Scholars Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences ISSN 2347-5374(Online) Abbreviated Key Title: Sch. J. Arts Humanit. Soc. Sci. ISSN 2347-9493(Print) ©Scholars Academic and Scientific Publishers (SAS Publishers) A Unit of Scholars Academic and Scientific Society, India

An Assessment of The Differences of English Dialects in The Regions That Have English as Official Language Including The (RP) and General American (GAM) Nwabueze*, Ejike E Department of , Faculty of Arts and the Use of English Language, School of General Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

Abstract: English language, every other language, has different dialects and *Corresponding author accents. English dialects reflect different forms of grammar, vocabulary and Nwabueze pronunciation among speakers of English. In other words, speakers of the language do not have the same grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation; yet they communicate History intelligibly. This work is an assessment of English dialects differences in the regions Received: 19.11.2018 with English as official language and the Received Pronunciation (RP) and General Accepted: 28.11.2018 American (gam). Various literatures relating to the topic was reviewed. In particular, Published: 30.12.2018 the America and language was reviewed. From the findings of the study, it was concluded that the varieties or dialects do not only exist in the regions DOI: where English is spoken as an official or second language, but also in the regions that 10.21276/sjahss.2018.6.12.8 have it as their first language or mother tongue. A lot of attention should be paid to ―Accent Neutralization/Reduction‖ which is also known as accent modification. It is a systematic approach used in learning or adopting a new accent. The method used involves several steps which include among others: identifying deviations in the person‘s current speech from the desired dialect (such as pronunciation, speech pattern and speech habits), changing the way one uses one‘s mouth, teeth and tongue to form vowels and consonants, modifying one‘s intonation and patterns, as well as changing one‘s rhythm. It enables proficient English speakers speak with a

more American or British dialect and accent reduction training that is available include; workshops, seminars, classroom, software, online software products, over the phone, over webcam, through books and recordings and on a one- on-one basis. Hence with accent neutralization/reduction, users of English can communicate effectively with each other notwithstanding their backgrounds were recommended. Keywords: English Dialects Differences, regions With English, Official Language, Received Pronunciation (RP) And General American (GAM).

INTRODUCTION implies that in a language, there are various forms of Language is generally seen as a means of communication that are familiar to the people using the communication. There are many languages in the world language. The speakers of the age understand and today and some of them include: French, Italian, communicate with one another withstanding the German, Chinese, Spanish, Greek, Latin, etc. In differences in grammar words and pronunciation. That Nigeria, many languages exist such as Igbo, Hausa, uba, is why French speakers understand one another despite Efik, Ibibio, Tiv, etc. These languages have their different forms of French language. In Nigeria, the Igbo dialects and accents which capture different races that Language has different forms that are peculiar to Igbo exist in a given geographical location. For instance, the That. is also why someone from Imo State (Igbo Italian language which is n in Italy has different dialects Speaking State) can communicate with another from and accents that reflect its speaker. Anambra (another Igbo speaking State) in spite of different forms of language. Dialect is generally defined as the form of a language spoken ne area with grammar, words and Wikipedia captures dialects as ―varieties of pronunciation that may differ from other forms of the language differing in vocabulary and syntax, as well as same language. Brook defines dialects as ―sub-division pronunciation‖ and are ―Usually spoken by a group of a language used by p of people who have some non- united by geography or social status‖. Thus, dialects of linguistic characteristics in common‖ [2]. This explains a language comprise all aspects of that language such as the fact that dialects are forms of a language shared by grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary and even spelling. language shared by speakers of the same language. This Available online: http://saspjournals.com/sjahss 2215

