BEYOND THE BRITISH ISLES: NEW YORK ACCENT North America: along the Atlantic Coast The sharpest regional, social differences in speech The earliest European settlements the 13 colonies from 1776 came together to form the USA Isogloss: rans horizontally from East→West

THREE MAIN SPEECH AREAS IN THE (NORTH) EAST (Kurath, 1949) Main differences in vocabulary (to a lesser extent, in morphology, syntax, pronunciation) North: New England, NY state (NY city, Boston, Massachussets) Midland:from middle Atlantic states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia South: from Washington DC, Virginia, Carolinas

NORTH AMERICA By 1700 AC, most colonies had settled down The original settlers: 1) from England 2) Scots-Irish (Ulster) 3) Welsh 4)Germans In the South: closer bonds with England black slave labour From 18th c: expansion: beyond the Appalachians :Ohio, Indiana, Illinois

Further classification of the American accents 1)Eastern: non-rhotic; Boston, New England, NY city 2)Southern: non-rhotic South 3)Gen Am all areas that are NOT Eastern, NOT South; no marked local Eastern/Southern features - From Hudson Valley, Upstate NY, Pennsylvania 20th c:migration of: 1) Blacks from South→North and 2)Hispanics from Mexico, Puerto Rico

I) CANADA English (2/3 as L1), French, Scottish Gaelic, Eskimo, Amerindian To a British, Canadians: just other Americans But Canadians WANT to be kept distinct from Am E; Canadians remained loyal to the British army when USA broke away.. Main speech characteristics of Canadian E: A) full rhoticity, B)flat-Bath accent C) t-voicing

Main features of Canadian speech The most reliable diagnostic for distinguishing Canadians from Americans: The starting point of PRICE, MOUTH wrds The absence of THOUGHT vs LOT opposition ‘I saw the White House’: [aɪ ˈsɑ ðə ˈhwəɪt ˈhʌʊs] typical Canadian Canadian E: very homogeneous from Ottawa→Vancouver Even today: lots of influence from Britain but American style dominates Canadian media

Canadian English: main features Dialectologists: Canada: 3 dialect areas: A) New foundland B) Eastern Canada (Ontario) C) Western Canada Canadian English Vowels: ɪ, ɛ, æ, ʊ, ʌ, i,ei, aɪ, u, o, ɑʊ LOT ɑ BATH æ NURSE ɜr=ɝ THOUGHT ɑ STRUT ʌ CLOTH ɑ PALM ɑ GOAT o

The Canadian consonants Similar to Gen Am T-voicing/D-tapping, so /t-d/: neutralised e.g.??

The Canadian consonants Examples of Canadian t-voicing/tapping: Matter-madder, petal – pedal, I hit it-I hid it Other features: /l/→[ɬ] in most positions wh→hw (in Ontario):whale[hweɪɬ],wale:[weɪɬ] Yod dropping : tune: [tu:n], duke: [du:k]

NEW YORK CITY New York and London: rivals for world’s most populous English speaking city New York: approximately 8 million Distinct Am accent (in vowels, phonetic realization) Unique in social stratification bcs of accent Unlike other Am accents: serious judgments on pronunciation: two born+bred New Yorkers may have very distinct pronunciation (Hubbel, 1950)

Brooklynese/NY speech NY: resembles Birmingham, Liverpool, London: no other Am city’s speech evolves such disapproval NY accent: NO OVERT or even COVERT PRESTIGE “NY city: a great sink of negative prestige” (Labov, 1966) Except old Blacks, NO New Yorker had a positive attitude towards their native accent

NY: a disparaged speech For most Americans: NY an example to avoid No phonological innovations from NY Notable features of NY Speech: 1) (variable) non-rhoticity 2) quality of TRAP-BATH 3)CLOTH-THOUGHT 4)NURSE vowels 5) phonetic realisation of [t, d, ɵ,ð]

