In consonants
It has been mentioned above that some English accents are «rhotic» or «r-ful» and other are non-rhotic or «r-less». Rhotic accents are those which actually pronounce [r], corresponding to orthographic «r» in words like bar and farm. This [r] sound is post-vocalic and is most often heard in Scotland, Ireland and in the southwest of England. The map on p. 222 shows the spread of post-vocalic [r] (A = post-vocalic [r] present, B = post-vocalic [r] absent).
In most regional accents the glottal stop is more widely used than in RP. In some areas, especially the north-east of England, East Anglia and Northern Ireland, the glottal stop may also be pronounced simultaneously with the voiceless [p, t, k], most strikingly between vowels: pity [pit? i:]
Many non-RP speakers use [n] in the suffix «– ing» instead of; sitting [sitin]. In an area of western central England which includes Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool they pronounce [g]: singer [sige], wing [wig].
Now about [j] – dropping. In most accents [j] is dropped after [t, s]: student [stjudənt], suit [sat]. In parts of the north the change has progressed a good deal further, it has been lost after [½]: enthusiasm [an'½u:ziəzm].
In large areas of eastern England [j] is lost after every consonant. In London [j] is lost after [n, t, d]: news [nu:z], tune [tu:n].
Southern English Accents
We now turn to an examination of regional non-RP accents of England and we shall first give a brief outline of the group of Southern accents.
As was stated above, educated Southern speech is very much near-RP accent whereas non-standard accents are very much near Cockney. Therefore we shall focus our attention on the rather detailed description of uneducated London accent – Cockney.
Cockney accent. It has been long established that Cockney is a social accent – the speech of working-class areas of the Greater London. Here are some pronunciation peculiarities of it.
In vowels
1. [¬] is realized as [i]: blood [b¬d] – [blid];
2. is realized as or [i]: bag [bg] – [bg], [big];
3. [i] in word-final position sounds as [ij: city [siti] – [siti:];
4. when [o:] is non-final, its realization is much closer, it sounds like [o:]: pause [po:z] – [po:z]; when it is final, it is pronounced as [o:ə]: paw [po:] – [po:ə];
5. the diphthong [ei] is realized as [i] or [ai]: lady [leidi] – [lidi:], [laidi:];
6. RP [3ª] sounds as [ª]: soaked [sªkt] – [sªkt];
7. RP [aª] may be [ə]: now [naª] – [nə],
In consonants
1. [h] in unstressed position is almost invariably absent;
2. [?] is widely spread in Cockney speech: paper [pi? pa], butterfly [b¬'təflai];
3. The contrast between [½] and [f] is completely lost: thin [½in], booth [bu:f];
4. The contrast between [] and [v] is occasionally lost: weather [weva];
5. when [] occurs initially it is either dropped or replaced by [d]: this [dis], them [(d)əm];
6. [1] is realized as a vowel when it precedes a consonant and follows a vowel, or when it is syllabic: milk [mivk], table [teibv]; when the preceding vowel is, [1] may disappear completely;
7. is replaced by [n] in word-final position: dancing [da:nsin] or it may be pronounced as [ik] in something, anything, nothing: [n¬fik];
8. [p, t, k] are heavily aspirated, more so than in RP;
9. [t] is affricated, [s] is heard before the vowel: top [trap].
Northern and Midland Accents
Midland accents, Yorkshire, for example, West Midland and North-West accents have very much in common with Northern ones. Therefore they are combined in this book into one group; peculiar realization of vowels and consonants will be marked, of course, when each subgroup is described separately.
The counties of northern England are not far from the Scottish border, so the influence of Scotch accent is noticeable, though there are of course many features of pronunciation characteristic only of northern English regions. The most typical representative of the speech of this area is Newcastle accent. It differs from RP in the following:
In vowels
1. RP [¬] is realized as [u]: love [l¬v] – [lªv];
2. RP final [i] sounds like [i:]: city [siti] – [siti:];
3. words like dance, chance which in RP have [a] are pronounced with: [dns], [t©ns];
4. [ei], [ª] are either monophthongs, or much narrower diphthongs than the ones in the south of England, or they may even sound as opening diphthongs [le], [ªo]: bay [be:], [bie], plate [ple:t], [phet], boat [bo:t], [bªo t];
5. words that have «al» in spelling – talk, call, all, are pronounced with [a]: [ta:k], [ka:l], [a:l];
6. RP words with [3:] are pronounced with in a broad Tyneside accent: first [fist], shirt [f:t]; so first, forced; shirt, short are homonyms;
7. [ai] is [i]: right [rit];
8. words which in RP have [au] may have [it], e.g. about [abut].
In consonants
1. [1] is clear in all environments;
2. [h] is usually present in all positions;
3. – ing is [in]: shilling [©ilin];
4. [p, t, k] between vowels are accompanied by glottal stop [?]: pity [pit? i:];
5. in parts of Northumberland and Durham [r] may be uvular (in its production the tongue and the uvular, not the tongue and the alveolar ridge take part),
Yorkshire accents
Yorkshire and Bradford accents are identical with northern vowel features in points 1, 3, 4 (only many speakers pronounce words which have «ow», «ou» in spelling with [au]: know [nau]; with northern con-sonant features in point 3.