Nwabueze & Ejike E., Sch. J. Arts. Humanit. Soc. Sci., Dec, 2018; 6(12): 2215-2225 Hence, we can identify American and British English RESEARCH METHODOLOGY differing in vocabulary, spelling and pronunciation [4]. The approach to this study is mainly a comparative analysis off two standard dialects of Accents are different ways of pronouncing the English language: the Received Pronunciation (RP) and words of that indicate which country or area a person General American (CAM). Books, journals and articles comes from. The definition is very clear as it relates to that discuss the similarities and differences of the different pronunciation patterns of Words of a language. segmental and suprasegmental features of the RP and Todd and Hancock accent as relating ―to a person‘s CAM will be compared adequately. This will enable us pronunciation‖. According to ―everyone who speaks has determine the extent they are related to, and differ from an accent‖. That is why the issue clearest, most each other for effective teaching of, and communication intelligible, best or even accent less arises‖ [1]. Accent in the language. Also for a specific comparative manner of pronunciation of a language can be used with analysis, Peter Roach‘s work on Received dialect and distinguishing them may be more: using Pronunciation and the latest work in Wikipedia on However, Phonologists agree that spoken aspect of a General America are the two models represented greatly associated with its patterns of pronunciation, these patterns of pronunciation are synonymous with Regional of English the accents of a language. As already observed, English dialects are varieties of English that differ in grammar, vocabulary Accents as phonemic inventories and and pronunciation from other forms of the language; realizations of a given language capture different while English accents deal specifically with various variations of segmental and suprasegmental features. In ways English words are pronounced. Regions on the a language, one can differentiate one speaker from the other hand are different geographical locations with other based on how words, sentences and ions are peculiarities [2]. realized. For example, in Nigeria, an Igbo speaker Imo State may pronounce ‗otu‘ (one); while another speaker Various ways English words are pronounced. Anambra State pronounces it as ‗ofu‘ (one). Here, the Regions on the other hand are different geographical consonants It, and /f/ differ, but they understand each locations with peculiarities. The relationship between other. English dialects and accents confirms the fact that English accents emanated from English dialects. In English language, like every other language, other it is through the dialects of English that various has different dialects and accents. English dialects English are realized. Thus, the regional dialects of reflect different forms of grammar, vocabulary and English reveal the ways English words are pronounced pronunciation among speakers of English. In other across areas where language is spoken as a first or words, speakers of the language do not have the same second/official language. These differences in grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation; yet they pronunciation stem from different phoneme inventories communicate intelligibly. For instance, the sentences: of the local dialects of . Hence, it ―He did it‖ and ―He did it‖ reflect different grammar of becomes a well-known fact that: English; while the phrases: ―we brain‖ and ―small child‖ depict different vocabulary; yet they are easily Among native English speakers, many different accents understood by different speakers of the English exist. Some regional accents are easily identified by language. English accents also reflect different ways of certain characteristics [. .] each has distinct accents [. . pronouncing English words. For instance, the difference .J yet in extreme cases is different enough to be noticed in ‗bath‘ with short //- t/ and ‗bath‘ with a long /a:/ - even by a non-local listener. There is also much room /ba:t/ is solely a matter of accent. In the words of Daniel for misunderstanding between people from different Jones ―no two persons pronounce exactly alike, even regions, as the way one word is pronounced in one the best speaker commonly uses more than one style‖ accent (for example, ‘petal’, in ) will [3]. Hence, one can stress that English accents depict sound like a different word in another accent (for different individuals that speak the language. Also, in example, pearl in ). (Wikipedia) the words of Freeborn and Langford that ―accent is a means of aligning oneself in groups of people and of As English language spread from one region to distinguishing yourself from others‖ [7], it becomes another, different varieties in grammar, vocabulary and obvious that non-native speakers of try as much as pronunciation came exist. Quirk and Greenbaum agree possible to master the accents of native of the language. that ―geographical dispersion is in fact the class‘s basis for linguistic variation‖ [2]. They further point out that From the above analysis, it becomes obvious ―regional variation seems to be realized predominantly that the relationship between English dialects and in phonology‖ and that is why ―we generally recognize accents is what I call theof ―Inclusiveness and a different dialect from a speaker‘s pronunciation‘ while Separation‖ This view is supported by as he states that: ―grammatical variation tends to be less extensive and certainly less obstructive‖ [2]. These shows a lot; the

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Nwabueze & Ejike E., Sch. J. Arts. Humanit. Soc. Sci., Dec, 2018; 6(12): 2215-2225 importance of pronunciation (phonology) in relation to certain [20] words has American English. and/or British influence. In the United States, American English which is also known as United States English or Daniel Jones attributes the existence of dialects U.S. English is a set of dialects of the language used of English language to the liberty native speakers has in mostly in the United States. Hence, different accents of pronouncing English words. According to him: the language can be identified in the, United States [21].

