B. Regional Non-RP Accents of England

As was stated above, we grouped regional accents of Eng­land into southern and northern ones. This division is very ap­proximate of course, because there are western and eastern ac­cents but their main accent variations correspond either with southern or northern accentual characteristics. Thus we would like to point out here the main differences between southern and northern accents.

ln vowels

One of the main differences between these groups of accents is in the phoneme inventory — the presence or absence of partic­ular phonemes. Typically, the vowel [ʌ] does not occur in the ac­cents of the north; e.g.

South North

blood [blʌd] [blud]

one [wʌn] [wɒn]

but [bʌt] [bət]

We can also note that many northern speakers while they do not have [ʌ] have [u:] rather than [u] in words such as hook, book, look. They therefore distinguish pairs like book and buck, which in the south sound [buk] and [Ьлк], in the North as [bick] and [tuk]:

South   North

book [buk] [bu:k]

buck [bʌk] [buk]

Another well-known feature which distinguishes northern and southern accents concerns the vowels [æ] and [ɑ:].

Before the voiceless fricatives [f, Ɵ, s] and certain consonant clusters containing initial [n] or [m], [æ] is pronounced in the north instead of [a:].

262

South   North

path [pɑ:Ɵ]   [pæƟ]

dance [dɑ:ns]  [dæns]

Note: Speakers with more strongly regional southern sub­standard accents may not have the contrast or, at most, have a contrast that is variable.

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In the south, however, [æ] is often pronounced as [ɑ:]:

RP South

bad [bæd] [bad]

A = [æ] in path

В = [ɑ:] in path

С = [æ] — [a:] contrast absent or in doubt

264

One more major north — south differentiating feature in­volves the final [i:] like in words city, money, etc. In the north of England they have [ı]. In the south of England these words are pronounced with [i:], e.g.

South   North

 city ['sıti:]   ['sıtı]

money ['mʌni:] ['mɒnı]

 

ln consonants

It has been mentioned above that some English accents are "rhotic" or "r-full" and other are non-rhotic or "r-less". Rhotic ac­cents are those which actually pronounce [r], corresponding to orthographic "r" in words like bar and farm. This [r] sound is post-vocalic and is most often heard in Scotland, Ireland and in the southwest of England. The map on p. 264 shows the spread of post-vocalic [r] (A = post-vocalic [r] present, В = post-vocal­ic [r] absent).

In most regional accents the glottal stop is more widely used than in RP. In some areas, especially the north-east of England, East Anglia and Northern Ireland, the glottal stop may also be pronounced simultaneously with the voiceless [p, t, k], most strikingly between vowels: pity ['pitʔi:].

Many non-RP speakers use [n] in the suffix "-ing" instead of [ŋ]; sitting ['sitin]. In an area of western central England which includes Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool they pronounce [ng]: singer ['singə], wing [wiŋg].

Now about [j]-dropping. In most accents [j] is dropped after [t, sj: student ['stu:dənt], suit [surt]. In parts of the north the change has progressed a good deal further, it has been lost after [Ɵ]: en­thusiasm [ən'Ɵu:zıəzm].

In large areas of eastern England [j] is lost after every conso­nant. In London [j] is lost after [n, t, d]: news [nu:z], tune [tu:n].

 

Southern English Accents

We now turn to an examination of regional non-RP accents of England and we shall first give a brief outline of the group of Southern accents.

265

 

As was stated above, educated Southern speech is very much near-RP accent whereas non-standard accents are very much near Cockney. Therefore we shall focus our attention on the rather detailed description of uneducated London accent — Cockney.

Cockney accent. It has been long established that Cockney is a social accent — the speech of working-class areas of the Great­er London. Here are some pronunciation peculiarities of it.

In vowels

1. [ʌ] is realized as [æi]: blood [bLvd] — [blæid];

2.[æ] is realized as [ɛ] or [ɛı]: bag [bæg] — [bɛg], [bɛig];

3. [i] in word-final position sounds as [i:]: city ['siti] — ['siti:];

4. when [ɔ:] is non-final, its realization is much closer, it sounds like [o:]: pause [pɔ:z] — [po:z]; when it is final, it is pro­nounced as [ɔ:ə]: paw [pɔ:] — [pɔ:ə];

266

5. the diphthong [ei] is realized as [æi] or [ai]: lady ['leidi] — ['læidi:], ['laidi:];

6. RP [ɜu] sounds as [æu]: soaked [sɜukt] — [sæukt];

7. RP [au] may be [æə]: now [nau] — [næə].

In consonants

1. [h] in unstressed position is almost invariably absent;

2. [ʔ] is widely spread in Cockney speech: paper ['pæiʔpə], butterfly ['bʌʔtəflai];

3. The contrast between [Ɵ] and [f] is completely lost: thin [fin], booth [bu:f];

4. The contrast between [ð] and [v] is occasionally lost: weather ['wevə];

5. when [ð] occurs initially it is either dropped or replaced by [d]: this [ðis], them [(d)əm];

6. [l] is realized as a vowel when it precedes a consonant and follows a vowel, or when it is syllabic: milk [mivk], table [teibv]; when the preceding vowel is [ɔ:], [l] may disappear completely;

7. [ŋ] is replaced by [n] in word-final position: dancing ['da:nsin] or it may be pronounced as [iŋk] in something, any­thing, nothing: ['nʌfiŋk];

8. [p, t, k] are heavily aspirated, more so than in RP;

9. [t] is affricated, [s] is heard before the vowel: top [tsɒp].

 

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