Category Archives: English Phonetics

The phonetics of the English language.

Halloween!

It’s funny that the last post here was about free variation, as today’s holiday is an example of that phenomenon in action.  Here in America, there are two distinct pronunciations of ‘Halloween’ that can occur in General American accents.  The … Continue reading

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When Free Variation Isn’t So Free

[Ed note: I made two slight edits to an earlier version of this post for purposes of clarity.] Like most people, my pronunciation is inconsistent. Take the word ‘thought,’ for example. I sometimes rhyme this with ‘lot,’ while other times I … Continue reading

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The Vowel in ‘Yeah’

Of English’s many alternatives to ‘yes,’ the word yeah is perhaps the most common.  I’d go so far as to say there is some type of ‘yeah’ or yeah-like word in nearly every native dialect of English.  Yet despite its ubiquity, … Continue reading

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Speech Recognition and Accents

I don’t have time for a lengthy post today, which is unfortunate: the way software deals with regional accents deserves a longer discussion (led by someone more knowledgeable than me, frankly).  Regardless, I want to share a Slate article apropos … Continue reading

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Marry, Merry, Mary

[Ed. Note: In an earlier version of this article, I suggested I pronounce ‘marry,’ ‘merry’ and ‘Mary’ differently.  The opposite is true.  I pronounce them alike.] Do you pronounce ‘marry,’ ‘merry,’ and ‘Mary’ the same?  I do, which makes me a … Continue reading

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How Non-Rhotic Accents Become Rhotic

While we’re on the topic of rhotic and non-rhotic accents, I’ll address a frequently asked question:  why do non-rhotic accents switch so quickly to rhotic?  And vice versa? Since World War Two, both the US and Britain have experienced massive … Continue reading

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When ‘Price’ and ‘Prize’ Don’t Rhyme

In recent years, I’ve noticed a growing phenomenon among American English speakers. People with otherwise “standard” accents exhibit a “non-standard” pronunciation of words like price, right, and kite. To use right as an example, this results in pronunciations which sound … Continue reading

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Why Vowel Shifts?

[Ed. Note:  I’m on vacation till Saturday, July 30th, so I’m publishing some old posts that I drafted but never published for various reasons.  Some of these might be a little rough around the edges.  Also note that it may … Continue reading

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Children’s Accents

Children’s accents tell us quite a bit about adult accents. From the speech of children, we can deduce which sounds of English are easily acquired and which less so.  And in some situations, we can find explanations for why accents … Continue reading

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Question About the Speech Accent Archive

A recent piece at WAMU profiles the Speech Accent Archive, an online database of accent samples compiled by the George Washington University‘s Linguistics Department.  A vast collection of recordings of English speakers around the globe, this eleven-year-old resource is one … Continue reading

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