The pronunciation of English words is not governed by The southern Hemisphere, according to him, a strict set of rules; most words have more than one comprises the Australian, New Zealand, Falkland Island pronunciation, and the speaker’s choice of which to use and Saint Helena accents. There are three class based depends on a wide range of factors. These include: the accents of : Broad Australian, degree of formality; the amount of background noise, General Australian and Cultivated Australian [17]. The the speed of utterance, the speaker’s perception of the New Zealand accent is distinguished from the listener and the frequency with which the speaker uses Australian as the former resembles South African the word [12]. English. Scottish English influence is obvious in the Southern regions of New Zealand, especially Dunedin. A survey of regional dialects of English In Falkland Islands, Falkiand accent is stronger It language exposes a corpus of differences in the resembles Australian, New Zealand, Norfolk (in pronunciation of English words in the regions which ) English, and also has a number of Spanish have English as first or second/official language. In the loanwords. in Saint Helena Islands, their accent can be words of Roach ―differences between accents are two said to be similar to South Africa [17]. main sorts: phonetic and phonological‖ [5]. In other words, phonetic difference exists in situation where two Australia and New Zealand. Charles Barber in accents nave similar honeme inventory, but are realized The English e: A Historical introduction explains that differently; while phonological is parity exists where the phonological systems of Australian, New Zealand the two accents have different number of phonemes and [19] English are virtually the e as that of RP‖ [1]. He phonemic contrast. This obviously explains the fact that further clarifies that ―New Zealand inundation is very many different regional dialects of English have paved similar to the Australian, but with minor differences way to many different accents even among native [18]. Charles Barber in his analysis of Southern speakers. That is why Quirk and Greenbaum state that Hemisphere English and RP also establishes that the ―It is pointless to ask how many dialects of English two have e differences ―in the distribution of phonemes there are: there are indefinitely many dependably in lexica items, the differences are less great than those society on how detailed we wish to be in our between RP and ‖ [8]. observations‖ [12]. In Southern Africa there are South African, Wells G. in Accents of English establishes Zimbabwean and Namibian English. English .is one of different regional dialects of English language. the eleven official languages in South Africa. According to him, the varieties of English used in Great According to Wells, J.C, the Afrikaners (Boers) Britain or the United Kingdom are these of Enqland, descendants of mainly Dutch settlers pronounce English Scotland and Wales, which have made many accents to phonemes with a strong Afrikaan inflection, which is exist in the United Kingdom, while in Ireland, the similar to Dutch. Native English speakers‘ accent predominant accents are Ulster, Connacht, Leinster and resembles British RP with varying degrees of Germanic Munster which are commonly known as 1-liberno- inflection, as well as elements of varying numbers of English. There are two main sub of Ulster accent viz: Afrikaan and Bantu loanwords; but the accents of native Mid- and Ulster Scots [14]. English speakers of Johannesburg differ. Charles Barber vividly states that ―[19] are The Ulster accent has much in common with virtually the same as that of RP [5], while Zimbabwean Scottish English based on influence from Ulster Scots. (native English speakers) and Namibian English are That is why it is often recognized as a variety of Scots. similar to South African. Connacht, Leinster and Munster accents are relatively similar and can only be distinguished by locals. Also in In Asia continent, English is spoken officially Ireland, Dublin and Cork accents differ from most Irish in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and the [13]. Philippines. Hence, different accents can be identified. In