Northern English
5
1/l/ is typically dark (velarised) in all positions
2. Final -ng is pronounced [ŋɡ]
e.g. sing, tongue, nothing
- The vowel of STRUT
/ʊ/ close-mid back rounded (= FOOT) - The vowel of BATH
[a] short open front - The vowels of FACE and GOAT
[eː] long close-mid front monophthong
[oː] long close-mid back monophthong
Welsh English
4
- The vowel of STRUT
[ə] mid central - The vowels of PRICE and MOUTH
[əɪ], [əʊ] mid central starting-point - The vowel of BATH, PALM, START
[aː] open front - The vowels of FACE and GOAT
name, safe: [eː] spelt a
nail, grey: [eɪ] spelt ai, ey, ay, eigh
boat, bone: [oː] spelt o, oa
snow, grow [oʊ] spelt ow
Scottish English
7
- Rhotic (/r/: approximant, tap or trill)
- /l/ is dark (velarised) in all contexts
- The vowel of FOOT and GOOSE
/ʉ/ close central rounded vowel - The vowel of NURSE
/ʌ/ open central (when spelt i, u, o)
e.g. bird, hurt, word
/ɛ/ open-mid front (when spelt e, ea)
e.g. earth, term, person - The vowels of FACE and GOAT
Monophthongs /e/, /o/ close-mid front, close-mid back - The vowel of KIT
/ɛ/ open-mid front - Vowel length is not phonemic (inherent). Varies according to the phonetic context.
e.g. /i/: [i], [iː]
seed [sid], see [siː]
Irish English
7
- Rhotic
- /l/ is typically clear in all contexts
- T-opening (t-frication)
incomplete closure of /t/ finally and intervocalically - TH-stopping
/θ/, /ð/ → dental or alveolar plosives [t], [d] - The vowel of LOT, THOUGHT
[ɑː] open back unrounded - The vowels of in FACE and GOAT
Monophthongs [eː], [oː] - The vowel of BATH, PALM, START
[aː] open front
The south
7
- Variably rhotic (traditionally non-rhotic)
- The vowel of PRICE
[aː] long open front monophthong
(some: [aɪ] before fortis consonants) - The vowel of STRUT
[ə] mid central “luv” - The vowel of BATH, TRAP
[æɪ] front-closing diphthong “caint”
except before fortis plosives - The vowel of THOUGHT, CLOTH
[ɑɔ] back-closing diphthong - Breaking /diphthongisation in KIT, DRESS, TRAP
[ɪə], [ɛə], [æə] “dayum”
(realised as a diphthong or as two syllables) - DRESS raising before nasals
[ɪ] close-mid front
pen = pin
New York City
3
- Variably rhotic. Broad/lower class NYC English is typically non-rhotic.
- Centring diphthongs (end in a mid central vowel quality)
NEAR [ɪə]
SQUARE [eə]
CURE [ʊə]
PALM [ɑə]
START
THOUGHT [ɔə]
CLOTH
NORTH - BATH, TRAP raising + diphthonging
[eə]
In certain contexts:
- before lenis stops: cab, bag, badge
- before fortis fricatives: grass, half
- before /m, n/: ham, man, dance
African American Vernacular English (AAVE)
10
African American Vernacular English (AAVE)
1. Non-rhotic
2. TH fronting or stopping
/θ, ð/ → /f, v/ or /t, d/
brother /brəvə/, nothing /nətn/, with them /wɪdəm/
3. Vocalisation of non-prevocalic /l/
/l/ → [ə] mid central vowel feel [fiːə]
4. Consonant cluster reduction (deletion of one or more consonants)
left /lef/, risked /rɪs/
5. “Southern” vowels
6. Deletion of the verb be:
She nice. She a doctor.
7. Invariant be:
They be working. He be tired.
8. Lack of subject-verb agreement:
He stay there. We was at work.
9. Irregular negation (inversion; multiple negation):
Ain’t nobody home. I didn’t do nothing.
10. Irregular past participle:
They had went home. She had gave me a present.
Canada
1
MOUTH / PRICE raising (“Canadian raising”)
[əʊ], [əɪ]
mid central starting-point
before fortis consonants out, about, south, like, price
Australia
5
Australia
- /l/ is dark (velarised) in all contexts
- Intervocalic /t/ is realised as a voiced tap
- The vowel of BATH, PALM, START: [aː] open front
- Raising of DRESS and TRAP
[e], [ɛ] close-mid, open-mid (RP DRESS, TRAP = [ɛ], [æ]) - Diphthong shift (cf. London English)
FLEECE [əi] (diphthongised)
GOOSE [əu] (diphthongised)
FACE [æɪ] (more open starting point)
PRICE [ɑɪ] (more back starting point)
CHOICE [oɪ] (more close starting point)
GOAT [ʌʊ] (more open starting point)
MOUTH [ɛʊ] (more close starting point)
New Zealand
5
Consonants = AusE
BATH, PALM, START = AusE
Diphthong shift = AusE
1. (Extreme) raising of DRESS and TRAP
[ɪ] between close and close-mid, [e] close-mid
2. The vowel of KIT: [ə] mid central
3. The vowel of NURSE: [øː] close-mid front rounded
South Africa
6
- /r/ can be approximant, tap or trill
- /p, t, k/ are typically unaspirated (no puff of air accompanying the release)
- Raising of DRESS and TRAP
[e], [ɛ] close-mid, open-mid - Allophonic variation in KIT
[ɪ] in some contexts (e.g. kiss, gift, lick, big, sing, hit, fish, inn)
[ə] in other contexts (e.g. bit, lip, tin, slim, live, bill, mirror) - Diphthong shift
FACE [æɪ]
PRICE [ɑɪ]
(GOAT [ʌʊ]) - The vowel of BATH, PALM, START
[ɑː] open back
THE INNER CIRCLE: THE CARIBBEAN
8
THE INNER CIRCLE: THE CARIBBEAN
1. Variably rhotic
2. /l/ is clear in all contexts
3. TH-stopping: plosives /t, d/ instead of dental fricatives /θ, ð/
4. H-dropping
5. Consonant cluster reduction (deletion of one or more consonants)
e.g. left, nest, looks, pushed /lef, nes, lʊk, pʊʃ/
6. The vowel of BATH, PALM, START
[aː] open front
7. Monophthongs in FACE and GOAT
[eː], [oː]
8. Syllable-timed rhythm (all the syllables have equal duration/weight), often leading to
lack of vowel reduction
London
5
London English (Cockney)
1. T-glottalling
Intervocalic /t/ → [ʔ]
alveolar plosive → glottal stop
e.g. butter, a lot of
2. TH fronting
/θ, ð/ → [f, v]
dental fricative → labiodental fricative
e.g. think, mother
3. L-vocalisation
non-prevocalic /l/ → [ʊ]
alveolar lateral → close-mid back vowel
e.g. milk, middle
4. H-dropping
/h/ dropped in lexical words
e.g. hard, hammer, behave
- Diphthong shift
FLEECE [ ə i ] [ iː] (diphthongised)
GOOSE [ ə u ] [uː] (diphthongised)
FACE [ æ ɪ ] [eɪ] (more open starting point)
PRICE [ ɑ ɪ ] [aɪ] (more back starting point)
CHOICE [ o ɪ ] [ɔɪ] (more close starting point)
GOAT [ ʌ ʊ ] [əʊ] (more open starting point)
MOUTH [ ɛ ʊ ] [aʊ] (more close starting point)
