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The Standard American Pronunciation and British Received Pronunciation (RP) of the following words are different. Local dialectal pronunciations vary. 1. Barter, larder, centre/center, etc.- Americans curl their tongues to pronounce the “r” sound in these words. British RP speakers do not- they pronounce a schwa instead (i.e. bahtuh, lahduh, sentuh). Basic Pronunciation Differences One of the basic differences between the British accent and the American accent is the treatment of /r/. British English is non-rhotic, whereas the American accent is rhotic (r is pronounced when found in spelling). For British accent, potential uses of /r/ in such positions, especially in the word-final position, are indicated by a superscript /r/. This occurs only in relation to the linking r. The intrusive r, because it is a controversial element upon which agreement has not been reached by phoneticians, has been avoided. (Rudiments of English Linguistics, page 25)
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Chapter 1 Towards an Awareness of English Pronunciation
Phonetics Engl 328
Hayfa Alhomaid
Phonetic and phonological differences between BBC and American English
Pronunciation is not based on spelling. Language is primarily an oral phenomenon, and in many respects, the written form can be considered as a kind of representation of the spoken. (Paul Tench: Pronunciation skills, page 5).
A person may speak with sounds very different from those of his hearers and yet be clearly intelligible to all of them, as for instance when a Scotsman or an American addresses an English audience with clear articulation. Their speech cannot be described as other than “good”. But if a speaker with an accent similar to that of his hearers articulates in a muffled way so that they cannot readily catch what he says, his way of speaking must be considered „bad“. (Daniel Jones: The Pronunciation of English, page 4)
The Standard American Pronunciation and British Received Pronunciation (RP) of the following words are different. Local dialectal pronunciations vary.
1. Barter, larder, centre/center, etc.- Americans curl their tongues to pronounce the “r” sound in these words. British RP speakers do not- they pronounce a schwa instead (i.e. bahtuh, lahduh, sentuh).
Basic Pronunciation Differences
One of the basic differences between the British accent and the American accent is the treatment of /r/. British English is non-rhotic, whereas the American accent is rhotic (r is pronounced when found in spelling). For British accent, potential uses of /r/ in such positions, especially in the word-final position, are indicated by a superscript /r/. This occurs only in relation to the linking r. The intrusive r, because it is a controversial element upon which agreement has not been reached by phoneticians, has been avoided. (Rudiments of English Linguistics, page 25)
The Standard American Pronunciation and British Received Pronunciation (RP) of the following words are different. Local dialectal pronunciations vary.
2. Class, grass, path, etc.- British RP speakers use the /ɑː / sound (i.e. clahs, grahs, pahth). Americans use the “short a” /æ/ sound.
3. Opulent, body, etc.- British RP speakers pronounce the “o” sound in these words with their lips rounded and the sound coming from the back of their mouth. The American pronunciation of these words sounds like “ahpyulunt” and ”bahdee”.
4. Pity, party, etc.- British RP speakers pronounce the /t/ sound in these words (i.e. pitee, pahtee). Americans pronounce a /d/ sound (i.e. pidee, pardee).
- In AE /t/ and /d/ both have a very light voiced pronunciation /d/ between vowels so words like writer and rider sound the same. In BE /t/ remains unvoiced between vowels so words writer and rider are pronounced differently.
Basic Pronunciation Differences
The Standard American Pronunciation and British Received Pronunciation (RP) of the following words are different. Local dialectal pronunciations vary.
5. Due, tuna, etc- All British RP speakers pronounce “yoo” in these words (i.e. dyoo, tyoonuh). The majority of (but not all) American speakers pronounce “oo” in these words (i.e. doo, toonuh).
6. Americans have a tendency to reduce words by omitting letters. The words “facts” for example sounds in AE the same as “fax” — the “t” is not spoken. In AE the words “can” and “can’t” sound very much alike while in standard British English you can clearly make out a difference.
7. Words borrowed from French are often stressed differently, especially if their pronunciation ends with “o” vowel sound. The final vowel is usually stressed in AE but not in BE. (e.g. ballet - AE /bæ´lei/ - BE /´bælei/)
Basic Pronunciation Differences
There are also differences between RP and AE in the use of /j/. There is significant variation concerning the speakers of AE and whether they use the /j/ glide or not in certain words. RP generally does use it, which can be seen in the following examples:
Americans tend to pronounce words like “reduce” more relaxed, that means after the letter “d” there follows the vowel “u”. In British English after the letter “d” you can make out a little “j”.
Basic Pronunciation Differences
RP AE
Student /stju:dnt / /studnt /
New /nju: / /nu /
Tuesday /tju:zdi / /tuzdi /
Reference
Tahaky referaty(2005), Phonetic and phonological differences between BBC and American English. Retrieved 15 September 2014, from http://referaty.aktuality.sk/phonetic-and-phonological-differences-between-bbc-and-american-english/referat-3294
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