Search results for 'tag:Vowels tag:Pronunciation tag:British English' matching tags 'Vowels', 'Pronunciation', and 'British English'

Help! Do American & Brit English differ in the final vowel sound in CARRIED & FAMILIES?

anonymous — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 18:53:44 GMT

Is it true that in American English, the final vowel sound in CARRIED, VARIED, SOCIETIES and FAMILIES rhymes with that in FEET whilst in British, it rhymes with that in FIT? My examples above are verbs and nouns that end with an EE sound in their regular form: CARRY, VARY, SOCIETY, FAMILY I'm referring to American English as GaE (General American English) and to British English as RP (Received Pronunciation). thanks

Re: fair-haired

kooyeen — Wed, 21 May 2008 20:03:07 GMT

Do you know which accent is chosen by MW as the reference in the pronunciation keys. Is it General American? No idea. The audio files comes from several different speakers, but I think I've always heard "accentless" pronunciations from MW. So I guess it might me General American, generally speaking. Certain combination of sounds just do not exist in English and that's why they don't need to use diacritic to indicate that the P in SP is non-aspirated whereas an initial P is aspirated. The bottom line is that the pronunciation keys have to be non-ambiguous. This is the same reason why they don't need to use diacritic to indicate tapped intervocalic T or final dark L. (Clear L at syllabic final position does not...

Re: fair-haired

pter — Mon, 19 May 2008 10:02:06 GMT

Yes, there are regional variations in American English. Do you know which accent is chosen by MW as the reference in the pronunciation keys. Is it General American? My problem is that, as I have mentioned before, they are indeed denoted differently in British English. The first one is a simple vowel while the second one is a diphthong / e /. The question is whether the diphthong / e / ONLY occurs before an R. If it occurs before some other consonants, such as D, L, T, N ( / -e t /, / -e l /, / -e d /, / -e n / ), using / er / to indicate a different sound from / e / is not a good idea because you'll have problems showing the differences between / -e

anonymous — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:48:28 GMT

I'm afraid that in British English the rule *is* different. We do indeed tend to use hyphens after the prefix "non-" (which avoids the possibility of mispronouncing words such as "nonnative" ). As regards other prefixes, "pre-" and "co-" still sometimes take a hyphen (particularly where the second part of the word starts with a vowel and could lead to an erroneous pronunciation, e.g. pre-empt, co-opted). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "micro-organism" is also the preferred form, for similar reasons.

Re: standard pronunciation of American or British English?

privateenglishportal — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 19:39:35 GMT

Hi, It has been my experience that students become lost when consulting dictionaries with regard to phonetic symbols as many times each one uses different phonetic symbols. This has caused much grief and I just tell my online students to stay away from it and try to spell the pronunciation out in English. Example: worked ( t) played (d) motivated (id) Now this does become more complicated with vowel sounds and vowel sound combinations(dipthongs), but be creative!!!!!! e.g. 'about' ( the ' ou ' is just the same as saying c ow or n ow ) If you intend to teach English or linguistics, then by all means please continue with the phonetics. If not, save yourself some time. Regards, Steve Ford ...

Re: Unreleased final consonants

orpheus — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 07:26:02 GMT

Frog? Clock has also that vowel. We have that vowel in Italian too. Why do you say it's weird? I think there is that vowel in American English, for those who distinguish "cot" and "caught". The vowel in frog (and hot and got, too) is indeed a typical feature of British English. I don't think you can find it in American pronunciation. Words which have this vowel will instead have /a:/ or /o:/ in American English. And I believe the vowel in cot in AmE is pronounced precisely like the vowel in father, while the vowel in caught is pronounced more like the vowel in dog. These two vowels i.e. /a:/ and /o:/ are not the same with the vowel in frog and clock in British pronunciation.

