055 american english

1 Prof Francisco Zabala - 2016 General American English Languages are not monolithic Variation and change are natural processes in the development of a language Within the study of variation, there’s a first distinction to be made, that of the concepts of “accent” and “dialect” According to Hughes et al (2005:2), “we use dialect to refer to varieties distinguished from each other by differences of grammar and vocabulary Accent, on the other hand, refers to variations in pronunciation.” Cruttenden (2014) discusses how to compare systems of pronunciation He focuses on four dimensions: • Systemic differences: there may be more or fewer phonemic contrasts For example, American English doesn’t have centring diphthongs H?+ d?+ T? They treat them as sequences of H+ d+ T followed by q Steer GB !rsH? GA !jkHq Claire GB !jkd? GA !rsdq Poor GB !oT? GA !oTq • Distributional differences: the phonetic context in which a sound occurs may vary For example, both General British and General American have a q phoneme, but this sound is lost before consonants in General British English Card GB !j@9c GA !j@9qc • Lexical differences: some varieties of English use one phoneme, while others use another one Vase GB !u@9y GA !udHy • Realisational differences: the phonetic quality of some phonemes may be different For example, k tends to be darker in all positions in General American Late GB Z!kdHs\ GA Z!4dHs\ Wells (2008: xx) defines the General American Accent as the one “spoken by the majority of Americans, namely those who not have a noticeable eastern or southern accent.” Wells (1982: 471) Although these three accent groups are really different from each other, this doesn’t mean that they are uniform entities The USA is such a huge country that there are lots of local subgroups However, since the USA is a relatively young country, most of its territory was settled quite recently and, as a consequence, a relatively uniform variety (i.e General American) spread • The first successful settlements were the Virginia Colony in Jamestown in 1607 and the Pilgrims’ Colony in 1620 These early settlers came mainly from England, and they brought their rhotic English with them • Many Scots and Irish people started to populate the growing new cities in the Eastern Coast • As the cities grew in the 1700’s, many settlers started to move west up to the Appalachian Mountains and south in the Carolinas th • In the 19 century the country grew exponentially: Louisiana was bought from the French, while Florida, Texas and California were annexed The westward expansion was over in less than a hundred years, and it was the mid-western accent that spread with it Also, the Deep South grew because of their profitable cotton plantations • General American is a rhotic accent because British English was rhotic at the time of the colonisation of America The North