Hong Kong, the accent of English s mainly British Wells further identifies different accents in with strong influence from Cantonese. ntly, Canadian North America, namely, Canada, the United States, and Australian influences are gaining ground as a result West Indies and Bermuda. In Canada, three major of returnees who migrated to Canada and Australia. dialect areas exist: Western/Central, the Maritinies, and is close to that spoken in SIngapore, Newfoundland which have resulted in three accents Malaysia, and The Singaporean and Malaysian accents Canadian English. However, the pronunciation of are somewhat and the differences between them can be Available online: http://saspjournals.com/sjahss 2217

Nwabueze & Ejike E., Sch. J. Arts. Humanit. Soc. Sci., Dec, 2018; 6(12): 2215-2225 likened to those American and Canadian accents. something to be proud of and that is why different Wikipedia states that ―Singaporean and Malaysian accents of English language cannot seize to exist. Wells accents appear to be a melding of Chinese and Malay in Accents of English discusses some general features influences‖. is heavily: ed by of English English which include but not limited to: American English, as well as Tagalog and other me  Most versions of the dialect have non-rhbtiç languages, It is a regarded as a rhotic accent. pronunciation, that /r/ is pronounced only if it is followed by a vowel. Areas with rhoic accents, that Charles Barber illustrates that ―reduction in the is, /r/ is pronounced in all the positions it appears in number of vowel - phonemes is characteristic of most words are the far north, the West Country, varieties of African English [9]. According to him the Lancashire accept Manchester Area) and the town reduction of number of festures features prominently in of Corby (where there was large Scottish Nigeria English. For instance, ―There is only one influence). phoneme corresponding to RP /i/ and /i:/, so that ‗bid‘  Northern versions of the dialect often lack the and ‗bead‘ are both /bid/; only one corresponding to /ae/ ―foot-strut‖ split, that there is no distinction and /a:/, so that ‗hat‘ and ‗heart‘ are both /ht/ [3,4].‖ between /15/ and /A/ making ‗Put‘ ‗putt‘ Charles Barber further explains that English spoken in homophones as /PU/ Nigeria, South Asia, Singapore and other sub-Sahara  In the southern variety, words like ‗bãth‘, ‗cast‘, Africa are syllable-timed. Unlike the RP and General ‗dance ‗fast‘; ‗castle‘, ‗grass‘, etc. are pronounced America which are stress—timed. The above opinions with the long vowel find in ‗calm!. /a:/ or a similar of some authors on regional dialects of English vowel, while in the midlands and tern varieties they language prove the fact that many dialects of the are pronounced with the same vowel as p‘ or ‗cat‘, language ecist. Quirk and Greenbaurn agree as they usually [6]. note that dialects of English are ―[3] more obviously  Many varieties undergo h-dropping, making ‗harm‘ numerous in the long-settled Eritain than in the North and ‗arm‘ homophones; but accents of America or in the still more recently settled Australia Northumberland, Tyneside and ‗parts Norfolk are and New Zealand [2] ‖. exceptions.  Most varieties have the ―horse-hoarse‖ merger. The British Dialects of English However, some northern accents retain the The British dialects of English clearly H distinction, pronouncing pairs of words: like lustrate different pronunciation patterns of English ‗/for/four‘, ‗horse/hoarse‘ and ‗morning‘/mourning‘ words in the United Kingdom. Scot Shay in The History differently. of English traces the origin of English Language.  The consonant clusters /s//, /z/ I, and /lj 7Th ‗suit‘, According to him: ‗zeus‘ and te‘ are preserved by some.  Many southern have the ―bad-lad‖ split, so that English is a West Germanic language that ‗bad‘ /bd/ and ‗lad‘ /ld/ do not rhyme. originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to  Most areas of England (notably RP speakers) have Britain by Germanic settiers and Roman auxiliary non-rhotic cents, while West Country, Corby, most troops from various parts of what is now northwest of Lancashire and some of Yorkshire has rhotic Germany and the Northern Netherlands. (Wikipedia) accents.