Re: Question about how to pronounce Europe

orpheus — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 05:10:01 GMT

I'd say that there is a slight difference between the US and UK pronunciation of the word. The first syllable of Europe in British English is generally pronounced with the diphthong / / while in American English it is simply with the vowel / /. The diphthong / / is a characteristic of British English and is not found in American English; American English in corresponding places would have the simple vowel / / followed by /r/. The first consonant sound /j/ on the other hand is pronounced exactly the same in both American and British English. It is the same /j/ as in 'you'.

Re: Australian/British/American pronunciation differences

kooyeen — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 14:43:41 GMT

Hi, I'm going to tell you the most noticeable differences I notice between British English (the only variety of BrE I know), and American English (the variety of AmE I hear most often). CA R ------ American R's are always pronounced, British R's are not. N O -------- British is /əʊ/, American is /oʊ/ N O T ------ British is /ɒ/, American is /ɑ/ NO T ------ British final T's are released, American final T's are not. L AW ----- In BrE it's /o/, in AmE it's either /ɒ/ or /ɑ/ CL A SS --- Some vowels that are /ɑ/ in BrE, in AmE are /æ/ BE TT Y --- In BrE there are no tapped T's, in AmE there are. N OW ----- In BrE it's more like /ɑʊ/, in AmE it's more like /æʊ/ Those are the differences I notice. There are a lot of regional variations...

Re: How do you pronounce "emoticon"?

marvin a. — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 16:45:48 GMT

>> whereas the General American pronunciation is /I'moudiKa:n/. d = flapped /t/<< Interesting. I would say it with a rather than an alveolar flap. I think it's one of those words in which the /t/ is pronounced as spelt. Perhaps because it is such an uncommon word, or maybe the stress. For example, I would say "atom" as , but "atomic" as . Since I think of the word emoticon to be composed of not "emotion" and "icon", but rather "emote" + "icon", I would be unlikely to flap the t. Also, I most definitely wouldn't use , as the first vowel, if by you mean a lax vowel. I would use , or perhaps , but never a lax . Also, General American doesn't even have the vowel. is used for speakers with the California vowel shift...

Re: is American English dialect of British English?

marvin a. — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 16:31:10 GMT

>> Isn't it interesting that certain forms of American pronunciation aare older than the British ones? E.g., the short 'a' sound in "glass" and "pass" that the Americans use was the sound used in British English, till they changed it for the preferred long 'AH' sound. << Yes, most varieties North American English preserve many archaic pronunciations that are no longer found in RP. That's one example, the another is the rhotic "r". However there are several innovations found in most varieties of NAE such as the merry-marry-Mary merger (so vary and very sound the same) bother-father merger (same vowel for both), the cot-caught merger, etc that are not found in RP. So, both General American English and RP are both a bit...

Re: Speaking Teaching Books

kooyeen — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 02:06:40 GMT

Hi, yes, there are books that deal with stress, intonation, and pronunciation. I've read "American Accent Training" by Ann Cook. There's really a lot of stuff in that book (and on the 5 CDs). I haven't tried any other books anyway, so I can only tell you about that one. It treats American English, not British English or any other variety. Generally speaking, it's a really good book and I would recommend it. Some points (just my opinion): She (Ann Cook) makes you notice almost all the features of English that you've never noticed (stress, intonation, liaisons, word reductions, contractions, vowels, tapped t... ) Five CDs for audio lessons (she reads most of what's in the book, so you can listen while reading). Plus, she speaks very...

Re: American Eng. features in the UK

kooyeen — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 22:46:28 GMT

Anonymous wrote: The American pronunciation of “o” in your next example wouldn’t be found in any regional accent of British English that I can call to mind immediately, though there is considerable variation in the pronunciation of this sound – for example, in Scotland, Liverpool and the West Country. Similarly, there are variations in the pronunciation of the “talk, walk, call” vowel and the “no, so, low” diphthong from region to region – but none that I can think of that are close enough to the American pronunciation to be considered the same. The tap/flap is quite a distinctive feature of American English. It’s not in the standard British English inventory, but you might hear it in some Irish accents. I've heard...

