Variations in the Phonologies of Different English Varieties : Phonological Differences between Southern Standard British English and General American

Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,7, Free University of Berlin (Englische Philologie), language: English, abstract: The following essay will deal with pronunciation differences of varieties and will therefore regard different English accents and the phonology of those. In a nutshell, phonology deals with the "study of the selection and patterns of sounds in a single language" (Collins & Mees 2006:7). Since the term `accent symbolizes the pronunciation and the term `phonology stands for different sound patterns, it is not difficult to see the close link between both terms. More detailed information on phonology will be provided in the following. In order to categorize an English language further, one might also point out that several variations exist within the different varieties. These can, for instance, be of a social or regional nature and can occur between different varieties or within them (Collins & Mees 2006:2). Concerning the latter, the speakers do, nevertheless, have mutual core features by which they can be classified as a group of speakers. "An accent, in phonological terms, is an idealized system which speakers of that variety share" (McMahon 2002:93). This idealized version is perceived as the standard version. This also helps to produce a categorization of types of differences between accents (McMahon 2002:93). In the following it will be argued that the phonology of English varieties can differ in four ways. Firstly, to create a basic understanding, the essay will shortly deal with the terminology around phonology. Then the possible general phonological differences between varieties will be explained. Subsequently, the essay will spotlight the differences in the phonology of the North American Standard English in comparison to the British Standard English. Lastly, a short conclusion will be given.