Brown D. - Helping ESL Students Master American English Pronunciation
The pronunciation of north american english
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Transcript of The pronunciation of north american english
NAnEng vowels
Phonological differences from RPPhonetic differences from RP
Phonological differences
Rp vowels NAmEng
/ɒ/ /ɑ/ /æ/ / æ/ /ɑː/
Easy to identify correpondencesWords spelled with a: RP
NAmEngCatBad /æ/ /æ/Man
words spelled with o RP NAmEngPotTop / ɒ/ /ɑ/Nod
RP distinction NAmEng/ɒ/ - /ɑː/ /ɑ/Bomb - Balm Bomb Balm
Father
Bother Calm
Rhoticity RP NAmEngGnaw /nɔː/ /nɔː/ Nor /nɔːr/
Cod /kɒd/ /kɑd/Card /kɑːd/ /kɑrd/
Phonetic differencesThe vowel of pot is unrounded [ɑ] in
NAmEng, rounded [ɒ] in RP.The vowel /ɔ/ of paw in USEng tends to be
shorter, more open and less rounded than the equivalent vowel /ɔː/ in RP
Very front realizations of /ou/ such as RP [əʊ] are not found in most variaties of NAmEng.
North American English consonants ʔ d�Glottal stop is found as an allophone of /t/ maily
before /n/ Button [bəʔn] and before /l/: bottle [bɑʔl]
The RP differentiation of /l/: [l] vs [ɫ] is not so strong in NAmEng. In most variaties, /l/ is fairly dark in all positions.
Intervocalic /t/ is normally a vocalic flap [d9 ], not unlike the flapped /r/ of ScotEng: ladder [læ. d9 ɹ̝;]
Regional variation in United States English Lower south:
Eastern of Virginia, eastern North Carolina, eastern South Carolina, northern Florida, southern Alabama, Mississippi, Lousianaand south-eastern Texas.
1. lower Southern accents are non-rhotic, many of them are so non-rhotic, that they lack linking and intrusive /r/
2. the vowels /e/ /ɪ/ /æ/ often take a [ə] offglide in many stressed monosyllables. Bed [bejəd]
3. the vowel /ai/ is often a monothong of the type [a:], as in high [ha:]
4. the /ei/ and /ou/ diphtongs tend to havefirst elements rather more open than elsewhere in North America.
5. The vowel /e/ /ɪ/ are not distinct before a nasal consonant, so that words such as pin and pen are identical.
6. The verb forms isn’t, wasn’t are often pronounced with /d/rather than /z/: idnt – idn/.
Inland Southern