Re: American Eng. features in the UK

anonymous — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 09:20:09 GMT

It’s rather hard to work out quite what you are looking for here. Some of these features – as Marvin A was pointing out – are not specifically American English pronunciation, but the allophonic variation that occurs in connected speech. That is, the pronunciation of some sounds is influenced by the sounds around them because of the way you have to move your lips, tongue, velum and so forth to get from one sound to another. Thus, your first four examples show the impact of the following “y” /j/ sound, and this is not specific to either a British or American accent. The American pronunciation of “o” in your next example wouldn’t be found in any regional accent of British English that I can call to mind immediately, though there is...

Re: What's the difference between /æ/ and /A/?

kooyeen — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 23:08:24 GMT

Hi Diego, the vowels in "cup" and "cat" are very different in American English. But I see you are interested in the British pronunciation, and, well, in that case I can't tell the exact difference too Those two vowels are different, but not very much in my opinion, since I wouldn't be able to tell you what the difference is (probably because I haven't been learning British English, though). So I'm sorry, I can't help you, I can only say that I noticed that similarity between those vowels too. I'm sure someone else will reply soon and give you the info you are looking for.

Re: which accent?

marvin a. — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 17:52:06 GMT

To tell you the truth, I've never heard any foreigner (unless they learned English when they were very young, or had lived in an English speaking country for at least a decade, and had extensive, and personalized accent coaching) ever be able to pull off either an American or British accent. "British English" and "American English" consist of 3 parts--accent, spelling, and lexicon. As for accent: when people learn an American accent, they learn what is known as "General American"--an accent based on a generalized Midwestern accent, spoken in the 1950's Narrowly definied, this accent is only spoken by very old speakers (80 year olds) in the Midwestern and Western portions of the US, and in a couple of 90 year olds in Canada. Broadly...

Re: How to pronounce a couple of words

anonymous — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 06:24:21 GMT

Englishuser wrote: Hi, Jaguar. In British English it is Jag-u-ar but I believe that in American English it is Jagwar Don't forget that there is a /j/-sound in there! /Jagwar/ is the most commonly heard pronunciation in the US, although the 'British' one is also used by some GAE speakers. A GAE speaker would always pronounce the 'r', though. Englishuser Using / /'s imply that you're using phonemic IPA or XSAMPA transcription. If this is the case then that means that you pronounce "jaguar" as /jagwar/, which written in fauxnetics would be approximately "yahgwahr". Somehow I don't think you meant it that way. In IPA/XSAMPA, the letter "j" is pronounced like "y" in English. I myself, pronounce jagwar as , or in...

Re: Basic words list classified by vowel sounds -- is there any?

califjim — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 06:49:41 GMT

Good! I'm glad it helped. You know, if you get one of those electronic dictionaries, I'm pretty sure you can write a program to extract all the words with the characteristics I described. At least that's what I've heard. I haven't tried it myself. As for pronunciation, there are a few dictionaries on-line that you might try, for example, www.m-w.com. They have an audio feature, so you can listen to the pronunciations. Note, however, that you need to use a dictionary that pronounces the words in the variety of English that you are learning. The m-w site is for American English, so don't use that if you are learning British English pronunciation! CJ

Re: Vowels in the unstressed syllables

orpheus — Sun, 14 May 2006 02:43:59 GMT

I am not sure about American English, but in British English I believe the final 'e' in 'convenient' is indeed pronounced as a schwa. As for the pronunciation rules, I don't think there are any in this regard. You will just have to check with the dictionary as MrM said.

Re: Newcastle accent?

leicesterlad — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 00:08:54 GMT

Hi Bluealbatross, I live near Newcastle, and answered your similar question in the thread entitled: "Received pronunciation and mid Atlantic English" ...but I've pasted it here in case anyone wants to continue on this thread: I don't think I'd recommend learning the Newcastle accent if you want to learn a British regional accent. Its often reckoned to be one of the most difficult of accents to understand - not only for non British, but for many British themselves! There are both vowel and consonant sounds that are unique to the area, one of the most distinctive being how they say the "t" sound in a word like "butter". Try simultaneously combining a glottal stop (creating a "vowel" by closing the throat) with saying the letter...

