English Accents
Introduction
In this module we will be listening to how English is pronounced in different parts of the English-speaking world.
The first accent we will look at is RP. That stands for Received Pronunciation. It is the accent of public schools, the Royal Family and many middle-class and upper-class speakers. RP has changed over time and its place amongst the different English accents is also changing.
We will use J.C. Wells' Lexical Sets chart (1982) to look at RP vowels and diphthongs and we will compare them to the vowels found in many northern English accents. This will be a good way to see how the lexical sets work.
Lexical sets (1)
In RP there are twelve different vowel phonemes and eight diphthongs.
Listen to the vowel sounds.
Lexical sets (1)
On the right we can see J.C. Wells' (1982: 120) Lexical Set chart. Notice that there are twenty-seven different boxes. If there are twenty different vowels and diphthongs, why do we need twenty-seven boxes? Let's see the next slide.
Lexical sets (2)
The reason is that the twenty-seven lexical sets represent how the different phonemes of English are pronounced and how they evolved. Wells uses one word to represent all the words in each set.
KIT lexical set
For example, the KIT set, the first on the chart, represents all the words that had a short /i/ sound in earlier forms of English like kid, tip, thin, etc. There is only one box because most of these words evolved from a short /i/ sound.
BATH, PALM & START lexical sets
In the case of other lexical sets the situation is more complicated. In RP the phoneme /ɑː/ is found in words from the BATH set like bath, path and grass and /ɑː/ is also in words from the PALM set (half, calf) and the START set, that is words with an "r" in the spelling (part, market, heart). As we can see, they evolved differently.
BATH lexical set
The BATH words evolved in the South-East when some of the words that were pronounced /a/ split into two groups, the BATH group and the TRAP group. This split did not happen in areas like the North of England (see Yorkshire English, for instance). In the North, BATH words are pronounced like TRAP words as no split took place. So, in the North, words like grass and gas are pronounced with the same vowel /æ/ but in RP, they are pronounced with /ɑː/ and/æ/ respectively.
Let's listen to the way some words are pronounced in RP and northern English.
bath, path, grass, chance, dance, France
Northern English
RP
Play
Play
START & PALM lexical sets
The /ɑː/ in the START words evolved because an "a" sound was lengthened when post-vocalic "r" disappeared. So, words like start were originally pronounced with an "r" after the "a" vowel as in part, market and after "ea" as in heart. The "a" sound was lengthened in PALM words when the "l" sound disappeared. That’s right, the "l" was originally pronounced in words like palm, calf, and half!
Play
Play
STRUT & FOOT lexical sets
There is another famous difference between RP and Northern English. In RP there are words pronounced with a STRUT /ʌ/ vowel, for example, but, just, fun. There are also words pronounced with a FOOT /ʊ/ vowel, such as bush, put, good. In Northern English, however, all these words are pronounced with a FOOT vowel. This means that Northern English has one less pure vowel than RP.
STRUT & FOOT lexical sets
Let's listen to some words with a STRUT vowel: but, just, fun and some words with a FOOT /ʊ/ vowel: bush, put, good.
Play
Let's listen to these same words in Northern English
Play
Recap
Listen to the vowel sounds of RP once more.
Quiz
01
The word "calf" is pronounced with a _______ vowel in RP.
BATH /ɑː/
FOOT /ʊ/
STRUT /ʌ/
Quiz
02
The word "bush" is pronounced with a _______ vowel in RP.
BATH /ɑː/
FOOT /ʊ/
STRUT /ʌ/
Quiz
03
The word "but" is pronounced with a _______ vowel in RP
START /ɑː/
TRAP /æ/
STRUT /ʌ/
Quiz
04
The word "part" is pronounced with a _______ vowel in RP
START /ɑː/
TRAP /æ/
STRUT /ʌ/
Quiz
05
RP has one less vowel than Northern English.
TRUE
FALSE
Well done!
Now you are ready to see and hear some examples of RP. Click on the arrow!
