1. Phonology
Like many languages, English has wide variation in pronunciation, both historically and from dialect to dialect. In general, however, the regional dialects of English share a largely similar (though not identical) phonological system.
Phonological
analysis of English often concentrates on, or uses as a reference point, one or
more of the prestige or standard accents,
such as Received Pronunciation for
England, General American for the
United States, and General Australian for
Australia. Nevertheless, many other dialects of English are spoken, which do
not necessarily descend from any of these standardised accents. Information
about these standardised accents functions only as a limited guide
to all of English phonology,
which one can later expand upon once one becomes more familiar with some of the
many other dialects of English that are spoken.
2. Phonemes
A phoneme of a
language or dialect is an abstraction of
a speech sound or of a group of different sounds which are all
perceived to have the same function by speakers of that particular language or
dialect. For example, the English word "through" consists of three
phonemes: the initial "th" sound, the "r" sound, and an
"oo" vowel sound. Notice that the phonemes in this and many other
English words do not always correspond directly to the letters used to spell
them (English orthography is not
as strongly phonemic as that of certain other
languages).
The number and
distribution of phonemes in English vary from dialect to dialect, and also
depend on the interpretation of the individual researcher. The number of
consonant phonemes is generally put at 24 (or slightly more). The number of
vowels is subject to greater variation; in the system presented on this page
there are 20 vowel phonemes in Received
Pronunciation, 14–16 in General
American and 20–21 in Australian English. The pronunciation keys used in
dictionaries generally contain a slightly greater number of symbols than this,
to take account of certain sounds used in foreign words and certain noticeable
distinctions that may not be—strictly speaking—phonemic.
A. Consonants - the following
table shows the 24 consonant phonemes found in most dialects of English, in
addition to /x/, whose distribution is more limited. When consonants appear in
pairs, the first is fortis (strong)
and the second is lenis (weak). Fortis consonants
are always voiceless, while lenis consonants are generally partially or
fully voiced. Fortis stops are sometimes
aspirated (pronounce a sound with an exhalation of breath) or glottalized, while lenis consonants never are.
Consonant phonemes of English
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Most varieties
of English have syllabic
consonants in some words, principally [l̩, m̩, n̩], for example at the end
of bottle, rhythm and button. In such
cases, no phonetic vowel is pronounced between the last two consonants. It is
common for syllabic consonants to be transcribed with a subscript mark, so that
phonetic transcription of bottle would be [ˈbɒtl̩] and
for button [ˈbʌtn̩]. In theory, such consonants could be
analysed as individual phonemes. However, this would add several extra
consonant phonemes to the inventory for English, and phonologists prefer
to identify syllabic nasals and liquids phonemically
as /əC/. Thus button is
phonemically /ˈbʌtən/ and 'bottle' is phonemically /ˈbɒtəl/.
The voiceless velar fricative /x/ is
mainly used in Scottish and Hiberno-English; words
with /x/ in Scottish accents tend to be pronounced
with /k/ in other dialects. The velar fricative sometimes appears in
recent loan words such
as chutzpah. Many speakers of White South African English realize /x/ as
uvular [χ].
In some
conservative accents in Scotland, Ireland, the southern United States, and New
England, the digraph ⟨wh⟩ in words like which and whine represents
a voiceless w sound [ʍ], a voiceless labiovelar fricative or approximant, which
contrasts with the voiced w of witch and wine.
In most dialects, this sound is lost, and is pronounced as a voiced w (the wine–whine merger).
Phonemically this sound is analysed as a consonant cluster /hw/, rather
than as a separate phoneme */ʍ/. Thus which and whine are
transcribed phonemically as /hwɪtʃ/ and /hwaɪn/. This does not
mean that such speakers actually pronounce [h] followed by [w]:
the phonemic transcription /hw/ is simply a convenient way of
representing a single sound [ʍ] without analysing such dialects as
having an extra phoneme.