Re: Received Pronunciation & Mid Atlantic English

leicesterlad — Sun, 29 Jan 2006 23:59:10 GMT

I don't think I'd recommend learning the Newcastle accent if you want to learn a British regional accent. Its often reckoned to be one of the most difficult of accents to understand - not only for non British, but for many British themselves! There are both vowel and consonant sounds that are unique to the area, one of the most distinctive being how they say the "t" sound in a word like "butter". Try simultaneously combining a glottal stop (creating a "vowel" by closing the throat) with saying the letter "d". That's the best way I can describe it! The only other language group I know that use anything like this sound are the south east Asian languages of Malaysia and Indonesia - though a language expert may know others. I think the...

Re: Received Pronunciation & Mid Atlantic English

bluealbatross — Sun, 29 Jan 2006 18:44:07 GMT

Hi hello!!! I guess you are a British native speaker!! I'm from Mexico and I'm delighted with British English mainly the southeast England accent...but wait a couple of days ago I watched the film Millions by Danny Boyle and I had a crush on this accent! It's supposed to be Newcastle accent but the way they pronounce "poor" (pooe) or Obviously (ovvieously) caught my attention!! They donot pronouce ending "R's" so soft middle "R's". and remark vowels in a clearway. They pronounced in a kind of poshly way and the intonation is sophisticated in comparison to the Billy Elliot characters film!! Tell me what do you think about the newcastle accent!!! it is worth to try to practice it? How is this accent regarded in the island! Thank...

Re: Whats the difference of pronunciation of /ɜː/ compared to /ə/

anita_a — Mon, 25 Jul 2005 19:35:14 GMT

If all this is confusing Jack, remember that in both words, 'r' is silent in british English , but is pronounced in American English.A standing rule is that after any vowel if there is'r' in the middle of a word, it is not pronounced. And for any word, 'r' is not pronounced when it is in the end.But as any rule that is there in Br.E is not there in AE, this rule is void for Americans. Hope this helps.

Re: Whats the difference of pronunciation of /ɜː/ compared to /ə/

califjim — Fri, 22 Jul 2005 04:52:45 GMT

I'm only getting question marks for those symbols, but if you are referring to the R-colored vowel sounds in "bird" and "winner", the difference should be explained by a speaker of British English, where there is a difference. As an American, I can only tell you that these vowels are the same, differing only in stress. CJ

Re: Run + ning is related to pronunciation? Thanks !

abbie1948 — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 09:38:03 GMT

Hi Xcats, This is related to the spelling of the past tense forms of regular verbs; it also applies to the "ing" form. spelling of regular affirmative past tense forms Most regular verbs: add -ed work —worked help —helped start — started rain —rained stay —stayed show — showed wonder —wondered visit — visited gallop—galloped Verbs endingin -e: add -d hope —hoped decide —decided Verbs ending in one stressed vowel +one consonant (except wory): double the consonant and add -ed shop — shopped plan — planned refer —referred regret — regretted Verbs ending in consonant + -y: hurry— hurried change y to i and add-ed cry—cried study—studied Verbs ending in-c have ck in the past (e.g....

Re: ReadSay (was Re: Los Angeles)

mark barratt — Fri, 01 Oct 2004 13:29:48 GMT

He already said that the current version supports mid-western=20 American (presumably Caught=3DCot), but that you can edit the=20 pronunciation table on which it is based. This, of course, would be=20 a major undertaking - particularly if you wanted British English,=20 with all the extra vowels - since the definition of almost every=20 word would have to be edited. A more interesting question, to my mind, is: how does the system=20 respond to native speakers? The description of the device leads me to suspect that it might say=20 that native speakers are mispronouncing things - particularly in=20 connected speech, where assimilation is a major factor. =20 Regards, Mark Barratt