Click below to try again
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Transcript
English Accents
Introduction
In this module we will be listening to how English is pronounced in different parts of the English-speaking world.
The first accent we will look at is RP. That stands for Received Pronunciation. It is the accent of public schools, the Royal Family and many middle-class and upper-class speakers. RP has changed over time and its place amongst the different English accents is also changing.
We will use J.C. Wells' Lexical Sets chart (1982) to look at RP vowels and diphthongs and we will compare them to the vowels found in many northern English accents. This will be a good way to see how the lexical sets work.
Lexical sets (1)
In RP there are twelve different vowel phonemes and eight diphthongs.
Listen to the vowel sounds.
Lexical sets (1)
On the right we can see J.C. Wells' (1982: 120) Lexical Set chart. Notice that there are twenty-seven different boxes. If there are twenty different vowels and diphthongs, why do we need twenty-seven boxes? Let's see the next slide.
Lexical sets (2)
The reason is that the twenty-seven lexical sets represent how the different phonemes of English are pronounced and how they evolved. Wells uses one word to represent all the words in each set.
KIT lexical set
For example, the KIT set, the first on the chart, represents all the words that had a short /i/ sound in earlier forms of English like kid, tip, thin, etc. There is only one box because most of these words evolved from a short /i/ sound.
BATH, PALM & START lexical sets
In the case of other lexical sets the situation is more complicated. In RP the phoneme /ɑː/ is found in words from the BATH set like bath, path and grass and /ɑː/ is also in words from the PALM set (half, calf) and the START set, that is words with an "r" in the spelling (part, market, heart). As we can see, they evolved differently.
BATH lexical set
The BATH words evolved in the South-East when some of the words that were pronounced /a/ split into two groups, the BATH group and the TRAP group. This split did not happen in areas like the North of England (see Yorkshire English, for instance). In the North, BATH words are pronounced like TRAP words as no split took place. So, in the North, words like grass and gas are pronounced with the same vowel /æ/ but in RP, they are pronounced with /ɑː/ and/æ/ respectively.
Let's listen to the way some words are pronounced in RP and northern English.
bath, path, grass, chance, dance, France
Northern English
RP
Play
Play
START & PALM lexical sets
The /ɑː/ in the START words evolved because an "a" sound was lengthened when post-vocalic "r" disappeared. So, words like start were originally pronounced with an "r" after the "a" vowel as in part, market and after "ea" as in heart. The "a" sound was lengthened in PALM words when the "l" sound disappeared. That’s right, the "l" was originally pronounced in words like palm, calf, and half!
Play
Play
STRUT & FOOT lexical sets
There is another famous difference between RP and Northern English. In RP there are words pronounced with a STRUT /ʌ/ vowel, for example, but, just, fun. There are also words pronounced with a FOOT /ʊ/ vowel, such as bush, put, good. In Northern English, however, all these words are pronounced with a FOOT vowel. This means that Northern English has one less pure vowel than RP.
STRUT & FOOT lexical sets
Let's listen to some words with a STRUT vowel: but, just, fun and some words with a FOOT /ʊ/ vowel: bush, put, good.
Play
Let's listen to these same words in Northern English
Play
Recap
Listen to the vowel sounds of RP once more.
Quiz
01
The word "calf" is pronounced with a _______ vowel in RP.
BATH /ɑː/
FOOT /ʊ/
STRUT /ʌ/
Quiz
02
The word "bush" is pronounced with a _______ vowel in RP.
BATH /ɑː/
FOOT /ʊ/
STRUT /ʌ/
Quiz
03
The word "but" is pronounced with a _______ vowel in RP
START /ɑː/
TRAP /æ/
STRUT /ʌ/
Quiz
04
The word "part" is pronounced with a _______ vowel in RP
START /ɑː/
TRAP /æ/
STRUT /ʌ/
Quiz
05
RP has one less vowel than Northern English.
TRUE
FALSE
Well done!
Now you are ready to see and hear some examples of RP. Click on the arrow!
Click below to try again