 The distinction between /w/and /m/ in ‗wine‘ and He adds that ―English developed into a ‗whine‘ i in most varieties. borrowing language of great flexibility resulting in an enormously varied and large vocabulary‖ However, there are three major divisions of (Wikipedia).This accounts for different accents of dialects of gush in England which obviously depict English in the United Kingdom and beyond. In Great three major accents. They include: ―Southern English, Britain, three varieties of English language feature Midland English and Northern gush dialects‖ prominently namely: English English, Scottish English (Wikipedia). Trudgil, Peter in Language in the in the and . They represent the varieties of British Isles as captured in Wikipedia discusses major accents in Britain. Also, these varieties have other accents of gush English. In the southern English accent, varieties that depict various counties in England, three main historical influences can be noticed: the Scotland and Wales and one can identify a mixture of London accent, Received ‗pronunciation and Southern rhotic and non-rhotic accents [1]. Rural accents. Generally, Southern English accents are

distinguished from Northern English accents primarily England no doubt occupies a lofty position as by not using the short in words such as ‗bath‘. In the the capital of teat Britain. The variety of English south-east, the ―broad A‖ is normally used before /f/, /s/ language spoken is known as English English. As or /0/: words such as ‗cast‘ and ‗bath‘ are pronounced Trudgili puts it ―there are many different accents and /ka:st/ and /ba:t/, the than /kst/ and /b9/. English spoken dialects throughout England and people are often very in the south-west has many varied accents, while in the proud of their local accent or dialect [. . .]― (6). In other East Anglia, the is spoken. It is very words, communicating in one‘s accent in England is Available online: http://saspjournals.com/sjahss 2218

Nwabueze & Ejike E., Sch. J. Arts. Humanit. Soc. Sci., Dec, 2018; 6(12): 2215-2225 important to note that accents fly from the upper-class of the consonant cluster /Im/ in coda position, e.g. speech of the London—Oxford - Cambridge triangle are ‗film‘ is pronounced as /filam/ [19]. particular notable as the basis for Received Pronunciation [1]. English or Scottish Standard English is the variety of English spoken in Scotland. The spelling and The Midland English generally does not use a pronunciation patterns of Scottish English do not differ ―broad A‘ so ‗cast‘ is pronounced /kaest/ instead of the much from other British dialects English. Abercrombie, /ka:st/ pronunciation of most southern accents. It also D in ―The accents of standards English in Scotland‖ uses widely the northern U, so that ‗putt‘ is pronounced Outlines some general feature of Scottish they are: the same as ‗put‘: Birmingham and the  It is a rhotic accent which means that in is accents are best known in the West Midlands. It is also pronounced in the syllable coda. necessary to note that Birmingham and Coventry  There is a distinction between /w/ and /m/ (also accents are quite distinct, even though cities are only 19 analyzed as /hw/ in word pairs such as ‗witch and miles/3Okm apart. The /g/ sound in F west midhands which‘) may be emphatically pronounced where it occurs in the  The phoneme /X/ is common in names and in combination of ‗ng‘ in words such as ‗ringing‘ and Scottish Standard English‘s many Gaelic and Scots ‗fang‘. Herefordshire and parts of Worcestershire and borrowings. Shropshire have arhotic accent close to the West  /I/ is usually until recently (e.g. Durnfries and Country [16]. Galloway), valorization may be absent.  Vowel valorized, but in areas where Scottish Gaelic In the East Midlands as the study indicates, the was spoken length is generally regarded as non- ―U vowel‖ of a word like ‗strut‘ is often [U], with no phonemic, although as non-phonemic, although a distinction between ‗Putt‘ and ‗put‘; and its accents are distinction part of Scottish English is the Scots generally non-rhotic. The town of y in northern vowel length rule. retain words that have sounds Northamptonshire has an accent with some OriginaIly such as /f/, /u/, and /ae/ are generally long, but are Scottish features. In Leicester, words with short vowels shortened before nasals and voiced osives. But it such as ‗up‘ and ‗last‘ have a northern pronunciation, does not occur across morpheme boundaries, so whereas words with vowels such as ‗down‘ and ‗road‘ that ‗crude‘ contrast with ‗crewed‘, ‗need‘ with sound more like a south-eastern accent. ‗kneed‘ and ―side‘ with ‗sighed‘  It has no /U/, but Scots‘ /u/. Phonetically, this The Northern England accents according to vowel may be ore front, being pronounced as /u/ or Wells in Accents English have some general features. even [yj. Thus, ‗pull‘ and ‗pool‘ are homophones. They include:  As in some other dialects, ‗cot‘ and ‗caught‘ are not  The ―short a‖ vowel of ‗cat‘, ‗trap‘ is normally differenced. pronounced [a] ‗rather than [oe] that. is found in  In most varieties, there is no //.and /0:7 distinctions, traditional Received Pronunciation in many forms hence bath! ‗trap‘. and ‗palm‘ have the same of American English. vowel; while ‗cat‘ and ‗cart‘ are distinguished only  The accents do not use /a:/. That is why ‗cast‘ is by means of the /r/, as ‗marry‘ rhymes with ‗starry‘ pronounced [kast] rather than the [ka:st]  /0s / is often used in plural nouns where southern pronunciation of most southern accents. English has /oz/ (e.g., baths, youths, etc.); while  They do not have /^/ (as in ‗strut‘, ‗but etc.) as a ‗with‘ and ‗booth‘ are pronounced with /0/. separate vowel. Most words that have this vowel in  In colloquial speech (especially among young RP are pronounced with /u/, so that ‗put‘ and ‗putt‘ males), the glottal stop may be an allophone of /t/ are homophonous as /put/. But some words with after a vowel, as in [cb^er]. These same speakers ,/U/ in RP on have /u/ in the more conservative may drop the ‗g‘ in the sufflx-‘ing‘ and debuccalize Northern accents, so that a pair like ‗look‘ and [0] to [h] ‘in certain contexts [16]. ‗luck‘ may be distinguished as /lUk/ and /luok/.