Now having accomplished the description of regional non-RP ac-cents of England we would like to say that we didn't attempt to give a detailed account of all the regional differences in accents of remote ru-ral areas. Rather we concentrated on urban accents which can be heard when one travels throughout the country and which are most likely to be encountered by foreign tourists. International features were not dealt with.
Welsh English
As everyone probably knows Wales is a bilingual area. This speech situation in linguistics is known as exoglossic. In Wales English dominates over Welsh in urban areas, in the west and north-west of the country the balance being in favor of Welsh, where English is learnt at schools as a second language. At the moment nationalistic feelings are rather strong in Wales and we are witnessing a movement in favor of the revival of the Welsh language and its spread in all areas of Wales.
However, Welsh English at the level of educated speech and writing is not much different from that of English. Most differences are found at the level of more localized dialects.
In this chapter we shall give a brief outline of Welsh English pronunciation standard.
The principal phonological differences between WE and RP are the following:
In vowels
1. The distribution of [] and [a] is as in the north of England. Last, dance, chance, etc. tend to have rather than [a].
2. unstressed orthographic «a» tends to be [se] rather than [a], e.g.: sofa [so:f];
3. there is no contrast between [¬] and [a]: rubber [rəbə];
4. [i] at the end is a long vowel: city [siti:];
5. in words like tune, few, used we find [iu] rather than [ju:]: tune [tiun];
6. [ei], [ª] may become monophthongs: bake [b:k], boat [bo:t];
7. the vowel as in girl is produced with rounded lips approaching [o:];
8. the vowels [iə], [ªə] do not occur in many variants of Welsh English: fear is [fi:jə], poor is [pu-wə].
In consonants
1. W. Eng. is non-rhotic, [r] is a tap, or it is also called a flapped [r]. Intrusive and linking [r] do occur.
2. Consonants in intervocalic position, particularly when the preceding vowel is short are doubled: city [siti].
3. Voiceless plosives tend to be strongly aspirated: in word final position they are generally released and without glottalization, e.g. pit
4. [1] is clear in all positions.
5. Intonation in Welsh English is very much influenced by the Welsh language.
Scottish English
We must first make clear that the status of Scottish English is still debated. Some linguists say that it is a national variant. Others say that it is a dialect.
English has been spoken in Scotland for as long as it has been spoken in England. In the Highlands and Islands of northern and western Scotland, however, Gaelic is still the native language of thou-sands of speakers from these regions. A standardized form of this language, known as Scots, was used at the court and in literature until the Reformation. Then it was gradually replaced by English. Incidentally a number of writers and poets of the likes of R. Burns retained their native language.
Nowadays educated Scottish people speak a form of Scottish Standard English which grammatically and lexically is not different from English used elsewhere, although with an obvious Scottish accent. We must admit, however, that non-standard dialects of Scotland still resemble Scots and in many respects are radically different from most other varieties of English. It is very difficult to understand them for students who learn RP.
At the moment there is currently a strong movement in Scotland for the revival of Scots. Nevertheless Scottish Standard English is still more prestigious and in this book we concentrate on Scottish English as used and spoken by educated urban Scots.
As for the status of Scottish English, in this book it will be treated as a dialect though it is fair to say that there is much in favor of calling it a national variant of English.
Vowels
1. Since Sc. Eng. is rhotic, i.e. it preserves post-vocalic [r], vowels such as RP [iə], [3:], [ə], [uə] do not occur:
| RP | Sc. Eng. | |
| Beer | [bra] | [bir] |
| Bird | [b3:d] | [bird] |
| Hurt | [h3:t] | [h¬rt] |
| Bard | [ba:d] | [ba:rd] |
| Moor | [mªə] | [mªr] |
2. Length is not a distinctive feature of Scottish vowels. So pairs like pool-pull, palm-pam, cot-caught are not distinguished. It should be noted, however, that vowels are longer in final stressed open syllables than elsewhere.
3. Monophthongs are pure, there is no trace of diphthongization with the exceptions of [ai – ei], [ao – eu] and [01].
4. The RP [a(a)] distinction doesn't exist: hat [hat], dance [da:ns].
5 – [i], [u], [¬] [ə] may be central.
6. In non-standard Sc. Eng. accent [u:] often occurs when RP has [au]: house [haus-hu:s]
7. It is interesting to mention that [TO] and [su] may be not contrasted.
8. In very many regional accents do, to are pronounced as [də], [tə].
9. In some accents words such as arm, after, grass may have [e] rather than [a:] after [ftə].
Consonants
1. Sc. Eng. consistently preserves a distinction between [w]: which [vit©] – witch [wit©].
2. Initial [p, t, k] are usually non-aspirated.
3. [r] is most usually a flap.
