Reasons for phonetic modification

IN REGIONAL AND SOCIAL ACCENTS OF ENGLISH

English language is not homogeneous. We can differentiate between different regional and social accents which appeared due to some historical and geographical reasons. Variants, dialects and accents of English have different lexical, grammatical and phonetic peculiarities. Let’s speak about some reasons for phonetic modification in regional and social accents of English, such as Received Pronunciation (RP), General American (GA), Scottish (Sc), Irish (Ir), Welsh (W) and Cockney (C).

 

The first process to mention is rhoticism. Rhoticism is pronunciation of the sound [r] defined by the letter r, in any position of the sound chain. Rhotic accents are those which actually pronounce [r] corresponding to orthographic r. Rhoticism is present in GA, Scottish and Irish English. RP is not a Rhotic accent, but most speakers of it do pronounce orthographic r word-finally before a vowel. Because of rhoticism these accents loose a number of phonemes, though phonological oppositions always remain practically the same.

Ex. RP bird [ bə: d] – board [b o: d]

Sc [b ir d] - [b o:r d]

The meaning remains the same, so the phonological opposition is possible.

In GA [r] may replace the glide of RP diphthongs:

Ex. RP tear [t iə ] – tour [t uə ]

GA [t ir ] - [t ur ]

The very sound [r] is different in different accents. In Northern accents it may be uvular, in Sc it is most usually a flap (more over, they pronounce [Өr] as [∫r]: through /∫ru:/), GA [r] is of greater retroflexion (загиб языка) than RP one.

 

Another process causing phonetic modification in regional and social accents of English is diphthongization. It’s a slight shifting of the organs of speech position within the articulation of one and the same vowel. Diphthongization changes the quality of a sound during its articulation. The main reason – the rule of economy of effort. → the stability of articulation which we need for pronouncing the monophthong are broken → simplification takes place. For ex. RP [/\] → Cockney [æi] (blood /blæid/). [æi] is quite a new phoneme. The nucleus is open & front, while [/\] is open & back, so fronting takes place.

 

A reverse process is monophthongization. Monophthongization means acquiring equal quality, so that articulating organs are more or less stable, which results in the stationary nature of the vowel. The rule of economy of effort also works here. In regional accents RP diphthongs become monophtongs because of the weakening of the glide and strengthening of the nucleus or vice versa. Ex. RP [ai] -GA [i:] → weakening of the nucleus and strengthening of the glide; [ai] – open and front, [i:] – close and front, so narrowing takes place: e.g. either.

 

A few words about GA.

GA is a type of educated American speech. GA pronunciation is known to be the pronunciation standard of the USA. GA is the form of speech used by radio and TV. GA is different from RP; the most significant changes take place in the system of vowels. It’s connected with the earlier mentioned processes. Ex.:

[iə] → [i] + [r] dear [dir] – Monophthongization (weakening of the glide and strengthening of the nucleus)

+ appearance of [r] caused by rhoticism.

[a:] → [ei] vase [veiz] – loss of stability of articulation – diphthongization ([a:] in RP is back, open, broad;

the nucleus of [ei] is front, mid, narrow → fronting + narrowing).

There are some changes in the system of consonants as well.

1) [t] and [∫] become voiced in the intervocalic position. The rule of economy of effort also works here. It’s easier to pronounce lenis consonants [d] and [3 =ж] than fortis [t] and [∫], because the force of exhalation and the degree of muscular tension they need is weaker. Ex. latter RP[læ t ə] – GA[læ d ə]; version RP [vә: ∫ n] – GA [vә:r 3 n]

2) [l] is fairly dark in all positions – the rule of the economy of effort – the tip of the tongue contacts the teeth instead of the alveolar ridge because it’s much easier;

3) [j] is usually weakened or omitted. – news[n u: z].etc.

A few words about Cockney.

Cockney is a social accent – the speech of working-class areas of the Greater London. In this accent we also come across articulatory simplification. Ex.:

Consonant: [Ө] → [f] (interdental turns into labio-dental). They are both fricatives, constrictive; it’s a natural non-verbal movement – the economy of effort (thin [Өin] – [fin]).

Vowel: [o:] → [o:ə] – diphthongization, stability of articulation is broken (paw [po:] – [po: ə]).