Consonants

Vowels

a) There are 20 vowels in the system of RP and 15-16 vowels in GA: because /•was not vocalised, GA lacks centring diphthongs (ending in /з/); the retroflexed vowels /э:г/ and /a*-/, stressed and unstressed, are among those features that noticeably distinguish GA from RP. All vowels occurring before r within a syllable are likely to become "r-coloured" to some extent:

RP here [hia], hair [hez],pure [pjua]; GA here [hir], hair [her], pure [pjur];

b) American English in most of its variants lacks the short rounded vowel /r>/, it is replaced by a vowel /a:/ which is similar to RP vowel in father:

RP lock [Ink], dog [dng], stop [stop]; GA lock [la:k], dog [da:g], stop [sta:p].

The RP vowel /то/ сап also be replaced by a long vowel /o:/: RP long [\щ], forest [fnnst], orange [ormdjj], sorry [sun] GA long [h:rj\, forest [fo:nst], orange [o:nnd^\, sorry [so:n].

GA is not as strictly codified as RP. There is considerable variability in GA vowels in the open back area. Fewer and fewer Americans distinguish the vowel of lot [la:t] from that of thought [o:].

c) Most of the American linguists do not use the transcription system which allows us to distinguish long and short vowels in GA. Vowel length in American English is generally considered to be conditioned by phonological environment, so the long/short distinction described for RP is not usually present. GA is commonly described as having lax (historically short) vowels, tense (historically long) vowels and wide diphthongs. Lax vowels are lower and made with less oral tension: they do not usually end syllables. Experimental data showed that in reading pairs of words with contrasting historically long (tense) and historically short (lax) vowels RP speakers demonstrated, on the average, the ratio of 1.5:1, while with GA speakers the ratio is only 1.2:1. In certain contexts the contrast disappeared altogether.

d) The American /ae/ vowel is somewhat closer than the RP /ae/ and seems to be evolving into an even closer vowel in many speakers, so that the phrase Merry Mary married sounds as if all the accented vowels are identical. Notable is the fact that /ae/ is used not only in the same words as RP /ae/ but also in many words in which RP has /a:/ when there is no letter r in spelling (often before a combination of /s/ with another consonant). In phonology it is called a difference in distribution of the phoneme:

RP dance [da:ns], ask [ask], pass [pa:s]; GA dance [dsens], ask [desk],pass [paes].

e) The diphthong [эи] is more rounded in GA:

RP go [дэи], home [Ьэит]; GA go [qou], home [houm].

The consonant system of English is more constant than the vowel system but still there are American pronunciation features which have been widely attested. They are:

a) The approximant [r] is retroflex (pronounced with the tip of the tongue curled back) and is used in all the positions where there is an r in spelling. There are at least three degrees of retroflexion which affect the quality of the preceding vowel. Cf.: RP hurry [Ълп], worry ['wah]; GA hurry [Ъэп], worry ['wan].

b) The American [t] in the intervocalic position is realized as a flap: the tip of the tongue beats against the teeth ridge just once. Acoustically it reminds [d] and [r]. Compare: RP better ['beta], letter ['leta], writer ['raita]; GA better ['beta*], letter [leta*], -writer ['raita*-].

c) When t follows n, it is nearly omitted. Nasalization of the vowel is another feature caused by coarticulation with n. RP twenty ['twenti], international [.mta'naejanl]; GA twenty ['twom] in popular speech.

The more standard pronunciation is [t] pronounced as a flap, international [.mtarnaeja'nael].

d) The sound [t] is also affected by the process of glottalization in both varieties of English, British and American, and the frequency of its occurrence is socially marked. One of the most favourable conditions for glottal stop to replace [t] is before [m, n, 1, r, j, w]: That man [3ae? maen], that one [Sse? wan], little [h?l].

e) The sound [j] in American English is commonly weakened or omitted:

RP news [nju:z], Tuesday ['tju:zdi], duty ['dju:ti], assume [9'sju:m]; GA news [nu:z], Tuesday ['tu:zdi], duty ['du:ti], assume [a'su:m].

f) The sound [1] is "dark", i.e. non-palatalized, in American English in all positions, while in RP (but not in Scottish Standard English!) it is "clear", palatalized, before a front vowel and "dark" at the end of a word and before a consonant:

RP little [Ш], lie [lai], belt [be-H], lesson [lesn], people [pi:pt]; GA little [hti], lie [iai], belt [belt], lesson [lesn], people [pi:pi].

g) Apart from systemic differences, there are lexical items which are pronounced differently:

RP tomato [ta'mateo], either '['айэ], schedule ['Jedju:l], ate [et], vase [va:z]; GA tomato [te'meitou], either р:Ээ], schedule ['sked3u:l], ate [eit], vase[veiz].

Дата добавления: 2014-01-11