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