Similarly, the
sound at the beginning of huge in most accents is a voiceless palatal fricative [ç], but
this is analysed phonemically as the consonant cluster /hj/ so
that huge is transcribed /hjuːdʒ/. As with /hw/,
this does not mean that speakers pronounce [h] followed by [j];
the phonemic transcription /hj/ is simply a convenient way of
representing the single sound [ç]. The yod-dropping found
in Norfolk dialect means
that the traditional Norfolk pronunciation of huge is [hʊudʒ] and
not [çuːdʒ].
This phoneme
is conventionally transcribed with the basic Latin letter ⟨r⟩ (the IPA
symbol for the alveolar trill), even though
its pronunciation is rarely a trill and is usually a postalveolar approximant [ɹ̠].
Consonant
examples - the following
table shows typical examples of the occurrence of the above consonant phonemes
in words.
Voiceless
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Voiced
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pit
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bit
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tin
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din
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cut
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gut
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cheap
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jeep
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fat
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vat
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thigh
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thy
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sap
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zap
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dilution
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delusion
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loch
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ham
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map
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thin
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thing
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yes
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we
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run
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left
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Sonorants - Received
Pronunciation has two main allophones of /l/: the clear or plain [l],
and the dark or velarized [ɫ]. The clear variant is used before vowels
when they are in the same syllable, and the dark variant when
the /l/ precedes a consonant or is in syllable-final position before
silence. In Wales,
Ireland, and the Caribbean, /l/ is always clear, and in Scotland,
Australia, New Zealand and Canada it is always dark. In General
American, /l/ is generally dark, but to varying degrees: before
stressed vowels it is neutral or only slightly velarized. In southern U.S.
accents it is noticeably clear between vowels, and in some other positions. In urban
accents across England and Scotland, as well as New Zealand and some parts of
the United States,/l/ can be pronounced as an approximant or semivowel ([w],
[o], [ʊ]) at the end of a syllable (l-vocalization).
Depending on dialect, /r/ has
at least the following allophones in varieties of English around the world:
- postalveolar approximant [ɹ]
- retroflex approximant [ɻ]
- labiodental approximant [ʋ]
- alveolar
flap [ɾ]
- alveolar
trill [r]
In most
dialects /r/ is labialized [ɹ̠ʷ] in many positions, as in reed [ɹʷiːd] and tree [tɹ̥ʷiː];
in the latter case, the/t/ may be slightly labialized as well. In
General American, it is labialized at the beginning of a word but not at the
end. There are two primary articulations of the approximant
/r/: apical (with the tip of the tongue approaching the
alveolar ridge or even curled back slightly) and domal (with a
centralized bunching of the tongue known as "molar r" or
sometimes "bunched r" or "braced r").
Ladefoged wrote "Many BBC English speakers have the tip of the tongue
raised towards the roof of the mouth in the general location of the alveolar
ridge, but many American english speakers simply bunch the body of the tongue
up so that it is hard to say where the articulation is". The distinction is transcribed ⟨ɹ̺⟩ vs ⟨ɹ̈⟩ in
the extensions to the IPA but has
little or no acoustic or auditory consequence, and may vary idiosyncratically
between individuals. For
other realizations of /r/, see below. In non-rhotic accents, such as
Received Pronunciation and Australian English,/r/ is subject to the phonotactic
constraint that it can only appear before a vowel.
In some rhotic accents, such as
General American, /r/ when not followed by a vowel is realized as
an r-coloring of the
preceding vowel or its coda: nurse [ˈnɝs], butter [ˈbʌtɚ].
The distinctions
between the nasals are neutralized in some
environments. For example, before a
final /p/,/t/ or /k/ there is nearly always only one nasal
sound that can appear in each
case: [m], [n] or [ŋ] respectively (as in the
words limp, lint, link – note that
the n of link is pronounced [ŋ]). This
effect can even occur across syllable or word boundaries, particularly in
stressed syllables: synchrony is pronounced [ˈsɪŋkɹəni] where assynchronic may
be pronounced either as [sɪŋˈkɹɒnɨk] or as [sɪnˈkɹɒnɨk]. For
other possible syllable-final combinations, see Coda in the
Phonotactics section below.
