PHY220 - English in North America (Overview)

This E-Lecture discusses the main varieties of English used in North America, i.e. in Canada and the United States. It includes the discussion of historical aspects, the definition of a reference model and ist main phonological properties.

[@revnede]

Great lecture, but there is one misleading bit at the beginning. As a historical note: the first colonization attempt by the English in North America - on Roanoke Island in what is today the state of North Carolina - did not "return" to England. Only a dozen of the original colonists ever left the settlement at all, namely for a supply mission to England headed by the Governor of the colony, John White. When White returned a couple of years later, in 1590, the roughly 100 people he had left behind had apparently vanished; no bodies were found, and they left behind many personal objects as though they left in a hurry. White reported the incomplete word "Croatan" etched into a tree near the site, suggesting that perhaps nearby tribe of that name had attacked the settlers. In any case, the vast majority of colonists never returned to their homeland, (including the first British individual born in the New World, who was named Virginia Dare, and after whom Dare County NC is named.)

[@mortalhellion]

Thanks for the post. The history regarding the missing 100 people also inspired several horror stories throughout American Literature including an episode from the Sleepy Hallow TV series and also a haunting theme for American Horror Story for one season.

[@Antony_Oscar]

Isn't it kind of accepted these days that they got into trouble (maybe with food etc) and kind of went to live with the native population instead of being attacked?

[@TranslatorCarminum]

I must admit I was a bit surprised by some of these transcriptions. As I understand it, the low back rounded vowel /ɒ/ does not exist in American English, having merged with its unrounded counterpart /ɑ/. It is the relationship between /ɑ/ and /ɔ/, rather than the one between /ɒ/ and /ɔ/, that varies regionally within the U.S. Some dialects, particularly in the west, merge them, while others maintain the contrast.

[@PfctvsPontivsPilatvs]

Also Northeastern American English is actually several. Baltimore, Philadelphia, South Jersey, North Jersey, New York City, Connecticut, Western Mass., Rhode Island, Boston, New Hampshire and Maine all vary from each other, sometimes radically.

[@edwardmiessner6502]

9:05 This speaker seems to have a cot-caught reversal - some people in Boston seem to have it, too.

[@savagarasmr8869]

How did it come that Michiganians’ accent became an example for the entire nation?

[@MagyMagy-do5xt]

❤ Thanks, Teacher ⚘ June 02 2024.

[@syddlinden8966]

As an American myself, I'd argue strongly that unaccented Standard American English is "California English." Typical upper or middle class Californians have zero discernable accent, whereas almost all areas of the northeast have their own regional dialects and accentings. Boston, Vermont, Maine, New Jersey, New York, NYC itself has several, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in general, the Great Lakes region carries several varied northern accents - they all have a different regional dialect. Not that California has *none, but it seems to have the greatest population with a zero/near zero accent pronunciation.

[@checkmateking2854]

Media outlets prefer people from the Midwest for broad casting because of their vocal and speech patterns..

[@revnede]

Everyone has an accent. It is a misconception to think otherwise.

[@mr_sb]

do you think German-English accent considered to be non-rhotic?

[@BlackJar72]

No mention of the glottal stop before nasals, as in "button"? That seems ubiquitous.

[@revnede]

Isn't this more of a characteristic of British dialects, such as the Cockney accent? In contrast, most North Americans tend to replace the sharp "t" sound in words like "butter" and "better" with a voiced, "d" sound, pronounced like "budder" or "bedder".

[@olli-pekkalindgren4032]

Only three dipthongues? What about /ei/ as in take? Is it pronounced the same way as /ai/ in eye, or why is it missing? Or is it a monophtongue /tek/?

[@timomastosalo]

Sorry, would you like to repeat, what was the English variant you speak? - NAE.

[@Alex_Plante]

I don't think the "Northern" English the way you define it as the English of the Great Lakes region is really the reference dialect for North American English. You should not forget the overwhelming cultural influence of New York City and the paradoxical fact that New York City accents such as Brooklynese have a very low social status. Educated upper-middle class New Yorkers tend to speak a dialect which is predominant in the suburban and rural areas around NYC, such as Western Connecticut, Long Island (beyond NYC), the Hudson Valley, rural parts of Northern New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania. This accent is similar to Estuary English in the sense that it's the accent spoken in the rural and suburban areas around the main cultural capital, without being from the city itself. I think that in a way analogous to Estuary English in the UK that it's the accent spoken around NYC but not in the city itself which is the reference dialect for N. American English.

[@oer-vlc]

Alex Plante I didn't define it that way. It goes back to Bill Labov and an interview he gave in 2003. This is what he said about a standard variety of NAE: "Well, I can see the problem. British varieties have great cultural prestige. American varieties have their own prestige (though who knows, it may be disappearing?) If you have to choose among American varieties, it will probably be a conservative variety of the Northern English spoken around the Great Lakes area. That's what you hear from most announcers". The full interveiw can be found in the VLC-unit "The transcription of NAE"

[@JonAske58]

I am not too sure about "small audible difference" between cot and caught in the Milwaukee speaker's pronunciation. And they certainly do not sound very rounded at all. They both sound like [ɑ] to me.

[@syddlinden8966]

I'd agree with this. I pronounce them both the same: [kɔt] (I rarely, if ever, use the far back equivalent sound [ɑ]. Everything ends up very mid.)

[@benavraham4397]

How do you know if you can even hear the difference? I for one have no idea what difference between caught and cot is. (I'm from CA).

[@driksarkar6675]

To me, the "cot" sounds like [kɒət], and "caught" like [kɑt], which is, strangely enough, the reverse of how I think they're usually pronounced when they're distinguished. Also, apparently these both contrast with an /ɑ/ [ä] (the PALM vowel as in "palm" and "father"?). As far as I know, though, both of these features are very rare in the U.S.

[@rickrayn]

I have watched a couple of these episodes and there hasn't been any reference to the english spoken in Newfoundland and the other Canadian Maritime Provinces. If you go to Newfoundland you will think at times that you are in either Ireland or parts of the UK with the way they speak.

[@PfctvsPontivsPilatvs]

Standard American English = Cleveland accent prior to the Great Lakes vowel shift.

[@AbbasAli-ru3nz]

So, is PronounciationManual KZbin channel's pronounciation for the word penis True or Not?

[@VerbaleMondo]

Pardon my French but fuck, his accent is so bloody cute!!! charming eh?

Thank you, sir. Where I can find this chart? kzbin.info/www/bejne/iYbceGBjfJV0bs0m53s

[@zochbuppet448]

usually I would interested in this sort of thing, but you made it painful. So sloooooooooow and precise. I feel like running away and and spending an hour watching brain dead Family Guy or some other time waster