Descriptive Grammar of English
WSJO 2010/2011 – Year 2
English and Polish vowels (10)
10)
1.
The main differences between Polish and English SIMPLE VOWELS:
•
number (12 vowels in British English or 11 vowels in American English and 6 vowels in Polish)
•
length and tenseness (short and long vowels in English, no length contrasts in Polish)
•
vowel reduction (the unstressed vowels in English are reduced to /W/ or /ç/, no vowel reduction in Polish
− stressed-timed languages – English
− syllable-timed languages - Polish
2.
•
nasalization
•
tongue position (generally, Polish vowels are more open than their 'equivalent' English vowels, e.g. ten Eng. /ten/ and
Pol. /tEn/)
The difference between Polish and English COMPLEX VOWELS (diphthongs)
•
true diphthongs in English
•
a sequence of a pure vowel and a semivowel in Polish > the gliding movement of the tongue is longer
British and American sound system (11)
1. Basic notions:
•
dialect – a variety of language distinguished from other varieties in such aspect as pronunciation, grammar, lexicon and
semantics
•
accent – the way people pronounce when they speak (it refers to phonological characteristics only)
•
standard language – a variety of language that is socially and culturally predominant and is generally accepted as the
most proper form of that language (taught to foreigners)
•
General American:
− the United States has no single metropolitan centre whose speech serves as the basis for an accepted standard
language
− nonetheless, there is a recognizable form of English which is defined by the lack of striking features that
characterize some of the regional dialects
•
Received Pronunciation (RP):
− used to be regarded as the standard language it has changed a lot over the years
− educated formal speech that is not localized (not associated with any particular city or region)
− it is what was traditionally used by BBC news readers
•
Estuary English – speech with local features of Southeast England; the most characteristic features:
− frequent use of /Б/ in final position
− vocalization of /l/, e.g. in milk
− use of /], }/ in place of /tj, dj/, e.g. in student and during
2. BRITISH AND AMERICAN CONSONANTS:
•
postvocalic /r/ only in AmE (e.g. car BrE /kA:/ ~ AmE /kA:r/; its existence allows us to distinguish between non-rhotic
varieties (e.g. BrE) and rhotic varieties (e.g. AmE)
•
flap in AmE in intervocalic positions, e.g. writer BrE /'raçtW/ ~ AmE /'raçt7Wr/
•
/j/ after alveolars – a characteristic feature of BrE, e.g. new BrE /nju:/ ~ AmE /nu:/
•
dark and clear /l/
Descriptive Grammar of English
WSJO 2010/2011 – Year 2
3. BRITISH AND AMERICAN VOWELS:
•
the difference between the vocalic systems of BrE and AmE lies primarily in the distribution of vowels rather than in
their quality
•
Br /A:
A:/
é/ - the Americans employ the /é/ vowel whereas the British the /A:/ vowel before /n/ and voiceless
A: and AmE /é
fricatives /f, s, Q/, e.g. chance BrE /]A:ns/ ~ AmE /]éns/ or grass BrE /grA:s/ ~ AmE /grés/
•
BrE /ü
ü/ and AmE /A:
A:/
A: - there is no /ü/ vowel in American English, e.g. body BrE /'büdi/ ~ AmE /'bA:di/
•
BrE and AmE /O
O:/ - in British English the vowel is pronounced with the tongue much more raised and more rounded
lips, the alternative AmE pronunciation is /A:/, e.g. thought BrE /QO:t/ ~ AmE /QO:t/ or /QA:t/
•
BrE /ä
ä:/ and AmE /ɝ
ɝ:/ - the vowel is r-coloured in American English, e.g. third BrE /Qä:d/ ~ AmE /Qɝ:d/
4. BRITISH AND AMERICAN DIPHTHONGS:
•
BrE /Wï
Wï/
oï/
Wï and AmE /oï
oï - the difference is in the quality rather than the distribution, e.g. coke BrE /kWïk/ ~ AmE /koïk/
•
centring diphthongs do not occur in American English, e.g. beer BrE /bçW/ ~ AmE /bçr/
•
BrE /aç
aç/
aç and AmE /çç, W/ - inconsistent variation, the most representative examples are: direct BrE /daç'rekt/ ~ AmE
/'dç'rekt/, mobile BrE /'mWïbaçl/ ~ AmE /'moubWl/