Generic Knowledge Flashcards
How is an accent characterized?
By consonants and vowel sounds, rhythm, intonation
What does an accent depend on?
- geographic location
- socio-economic class
- sex
- linguistic environment
- age
What happens to /r/ between vowels?
Turns retroflex /upside down r/ in RP
Tapped /r/ in Wales
What happens to /l/ in Irish & Welsh
It is always clear with Irish and Welsh
What vowel does North English use at the end of a word that ends with -y?
Schwa or kit vowel
How many vowel sounds does ScE and UE have compared to RP
13 and 12 compared to 20
What vowels are distinct in the South?
Foot and strut
When is /a/ used in North English & GA compared to PALM in South?
- before /f/
- before voiceless ‘th’
- before /s/
- before nasal + /s, t, d/
How do most words that end in -ing sound?
/ın/ common
When do you yod-drop with Northern accents?
After voiceless ‘th’
What accent has extreme lengthening of the vowels?
East Anglians (Norwich)
What accent uses stronger vowel sounds (SQUARE) instead of the SCHWA?
South West (Bristol)
What accents makes consonants double when stress is on previous syllable?
South Wales
What intonation patterns are there in English?
- Fall, common at end of sentences
- Fall-Rise, common at end of comma to say you’re still talking
- Rise, yes-no questions and enumerations (common in Australian)
- Level, enumerations
- Rise-Fall, common in Wales at end of sentences
What are some regional tendencies for contractions?
> South: I haven’t got it
North: I’ve not got it
What happens to /l/ in London/Estuary
London/Estuary the dark l is turning into a vowel
What happens to /l/ in RP
It is dark after vowels
When does yod-dropping occur in London?
London no /j/ after /n/
When does yod-dropping occur in Norwich?
Norwich no /j/ after ANY consonant
When does yod-dropping occur in GA
GA no /j/ after alveolars /t, d, n, l, s/
What are some regional tendencies for word order?
Standard DO after IO “she gave the man a book”
with prepositions IO after DO “she gave a book to the man” more common in the South
North uses weird structures
What are some regional tendencies for participle use?
South “I want it washed. It needs washing”
Midlands and North “I want it washing. It needs washing”
Scotland “I want it washed. It needs washed”
What are some regional tendencies for present tense forms?
> Standard third person verb = +s
East Anglia, some GA and Caribbean no -s
North, South West, South Wales all take +s
What are some regional tendencies for demonstrative pronouns?
> non-standard uses “them” for “those”
ScE can use “they” for “those”
Aberdeenshire can use “that” & “this” for plural nouns
When does SCE use PALM?
> before a morpheme boundary (#)
before /r#/
before /rC/
Sometimes before a fricative
When does SCE use /a/
Before
> plosives
> affricates
> medial /r/
When are vowels long in SCE?
> followed by a voiced fricative /v, z, th/
followed by an /r/
followed by a morpheme boundary #
Mostly for /i/ and /u/, never for KIT and STUT
How is /3:/ realized in IE
> ir = ır
er = 3r
or = FOOTr
What influences are in Ulster English
- Scotch-Irish after 17th century colonization
- Ulster Anglo-Irish variety from West England introduced in 1200s
- Irish Gaelic the Celtic language
Different from IE since that stems from SW and Midlands
What vowels are merged in Ulster English
/u:/ and FOOT are /u/
/æ/ and PALM are /a/
LOT and THOUGHT are /o/
Before what consonants are vowels short in Ulster English?
/p, t, k, ts/
All vowels (except for ı and STRUT) in Ulster English are long when followed by…
/v, th, z, r/ and #
What vowels in Ulster English are always long in monosyllable words?
/a, e, o/ when closed by a consonant other than /p, t, k, ts/ (Ulster lengthening)
What is different in Ulster English intonation?
They use more rising tones rather than falling forms compared to RP and IE
