Further readings on this section

Phonetics and Phonology (ENG)



VU

Lesson-27

VOWELS AND VOWEL-LIKE ARTICULATIONS-II

At the end of this section, the students will be able to
• DEFINE and EXPLAIN various types of vowels indifferent languages (including British English and other accents of English).

Topic-135: Vowels in Other Accents of English
Vowel sounds in various accents of English are interesting fora number of reasons. They provide solid basis for comparisons and contrasts. Researchers have explored this aspect in various Englishes (the term has been frequently used in recent times) and have published descriptions of the auditory quality of the vowels in a number of accents of English language. Spectral structure of these vowels (by referring to the average formant frequencies of vowel systems in these accents) provides interesting comparisons. For example, the accent of American (newscasters) English has represented fairly conservative difference (in the first two formants) with Californian English. The Californian English does not maintain a contrast between the vowels in cot and caught (they are both spoken as the same [
ɑ]). Moreover, the Californians have a higher vowel (lower first formant) in e than in [ɪ]. Their high back vowels seem more towards front as they have a higher second formant. Among other differences, vowel /
ʊ/ is often pronounced with spread lips in this variety of English. Similarly, in a number of northern cities in the United States (e.g., Pittsburgh and Detroit, [æ] is spoken very close to [
ɛ] (as raised with decreased F. These are some of the examples of differences found in various varieties of English.

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