 The vowel in ‗dress‘, ‗test‘, ‗pet‘, etc. is slight Welsh English, also known as Anglo-Welsh or more open and transcribed as /E/ rather than /e/ Wenglish captures the dialects of English spoken in  The Received Pronunciation Phonemes 1eV as in Wales. The dialects are prominently influenced by ‗face‘ and in ‗goat‘ are often pronounced as Welsh grammar and there is a variety of accents found monothongs such as /e across Wales from south Wales‘s valleys to Monmouthshire to West Wales. Wikipedis‘s article on Also in the Northern English, other varieties of ―Welsh English‖ reveals certain general characteristics accent‘s are easily noticeable. They are Liverpool of accents in Wales [12]. (), Yorkshire, Middlesbrough, Lancashire, Cumbria, County Durham and Northumberland. The They include the following study further reveals that a feature of the East accent  The accent is often characterized as ―sing-song‖ shared with Scots and Irish English, is the pronunciation because of the distinctive intonation differences

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Nwabueze & Ejike E., Sch. J. Arts. Humanit. Soc. Sci., Dec, 2018; 6(12): 2215-2225 which includes a rising intonation at the end of The American Dialects of English statements It is a well-known fact that, the Great Britain  Lengthening of all vowels is common in strong colonized and Canada (i.e., the countries that clearly valleys accent. represent the North American accents of English). Thus,  The vowel in English words such as ‗but‘ is not English languages become an inherited language form that of Standard fish, but that of the obscure sound the United Kingdom or the States and most parts of of the letter ‗y‘ in Welsh. Thus, in Welsh English, Canada. It is necessary to note that: the vowel sounds in ‗bus‘ and ‗the‘ are identical.  In some areas, pronouncing {i] as [El, e.g. ‗edit‘ The first wave of English speaking settlers arrived in and ‗benefit‘ as It ‗edet‘ and ‗benefet‘ North America in the 17th century. During that time,  There is a strong tendency shared with Scottish there were also speakers in North America of Spanish, English towards an alveolar trill [r] (i.e., a ―rolled French, Dutch, German, Norwegian, Swedish, Scots, r‖) in place of an approximant [r] (i.e.; the ‗r‘ used Welsh, Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Finnish, Russia () in most accents in English). and numerous Native American languages (Wikipedia).  ‗Yod-dropping‘ is rare after any consonant, so that ‗rude‘ ‗and ‗threw‘ and ‗through‘, ‗chews and This of course underscores by implication the ‗choose‘,. ‗chute‘ and ‗short‘ are distinct. varieties of English in North America. However, most of these accents by 17th are identified as rhotic which The study further shows a wide range of was further supported by English and Scottish English. regional accents in Wales. The regions in Wales are But some American accents are non-rhotic such as Cardiff, South. Wales, North Wales and Western Wales. accent. The Cardiff accent is a little bit native. The most important distinguishing features are the pronunciation Kerr and Alderman explain that, it is difficult of /a:/ as /oe/ and /i/ as /E/. There is also the use of to have one standard accent in the U.S.A which every glottal stop instead of /t/, e.g. ‗water‘ is pronounced American will adhere to. According to them ―the ‗wa‘er. The accent is so strong and broad that ‗here‘ is country is too big, the population too, regional pronounced as ‗yur‘, and ‗all, right‘ as ‗orraye‘, etc. traditions too strong and few people are willing to let an outsider dictate the way they should talk‖ [13]. They The South Wales accent is associated with the also establish features of pronunciation in the United ―sing – song‖ Welsh accent that familiar to many States which can € grouped into three main dialects English people. Similarly, the accent of Newport is also namely ―New England, the Southern and General quite distinctive and quite different from that of nearby American‖ (104). But they add that the classification is Cardiff and some of the influence of rural Monmoun. not ―sufficiently exact‖ [17]. Hence; they recognize seven dialects in the United States which obviously The North East Wales‘ accent sounds like depict different accents: those of Cheshire and Merseyside. Towns that are near  Eastern New English. There are different varieties, the border or with substantial populations tend to have but the general characteristics are the retention of a Scouse – like accent, due to preference of the urban rounded vowel in words like ‗hot‘ and ‗top‘; the youth and Liverpudlians that live there, as well as the use of a shortened form of the ‗a‘ in father!; the use population of families that move there form the of the broad ‗a‘ in ―fast‖, ‗path‘, ‗grass‘1 etc., and Liverpudian. Also more ―sing – songs‖ accents are the loss of the ‗r‘ in ‗car‘, ‗hard etc., (except before often found in Welsh speakers in the Northeast. vowels like in ‗carry‘ and ‗tory‘)  . Most times considered a part of the In Western Wales, the accent of the south of Eastern New English dialect, its speech and that of Pembrokeshire is similar in some respects with Cornish adjacent counties are generally different. For speech patterns. Due to high number of English instance, the ‗r‘ has been lost and ‗cot‘ and caught‘ migrants to the area, South Pembrokeshire is sometimes are phonemically contrasted [kat, kct] since the ‗a‘ claimed to have an almost English accents; but there is in words like ‗cot‘ and ‗top‘, before voiceless stops a distance south Pembrokeshire accent and terminology is: almost always unrounded. used (now obscure). It is important to note that accents  Middle Atlantic. This preserves the ‗r‘ in all in Wales vary even over relatively short distances. The positions, has the unrounded vowel in ‗forest‘, as Neath‘s accent is different; while there is a noticeable well in ‗hot‘, and always pronounces [oe] in ‗fast‘, difference among the Liahelli and Amman ford accents. ‗ask‘, ‗grass‘, etc. The South-WaIian accent is constantly related to social  Western Pennsylvania. Generally, it belongs to class, with the pronunciation educated speakers often General American with the ‗r‘ always pronounced closer to RP, just like in many areas of Britain [21]. and with [ӕ]in ‗ask‘, ‗path‘, etc, while ‗cot‘ and ‗caught‘ are generally homonyms [kͻt].  Southern Mountain. The speech of this dialect shows mixed character. Thus, ‗r‘ is sounded as

