- •Glossary
- •I. Phonetics as a branch of linguistics. Branches of phonetics. Methods of investigation
- •1.1 Introduction
- •1.2 Branches and Divisions of Phonetics
- •1.3. Phonetics and Social Sciences
- •1.4. Methods of Phonetic Investigation
- •II. The articulatory characteristic of the english speech sounds
- •2.1. The Anatomo-mechanical Aspect of Sound Production
- •2.2. The system of English Vowels
- •2.3. The System of English Consonants
- •III. The acoustic and auditory aspects of the english speech sounds
- •IV. The functional aspect of speech sounds
- •4.1 Phoneme and Allophones
- •4.2. Phonetic notations
- •4.3. Methods of Phonological Analysis
- •V. Modifications of sounds in connected speech
- •5.1. Types of Sound Modifications
- •5.2. English consonants in connected speech
- •5.3. English vowels in connected speech
- •5.4. Stylistic modifications of sounds
- •VI. Syllabic and accentual structures of english words
- •6.1. The Syllabic Structure of English Words
- •6.2. The Accentual Structure of English Words
- •VII. English intonation, its structure and functions
- •7.1. The Structure of English Intonation
- •7.2. The Functional Aspect of English Intonation
- •VIII. The rhythmic structure of the english language
- •IX. Phonostylistics and the stylistic use of intonation
- •9.1. Problems of Phonostylistics
- •9.2. Intonational Styles
- •X. Territorial varieties of english pronunciation
- •10.1. British English
- •10.2. American English
10.2. American English
The formation of the American English underwent under the influence of minorities' languages, but its starting point was the English language of the 17th century. The American language has fewer dialects as Standard English had already existed when first English settlers came to America. Still three main types of cultivated speech are recognized in the USA: the Eastern type, the Southern type and Western or General American. The following phonetic features of GA are distinguished:
length is not differentiated in [i:] - [ɪ] and [u:] - [ʊ];
[e] is more open;
[æ] is used in the words in which RP has [a:], often before a combination of [s] with another consonant, but when there is no letter “r” in spelling: dance [dæns], can’t [kænt];
there is no vowel [ɒ], which is replaced by [ɑ:]: god [gɑd:], clock [klɑ:k];
there are no diphthongs, ending in [ə], all vowels occurring before “r” within a syllable become “r-coloured”: more [mɔ:r], heard [hɜ:rd], letter [ˈletɚ];
[r] is retroflex (pronounced with the tip of the tongue curled back) and is used in all the positions where there is an “r” in spelling;
[1] is hard: relieve [rɪˈłi:v];
[t] between vowels is voiced: better [ˈbedə], letter [ˈledə];
when [t] follows [n], it is omitted and the vowel becomes nasalized: twenty [ˈtwenɪ], winter [ˈwɪnə];
in [ju:] [j] is not pronounced in all positions: mute [mu:t], super [ˈsu:pɚ], nuclear [ˈnu:klɪɚ];
in "where", "when", etc. [w] is pronounced as [hw];
the suffixes -ory, -ary, -mony have an additional secondary stress (sometimes called tertiary): ˈdictioˌnary,ˈ testiˌmony, laˈbora.tory.
Intonation is smoother and seems rather dull and monotonous due to the narrower pitch range and Mid-level Head. Level-rising tones in special questions and statements are also common in American English:
- What’s your name? - Sixbie.
So as we can see the norms of GA and RP pronunciations are highly variable and are subject to further changes.
1 C – consonant; V - vowel