Obstruents - in most
dialects, the fortis stops and affricate /p, t, tʃ, k/ have various
different allophones, and are distinguished from the lenis stops and
affricate /b, d, dʒ, ɡ/ by several phonetic features.
The allophones
of the fortes /p, t, tʃ, k/ include:
aspirated [pʰ, tʰ,
kʰ] when they occur at the beginning of a word, as in tomato, trip,
or at the beginning of a stressed syllable
in the middle of a word, as in potato. They are
unaspirated [p, t, k] after /s/ within the same syllable,
as in stan, span, scan, and at the ends of
syllables, as in mat, map, mac. The
voiceless fricatives are always unaspirated, but a notable exception to this
are Welsh-speaking areas of Wales, where they are often aspirated.
In many
accents of English, fortis stops /p, t, k, tʃ/ are glottalized in some
positions. This may be heard either as a glottal stop preceding the oral
closure ("pre-glottalization" or "glottal reinforcement")
or as a substitution of the glottal stop [ʔ] for the oral stop
(glottal replacement). /tʃ/ can only be pre-glottalized.
Pre-glottalization normally occurs in British and American English when the
fortis consonant phoneme is followed by another consonant or when the consonant
is in final position. Thus football and catching are
often pronounced [ˈfʊʔtbɔːɫ] and [ˈkʰæʔtʃɪŋ], respectively.
Glottal replacement often happens in cases such as those just given, so
that football is frequently pronounced [ˈfʊʔbɔːɫ]. In
addition, however, glottal replacement is increasingly common in British English
when /t/ occurs between vowels if the preceding vowel is stressed;
thus getting better is often pronounced by younger speakers
as [ˈɡeʔɪŋ ˌbeʔə]. Such t-glottalization also
occurs in many British regional accents, including Cockney, where it can
also occur at the end of words, and where /p/ and /k/ are sometimes treated the
same way.
Among stops,
both fortes and lenes: мay have no
audible release [p̚, b̚, t̚, d̚, k̚, ɡ̚] in the word-final
position. These allophones are more common in North America than Great
Britain.
Always have a
'masked release' before another plosive or affricate (as in rubbed [ˈrʌˑb̚d̥]),
i.e. the release of the first stop is made after the closure of the second
stop. This also applies when the following stop is homorganic (articulated
in the same place), as in top player. A notable
exception to this is Welsh
English, where stops are usually released in this environment.
The
affricates /tʃ, dʒ/ have a mandatory fricative release in all
environments. Very often in
the United States and Canada, and less frequently in Australia and New
Zealand, both /t/ and /d/ can be pronounced
as a voiced flap [ɾ] in certain positions: when they come
between a preceding stressed vowel (possibly with intervening /r/) and
precede an unstressed vowel or syllabic /l/.
Examples include water, bottle, petal, peddle (the
last two words sound alike when flapped). The flap may even appear at word
boundaries, as in put it on. When the
combination /nt/ appears in such positions, some American speakers
pronounce it as a nasalized flap
that may become indistinguishable from /n/, so winter [ˈwɪɾ̃ɚ] may
be pronounced similarly or identically to winner [ˈwɪnɚ].
B. Vowels - English has a
particularly large number of vowel phonemes, and on top of that the vowels of
English differ considerably between dialects. Because of this, corresponding
vowels may be transcribed with various symbols depending on the dialect under
consideration. When considering English as a whole, lexical
sets are often used, each named by a word containing the vowel or vowels
in question. For example, the LOT set consists of
words which, like lot, have /ɒ/ in Received Pronunciation and /ɑ/ in General
American. The "LOT vowel" then refers to the vowel that appears
in those words in whichever dialect is being considered, or (at a greater level
of abstraction) to a diaphoneme which
transcends all dialects. A commonly used system of lexical sets, due to John C.