Eastern American cities that had ports and were closely connected with Britain, however, became non-rhotic Prof Francisco Zabala - 2016 • Watch the following scene Then, watch it again and pay attention to the pronunciation of the shaded elements How they compare with a General British pronunciation? Try to transcribe what you hear between the square brackets How I Met your Mother (Pilot Episode - 2005) NARRATOR: Kids, I’m going to tell you an incredible story The story of how I met your [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] mother [ ] SON: Are we being punished for something? [ ] NARRATOR: No DAUGHTER: Yeah, is this going to take a while? NARRATOR: Yes Twenty-five years ago, before I was dad, I had this whole other life [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] NARRATOR: It was way back in 2005 I was twenty-seven just starting to make it as an architect and living in New York with Marshall, my best friend from college [ ] My life was good and then Uncle Marshall went screwed the whole thing up [ ] MARSHALL: Will you marry me? [ ] TED: Yes, perfect! And then you’re engaged, you pop the champagne! You drink a toast! You have sex on the kitchen floor… Don’t have sex on our kitchen floor MARSHALL: Got it Thanks for helping me plan this out, Ted TED: Dude, are you kidding? It’s you and Lily! I’ve been there for all the big [ ] [ ] [ ] moments of you and Lily The night you met Your first date… other first [ ] things MARSHALL: Yeah, sorry We thought you were asleep TED: It’s physics Marshall, if the bottom bunk moves, the top bunk moves too [ ] My god, you’re getting engaged tonight [ ] MARSHALL: Yeah, what are you doing tonight? NARRATOR: What was I doing? Your Uncle Marshall was taking the biggest step of his [ ] life, and me — I’m calling up your Uncle Barney BARNEY: Hey, so you know how I’ve always had a thing for half-Asian girls? Well, now I’ve got a new favorite: Lebanese girls! Lebanese girls are the new half[ ] [ ] Asians TED: Hey, you wanna something tonight? BARNEY: Okay, meet me at the bar in fifteen minutes, and Suit up! Prof Francisco Zabala - 2016 ˈhaʊ aɪ ˈmet jər ˈmʌðər || ˈpaɪɫət ˈepɪsoʊd || ˈnereɪɾər || ˈkɪdz | aɪm ɡənə tə ˈteɫ ju | ən ɪŋˈkredəbɫ ˈstɔːri || ðə ˈstɔːri | əv ˈhaʊ | aɪ ˈmeʔ | jər ˈmʌðər || ˈsʌn || ər ˈwiː ˈbiːɪŋ ˈpʌnɪʃ fər ˈsʌmθɪŋ || ˈnereɪɾər || ˈnoʊ || ˈdɑːɾər || ˈjeə || ɪz ðɪs ɡənə tə ˈteɪk ə ˈwaɪɫ || ˈnereɪɾər || ˈjes || ˈtweni ˈfaɪv ˈjɪrz əˈɡoʊ | bɪˈfɔːr aɪ wəz ˈdæd | aɪ ˈhæd ðɪs ˈhoʊɫ ˈʌðər ˈɫaɪf || ˈnereɪɾər || ɪʔ wəz ˈweɪ ˈbæk | ɪn ˈtuː ˈθaʊzənd ən ˈfaɪv || aɪ wəz ˈtweni ˈsevn | dʒəst ˈstɑːrɾɪŋ ɾə ˈmeɪk ɪɾ əz ən ˈɑːrkəˌtekt | ən ˈɫɪvɪŋ ɪn ˈnuː ˈjɔːrk | wɪθ ˈmɑːrʃɫ | maɪ ˈbes ˈfren frəm ˈkɑːɫɪdʒ || maɪ ˈɫaɪf | wəz ˈɡʊd || ən ˈðen ˈʌŋkəɫ ˈmɑːrʃɫ | ˈwent ˈskruːd ðə hoʊɫ ˈθɪŋ ʌp || ˈmɑːrʃɫl | wɪl ju ˈmeri mi || ˈted || ˈjes || ˈpɜːrfekt || ən ˈðen jər ɪŋˈɡeɪdʒd || ju ˈpɑːp