Re: Place name pronunciations

evan kirshenbaum — Tue, 17 Aug 2004 18:14:52 GMT

It seems just a bit stranger in the case of ... on "David Packard of Hewlett-Packard", how did they do it? The only transcription I've seen here of the "correct" American pronunciation of "Packard" contains a phoneme (/R/) absent from most forms of British English. How do Americans generally pronounce British names containing /A./? Probably with the closest phoneme we have. While most Brits may lack an /R/, Americans are used to making the mental accent translation. What strikes us as "wrong" with the way they say "Packard" is that they use the vowel we'd expect them to use in "card" rather than the vowel we'd expect them to use in "curd" (those are...

Re: How do UK dictionaries say to pronounce?

jonathan jordan — Thu, 01 Jul 2004 08:29:14 GMT

'Round here we use /@/ for a schwa; /&/ is ... consider the pronunciation too obvious to wasteink and paper on. A good online source for BrE phonetics is Cambridge AdvancedLearner's Dictionary at , which uses IPA.For "carver", they have /'kA:v@(superscript r)/. The superscript r isthe "linking r" of non-rhotic BrE, only pronounced before a followingvowel. Why do you consider this a good source? If you look up its pronunciations of "bath" and "hearth", you will see that they are shown as rhyming. Some different pronunciations (which happen to reflect the way that I say the words rather better) are shown, but they are marked as "US". I'm not American. On the...

Re: Pronunciation

rewboss — Fri, 21 May 2004 13:34:29 GMT

"Fernando G" (Email Removed) schrieb im Newsbeitrag As a native Spanish speaker I have a hard time to distinguish thedifference between the vowels in * cut * cot * caught Are there any clues on how should I shape my mouth/lips/tongue/vocal chords/whatever to pronounce these vowelscorrectly? Depends on which particular brand of English you want to speak. There is one set of rules for standard British English and another set of rules for standard American English; but each of these versions can be subdivided and sub-subdivided into different regional dialects.

Re: Cap or Cup?

jonathan jordan — Thu, 04 Dec 2003 17:27:34 GMT

It seems that every time I post a comment it provokes a load ofdiscussion threads. But not to be detered, ... changes. Forinstance, they say " 'ospikal" when they mean "hospital", or "ee 'ant gotnone" instead of "he doesn't have any". True. (I'm from Sheffield, though I don't have a very strong dialect myself.) I have even heard an educated(?) businessman say "Ey loowk! Ee got like wot I got!". I guess you mean "look" with the vowel of "boot" rather than that of "put". I think this is a low-prestige variant in Sheffield, though I have reason to believe that it's more standard in some other parts of northern England. But in spite of all...

Re: pronunciation "r"

usenet — Thu, 30 Oct 2003 23:34:57 GMT

The pronunciation of "r" is very difficult for some asians, especially r in the middle of a word such as " murder". In Standard British English the "r" at the end of a syllable isn't pronounced. This type of accent is referred to as non-rhotic. Rhotic accents include Irish, Scottish and Standard American English. But even here the effect of the "r" at the end of a syllable is mainly to alter the quality of the preceding vowel. The pronunciation of "r" at the beginning of a syllable is a different question. But the quality of teh pronunciation is one of teh characteristics that differentiates these accents. Scottish pronunciation of the "r", for example, is much stronger than...

Re: ah = ar, aw = or, aw =/= ah / ar

woody wordpecker — Fri, 17 Oct 2003 00:11:54 GMT

It's an elliptical definition. I read Ross's line as meaning "(the vowel contained in) cot, bother...". That's still meaningless. There is no vowel that is contained in every rendition of "cot". The vowels that may be contained in "cot" don't even belong, in general, to the same phoneme. They aren't in the same phoneme unless someone would perceive them as being the same sound. Until you make the statement more specific, "the vowel contained in 'cot'" can mean the vowel in "cot" in any variety of English spoken in the world. If you make it very specific, like "the vowel in 'cot' in the speech of Ross Howard", it still doesn't tell us...