and North-West accents have very much in common with Northern ones. Therefore they are combined in this book into one group; peculiar realization of vowels and consonants will be marked, of course, when each subgroup is described separately.

    The counties of northern England are not far from the Scottish border, so the influence of Scotch accent is noticeable, though there are of course many features of pronunciation characteristic only of northern English regions. The most typical representative of the speech of this area is Newcastle accent. It differs from RP in the following:

In vowels

1. RP [a] is realized as [u]: love [lav] - [luv];

2. RP final [э] sounds like [i:]: city ['siti] - ['siti:];

3. Words like dance, chance which in RP have [a:] are pronounced with [ð]: [dðns], [tðns];

4. [eэ], [зu] are either monophthongs, or much narrower diphthongs than the ones in the south of England, or they may even sound as opening diphthongs [эe], [uo]:bay [be:], [bэe], plate [ple:t], [plэet], boat [bo:t], [buot];

5. words that have "al" in spelling - talk, call, all, are pronounced with [a]: [ta:k], [ka:l], [a:l];

6. RP words with [з:] are pronounced with [o:] in a broad Tyneside accent: first [fo:st], shirt [ζo:t]; so first, forced; shirt, short are homonyms;

7. [aэ] is [е]: right [rеэt];

8. Words which in RP have [au] may have [u:], e.g. about ['abou:t].

In consonants

1. [1] is clear in all environments;

2. [h] is usually present in all positions;

3. -ing is [эn]: shilling ['sэlэn];

4. [p, t, k] between vowels are accompanied by glottal stop [s]

5. in parts of Northumberland and Durham [r] may be uvular (in its production the tongue and the uvular, not the tongue and the alveolar ridge take part).

Yorkshire accents.

    Yorkshire and Bradford accents are identical with northern vowel features in points 1, 3, 4 (only many speakers pronounce words which have "ow", "ou" in spelling with [зu]: know [nзu]); with northern consonant features in point 3.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.2 Welsh English

 

    As everyone probably knows Wales is a bilingual area. This speech situation in linguistics is known as exoglossic. In Wales English dominates over Welsh in urban areas, in the west and north-west of the country the balance being in favour of Welsh, where English is learnt at schools as a second language. At the moment nationalistic feelings are rather strong in Wales and we are witnessing a movement in favour of the revival of the Welsh language and its spread in all areas of Wales.

However, Welsh English, at the level of educated speech and writing is not much different from that of English English. Most differences are found at the level of more localized dialects [12].

    The principal phonological differences between WE and RP are the following:

In vowels

1. The distribution of [a] and [a:] is as in the north of England. Last, dance, chance, etc. tend to have [a] rather than [a:].

2. unstressed orthographic "a" tends to be [a] rather than [a:], e.g.: sofa ['so:fa];

3. there is no contrast between [u] : rubber ['rube];

4. [э] at the end is a long vowel: city ['sэti];

5. in words like tune, few, used we find [iu] rather than [ju:]: tune [tiun];

6. [eэ], [зu] may become monophthongs: bake [bе:k], boat [bo:t];

7. the vowel [з:] as in girl is produced with rounded lips approaching [o:];

8. the vowels [эә], [u] do not occur in many variants of Welsh English: fear is [fi:jә], poor is ['pu:wә].

In consonants

1. W. E. is non-rhotic, [r] is a tap, or it is also called a flapped [r]. Intrusive and linking [r] do occur.

2. Consonants in intervocalic position, particularly when the preceding vowel is short are doubled: city ['sitti:].

3. Voiceless plosives tend to be strongly aspirated: in word final position they are generally released and without glottalization, e.g. pit [phэth].

4. [1] is clear in all positions.

5. Intonation in Welsh English is very much influenced by the Welsh language.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.3 Scottish English

 

    We must first make clear that the status of Scottish English is still debated. Some linguists say that it is a national variant. Others say that it is a dialect.

