PhoneticsGordon P. Hemsley

LCD 110Fall 2010

Background Information

Speaker: Anna

Age: 52

Origin: New York, USA

Heritage: Italian-American

Language History: English, native

Excerpt

Definitions

Elision – the omission of one or more sounds in a word or phrase

Rhoticity – Presence or absence of an R sound

Devoicing – Sound change from voiced to voiceless

Non-rhotic accents

Very common in England, Wales, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the Caribbean

Common among whites living in certain areas of the United States (red)

AAVE is largely non-rhotic

Source: Labov, Ash, and Boberg (2006)

Elision Full Non-rhoticityand Devoicing

FullElision Non-rhoticityand glottal stop

Any Questions?