English accents

1
English accents

• 9. Comparing pronunciation differences

2
Two approaches to a typology of accents

• Historical/generativist
• oriented towards dynamic phonological rules or
  processes
• requires a dynamic account of how each accent got
  that way
• e.g. the r deletion rule has or has not applied

• Structuralist
• oriented towards the phonemic systems involved
• requires a static synchronic description of what
  each accent is like
• e.g. /r/ is or is not found nonprevocalically

r gt Ø / _C and _ 'f??rm?r gt 'f??m?
(i) 'f??rm?r (ii) 'f??m?
farmer
3
Trubetzkoy 1931

• Les différences phoniques existant entre deux
  dialectes peuvent être de trois sortes elles
  peuvent concerner
• le système phonologique
• ou bien la réalisation phonétique des divers
  phonèmes
• ou encore la repartition étymologique des
  phonèmes dans les mots.
• Daprès cela nous parlerons de différences
  dialectales phonologiques, phonétiques et
  étymologiques.

• Phonic differences between two dialects may be of
  three kinds they may concern
• the phonological system
• or the phonetic realization of the various
  phonemes,
• or the etymological distribution of the phonemes
  in words.
• Accordingly we shall speak of phonological,
  phonetic and etymological differences between
  dialects.

4
systemic ( phonological) differences

• relate to the phonemic system ( the phonological
  inventory), e.g.
• the size and nature of the vowel system
• presence/absence of specified oppositions, e.g.
• FOOT and STRUT, /? - ?/, push and rush
• THOUGHT and LOT, /?? - ?/, stalk and stock
• /e? - ?? /, late and eight
• also subsystemic differences, e.g.
• vowels before /r/, merry and marry

5
phonetic ( realizational, allophonic) differences

• relate to details of articulation, e.g.
• aspiration or nonaspiration of /p, t, k/
• environments in which aspiration is used
• type of /r/ used (?, ?, ?, ?, ?)
• quality of a specific vowel, e.g. DRESS e, e?,
  ??, ? , START a?, ?? GOAT o, o?,
  ??, ??, o?, ??, ??

6
distributional ('etymological') differences

• relate to which phonemes are used in which words,
  e.g.
• does zebra have /i?/ or /e/?
• does graph have /æ/ or /??/?
• does transition have /s/ or /z/?
• where is the stress in controversy?

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distributional ('etymological') differences

• two types
• phonotactic (structural) restrictions on the
  distribution of phonemes, e.g.
• environments in which /r/ is permitted
• whether the cluster /hw/ is permitted
• lexicophonetic (selectional, incidential)phonemi
  c makeup of particular lexical items, e.g.
• /f/ or /v/ in nephew
• /a?/ or /i?/ in either and neither
• /æ/ or /??/ in BATH words

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test yourself

• Are the following differences between accents
  systemic (phonological), phonetic, or
  distributional?
• 1. In accent A, soft has the same vowel as
  THOUGHT in accent B, the same vowel as LOT.
• 2. In accent C, rot and rat sound identical, as
  do block and black and all other LOT-TRAP pairs
  in accent D, they are distinct in pronunciation.
• 3. In accent E /l/ is always clear. In accent F
  it is clear before vowels, but dark elsewhere.

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test yourself

• 1. In accent A, soft has the same vowel as
  THOUGHT in accent B, the same vowel as LOT.

distributional (lexicophonetic)
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test yourself

• 2. In accent C, rot and rat sound identical, as
  do block and black and all other LOT-TRAP pairs
  in accent D, they are distinct in pronunciation.

systemic (phonological)
11
test yourself

• 3. In accent E /l/ is always clear. In accent F
  it is clear before vowels, but dark elsewhere.

phonetic (realizational)
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disadvantages of Trubetzkoy's approach

• It depends on the phoneme theoryand shares its
  shortcomings, e.g. difficulty in coping with
• neutralization, e.g. /i? ?/ in happy
• indeterminacy, e.g. l vocalization, as m?ok
  milk
• items marginal to systems, e.g. /x/
• no place for rules, e.g. the t-to-r rule, as
  ge? ?f get off assimilation, as ?t???
  strong

13
Two approaches to a typology of accents

• Historical/generativist
• oriented towards dynamic phonological rules or
  processes
• requires a dynamic account of how each accent got
  that way
• e.g. the r deletion rule has or has not applied

• Structuralist
• oriented towards the phonemic systems involved
• requires a static synchronic description of what
  each accent is like
• e.g. /r/ is or is not found nonprevocalically

r gt Ø / _C and _ 'f??rm?r gt 'f??m?
(i) 'f??rm?r (ii) 'f??m?
farmer
14
The historical/generativist approach

• compares the historical (diachronic)
  sound-changes which the accents in question have
  undergone, or the synchronic rules they operate
  now, e.g.
• one accent has a rule, another doesn't
• r dropping 'f??(r)m?(r) farmer
• g deletion 's??(g)? singer
• split of FOOT and STRUT put - cut
• t voicing shutter - shudder
• diphthong shift PRICE vowel

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The historical/generativist approach

• the details of a rule or its environment differ
  in different accents, e.g.
• yod dropping s(j)u?t suit n(j)u? new
• preglotttalization 'e?(?)pr?n apron
• smoothing fa(?)? fire

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Disadvantages of the historical/generativist
approach

• tends to confuse diachrony and synchrony
• has no place to describe lexical transfers,
  e.g.questions such as zebra with /i?/ or /e/,
  envelope with /e/ or /?/ ( lexicophonetic
  differences)