Wells, is presented below; for each set, the corresponding phonemes are given
for RP (first column) and General American (second column), using the notation
that will be used on this page.
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For a table
that shows the pronunciations of these vowels in a wider range of English
dialects, see IPA chart for English dialects.
The following
tables show the vowel phonemes of three standard varieties of English. The
notation system used here for Received Pronunciation (RP) is fairly standard;
the others less so. For different ways of transcribing General American,
see Transcription
variants below. The feature descriptions given here (front, close, etc.) are
abstracted somewhat; the actual pronunciations of these vowels are somewhat
more accurately conveyed by the IPA symbols used (see Vowel for a
chart indicating the meanings of these symbols; though note also the points
listed below the following tables).
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The
differences between these tables can be explained as follows: RP
transcriptions use /e/ rather than /ɛ/ largely for
convenience and historical tradition; it does not necessarily represent a
different sound from the General American phoneme, although the RP vowel may be
described as somewhat less open than the American one. In General
American, the vowels [ə], [ʌ] and [ɜː] may be
considered a single phoneme.
General
American lacks a phoneme corresponding to RP /ɒ/ (LOT, CLOTH), instead
using /ɑː/ in the LOT words and
generally /ɔː/ in the CLOTH words. In a few
North American accents, namely in New England and the
Canadian Maritime provinces, LOT words do not have the vowel of PALM (the father–bother merger has not
occurred) but instead merge with CLOTH/THOUGHT.
In certain
American English dialects, the diphthongs /ɪə/ and /eə/ can
be found in words such as ideas and rail, respectively. The different
notations used for the vowel of GOAT in RP and
General American (/əʊ/ and /oʊ/) reflect a difference in the most
common phonetic realizations of that vowel.
The
triphthongs given in the RP table are usually regarded as sequences of two
phonemes (a diphthong plus/ə/); however, in RP, these sequences frequently
undergo smoothing into
single diphthongs or even monophthongs.
Although the
notation /ʌ/ is used for the vowel of STRUT in RP, the
actual pronunciation is closer to a near-open central vowel [ɐ]. The
symbol ⟨ʌ⟩ continues
to be used for reasons of tradition (it was historically a back vowel) and
because it is still back in other varieties.
The
vowel /æ/ is coming to be pronounced more open (approaching [a])
by many modern RP speakers. In American speech, however, there is a tendency
for it to become more closed, tenser and even diphthongized (to something
like [eə]), particularly in certain environments, such as before a nasal
consonant. Some American accents, for example those of New
York City, Philadelphia and Baltimore, make a
marginal phonemic distinction between /æ/ and /eə/, although the
two occur largely in mutually exclusive environments. See æ-tensing.
A significant
number of words (the BATH group) have /æ/ in
General American, but /ɑː/ in RP (and mostly/aː/ in Australian). Most speakers
in Canada outside of the Maritime Provinces, and some speakers in the United
States, do not distinguish /ɑː/ from /ɔː/, except before /r/
(see cot–caught merger).
In General
American and Canadian (which are rhotic accents,
where /r/ is pronounced in positions where it does not precede a
vowel), many of the vowels can be r-colored by way
of realization of a following /r/. This is often transcribed phonetically
using a vowel symbol with an added retroflexion diacritic [˞];
thus the symbol [ɚ] has been created for an r-colored schwa (sometimes
called schwar) as in LETTER, and the vowel of START can be modified to make [ɑ˞] so that
the word 'start' may be transcribed [stɑ˞t]. Alternatively, the START vowel might be written [stɑɚt] to
indicate an r-colored off glide. The vowel /ɜː/ (as in NURSE) is generally always r-colored in these dialects, and
this can be written [ɝ] (or as a syllabic [ɹ̩]).
In RP and
other dialects, many words from the CURE group are
coming to be pronounced by an increasing number of speakers with the NORTH vowel (so sure is often
pronounced like shore). Also the RP vowels /ɛə/ and /ʊə/ may
be monophthongized to [ɛː] and [oː] respectively.
