Дипломная работа: Territorial varieties of English pronunciation

7. Palatalized final [k’] is often heard in words week, quick, etc.: [wik’], [kwik'].

8. Linking and intrusive [r]. It has been estimated that all English accents are divided into «rhotic» or «r-full» and «non-rhotic» or «r-less». Rhotic accents are those which actually pronounce [r] corresponding to orthographic «r». RP is a non-rhotic accent but most speakers of it do pronounce orthographic «r» word-finally before a vowel: It is a far away country. It is known as linking «r». Failure by students to pronounce it does not usually affect comprehension but may result in their sounding foreign.

As a further development and by analogy with linking «r», «r» is inserted before a following vowel even though there is no «r» in spelling. This «r» is known as intrusive «r». The actual situation is that younger RP speakers do have it after [a] as in idea of, China and,

It is said that nowadays in colloquial fluent speech there is a strong tendency towards elision, reduction and assimilation. This tendency is reflected in the pronunciation of the young generation: tutor [t©u:tə], second year [sekənd¯ia], perhaps you [pə'hp©u:], gives you [giv¯u:], as you know [ə¯ju: 'nª]; in the transcribed texts of British textbooks: him [im], he [i:], her [3], his [iz], can [kn], from [firm], than [n], them [m], some [sm], suppose [sp”ªz], have to [hafta], usually [ju:¯wəli], last time [la:staim], and there was no one [ən ər wz'n”ª w¬n]; even in the traditional spelling: C'm on, baby, Sorry 'bout that Oh, le'mme see. Oh, I dunno. Must’ve put’em all together. Why d'you ask? What d’ja think? Alright!

9. Combinative changes. Sound combinations [tj, dj, sj] are pronounced as [t©, d¯,©] respectively, e.g. actual [ktjual] – [ktjual], graduate ['grdjªeit] – [grd¯ªeit], issue ['isju:] – [i©u:].

In the clusters of two stops, where the loss of plosion is usually observed, each sound is pronounced with audible release, e.g. active [ktiv] – [ktiv], sit down [sitdaªn] – [sit 'daªn].

Non-systematic Variations in RP Phonemes

Some free phonemes have appeared under the influence of the written image of words, their spelling.

Unstressed prefixes ex – and con – have gained orthographical pro-nunciation: excuse [iks'kju:z] – [eks'kju:z], exam [ig'zm] – [eg'zm], continue [kəntinju:] – [kan tinju;], consent [kən sent] – [kan'sent].

The days of the week: Sunday [s¬ndi] – [s¬ndei], Monday – [m¬ndei].

Note also free variants in often: [afən] – [aft(ə) n].

Other cases: economics [ika'namiks] – [eka'namiks].

Now by way of conclusion we would like to state that not all the changes are recognized as a norm by most affected advanced RP speakers. Some of these changes are quite stable, some tend to disappear. The language is a living body and its oral aspect is most vitally changeable. But one should realize the importance of most recent developments, which, in opinion of many prominent phoneticians, may lead to radical changes in the whole inventory of vowel and consonant phonemes.

Regional Non-RP Accents of England

As was stated above, we grouped regional accents of England into southern and northern ones. This division is very approximate of course, because there are western and eastern accents but their main accent variations correspond either with southern or northern accentual characteristics. Thus we would like to point out here the main differences between southern and northern accents.

In vowels

One of the main differences between these groups of accents is in the phoneme inventory – the presence or absence of particular phonemes. Typically, the vowel [A] does not occur in the accents of the north; e.g.

South	North
blood	[bl¬d]	[blªd]
one	[w¬n]	[wαn]
but	[b¬t]	[bət]

We can also note that many northern speakers while they do not have [A] have [u;] rather than [u] in words such as hook, book, look. They therefore distinguish pairs like book and buck, which in the south sound [buk] and [DAK], in the North as

South	North
Book	[bu:k]	[buk]
Buck	[b¬k]	[buk]

Another well-known feature which distinguishes northern and southern accents concerns the vowels and [a].

Before the voiceless fricatives [f, ½, s] and certain consonant clusters containing initial [n] or [m], is pronounced in the north instead of [a].

South	North
path	[pa:½]	[p½]
dance	[da:ns]	[dns]

Note: Speakers with more strongly regional southern substandard accents may not have the contrast or, at most, have a contrast that is variable.

In the south, however, [K] is often pronounced as [a]:

A = in path

B – [a] in path

C = [a] contrast absent or in doubt

One more major north-south differentiating feature involves the final [i:] like in words city, money, etc. In the north of England they have [i]. In the south of England these words are pronounced with [i] e.g.

South North

city [siti:] ['siti]

money [m¬ni:] [mani]