The vowel system of NY ɪ, ɛ, æ, ʊ, i, eɪ, ɔɪ, ɑɪ, ɪʊ, əʊ, u, oʊ, ɪə, ɛə, æə, ɑə, ɜ, ʊə, ɔə TRAP æ, æə, ɛə FLEECE i,ɪi MOUTH aʊ LOT ɑ, ɑə PALM ɑə NEAR ɪ( r ) STRUT ʌ THOUGHT ɔə SQUARE ɛə ( r ) FOOT ʊ GOAT oʊ STARTɑə (r) ɑ (r) BATH æə, ɛə GOOSE u,ɪʊ NORTH ɔə( r) CLOTH ɔə PRICE ɑɪ FORCE ɔə HAPPY i NURSE ɜ (r ) CHOICE ɔɪ CURE ʊə any comments, which mergers?

The vowels NY Diphthongal realisations of the monophthongs: CLOTH, THOUGHT, NORTH, FORCE: [ɔə] and BATH-TRAP: [æə, ɛə] and: LOT-PALM,START: [ɑ, ɑə] Other monophthongs: i→ɪi, u→ʊu u: close to CV 8 but little lip roundness The degree of diphthongization is greater in lower social classes

The vowels of NY /u/ in ‘duke’, ‘new’, ‘tune’: [ɪʊ] In BATH-TRAP wrds; (also) [ɛə]: common ‘bad’:[bɛəd]=‘bared’ Saw=soar/sore: [ɔə] God=guard: [gɑə] [ɑɪ]: more back starting point in working class ‘Night-time’:[nɑɪttɑɪm] like?? /i-ɪə/, /eɪ-ɛə/→ø/-l ‘reel’=‘real’ (ɪə) ‘Bailey’=‘barely (ɛə)

Some inconsistencies-oddities of NY speech ‘Durham’: [dʊərəm] ‘donkey’: [dʌŋki] ‘won’t’: [wʊnt] ‘forward’: [foʊwəd] ‘always’: [oʊweɪz] Also: variability in r-dropping Pressure from Standard/Gen Am to restore /r/

LABOV’S EXPERIMENT FOR RHOTICITY IN NY (1966) 3 department stores checking the /r/ pronunciation in ‘fourth floor’ Findings: social stratification: different for age groups In the lowest class department store: fewer rs More rhotic pronunciations in middle, upper social class but in middle class, rhoticity increased with age In highest status: rhoticity decreased with age

Labov’s experiment Follow-up experiment: in their evaluation of recorded acents: NYorkers below 40: favorable towards rhoticity In careful, deliberate speech (read aloud): more rhoticity appeared but in casual speech: fewer rs Linking, intrusive rs DO appear: [nɪə] but [nɪərə], [aɪdɪə] but: ðɪ aɪdɪərɪz… Hypercorrections: *[aɪdɪər], *[lɔər] /r/: post-alveolar, labialised, and retroflex

NY speech: vowels Caricature for ‘thirty-third’: ‘toity-toid’ in NY So, the NURSE vowel /ɜ/→[ɜɪ], [ɜ] or [ɝ] CHOICE: [ɜɪ] ‘voice’:[vɜɪs], ‘join’:[dʒɜɪn] [ɜɪ]: the most stigmatised NY city trait Working/low-class: [ɜɪ], higher class: [ɔɪ] BATH:[æ]→NY:[ɛə, ɪə], ‘bad: [bɛəd=bɪəd] low, white working class 3 way merger possible: ‘bared’-’beard’-’bad’

The NY vowels, consonants CLOTH –THOUGHT: [ɔə,o:] lower class [ɔ:ə, ɔ:]:upper mid class LOT, START: LOT lengthening: [ɑ:] ALVEOLAR Cs: produced with the tongue blade /t,d/: velarised, pharyngalised Heavy aspiration/affrication in syllable initial, final position: ‘tin’, ‘din’: [tʰɪn], [dᶻɪn] [ʔ]: lower status[bɑʔļ], only occasionally V-V /ө, ð/: affriactes, or stops /өæŋks/→[ṱʰæŋks] d→[d] ‘there’: [dɛə( r )] Any Nyorker who uses [t, d or tө, dð] for /ө,ð/ sporadically: a higher class, not manual worker; if used a lot: NOT gone to highschool