English has been spoken in Scotland for as long as it has been spoken in England. In the Highlands and Islands of northern and western Scotland, however, Gaelic is still the native language of thousands of speakers from these regions. A standardized form of this language, known as Scots, was used at the court and in literature until the Reformation. Then it was gradually replaced by English.                                                               

    Nowadays educated Scottish people speak a form of Scottish Standard English which grammatically and lexically is not different from English used elsewhere, although with an obvious Scottish accent. We must admit, however, that non-standard dialects of Scotland still resemble Scots and in many respects are radically different from most other varieties of English. It is very difficult to understand them for students who learn RP [13].

    At the moment there is currently a strong movement in Scotland for the revival of Scots. Nevertheless Scottish Standard English is still more prestigious and we concentrate on Scottish English as used and spoken by educated urban Scots. As for the status of Scottish English, in this book it will be treated as a dialect though it is fair to say that there is much in favor of calling it a national variant of English.

Vowels

1. Since Sc. Eng. is rho tic, i.e. it preserves post-vocalic [r], vowels such as RP [er], [з:], [е], [u] do not occur:

RP Sc. Eng.

beer [bэa] [bэr]

bird [bз:d] [bэrd]

hurt [hз:t] [hart]

bard [ba:d] [ba:rd]

moor [mu] [mur]

2. Length is not a distinctive feature of Scottish vowels. So pairs like pool - pull, cot - caught are not distinguished. It should be noted, however, that vowels are longer in final stressed open syllables than elsewhere.

3. Monophthongs are pure, there is no trace of diphthongization with the exceptions of [aэ - еэ], [au - еu] and [oэ].

4. The RP [ж - a:(a)] distinction doesn't exist: hat [hat], dance [dans],

5. [э], [u], [a], [ә] may be central.

6. In non-standard Sc. Eng. accent [u:] often occurs when RP has [au]: house [haus - hu:s]

7. It is interesting to mention that [o] and [зu] may be not contrasted:

socks [soks] not [not]

soaks [soks] note [not]

8. In very many regional accents do, to are pronounced as [d], [t].

9. In some accents words such as arm, after, grass may have [е] rather than [a]: after ['еft].

    Consonants

1. Sc. Eng. consistently preserves a distinction between [w] and [w]: which [wэt] -- witch [wэt].

2. Initial [p, t, k] are usually non-aspirated.

3. [r] is most usually a flap.

4. Non-initial [t] is often realized as glottal stop [t].

5. [і] is dark in all positions.

6. The velar fricative [x] occurs in a number of words: loch [loh].

7. -ing is [эn].

8. [h] is present.

9. A specific Scottish feature is the pronunciation of [θ] as [s]: through [θru:].

Non-systematic Differences

Some words have pronunciation distinctively different from RP

length raspberry realise though tortoise	RP [lenð] ['ra:zbrэ] ['rэalaэz] [рзu] ['to:tois|	Sc. Eng. [lens] ['ra:sbеrэ] ['rэлlaэz) [θo:t] ['to:rtoэz]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.4 Northern Ireland English

 

    It should be stated first of all that English pronunciation standards in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Eire are different. The explanation lies in history.

In the Middle Ages almost the whole of Ireland was Irish speaking. Nowadays, however, native speakers of Irish are few in number and are confined to rural areas even though Irish is the official language of Ireland and is taught in schools. The English language in Southern Ireland was originally introduced from the West and West Midlands of England and still shows signs of this today. This kind of English has spread to cover most of the Irish Republic. Naturally the pronunciation of these areas retains features of western parts of England.

    The English of northern parts of the island with its centre in Belfast has its roots in Scotland, as large numbers of settlers came to this part from the south-west of Scotland from the seventeenth century onwards [14]. Now speaking about Northern Ireland, it is true to say that English here is not homogeneous. Areas of the far north are heavily Scots-influenced. Other parts are marked by less heavily Scots-influenced varieties of English. It is, of course, obvious that the language distinction is not coterminous with the political division of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, some areas of the Republic, Donegal, for instance, speak N. Ir. Eng. (Northern Ireland English), while some of the Northern provinces speak S. Ir. Eng. (Southern Ireland English).

    In this chapter we shall deal with Northern Ireland English pronunciation.

