• Intervocalic [t] consonant is most normally may be voiced. The result is neutralization of the distinction between voiceless [t] and voiced [d]

RP GA

Latter [ltə] [ldə]

Ladder [ldə] [ldə]

The vowel before a voiced consonant is a bit shorter.

• In some words [t] may be omit (dropped out)

Twenty – [tweni]

Little – [lil]

Winter – [winə] and winner – [winə] sound identically.

• Some American speakers make a clear distinction between “wh” and “w”

In RP:

Where – ware

Which – witch

In GA:

Where – [hw]

Which – [hw]

• The consonant [j] is usually weakened or even omitted altogether between a consonant and vowel [u:]

RP GA

Suit [sju:t] [su:t]

Knew [nju:] [nu:]

News [nju:s] [nu:z]

Student [stju:dent] [stu:dent]

• The sound [] is vocalized into [] in final unstressed syllable ending with “-ion”, “-ia”

Excursion

Version

Asia

exception: depression and information

• Like in RP [h] has an independent phonetic value. The American English pronouns and auxiliary verbs normally lose this sound.

He would have hurt him if he had had his gun with him.

[ev] [im] [is] [im]

• Nasality – “American Twang” – is a common characteristic of American English although it’s treated by some phoneticians as a defect of American speech. It is limited to vowels adjacent to [m], [n] and []. The preceding vowel becomes nasal, but the vowel [] and the diphthong [α] are nasalized in any position

Man

Now

About

Long

Song

Matter

The differences concerning vowels:

• [] is frontier and longer than that in RP

A black cat sat on a mat, and rapidly ate a fat rat.

In ga [] is used in most words in which the letter “a” is followed by a consonant except “r” (in rp [α:] is used)

GA RP

[sk] [α:sk]

[dns] [dα:ns]

[tns] [tα:ns]

[lst] [lα:st]

[nsər] [α:nsə]

[t] [α:t]

[nt] [α:nt]

[hf] [hα:f]

GA [] is tense, long and nasalized before the sounds [m], [n] and [d]

Bad – [b:d}

Land

Man

In GA before a consonant [r] + a vowel [e] is used instead of []

Carry

Marry

Parrot

Thus the words “marry” and “merry” are homophones.

• [] is pronounced without lip rounding just like [α]

RP GA

Box [bks] [bαks]

Stop [stp] [stαp]

In the words “long” and “strong” [] is labialized.

• [ei] is closer in GA as opposed to RP. Sometimes pronounced as a monophtong [e]. This variant is used before voiceless consonants

Gate – [get]

Date – [det]

Make – [mek]

• The nuclear of a diphthong [α] tends to be more advanced

Now

Down

Town

• [] – the glide in GA is weakened, sometimes it can be even reduced to a [o] in unstressed syllable

Boat – [bot]

Coat – [cot]

• The realization of diphthongs [αi] and … in RP and GA is practically identical.

• Many differences involve the pronunciation of different words.

RP GA

Either [αi] [i:r]

Leisure [le] [li:r]

Schedule [edjl] [skedjl]

Vase [vα:z] [veiz]

Tomato [tmα:t] [tmeit]

Stress differences:

The most typical distribution concerning primary stress: