8/12/2019 General North American English - General Characteristics

1/16

General North American

English (GA)

General Features

8/12/2019 General North American English - General Characteristics

2/16

1. ConsonantsBasically very similar to the NRP consonants, but with the

following differences.

8/12/2019 General North American English - General Characteristics

3/16

Rhotic /r/

GA is rhotic, so /r/ is pronounced in all positions.

really /rl/horse /hrs/work /wrk/hour /ar/

Compare the American /r/ with the Southern Irish and Scots accents which are also rhotic.

8/12/2019 General North American English - General Characteristics

4/16

No intrusive /r/

Unlike NRP speakers, GA speakers do not tend to realise the intrusive /r/, for example in

the phrase:

double vodka or two /db vdkr tu/

8/12/2019 General North American English - General Characteristics

5/16

Syllabic // or//

Some GA speakers render syllable final er or el/le as /r/ or /l/, respectively. Butmore commonly they use /r/ or /l/ as a syllabic consonant, i.e. to mark the syllable instead

of //, e.g.:

- worker /wrk/ (or /wkr/)- believable /blivb/ (or /blivbl/)

Note: this feature is also found in UK varieties.

8/12/2019 General North American English - General Characteristics

6/16

/t/: t-voicing

GA speakers voice /t//d/ in intervocalic positions when:

/t/ follows a stressed vowel- unforgettable /nfgedb/ or /nfgedbl//t/ follows a vowel /r/- started /strdd/

Including when /t/ is followed by a syllabic // or //.- traitor /treidr/ or /treid/This also applies across word boundaries, e.g.:

- hate it /hed t/

8/12/2019 General North American English - General Characteristics

7/16

Yod-dropping

Yod refers to a y-sound as in yes /j/. NRP/RP speakers include this sound in many

words with /t d n s z/ followed by /u/, e.g. tune, duke, nude, assume orpresume. Most GA speakers, however, drop theyod in these cases, e.g.:

- tune /tun/ (NRP = /tun/ RP = /tjun/)*- duke /duk/ (NRP = /duk/ RP =/djuk/)*- nude /nud/ (NRP = /njud/ )- assume /sum/ (NRP = /sjum/)- presume /przum/ (RP = /przjum/)

* See notes on NRP/RP differences

8/12/2019 General North American English - General Characteristics

8/16

2. Vowels

GA has a set of vowels and diphthongs which is quite close to NRP

but with significant differences

8/12/2019 General North American English - General Characteristics

9/16

Free

GA has many of the NRP free vowels, or close equivalents, but does not the long freevowel distinction, hence: /a/ /i/ // /u/. Note the following contrasts to NRP:

// // in bathwords (approximately)

e.g. past /pst/; after /ftr/

//// (approximately)

The NRP // in words like taught /tt/ tends to be pronounced closer to //, /tt/,

e.g.

- all //

8/12/2019 General North American English - General Characteristics

10/16

Vowels contd.

//// (approximately)

GA speakers usually do not have the NRP rounded back vowel // as in lot. Again they

use a sound close to //, e.g.

- stopped /stpt/

So this means they tend to pronounce many NRP //-// word pairs identically, e.g.

- cot.caught =/kt/

- collarcaller =/k/ or /kr/

8/12/2019 General North American English - General Characteristics

11/16

Diphthongs

GA speakers tend to shorten some NRP diphthongs, e.g.:

/i///

e.g. experience /eksprns/

/e/

/e/e.g. there /er/

8/12/2019 General North American English - General Characteristics

12/16

Other characteristic features

8/12/2019 General North American English - General Characteristics

13/16

Words ending -ile

Many words ending -ile are pronounced /l/ by NRP speakers. GA speakers pronounceit /l/ or reduce it further to a syllabic //, e.g.

- fertile /frtl/ or/frt/- missile /msl/ or /ms/

8/12/2019 General North American English - General Characteristics

14/16

Words ending -nter

When -nt appears in medial position, it is often reduced to /n/, e.g.:

- winter /wn/ or /wnr/

8/12/2019 General North American English - General Characteristics

15/16

Stress features

Many NRP speakers clip the final unstressed vowel (schwa) in words ending -ary or -ory, e.g. library /lbri/ or mandatory /mndtri/. In contrast, GA speakerscommonly pronounce this vowel // as a secondary stress, e.g.

- momentary /memndri/- military /mlteri/

8/12/2019 General North American English - General Characteristics

16/16

Final Note

NasalisationProbably the most immediate clue that you are listening to an American is the nasalisation running through

their speech. This is the nasal sound you produce when you say /n/ or the in Spanish.

R-colouringAnother particularly GA characteristic. The pronunciation of /r/ affects or colours the adjacent consonants

and vowels. The pronunciation of partner is a good example.IntonationGA tends to have fewer pitch changes than NRP. This can lead to Brits finding Americans a bit monotonous

when the speak, while Americans Brits sound a bit exaggerated.

RhythmGA speakers tend to lengthen stressed checked vowels (e.g. after) which British speakers tend to refer to

(negatively) as a drawl.