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Questions and Answers
What is the main purpose of lexical sets as described by John Wells?
What is the main purpose of lexical sets as described by John Wells?
Which of the following pairs represents a matching correspondence of vowels between General British (GB) and General American (GA)?
Which of the following pairs represents a matching correspondence of vowels between General British (GB) and General American (GA)?
How does the pronunciation of the lexical set LOT differ between General American and General British?
How does the pronunciation of the lexical set LOT differ between General American and General British?
What distinguishes the PALM lexical set in General American from that in General British?
What distinguishes the PALM lexical set in General American from that in General British?
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Which vowel realization of the FOOT lexical set is specifically noted for Scottish English?
Which vowel realization of the FOOT lexical set is specifically noted for Scottish English?
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Study Notes
Lexical Sets
- Lexical sets are a list of words created by John Wells.
- They were developed to describe the frequency and context of vowel sounds in different English accents
- They compare Received Pronunciation and General American
- These sets use keywords to identify vowels that are associated with words (keywords are written in capital letters)
- These keywords are easily identifiable, no matter the English accent
What are Lexical Sets
- Lexical sets are based on vowel correspondences between Received Pronunciation (RP) and General American (GA)
- Keywords are created to be easily distinguishable, no matter the accent
- Keywords are unmistakenable across all English accents
- The keywords have matching pairs of vowels in stressed syllables in RP and GA
- Each pair of vowels is represented by a keyword.
Additional Information on Lexical Sets
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The standard lexical sets are based on vowel correspondences between RP and General American.
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There are twenty-four matching vowel pairs
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A keyword is chosen for each pair
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Keywords are always written in capitals
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Words in the set share the same vowel sound in the keyword in RP and GA
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Example: The keyword FLEECE represents the vowel correspondence between RP /i:/ and GA /i/
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Lexical sets are useful to identify the differences and similarities in pronunciation between accents of English.
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For particular lexical sets, the words are the same between GA and GB (example: LOT), but the pronunciations differ
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The set PALM has the same vowel in both accents (GB:/a:/, GA:/α/) but differs in length
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In the set FOOT, the vowel /ɔ/ is used in GB and GA; but in Scottish English it becomes/u/
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A complete list of lexical sets is available on U-Cursos and includes spellings that are typically pronounced with the vowel of the keywords.
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Description
This quiz explores lexical sets created by John Wells, focusing on how they illustrate vowel sounds in Received Pronunciation and General American. Discover the distinct keywords that identify these vowels and how they vary across different English accents. Test your knowledge on this fascinating aspect of phonetics!