4. Non-initial [t] is often realized as glottal stop [?].
5. [fl is dark in all positions.
6. The velar fricative [x] occurs in a number of words: loch [lux].
7. – ing is [in].
8. [h] is present.
9. A specific Scottish feature is the pronunciation of [½r] as [©r]: through [©ru;].
Northern Ireland English
It should be stated first of all that English pronunciation standards in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Eire are different. The explanation lies in history.
In the Middle Ages almost the whole of Ireland was Irish speaking. Nowadays, however, native speakers of Irish are few in number and are confined to rural areas even though Irish is the official language of Ireland and is taught in schools. The English language in Southern Ire-land was originally introduced from the West and West Midlands of England and still shows signs of this today. This kind of English has spread to cover most of the Irish Republic. Naturally the pronunciation of these areas retains features of western parts of England.
The English of northern parts of the island with its centre in Belfast has its roots in Scotland, as large numbers of settlers came to this part from the south-west of Scotland from the seventeenth century onwards. Now speaking about Northern Ireland, it is true to say that English here is not homogeneous. Areas of the far north are heavily Scots-influenced. Other parts are marked by less heavily Scots-influenced varieties of English. It is, of course, obvious that the language distinction is not coterminous with the political division of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, some areas of the Republic, Donegal, for instance, speak N. Ir. Eng. (Northern Ireland English), while some of the northern provinces speak S. Ir. Eng. (Southern Ire-land English).
In this chapter we shall deal with Northern Ireland English pronunciation.
Vowels
The vowel system is similar to that of Scottish accents, post-vocalic retroflex frictionless sonorant [r] being used as in Scotland.
[i]: pit [pit], fir [fir], bird [bird], city [siti], fern [firn], fur [fir];
[i:] bee [bi:], beer [bi:r], seedy [si:di], meet [mi:t], meat [mil];
[e] pet [pet], bed [bed];
[¬] but [b¬t];
[a] pat [pat], bard [bard], hat [hat], dance [dans], half [haf];
[ª] put [pªt], boot [bªt], pull [pªl], pool [pªl], poor [pªr];
[o] boat [bot], board [bord], pole [pol], knows [noz], nose [noz], pour [por], pore [por];
[α]: cot [k α t];
[ai]: buy [bair], tide [taid];
[au]: bout [baut];
[oi]: boy [boi].
The following notes on vowels should be read in association with the list above.
The actual realization of a vowel may vary considerably according to the following phoneme:
1. in words like bay, say the vowel is a monophthongs [e], preconsonantally it may be a diphthong of the type gate [giət];
2. [i], [u] are fairly central;
3. [o:] and [»] contrast only before [p, t, k];
4. [ai], [au] are very variable;
5. realization of [a] may vary considerably.
Conclusion
The American variant of English has been very thoroughly described by many prominent scholars both in this country and in the USA. In this book, however, we shall try to follow the conception introduced by A.D. Shweitzer in his sociolinguistic approach to the treatment of contemporary speech situation in America (38).
The sociolinguistic situation in the United States is very complicated. It is molded by certain linguistic, cultural, historic, demographic, geographic, political and other factors.
Generally speaking, the situation in the USA may be characterized as exoglossic, i.e. having several languages on the same territory, the balance being in favor of American English.
It is true, of course, that the formation of the American Standard underwent the influence of minorities' languages, but its starting point was the English language of the early 17th century. However, time has passed, American English has drifted considerably from English though as yet not enough to give us ground to speak of two different languages. Thus we speak of the national variant of English in America.
American English shows a lesser degree of dialect than British English due to some historical factors: the existence of Standard English when first English settlers came to America, the high mobility of population, internal migrations of different communities and so on. As regards pronunciation, however, it is not at all homogeneous. There are certain varieties of educated American speech. In the USA three main types of cultivated speech are recognized: the Eastern type, the Southern type and Western or General American.
1. The Eastern type is spoken in New England, and in New York city. It bears a remarkable resemblance to Southern English, though there are, of course, some slight differences.
2. The Southern type is used in the South and South-East of the USA. It possesses a striking distinctive feature – vowel drawl, which is a specific way of pronouncing vowels, consisting in the diphthongization and even diphthongization of some pure vowels and monophthongization of some diphthongs at the expense of prolonging («drawling») their nuclei and dropping the glides.
3. The third type of educated American speech is General American (GA), also known as Northern American or Western American spoken in the central Atlantic States: New York, New Jersey, Wisconsin and others. GA pronunciation is known to be the pronunciation standard of the USA. There are some reasons for it. GA is the form of speech used by the radio and television. It is mostly used in scientific, cultural and business intercourse. Also in two important business centers – New York and St. Louis – GA is the prevailing forms of speech and pronunciation, though New York is situated within the territory where Eastern American is spoken, and St. Louis is within the region of Southern American. In this chapter we shall give an outline of GA accent. We will then point to differences between this accent and RP.