Vowels

The vowel system is similar to that of Scottish accents, post-vocalic retroflex frictionless sonorant [r] being used as in Scotland.

[э]: pit [pэt], fir [fir], bird [bэrd];

[i:]: bee [bi:], beer [bi:r];

[e]: pet [pet], bed [bed];

[е]: bay [bе], bear [bеr];

[л]: but [bлt];

[a]: pat [pat], bard [bard];

[u]: put [put], boot [but], pull [pul];

[o]: boat [bot], board [bord];

[o:]: paw [po:], doll [do:l];

[o]: cot [kot];

[ai]: buy [baэ], tide [taэd];

[au]: bout [baut];

[oэ]: boy [boэ].

    The actual realization of a vowel may vary considerably according to the following phoneme:

1. in words like bay, say the vowel is a monophthong [е], preconsonantally it may be a diphthong of the type gate [gэt];

2. [э], [u] are fairly central;

3. [o:] and [o] contrast only before [p, t, k];

4. [aэ], [au] are very variable;

5. realization of [a:] may vary considerably.

Consonants

1. [1] is mainly clear;

2. intervocalic [t] is often a voiced flap [d]: city ['sэdi:];

3. between vowels [р] may be lost: mother ['mo:ðe];

4. [h] is present.

 

2.5 American-based pronunciation standards of English

 

    The American variant of English has been very thoroughly described by many prominent scholars both in this country and in the USA. In this book, however, we shall try to follow the conception introduced in sociolinguistic approach to the treatment of contemporary speech situation in America.

    The sociolinguistic situation in the United States is very complicated. It is moulded by certain linguistic, cultural, historic, demographic, geographic, political and other factors.

    Generally speaking, the situation in the USA may be characterized as exoglossic, i.e. having several languages on the same territory, the balance being in favour of American English.

    It is true, of course, that the formation of the American Standard underwent the influence of minorities languages, but its starting point was the English language of the early 17th century. However, time has passed, American English has drifted considerably from English English though as yet not enough to give us ground to speak of two different languages. Thus we speak of the national variant of English in America.

    American English shows a lesser degree of dialect than British English due to some historical factors: the existence of Standard English when first English settlers came to America, the high mobility of population, internal migrations of different communities and so on. As regards pronunciation, however, it is not at all homogeneous [15]. There are certain varieties of educated American speech. In the USA three main types of cultivated speech are recognized: the Eastern type, the Southern type and Western or General American.

    1. The Eastern type is spoken in New England, and in New York city. It bears a remarkable resemblance to Southern English, though there are, of course, some slight differences.

    2. The Southern type is used in the South and South - East of the USA. It possesses a striking distinctive feature - vowel drawl, which is a specific way of pronouncing vowels, consisting in the diphthongization and even triphthongization of some pure vowels and monophthongization of some diphthongs at the expense of prolonging ("drawling") their nuclei and dropping the glides.

    3. The third type of educated American speech is General American (GA), also known as Northern American or Western American spoken in the central Atlantic States: New York, New Jersey, Wisconsin and others. GA pronunciation is known to be the pronunciation standard of the USA. There are some reasons for it. GA is the form of speech used by the radio and television. It is mostly used in scientific, cultural and business intercourse [16]. Also in two important business centres - New York and St. Louis - GA is the prevailing form of speech and pronunciation, though New York is situated within the territory where Eastern American is spoken, and St. Louis is within the region of Southern American. In this chapter we shall give an outline of GA accent. We will then point to differences between this accent and RP.

Vowels

1. There is no strict division of vowels into long and short in GA, though some American phoneticians suggest that certain GA vowels are tense and likely to be accompanied by relative length: [i] in seat, [u:] in pool.

They also admit that a slight rise in tongue position during the pronunciation of tense vowels leads to a diphthongal quality of tense vowels which contrasts to a monophthongal quality of lax vowels.

2. Classification of vowels according to the stability of articulation is the most controversial subject in GA. Some diphthongs are treated in GA as biphonemic combinations. The inventory of GA diphthongs varies from three to twelve phonemes. Following D.A.Shakhbagova [6] we distinguish here five diphthongs in GA: [eэ], [aэ], [oэ], [au], [ou].