The vowels
of FLEECE and GOOSE are commonly
pronounced as narrow diphthongs, approaching [ɪi] and [ʊu], in
both General American and RP; near-RP speakers may have particularly marked
diphthongization of the type [əi] and [əu ~ əʉ], respectively.
Allophones
of vowels - listed here
are some of the significant cases of allophony of
vowels found within standard English dialects. There is a
tendency for many vowels to be pronounced with greater length in open
syllables than closed syllables, and with greater length in syllables ending
with a voiced consonant than
with a voiceless one. For example, the /aɪ/ in advise is
longer than that in advice.
In RP, the
vowel /əʊ/ may be pronounced more back, as [ɒʊ], before
syllable-final /l/, as in goal. In Australian English the
vowel /əʉ/ is similarly backed to [ɔʊ] before /l/.
The
vowel /ə/ is often pronounced [ɐ] in open syllables.
The PRICE and MOUTH diphthongs
may be pronounced with a less open starting point when followed by a voiceless consonant; this
is chiefly a feature of Canadian speech (Canadian
raising), but is also found in parts of the United States. Thus writer may be
distinguished from rider even when flapping causes
the /t/ and/d/ to be pronounced identically.
Unstressed
syllables - unstressed syllables in
English may contain almost any vowel, but there are certain
sounds—characterized by central position
and weakness—that are particularly often found as the nuclei of syllables of
this type. These include:
- schwa, [ə], as
in COMMA and (in non-rhotic dialects) LETTER (panda–pander merger); also in
many other positions such as about, photograph, paddock,
etc. This sound is essentially restricted to unstressed syllables exclusively.
In the approach presented here it is identified as a phoneme /ə/, although
other analyses do not have a separate phoneme for schwa and regard it as a
reduction or neutralization of other vowels in syllables with the lowest degree
of stress.
- r-colored
schwa, [ɚ], as in LETTER in
General American and some other rhotic dialects, which can be identified with
the underlying sequence /ər/.
- syllabic
consonants: [l̩] as in bottle, [n̩] as
in button, [m̩] as in rhythm.
These may be phonemized either as a plain consonant or as a schwa followed by a
consonant; for example button may be represented as /ˈbʌtn̩/ or /ˈbʌtən/ (see
above under Consonants).
- [ɪ], as
in roses, making, expect.
This can be identified with the phoneme /ɪ/, although in unstressed
syllables it may be pronounced more centrally (in American tradition the barred
i symbol ⟨ɨ⟩ is used here), and for some speakers
(particularly in Australian and New Zealand and some American English) it is
merged with /ə/ in these syllables (weak
vowel merger). Among speakers who retain the distinction there are
many cases where free variation between /ɪ/ and /ə/ is
found, as in the second syllable of typical. (The OED has recently adopted the
symbol ⟨ᵻ⟩ to
indicate such cases.)
- [ʊ], as
in argument, today, for which similar
considerations apply as in the case of [ɪ]. (The symbol ⟨ᵿ⟩ is
sometimes used in these cases, similarly to /ᵻ/.) Some speakers may also have
a rounded schwa, [ɵ], used in words like omission [ɵˈmɪʃən].
- [i], as
in happy, coffee, in many dialects
(others have [ɪ] in this position). The phonemic status of this
[i] is not easy to establish. Some authors consider it to correspond
phonemically with a close front vowel that is neither the vowel of KIT nor that of FLEECE; it occurs
chiefly in contexts where the contrast between these vowels is
neutralized, implying that it represents an archiphoneme, which may be
written /i/. Many speakers, however, do have a contrast in pairs of words
like studied and studded or taxis and taxes;
the contrast may be [i] vs. [ɪ], [ɪ] vs. [ə] or [i] vs. [ə],
hence some authors consider that the happY-vowel should be
identified phonemically either with the vowel of KIT or that
of FLEECE, depending on speaker. See also happy-tensing.
