10.2. American English

The formation of the American English underwent under the influence of minorities' languages, but its starting point was the English language of the 17^th century. The American language has fewer dialects as Standard English had already existed when first English settlers came to America. Still three main types of cultivated speech are recognized in the USA: the Eastern type, the Southern type and Western or General American. The following phonetic features of GA are distinguished:

• length is not differentiated in [i:] - [ɪ] and [u:] - [ʊ];

• [e] is more open;

• [æ] is used in the words in which RP has [a:], often before a combination of [s] with another consonant, but when there is no letter “r” in spelling: dance [dæns], can’t [kænt];

• there is no vowel [ɒ], which is replaced by [ɑ:]: god [gɑd:], clock [klɑ:k];

• there are no diphthongs, ending in [ə], all vowels occurring before “r” within a syllable become “r-coloured”: more [mɔ:r], heard [hɜ:rd], letter [ˈletɚ];

• [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;

• [1] is hard: relieve [rɪˈłi:v];

• [t] between vowels is voiced: better [ˈbedə], letter [ˈledə];

• when [t] follows [n], it is omitted and the vowel becomes nasalized: twenty [ˈtwenɪ], winter [ˈwɪnə];

• in [ju:] [j] is not pronounced in all positions: mute [mu:t], super [ˈsu:pɚ], nuclear [ˈnu:klɪɚ];

• in "where", "when", etc. [w] is pronounced as [hw];

• the suffixes -ory, -ary, -mony have an additional secondary stress (sometimes called tertiary): ˈdictioˌnary,ˈ testiˌmony, laˈbora.tory.

Intonation is smoother and seems rather dull and monotonous due to the narrower pitch range and Mid-level Head. Level-rising tones in special questions and statements are also common in American English:

- What’s your name? - Sixbie.

So as we can see the norms of GA and RP pronunciations are highly variable and are subject to further changes.

Questions and tasks:

1. What is the national variant of the language?

2. How do you understand the term “national pronunciation standard”? What is another term for it?

3. What are national pronunciation standards for Great Britain, the USA, Australia?

4. Prove that national pronunciation standards are not fixed.

5. Comment on the phenomena of bilingualism and monolingualism.

6. State the difference between a regional dialect and a regional accent.

7. What are the reasons for one of the dialects becoming the standard language of the nation?

8. What regional dialect of Great Britain has become the national standard of the English language? Is it homogeneous?

9. What is diglossia and how does it differ from bilingualism?

10. How can you define the term “idiolect”?

11. In what countries is English spoken as the native language?

12. What are British English pronunciation standards and accents?

13. Why can we say that RP is a regionless accent within Britain?

14. What groups are distinguished within RP? Comment on each of them.

15. What changes are observed in the sound system of the present–day English?

16. Comment on Estuary English.

17. Do you agree that American English is the national variant of English, or is it a different language?

18. How can you explain the fact that there are fewer dialects in American English that in British English?

19. What three main types of cultivated speech are recognized in the USA?

20. Comment on the peculiarities of General American.