ðə ʃæmˈpeɪn || ju ˈdrɪŋk ə ˈtoʊst || ju ˈhæv ˈseks ɑːn ðə ˈkɪtʃən ˈfɫɔːr || ˈdoʊnt hæv ˈseks ɑːn ˈɑːr ˈkɪtʃən ˈfɫɔːr || ˈmɑːrʃɫ || ˈɡɑːɾ ˈɪt || ˈθæŋks fər ˈheɫpɪŋ mi ˈpɫæn ðɪs ˈaʊt ˈted || ˈted || ˈduːd || ər ju ˈkɪɾɪŋ || ɪts ˈjuː ən ˈɫɪɫi || aɪv ˈbɪn ðeər fər ˈɑːɫ ðə ˈbɪɡ ˈmoʊmənts əv ˈjuː ən ˈɫɪɫi || ðə ˈnaɪʔ ju ˈmeʔ | jər ˈfɜːrs ˈdeɪt | ˈʌðər ˈfɜːrs ˈθɪŋz || ˈmɑːrʃɫ || ˈjeə || ˈsɑːri || wi ˈθɑːtʃu wər əˈsɫiːp || ˈted || ɪts ˈfɪzɪks ˈmɑːrʃɫ || ɪf ðə ˈbɑːɾəm ˈbʌŋk ˈmuːvz | ðə ˈtɑːp ˈbʌŋk ˈmuːvz ˈtuː || maɪ ˈɡɑːd || jər ˈɡeɾɪŋ ɪŋˈɡeɪdʒd təˈnaɪt || ˈmɑːrʃɫ || ˈjeə || ˈwʌɾ ər ˈjuː ˈduːɪŋ təˈnaɪt || ˈnereɪɾər || ˈwʌt ˈwʌz aɪ ˈduːɪŋ || jər ˈʌŋkəɫ ˈmɑːrʃɫ | wəz ˈteɪkɪŋ ðə ˈbɪɡəst ˈstep əv ɪz ˈɫaɪf | ən ˈmiː | aɪm ˈkɑːɫɪŋ ˈʌp jər ˈʌŋkəɫ ˈbɑːrni || ˈbɑːrni || ˈheɪ || soʊ ju ˈnoʊ ˈhaʊ aɪv ˈɑːɫweɪz ˈhæɾ ə ˈθɪŋ | fər ˈhæf ˈeɪʒn ˈɡɜːrɫz || weɫ ˈnaʊ aɪv ˈɡɑːɾ ə ˈnuː ˈfeɪvrət || ˈɫebəˈniːz ˈɡɜːrɫz | ˈɫebəˈniːz ˈɡɜːrɫz | ər ðə ˈnuː ˈhæf ˈeɪʒnz || ˈted || ˈheɪ || ju ˈwɑːnə duː ˈsʌmɪŋ təˈnaɪt || ˈbɑːrni || ˌoʊˈkeɪ || ˈmiːʔ mi ət ðə ˈbɑːr | ɪn ˈfɪfˈtiːn ˈmɪnəts || ən ˈsuːɾ ˈʌp || Prof Francisco Zabala - 2016 Feature Analysis: Comparison between General British and General American Feature General British General American KIT FLEE EECE FL EECE DRE DRESS STRU STRUT TRA TRAP BATH PALM ALM STAR START ART LO T CLO CLOTH THOU THOUGHT OUGHT NORTH ORTH FORCE ORCE FOOT OOT NURSE URSE lettER lettER commA commA happY happY thank YOU YOU FACE GOAT OAT GOOSE OOSE PRI PRICE CHOI CHOICE OICE MOUTH OUTH NEAR SQUARE SQUARE CURE WORRi ORRi H .h9 .d .U .z H .h9 .d .U .z Zz+ z?+ D?\ @9 z Phonemic mapping @9 @9 No major differences @9 .P .P .N9 .N9 .N9 .T .29 .? .? .h .t .dH .?T .t9 .`H .NH .`T .H? ZH?+ H9\ d? ZD?+ D9\ T? ZT?+ T9+ N9\ Uq Rhoticity in GA – /r/ coloured vowel MARRi ARRi zq RabbI RabbIT BlackBE BlackBERRY LavaTO LavaTORY Address Dictate Dictate H .!akzja'?(qh .!kzu?s'?(qh .?!cqdr @9q Z@˛9q\ @9 .@9+ P9 .@9+ P9 .N9q ZN˛9q\ N9q+ n9q ZN˛9q+ n˛9q\ T .29q Z2˛9q\ ?q Z?˛q\ ? .h .t .dH .nT .t9 .`H .NH .`T .Hq ZHq+ hq\ dq Zdq\ Tq ZTq+ tq+ n˛9q+ 2˛9q\ 29q .dq+ zq Mary = merry = marry ?+ H .!akzj$adqh .!kzu?$sN9qh .!zcqdr cHj!sdHs !cHjsdHs stress NEW Lab it9 t9 Yod-dropping Zk\ Z4\ Phonetic realization Red q Z¢\ .q Z¢+ ±\ writ writing rid riding Twent Twenty s Zɾ\ Regular tapping of unstressed, intervocalic c Zɾ\ !svdmh /t, d/ in GA !svdmsh Comments No major differences Phonetic realisation Possible CLOT-LOT-THOUGHT merger Rhoticity in GA – /r/ coloured vowel No major differences Rhoticity in GA – /r/ coloured vowel No major differences Phonetic realisation No major differences Rhoticity in GA – /r/ coloured vowel Loss of phonemic contrasts Phonemic mapping Phonemic Mary – merry – marry merger Phonemic neutralisation Different stress pattern: strong endings Different stress pattern: shift of primary Possible retroflex (more curled back) /r/ in GA Dropping of /t/ in GA