4 Lesson n°4
4.1 Correction
| Word | Stress Pattern | IPA (RP) | Received Pronunciation | General American |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| age | /1/ | /eɪdʒ/ | /eɪdʒ/ | |
| jinx | /1/ | /dʒɪŋks/ | /dʒɪŋks/ | |
| shake | /1/ | /ʃeɪk/ | /ʃeɪk/ | |
| chair | /1/ | /tʃeə/ | /tʃer/ | |
| once | /1/ | /wʌns/ | /wʌns/ | |
| music | /10/ | /’mjuːz.ɪk/ | /’mjuːz.ɪk/ | |
| ink | /1/ | /ɪŋk/ | /ɪŋk/ | |
| lamb | /1/ | /læm/ | /læm/ | |
| choke | /1/ | /tʃəʊk/ | /tʃoʊk/ |
| Word | Stress Pattern | IPA (RP) | Received Pronunciation | General American |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| straight | /1/ | /streɪt/ | /streɪt/ | |
| sustain | /01/ | /sə.’steɪn/ | /sə.’steɪn/ | |
| work | /1/ | /wɜːk/ | /wɜ˞ːk/ | |
| remind | /01/ | /ri.’maɪnd/ | /ri.’maɪnd/ | |
| damp | /1/ | /dæmp/ | /dæmp/ | |
| though | /1/ | /ðəʊ/ | /ðoʊ/ | |
| note | /1/ | /nəʊt/ | /noʊt/ | |
| scythe | /1/ | /saɪð/ | scythe | |
| lucky | /10/ | /’lʌk.i/ | /’lʌk.i/ | |
| wall | /1/ | /wɔːl/ | /wɔːl/ |
| Word | Stress Pattern | IPA (RP) | Received Pronunciation | General American |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| these | /1/ | /ðiːz/ | /ðiːz/ | |
| figure | /10/ | /’fɪg.ə/ | /’fɪg.ər/ | |
| break | /1/ | /breɪk/ | /breɪk/ | |
| vaccine | /10/ | /’væks.iːn/ | /ˌvæks.’iːn/ | |
| low | /1/ | /ləʊ/ | /loʊ/ | |
| throw | /1/ | /θrəʊ/ | /θroʊ/ | |
| land | /1/ | /lænd/ | /lænd/ | |
| foam | /1/ | /fəʊm/ | /foʊm/ | |
| spoon | /1/ | /spuːn/ | /spuːn/ | |
| healthy | /10/ | /’helθ.i/ | /’helθ.i/ |
4.2 /æ/ in American
We follow Labov (2010).
Images are from wikipedia
4.2.1 An example of sound changes: the NCS
The Northern Cities Shift is a rotation of short vowels taking place in the Inland North, a territory comprising 34 million speakers.
▲Map of the Inland North
▲The Northern Cities Shift
Assumed order of the rotation:
General raising and fronting of /æ/ (“bat”)
Fronting of /ɒ/ (“got”)
Lowering of /ɔː/ (“bought”)
Backward shift of /e/ (“bet”) towards /ʌ/
Backing and rounding of /ʌ/
Backing of /ɪ/ (“bit”)
This rotation of short vowels is a remarkable development, given the relative stability of the English short vowel system from old English up to the twentieth century (p.112).
–
No other dialect shows such a generalized tensing and raising (p.113).
4.2.2 Let’s focus on /æ/
While a is raised and fronted in particular context by almost all speakers of North American English, a historical process in this particular area has eliminated all contextual conditions (p.114).
–
All other dialects with short-a raising will differentiate prenasal vowels from others (p.113).
4 types of short-a systems originating from upstate New-York:
The nasal system: allophonic tensing of /æ/ before nasal consonants, and nowhere else (New England)
The nasal system with the broad-a pattern: “aunt”, “can’t”, “half”, “past” (newer settlers)
The split short-a system: tensing in syllables closed by voiced stops, voiceless fricatives and front nasals — along with many grammatical and lexical specifications (cf. “mad”, “bad”, “glad” vs. “sad” and “dad” in Philadelphia).
The Celtic substrate: speakers of Hiberno-English, where short a is low front or low entral.
This of course leads to misunderstandings…
4.2.3 NCS-induced misunderstandings
The following examples show what non-NCS speakers understood.
Correct the examples to what was actually meant.
Say which step of the NCS these misunderstandings were caused by (1/2/3/4/5/6).
| This area is full of bets. |
| Do you have any pots in the house? |
| We trucked across Wisconsin. |
| Senior citizens living on the black. |
| The Express Way is jammed salad. |
▲
4.3 Les catégories de voyelles
Essayez d’établir une typologie des 20 voyelles de la RP.
checked steady-state vowels: /ɪ e æ ɒ ʊ ʌ/ & /ə/ (!!)
Free steady-state: /iː aː ɔː uː ɜː/
Diphthongs:
- centring: /ɪə ʊə/
- closing:
- Fronting: /eɪ aɪ ɔɪ/
- Backing: /əʊ aʊ/
Il manque une voyelle… Laquelle ?
/ɛː/, ou /əe/