Phonetics & Phonology

Phonetics Phonetics (from the Greek word φωνή, phone meaning 'sound, voice') is the st ud y of so unds an d the huma n vo ice . It is concerned with the actual properties of speech sounds (phones) as well as those of non-speech sounds, and their production, audition and perception, as opposed to phonology, which is the study of sound systems and abstract sound units (such as phonemes and distinctive features). Phonetics deals with the sounds themselves rather than the contexts in which they are used in languages. Discussions of meaning (semantics) do not enter at this level of linguistic analysis. Rogério Azeredo

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Phonology Phonology (Greek phonē = voice/sound and logos = word/speech), is a subfield of linguistics which studies the sound system of a specific language (or languages). Whereas phonetics is about the physical production and perception of the sounds of speech, phonology describes the way sounds function within a given language or across languages.

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Dialects of English Europe British • East Anglian • English English • Estuary • Euro-English • Guernsey English • Hiberno-English (Ireland) • Highland • Manx • Mid Ulster • Midlands • Northern • Received Pronunciation • Scottish • Welsh • West Country dialects North America United States • African American Vernacular • Appalachian • Baltimorese • Boston • California • Chicano • Cajun • General American • Maine • Maine-New Hampshire • New Jersey • New York City • North American • North Central American • Inland Northern American • Pacific Northwest • Philadelphia • Pittsburgh • Southern American • Tampanian • Utah • Yat • Yooper • Canadian • West/Central Canadian • Maritimer • Newfoundland • Quebec West Indies Bermudian • Bahamian • Caribbean • Jamaican Oceania Australian • New Zealand • Australian Aboriginal • Hawaiian Pidgin Asia Burmese • Hong Kong • Indian • Manglish • Philippine • Singlish • Sri Lankan Africa Liberian • Malawian • South African Miscellaneous Basic • Commonwealth •International • Mid-Atlantic • Plain • Simplified • Special • Standard Rogério Azeredo

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General American (sometimes called Standard Midwestern or American Broadcast English) is the accent of American English perceived by Americans to be most "neutral" and free of regional characteristics. The General American accent is not thought of as a linguistic standard in the sense that Received Pronunciation (RP) has historically been the standard, prestige variant in England, but its speakers are perceived as "accentless" by most Americans. Rogério Azeredo

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Rogério Azeredo

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The region of the United States where the local accent most closely resembles General American

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Received Pronunciation (RP) is a form of pronunciation of the English language which has been long perceived as uniquely prestigious among British accents and is the usual accent taught to non-native speakers learning British English.

Note that RP is accent (a form of pronunciation), not a dialect (a form of vocabulary and grammar). A person using an RP accent will invariably (except for comic effect) speak Standard English although the reverse is not necessarily true. RP is also the usual accent taught to non-native speakers learning British English. Non-RP Britons abroad may modify their pronunciation to something closer to Received Pronunciation, in order to be better understood by people who themselves learned RP in school. They may also modify their vocabulary and grammar to be closer to Standard English, for the same reason. RP is used as the standard for English in most books on general phonology and phonetics; and represented in the pronunciation schemes of most dictionaries. Rogério Azeredo

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Estuary English is a name given to the form of English widely spoken in and around London and, more generally, in the southeast of England and along the river Thames and its estuary. It is defined as a variant of Standard British English, using some non-standard grammatical forms and some divergences from Received Pronunciation. David Rosewarne originated the term Estuary English (EE) in a ground-breaking article published in 1984 in the London edition of The Times Educational Supplement1. Rosewarne's definition follows: 'Estuary English' is a variety of modified regional speech. It is a mixture of non-regional and local south-eastern English pronunciation and intonation. If one imagines a continuum with Received Pronunciation (RP) and London speech at either end, 'Estuary English' speakers are to be found grouped in the middle ground. Rogério Azeredo

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Estuary English (EE) is like RP, but unlike Cockney, in being associated with standard grammar and usage; it is like Cockney, but unlike RP (as traditionally described), in being characterized by tendencies towards, for example, vocalization of preconsonantal/final /l/, perhaps with various vowel mergers before it (miwk-bottoo 'milk-bottle') use of [?] for traditional [t] in many non-initial positions (take i' off) yod coalescence even before a stressed /u:/ (Chooseday) Phonetically EE differs from Cockney in usually not being characterized by, for example, h-dropping ('and on 'eart) TH fronting (I fink) monophthongal realization of the MOUTH vowel (Sahfend). (WELLS, John. Speech Hearing and Language: UCL Work in Progress, volume 8, 1994, pages 259-267 ) Rogério Azeredo

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