English and its Varieties. An Analysis of the British and the North American Sound System

Term Paper (Advanced seminar) , 2013 , 11 Pages , Grade: 2,0

English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics

Regarding the English language, there are wide variations in pronunciation, including dialects or accents due to differences within the age, the gender, or the geographical origin of the speaker. But there are also variations that are defined as standard pronunciation. Two of them, concerning the English language, are known as the Received Pronunciation (RP), which presents the Standard British accent, and the General American accent (GA), which presents the standard pronunciation in North America. Nowadays those variations face the people amongst others by the spoken media, like television or radio. Especially English learners who were, or still are predominantly confronted with the British English Pronunciation due to their academic education tend to have an issue with the unfamiliar General American pronunciation.

To illustrate the differences between the General American accent and the Received Pronunciation in British English, this paper dwells on the individual parts that finally form a specific pronunciation type: The differences within the vowel and consonant system, as well the differences within the articulation with focus on the stress of syllables.

List of contents:

1. Introduction

2. Varieties of English
a) Received Pronunciation – the Standard British accent
b) American English

3. Varieties of the sound systems – a comparison
c) The Vowels
The RP vowel system
General American English vowels: differences from RP
The missing phoneme /ɒ/
The GA consistency of the phoneme /æ/
Diphthong changes: /əʊ/ vs. /oʊ/
d) The Consonants
The RP consonant system
The General American English consonants: differences from RP
Rhotic vs. non-rhotic accent
Dark /ł/ vs. Clear /l/
Variations of /t/
e) Differences in articulation: stress

4. Conclusion

5. Bibliography

• College: Free University of Berlin (Institut für Englische Philologie)
• Course: Levels of Linguistic Analysis II
• Grade: 2,0
• Author: Agnetha Hinz (Author)
• Publication Year: 2013
• Pages: 11
• Catalog Number: V302897
• ISBN (eBook): 9783668010901
• ISBN (Book): 9783668010918
• Language: English
• Tags: American English, British English, Standard British Accent, Sound system