18.British Accent

Side by side with the literary pronunciation there are some local variants which differ from the non.The English pronunciation differs in the North and in the South, in the West and in the East of Britain; most of the deviations from the average spoken English are observed in the Northern part. In the North of England the following peculiarities of pronun­ciation in the vowels are noted;

1) The diphthongs are less distinct with the final element being still weaker, as in “cloak” [klɜ^υk], “take” [te^ɪk].

2) In unstressed positions [ə] is pronounced instead of [ɪ]: “holiday” [ˈhɒlədɪ], “remember” [rəˈmembə].

3) [æ] is replaced by an advanced [a], as in “travel” [ˈtravəl].

4) [ɛ] is substituted for [e], as in “attempt” [əˈtɛmt].

5) The long [ɔ:] is diphthongized and pronounced as [ɒə]: “more” [mɒə], “door” [dɒə].

In the consonants the main differences are in the pronunciat­ion of [w] and [r] the sonorous consonant [w] is pronounced by many Englishmen as a voiceless fricative [M]; the rolled (or flapped) [r] is pronounced after the vowels and at the end of words. Scottish English. Peculiarities in the pronunciation of vowels:

1) Monophthongs are pronounced instead of many diphthongs: [əυ], [eɪ], [ɪə], [ɛə] and [υə] as in “road” [rod], “take” [tek], “here” [hɪr], “there” [ðer], [ðe:r], “poor” [pu:r], “pure” [pjυr].

2) [æ], [ɑ:] and [ɒ] are replaced by [a]: “bad” [bad], “glass” [glas], “water” ['watər].

3) Such pairs of vowels as [ɔ:], [ɒ] and [u:], [υ] are not discerned, [ɒ] being pronounced instead of [ɔ:] and [υ] instead of [u:].

4) [e] is articulated more openly – [ɛ] “strength” [strɛŋƟ].

5) [ɜ:] may be replaced by [ɛ], [ɪ], [ə] and [υ] as in “tern” [tərn], [tɛrn], [tυrn]; dirty [ˈdɪrtɪ]. The pronunciation of consonants differs in such cases

1) The dark [ł] pronounced in all positions

2) A rolled [r] is pronounced in all positions, for example: “there” [ðɛ:r] and “morning” ['mornɪŋ].

3) A backlingual fricative [χ] is peculiar of Scottish Eng­lish, as in “thought” [Ɵɒχt] and “loch” [lɒχ

4) In such words as “light” and “night” a palatal fricative [ς] is pronounced: [nɪςt]

5) [Μ] is pronounced instead of [w]: “which” [Μɪtʃ] or “when” [Μen].

6) The range of the Scottish intonation is narrower and the word stress is weaker, which makes the intonation rather mono­tonous.

Irish English. In Ireland the pronunciations of vowels differ in the following manner

1) Substitution of [e] for [ɪ], [ɪ], as in “tea” [te]

2) Pronunciation of [ɑ:] instead of [æ] “bad” [bɑ:d]

3) The diphthong [aɪ] is replaced by [ɔɪ] at the beginning and in the middle of the words: “ice” [ɔɪs], “night” [nɔɪt]

4) [ɒ] is used instead of [ɔ:] as in “soft” [sɒft].

As to the consonants, the following differences should be­ noted

1) [d] and [t] are pronounced instead of [θ] and [ð] as in “this” [dɪs] and “bathe” [bed]

2) [ʃ] is substituted for [s] before consonants, for example “sleep” [ʃlɪ:p]

3) The final [d] may be omitted: “land” [lɑ:n]

4) [Μ] is beard instead of [w], as in “when” [Μen].

The intonation of an Irishman has a wider range, with the fall and the rise of the melody being more abrupt.

The Irish vowels, especially “o”,”e” and sonorants “n” and “l” sound longer, which lends a special shade to the speech. This is called “the Irish lilt”.

Southern dialects are spoken in Backinshire, Essex, Surrey, London area, Hertfordshire.

RP SD

[ʌ] blood [æɪ];

[æ] bag [ε, εɪ];

[ɪ] very [ɪ:];

[ɔ:] pause [ɒ];

[eɪ] lady [æɪ, aɪ];

[3ʋ] soak [æʋ];

[aʋ] now [æə];

[θ, ð] thing [f, v];

[ð] that [d] [dɪs] [dæd];

[l] may be vocalized;

table [teɪbu:];

[ŋ] is omitted in [ɪŋ];

[t] top, tea [ts] [tsɒp] [tsɪ:].

Estuary English. Spoken in the South of England, EE is almost certainly the result of the growth of comprehensive state schools, which were firmly established by the 1970s. From that decade onwards an overwhelming majority of teenage pupils, from all but the upper classes, found themselves studying together. RP-speaking pupils felt uncomfortably posh, while those with broad localizable accents felt rather unsophisticated. The accent accommodation or leveling process which ensued led to the creation of EE. This new metropolitan speech has spread northwards as far as East Anglia and westwards to Cornwall. The most significant aspect of EE is its pronunciation, with its diphthongs, vocalizing of [l] and glottaling of [t] being the most distinctive sounds. Compare:

RP	EE
Vowels
ɪ	i: in word final position
i:	i: or əi:
æ	æe/æɪ
eɪ	ɑɪ
ɑυ	eɑυ
ɪə	ɜɪə
ɑυ	υ
ɔɪ	ɑɪ
u:	əu:
əl	ʌw