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Nwabueze & Ejike E., Sch. J. Arts. Humanit. Soc. Sci., Dec, 2018; 6(12): 2215-2225 Midland, but {ar] is generally pronounced [aɛ) or in phoneme (as in ‗boat‘) than any other American accent, the southern part of the area [aə, a] as in many parts especially in the North where the phoneme is most of the south [16]. times realized with a central nucleus that reflects (əU).  Southern. It covers a large area and agrees with Eastern New England in the loss of ‗r‘ finally and Also, /aU/ has a fronter nucleus than /ai/, before consonants, as in ‗car‘ and ‗hard‘. It equally which approximates [ӕu]. The North Midland goes further to omit the ‗r‘ before a word beginning comprises Southern Ohio, Central Indiana, Central with a vowel, as in ‗far away‘ [fo: ə‘we]. It does Illinois, Iowa, Northern , Nebraska and not have the rounded vowel in words like ‗top‘ and Northern Kansas. The major cities are Columbus, ‗hot‘ or ―broad α‖ in ‗grass‘, and ‗dance‘. Another Cincinnati, and Indianapolis. The significant feature of important feature is the treatment of the the North Midland dialect is the merger of the ―short o in ‗out‘ instead of the usual [aU]. It begins the and /a/‖ (as in ‗cot‘) and ―aw and /ͻ/‖ (as in caught) diphthong with [ӕ] before voiced consonants. phonemes. The South Midland consists of Kentucky,  General America, This is characterized by the flat Southern Indiana, Southern Illinois, Missouri, , ‗α‘ (in ‗fast‘ ‗path‘, etc.), the unrounded vowel in Southern Kansas, and (west of Mississippi ‗hot‘, top; etc, the retention of a strong ‗r‘ in all river). The obvious feature is the smoothing of the positions, and less tendency than British English to diphthong /ai/ to [a:] [11]. introduce a glide after the vowels [e] and [o] in ‗late‘ and ‗note‘. The diphthong heard in the St Louis Missouri is one of the several North Southern British pronunciation of words like Midland cities, it has some unique features which ‗note‘, and ‗go‘ [əU] is absent from most parts of differentiate it from the rest the Midland. The following General American. Many regions except Eastern can suffice: New England, Metropolitan New York, and  The. Merger of the phonemes /ͻ/ (as in ‗for‘) and Southern are regarded as General American. It /aɹ/ (as in ‗far‘), but leaves /oɹ/ (as in ‗four‘). covers over two thirds of the area of the United  Some speakers, mostly older ones have /ei/ instead States and contains two third of the total of Standard /ɛ/ before /3/. Hence, ‗measure‘ is population, as well as regarded ―the most pronounced /mei3.ɚ/, while ‗wash‘ which has /ɹ/, distinctive American manner of speaking‖ [11]. becomes /wͻɹʃ/ (warsh).  The diphthong /ͻi/ in Standard English becomes Melvyn in his analysis of the adventures of more like [a:I]. That is why words such as ‗oil‘ and English states that English accents in the USA, Canada ‗joint‘ are commonly pronounced ‗awyul‘ and ―{. . .} developed from the combinations of different ‗jawynt‘ accents and languages in various societies‖ [10]. He  The phoneme [6] is usually replaced with [d], goes on to assert that ―North American accents remain mostly among the white working-class urban more distant either as a result of time or of external or populace ‗foreign‘ linguistic interaction‖ [10]. Hence, one can  There are features of Northern Cities say that like other regional accents of English language, (NCVS), which among others raises and tenses the interaction of people from many ethnic backgrounds vowel /ӕ/. Hence, words like ‗cat‘ /kӕt/ becomes contributed to the formation of different varieties of more like [kɛət). North American accents. The Western Pennsylvania, an eastern The study of North American English dialects extension of North Midland has features of Midland, exposes variations in the pronunciation of spoken which is the fronting of /oU/ and /aU/. Also in Western English by the inhabitants of various paris of North Pennsylvania, the city of Pittsburgh has a sound change America. It is necessary to emphasize that North that is unique in North American, that is , the American English has highly developed and distinct monopthongization of /aU/ to [a:]. The city also has an regional varieties in the United States and is related to unusually low allophone of/ᴧ/ (as in ‗cut‘). The North Canadian English. Hence, ―American English (the of Pennsylvania is distinguished from the Midland USA) and Canadian English (Canada) are said to have based on the former‘s phonological and phonetic more in common with each other than other varieties Isoglosses. Some of the features of Isoglosses are the outside North American‖ (Wikipedia). furthering of the nucleus of /aU/ back than that of /ai/, while /oU/ remains a ; the allophone of /u:/ William, Ash and Boberg in their Atlas of after non-coronal consonants remain back; /0/is used in North American English identify and describe regional ‗on‘, while the Midland uses /ͻ/ (as in ‗dawn‘) in ‗on. dialects in North America. These regional dialects are There is also the use of a raised allophone such as [ᴧi] quite many1 but the study gives a significant or [əi] for /ai/ before voiceless consonants [7]. representation of North American dialects of English. The Midland is divided into North and South dialect The study of Atlas of North American English areas. The major feature of the two accents is that they also reveals the Inland North accent, The Inland North have a distinctly frontier realization of the /oU/ Available online: http://saspjournals.com/sjahss 2221