- [u], as
in influence, to each. This is the
back rounded counterpart to [i] described above; its phonemic status
is treated in the same works as cited there.
Vowel
reduction in unstressed syllables is a significant feature of English.
Syllables of the types listed above often correspond to a syllable containing a
different vowel ("full vowel") used in other forms of the same morpheme where that syllable is stressed. For example, the first o in photograph,
being stressed, is pronounced with the GOAT vowel, but in photography,
where it is unstressed, it is reduced to schwa. Also, certain common words (a, an, of, for,
etc.) are pronounced with a schwa when they are unstressed, although they have
different vowels when they are in a stressed position (see Weak and strong forms in English).
Some unstressed
syllables, however, retain full (unreduced) vowels, i.e. vowels other than
those listed above. Examples are the /æ/ in ambition and
the /aɪ/ in finite. Some phonologists regard such
syllables as not being fully unstressed (they may describe them as having tertiary
stress); some dictionaries have marked such syllables as having secondary
stress. However linguists such as Ladefoged and Bolinger
(1986) regard this as a difference purely of vowel quality and not of
stress, and thus argue that vowel reduction itself is phonemic in English.
Examples of words where vowel reduction seems to be distinctive for some
speakers include chickaree vs.chicory (the
latter has the reduced vowel of HAPPY, whereas
the former has the FLEECE vowel without reduction),
and Pharaoh vs. farrow (both
have the GOAT vowel, but in the latter word it may reduce to [ɵ]).
3. Rhoticity in English
A. Definition of rhoticity in English - refers to the situations in which English speakers pronounce the historical rhotic consonant /r/, and is one of the most prominent distinctions by which varieties of English can be classified. In rhotic varieties of English, speakers pronounce /r/ in all instances, while in non-rhotic varieties, speakers no longer pronounce /r/ in postvocalic environments – that is, when it is immediately after a vowel and not followed by another vowel. For example, a rhotic English speaker pronounces the words hard and butter as /ˈhɑːrd/ and /ˈbʌtər/, whereas a non-rhotic speaker "drops" or "deletes" the /r/sound, pronouncing them as /ˈhɑːd/ and /ˈbʌtə/. A non-rhotic speaker would still pronounce the /r/ in the words run, tree andvery, and usually in the continuously spoken phrase butter and jam (the linking R), since in these cases the /r/ is followed by a vowel.
B. Rhotic and non-rhotic dialects - the English dialects of Scotland, Ireland, and most of the United States and Canada preserve
historical /r/, and are thus termed
the rhotic
varieties. The non-rhotic varieties, in which
historical /r/ has
been lost except before vowels, include most dialects of England—except the South West, the southern West
Midlands, and parts of Lancashire—as well as the English dialects of Australia, New Zealand, and some
parts of the southern and eastern coastal United States.
Loss of
postvocalic /r/ began
sporadically in informal speech in the 15th century, and by the 17th century
postvocalic /r/ was
weakened but still universally present. In the mid-18th century it was still
pronounced in most environments, but may occasionally have been deleted entirely,
especially after low vowels. By the 1790s, postvocalic /r/-less pronunciation had
become common in London and surrounding areas, and was increasing in use. By
the early 19th century, the southern British standard was fully transformed
into a non-rhotic variety.
Red areas are where English dialects of the late 20th century
were rhotic. Based on P. Trudgill, The Dialects of England.
The red dots show major U.S. cities where Labov, Ash, and Boberg (2006:48) found 50% or higher non-rhotic speech among at least one white resident. African American Vernacular English's non-rhotic speech may be found among working- and middle-class African Americans throughout the country.
were rhotic. Based on P. Trudgill, The Dialects of England.
The red dots show major U.S. cities where Labov, Ash, and Boberg (2006:48) found 50% or higher non-rhotic speech among at least one white resident. African American Vernacular English's non-rhotic speech may be found among working- and middle-class African Americans throughout the country.
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