Pronunciation models
“Indicate the direction in which we want to move” - (Schmitt)
= target varieties
- how do you want to speak?
- how do you need to speak?
Defining Received Pronunciation
- Accent associated with standard British English
“Public school English” - First described in 1917 by Daniel Jones
Received “is used here in the sense generally accepted as proper” - generally: spoken in the south east of England
- was never spoken by more than 4% of British population
> more common: modified RP or near RP - high prestige worldwide
Defining General American
- Also know as ‘Network English’ (Skandera/Burleigh)
- First described as General American in 1920s
- Most prestigious accent of General American, but connection to social class less prominent
- accent has no regional or social features
Traditional features of RP
- TRAP-BATH split
- in a number of cases, <a> is pronounced as BATH instead of TRAP</a>
- e.g.: example, grass, demand, mask
- non-rhotic accent
- /r/ is pronounced only before vowels
- arrive /əraɪv/ and intro /ɪntrəʊ/
- But heart /hɑːt/ and square /skweə/
Developing features of RP
- centring diphthong /eə/ is replaced by /ɛː/ (e.g. fair /feə/ becomes /fɛː/)
- centring diphthong /ʊə/ is replaced by /ɔː/ (e.g. sure /ʃʊə/ becomes [ʃɔː])
- unstressed [i] in word-final position (traditionally: KIT)
> happy /hæpi/ - L-vocalisation of dark [ɫ] (/mɪlk/ becomes [miʊk]
Received Pronunciation (RP) - non-rhotic
- usually, a post-vocalic <r> is not pronounced (exceptions exist)</r>
- NURSE-vowel: /ɜː/
- 3 centring diphthongs: /ɛə, ʊə, ɪə/
General American (GA) -rhotic
- every <r> is pronounced, after vowels in word-final position as well as before consonants</r>
- NURSE-vowel: /ɝː/
- no centering diphthongs
- GOAT-vowel pronounced as /oʊ/
- know /noʊ/ (RP /nəʊ/)
- toad /toʊd/ (RP /təʊd/)
Features of GA
- /ɒ/ does not exist
- instead, /ɑː/ is or /ɔː/ are used
- Cot-CAUGHT merger
> e.g. pot, dog, coffee - Yod-dropping (e.g. news > /nuːz/, suits > /suːts/
t-voicing -RP vs GA
RP: no t-voicing
- voiceless /t/ is used
- /ˈbʌtə/
GA: t-voicing
- voiced alveolar flap /t̬/
> transcribed as a voiced sound
- after stressed vowel and before vowel
- after stressed /n/ or /r/ and before vowel
- /ˈbʌt̬ər/
LOT-vowel
- RP vs. GA
RP: /ɒ/
GA: /ɑː, ɔː/
BATH-vowel
- RP vs. GA
RP: /ɑː/
GA: /æ/ before voiceless fricatives (+exceptions)
GOAT-vowel
- RP vs. GA
RP: /əʊ/
GA: /oʊ/
Tuesday / new
- RP vs. GA
RP: Tuesday and new, etc. include /j/
GA: /j/ is (often) dropped after /t,d,n/ as in new or Tuesday
Stress
- RP vs. GA
sometimes differences in stress:
RP: /əˈdrɛs/
GA: /ˈædrɛs/