3. Another very important feature that causes different interpretations of diphthongs and vowel length in GA is the pronunciation of [r] sound between a vowel and a consonant or between a vowel and a silence: turn [tз:rn], bird [bз:rd],  star [sta:r].

    It has been estimated that 2/3 of American population pronounce [r] and 1/3 omit it. Thus GA is rhotic in words like far, core, etc. (when [r] follows the vowels and ends the word), this sound is consonantal and non-syllabic according to Ch. Thomas. It involves the characteristic hindering of the free flow of breath which we associate with consonants [17]. The sound [r] in far closes the syllable more definitely than in British Received Pronunciation of the word [fa:]. On the other hand, there is a vocalic, or vowel-like and syllabic [r], that occurs in words like bird, murmur (after a vowel and before a consonant). Ch.Thomas writes that in such cases we should better transcribe the words bird and murmur like [brd] and [mrmr]. In such cases [r] is responsible for the characteristic vowel-like quality within the syllable; it is responsible for syllabic quality as well. That's why Ch.Thomas says that [r] syllabic in bird and [r] non-syllabic in far should be transcribed differently.

4. One more peculiar feature of pronunciation of vowels in American English is their nasalization, when they are preceded or followed by a nasal consonant (e.g. m such words as take, small, name, etc.). Nasalization is often called an American twang. It is incidental and need not be marked in phonemic transcription [18].

5. GA front vowels are somewhat different from RP. Vowels [i:], [э] are distributed differently in GA and RP.

    In words like very, pity GA has [i:] rather than [э]. In word final position it is often even diphthongized.

Vowel [e] is more open in GA. It also may be diphthongized before [p], [t], [k]: let [lеt].

6. There are four mixed or central vowels in GA: [з], [r], [a]. They differ markedly from RP vowels in articulation and distribution.

7. The three RP vowels [o], [a:] correspond to only two vowels in GA - [a] and [a:]. This combined with the articulatory differences between RP [o] and GA [a] and a difference in vowel distribution in many sets of words makes it very complicated. The following chart vividly shows it:

RP GA

Dad [a] [ә]

dog [o] [a]

path [a:] [ә]

ance [a:] [ә]

half [a:] [а]

    Besides, word distribution of [o:], [o] in RP and GA is completely different. GA [o] is intermediate in quality between the RP [o:] and [o]. In its production the lips are considerably less rounded.

8. Now to the qualities of GA diphthongs.

a) the diphthong [eэ] is closer in GA as opposed to RP;

b) very front realization of [зu] such as in RP is not found in GA;

c) the nucleus of [au] tends to be more advanced in GA;

d) since GA is a rhotic accent with non-prevocalic [r], it has the consequence that the following RP vowels (derived historically from vowel + [r]) do not occur in GA: [э] in dear - GA [dэr], in dare - GA [deэr] in tour - GA [tur].

   Consonants

1. The RP allophonic differentiation of does not exist in GA. In all positions is fairly dark.

2. Intervocalic [t] as in pity is most normally voiced. The result is neutralization of the distribution between [t] and [d] in this position, i.e. latter, ladder. The original distinction is preserved through vowel length with the vowel before [t] being shorter.

    In words like twenty, little [t] may even drop out. Thus winner and winter, for example, may sound identical.

3. GA [r] is articulated differently from RP one. The impression is one of greater retroflexion (the tip of the tongue is curled back further than in RP).

4. The "wh" spelling is represented in GA by [m] sound (or sometimes transcribed as [hw]. So most American speakers make a clear distinction between "wh" and "w" words: where - ware, which - witch.

5. The sonorant [j] is usually weakened or omitted altogether in GA between a consonant (especially a forelingual one) and [u:] as in the words: news [nu:z], Tuesday['tu:zdэ], student ['stu:dent], suit [su:t], tube [tu:b], stupid ['stu:pid], during ['du:rin].

    Non-systematic Differences between General American and Received Pronunciation