General American Accent - PDF

**THE ACCENT OF GENERAL AMERICAN** GA is a rhotic accent; **/rt/ is voiced \[t̬\] or tapped \[ɾ\]between vowels or after \[ɹ\] in an unaccented syllable in either case: \[ˈbɛt̬ɚ, ˈbɛɾɚ\] \[ˈɫeɪt̬ɚ ,ˈɫeɪɾɚ\] \[ˈpʰɑɹt̬i\] \[ˈpʰɑɹɾi\]** **\[ˌgɛt̬ ˈaʊt ̚ , ˌgɛɾ ˈaʊt ̚ \](compare: \[ɡɪˈt̠ʰɑɹ\]).** **/...

**THE ACCENT OF GENERAL AMERICAN** GA is a rhotic accent; **/rt/ is voiced \[t̬\] or tapped \[ɾ\]between vowels or after \[ɹ\] in an unaccented syllable in either case: \[ˈbɛt̬ɚ, ˈbɛɾɚ\] \[ˈɫeɪt̬ɚ ,ˈɫeɪɾɚ\] \[ˈpʰɑɹt̬i\] \[ˈpʰɑɹɾi\]** **\[ˌgɛt̬ ˈaʊt ̚ , ˌgɛɾ ˈaʊt ̚ \](compare: \[ɡɪˈt̠ʰɑɹ\]).** **/d/ is tapped (pronounced \[ɾ\])in the same context as /t/:** **\, \, \**. **\ and \; \ and \; \ and \; \ and \; \ and \ are homophones.** **\ ** Medial **\[n̠t̠\]**is reduced to**\[n̠\]**: \**\[ˈɪn̠ɚn̠ɛt̠̚\]**. \. Yod is dropped after the voiceless dental **\[θ\]** and the alveolar consonants **\[t̠ d**̠ **s z n̠\]**: \ **\[ˈst̠ud̠ioʊ\]**, \ **\[d̠uk\]**, \ **\[əˈsum\]**, \ **\[ɹəˈzum\]** , \ **\[n̠ud̠\]** **\ ** **/l/ is mostly velarized\[ɫ\] : \[ˈɫevɫ̩\], \[ˈsɪɫi\].** We may say, it is a matter of **degree of darkness**; being dark before vowels but very dark elsewhere. **However, after aspirated stops /l/ may be realized as \[l̥\].** There is T- glottalization. It replaces \[t̠ⁿ\] in words like **\< button, certain, satin, cotton, kitten, written, mountain, curtain, sentence\>** etc. \[ˈbʌt̠ⁿn̠̩\] \[ˈbʌʔn̠̩\] It also occurs at word boundary when a consonant follows, and among younger speakers, intervocalically. \, \, \, \< It may also occur word internally. There is **yod coalescence** at word boundary (e.g. \**. The GB sequence **\[aɹ\]**in an accented syllables is pronounced **\[ɛɹ\]**in GA. \ etc. \ The GOAT vowel is more back and rounded than in GB: **\[oʊ\]** \ **\[boʊt̠\]**, \ **\[əˈɡoʊ\]**. \ The TRAP vowel is used in all BATH words instead of GB PALM: \ **\[bæθ\]**, \ **\[ɫæf\]**, \ **\[tʃæns\]**, \ **\[æsk\]**. Many American speakers make no distinction between GB **\[ɛ\]**, **\[a\]**, and **\[ɛː\]** words like **\**, they are all pronounced **\[ˈmɛɹi\]**. When the STRUT vowel occurs before **\[ɹ\]** GA uses **\[ɝ\] \ \[ˈhɝi\]**, **\ \[ˈcʰɝɪdʒ\]**. \