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Tag Archives: phonetics
Is the glottal stop bad for you?
You may not know what a glottal stop is, but you’ve probably heard one. Already baffled? Let me explain. Ever talk to someone from London who pronounced butter something like “bu’uh?” With the t becoming a kind of “grunt?” The t … Continue reading
Posted in English Phonetics Tagged celebrity accents, class and accent, Cockney, phonetics, stigmatized accents 47 Comments
Short O: Separated by an Uncommon Vowel
Brits and Americans are perplexed by each other’s short-o‘s. The short-o, of course, it the curious little vowel sound in words like lot, rod and top. It’s is one of the English Language’s more inconsequential phonemes (you can write entire paragraphs … Continue reading
Northern Cities Vowel Shift vs. Canadian Accents
As per our recent discussion of Canadian accents, I’d like to delve into a question I often hear: how different is Canadian English from American English? What’s remarkable about Canadian English is not that it’s different from American English, but … Continue reading
“New Joysey” and “Oirish:” 6 Accent Myths
As per yesterday’s post about the mythological Canadian aboot, I’ve thought of some other myths people harbor about accents and dialects of English. Here are a few common misconceptions: 1.) Myth: People in Shakespeare’s day talked more like Americans than … Continue reading
Canadian Raising: Nobody says “Aboot”
A point of clarification: Canadians do not say aboot. Canadian English features something called Canadian Raising, which basically means that the diphthong in “now” is raised before t, s or other voiceless consonants (i.e. before words like about and house). What … Continue reading
Good at Phonetics? It May be Genetics!
Any dialect coach will tell you that not everyone has a knack for picking up accents. Some people take to this kind of work immediately, while others struggle to recognize the most basic differences between accents. It’s a sad reality. … Continue reading