Other features of NY accent Glide cluster reduction: ‘white’, ‘when’: [hwaɪt], [hwen]: NOT any more, rather [w] ‘singer’, ‘long island’[sɪŋgə (r )], [lɔŋgaɪlənd] L vocalisation : ‘sell’, ‘sold’ but NOT in ‘people’ In London: wider spectrum of l vocalisation l→[ɬ] V-V: ‘jelly’, ‘belly’

NEW ENGLAND: CONNECTICUT, MASSACHUSSETS , RHODE ISLAND, VERMONT

NEW ENGLAND Western part: Connecticut, Vermont: Gen Am Eastern part: special features, substandard Boston Mass: North Eastern New England: eastern Am pronunciation Main pronunciation features of the East: 1) r-less 2) BATH-broadening Nowadays: lots of pressure from Gen Am for homogeneity Eastern New England: no more sets the fashion/innovations

New England’s pronunciation features LOT ɒ NEAR iə STRUT ʌ SQUARE æə BATH a, æ START a CLOTH ɒ NORTH ɒ NURSE ɜ FORCE oə WHAT DO YOU NOTICE AS FLEECE i CURE ʊə MAIN DIFFERENCES BWN FACE eɪ happY i,ɪ NEW ENGLAND-NY?? PALM a lettER ə THOUGHT ɒ GOAT o MOUTH aʊ

NEW ENGLAND: main features Rhoticity: more evident nowadays bcs og Gen Am pressure In NURSE wrds: r widely retained Hypercorrections: ‘law’: [lɒr] Modern Boston START : [a(: )] BATH: a(: ), or [eə]‘half’ [haf] but now: pressure for /æ/ Easter New England: LOT+THOUGHT+CLOTH [ɒ]

Main differences bwn NY-East New England LOT [ɑ] in NY [ɒ] in New England START [ɑə] NY [a] “ ” THOUGHT [ɔə] LOT-THOUGHT [ɒ]

The South: Virginia, Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Massissippi, Florida, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas

THE SOUTHERN PART OF NORTH AMERICA Bailey (1969): southern accents: 3 types: 1) tidewater of East Virginia, East Carolinas 2)inner South Kentucky 3) outer South Uniformity of southern accent:much exaggerated South remained behind industrialization, education, rural nature, little influence from school teachers; speech: quaint Lots of deviations from Gen Am/RP; traditional dialect

Main features of the Southern pronunciation of North America ‘deaf’:[dɪf], ‘wounded’ [waʊndɪd] ‘southern drawl’: length of stressed, accented syllables PRICE [a Northerners: look down on Southern Am E pronunciation Southerners: assume a patriotic attitude or try to extirpate all Southern features

The vowels of the south part of North America ɪ, ɛ, æ, ʊ, ʌ, ɑ, i, eɪ, æɪ, aɪ, ɔɪ, æʊ, u, oʊ, ɔ TRAP æɪ CLOTH ɔ LOT a GOAT oʊ STRUT ʌ GOOSE ʊ, ɪʊ BATH æ, æɪ MOUTH æʊ ɪ→eɪ /-ŋ ‘sing’ :[seɪŋ] Rhoticity varies Non-rhoticity: upper class whites, blacks Rhoticity: lower class whites

Some features of the Southern pronunciation of North America L : quite clear V-V, clear also before [aɪ], [ɔɪ] ɬ→ᴓ/ - { +C, +labial, +velar} ‘help’ [hɛəp], ‘bulb’: [bʌəb] In old fashioned tidewater /k, g/→front, [c, ɟ]palatal Winner= winter: [wɪnər] Some [ʔ] fot /t/ ‘can’t you’: [kænʔjə] s→∫/- r ‘shrink’: [sriŋk] ‘it’ : [hɪt] ‘isn’t’: [ɪdnt]]