Nwabueze & Ejike E., Sch. J. Arts. Humanit. Soc. Sci., Dec, 2018; 6(12): 2215-2225 as a region comprises the following: the east, central The Eastern New England dialect covers and western New York State (including Syracuse, Maine, New Hampshire and eastern Massachusetts Binghamton, Rochester and Buffalo), Michigan‘s (which includes greater Boston). Its accent shares the Lower Peninsula (Detroit and Grand Rapids), same features with North such as Canadian rising of /ai/ Cleveland, Chicago, Gray and Southeastern Wisconsin and minimal fronting of /aU/ and /oU/. It had more (Milwaukee and Racine). The main feature of inland contact with British varieties of English because of its North accent is the Northern Cities Vowel Shift. The mess to the Atlantic Coast. That is why it has most of following ‗‘ characterize NCVS: British rents such as the non-rhotic and not having the  The raising, tensing and diphthongization of // ―father-bother‖ merger, but retains ―cot-caught‖ merger towards [‗a], which makes words like ‗cat‘ to be that is common in North America [3]. pronounced as ‗kyat‘.  The fronting of /a/ to [a:) in such a way that /0/ The Rhode Island and New York City share phoneme can be mistaken for // by speakers of some similar features with Eastern New England dialect other dialects. Hence, ‗block‘ is close to the way region, such as the traditional non-rhoticity. The major other dialects pronounce ‗black‘ difference among the three is that Rhoda Island is  /ͻ/ lowers towards [a], causing ‗stalk‘ to sound like subject to ―father-bother‖ merger and not ―cot-caught‖ other dialects‘ ‗stock‘. merger, while ―cot-caught‖ separation is quite different  The backing and sometimes lowering of (ɛ) from Rhoda Island‘s. Hence ‗caught‘ is /kͻ:t/ in New towards either [ə) or[ӕ]. York, while /a/ represents ‗caught‘ in Rhoda Island. The  /ᴧ/ is backed towards [ͻ], so that ‗stuck‘ sounds like original ancestor of General American is the accent of ‗stalk‘ in dialects that maintain [ͻ] sound in the Philadelphia and nearby parts of Pennsylvania, New word ‗stalk‘ Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. However some  /I/ is lowered and backed, but it is kept distinct changes in modern Philadelphia speech which from [ɛ] in all contexts, so that the ―pin-pen‖ differentiate it from General American include: merger does not occur.  The pronunciation of ‗water‘ with the vowel of ‗wood‘ as in /wUdɚ/ The North central are Upper Peninsula of  Words such as ‗orange‘, horrible, etc. are Michigan, Northern Minnesota, North Dakota and pronounced with [-aɹ]. Eastern Montana. The accent of this region has the  ‗On‘ is pronounced [ͻᴧ], which makes it to rhyme following features. with ‗dawn‘ rather than ‗don‘.  The ―cot-caught‖ merger is significant.  The [oU] in ‗goat‘ and ‗boat‘ is fronted which  It is associated with a ―sing-song‖ intonation which makes it to be pronounced [əU]. is said to be derived from the pitch accent pattern  The phoneme [ӕ] undergoes ―-tensing‖ in some of the Scandinavian languages. words.  Older speakers may merge /w/ and /v/, which makes ‗well‘ and veil‘ to sound alike. The Atlas of North American English goes  Older and rural speakers may also merge /8/ into further to illustrate that the accent of Charleston has /d/ and /0/ into /t/. These are quite prominent some elements of British and America southern because languages do not possess 1w!, /8/, or /0/ English, as well as ―French Huguenot‖ influences. The phonemes [7]. distinctive features include including of long mid vowels, such as the raising of /ay/ and /aw/. The New The Western New England is made up of most Orleans accent is related to New York City and northern of Connecticut, Western Massachusetts, and Vermont. New Jersey. The most distinctive accent of New The accent is described as rhotic and possesses the Orleans is nicknamed ‗yat‘, which features the splitting ―mary-marry-merry‖ merger and not subjected to the of the historic ―short-a‖ class into tense [ea] and lax [ӕ] ―caught-cot‖ merger. Also, Connecticut and Western versions and the pronunciation of ‗cat‘ and ‗caught‘ as Massachusetts particularly depict the same general [kat] and [kͻt] [1]. phonological system as the Inland North and some speakers reflect NCVS. The Northeastern major cities The Central and South include: have distinctive accents that cover smaller regions. The Orlando and . Many residents in Orlando speak unusual features of the accents in these major cities are with General American, while others speak with a non-rhoticity or a split of /ӕ/ into separate phonemes. Northeast accent (particularly New York-New Jersey But they share features which are ant to the ―mary- English) or Spanish speakers‘ accent. A unique accent marry-merry‖ merger and retention of historical short known as the ‗‘ is widely spoken in ‗a‘ and long ‗o‘ before intervocalic /ɹ/, Which makes Miami. It is very similar to accents in the Northeast, but words such as ‗orange‘, ‗Florida‘ and ‗horrible‘ to have much influenced by Spanish [1]. a different stressed vowel than ‗story‘ and ‗chorus‘ [9]. English is distinctive as a result of several phonological processes it has undergone. These

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Nwabueze & Ejike E., Sch. J. Arts. Humanit. Soc. Sci., Dec, 2018; 6(12): 2215-2225 phonological processes are represented in a new chain Its features involve the front lax vowels /ӕ/, /ɛ/ and /i/. vowel shift known as the California Vowel Shift. They Here the /ӕ/ of ‗bat‘ is retracted to [a] (except before include among others: nasals), while /ɛ/ and /i/ are lowered in the direction of  Before /ŋ/, /I/ is raised to [i], so that ‗king‘ shares [] and [c] and/or retracted. the same vowel with ‗keen‘ instead of ‗kin‘.  /ӕ/ is raised and diphthongized to [ea] or [ia] Charles Barber in his account of North before ‗nasal consonants. Hence ‗ban‘ is American dialects of English illustrates that ―the pronounced ‗bay — uhn‘. English of North America was separated from British  /U/ moves towards [A], so as to make ‗put‘ sound English rather early, and has a somewhat different more like ‗putt‘. system‖ (243). He supports the views of others that ―the  /ᴧ/ moves towards [E], so as to make ‗putt‘ sound speech of the vast majority of Americans and Canadians slightly similar to ‗pet‘. is rhotic‖, and ―one consequence of this is that the  /a/ moves towards [c], which makes ‗cot‘ and centering diphthong /iə/, /ɛə/, and /Ua/ do not exist in ‗caught‘ to be closer to General American ‗caught‘. their system‖ 243. He further supports the existence of varieties of dialects/accents in America. These varieties Utah has Utah English which is humorously according to him comprise slightly different inventories referred to as ‗Utahnics‘. It has influences, from of vowel phonemes in different areas [21]. Scottish to Mexican Spanish. The following features can be identified: CONCLUSION  The merger of /oU/ and / to [U] before /I/, which English language occupies an enviable position makes parts like ‗bowl‘ and ‗bull‘ to be pronounced as one of the few languages spoken by many people the same. from different countries of the world. It is one of the official languages of the United Nations and a good  Further diphthongization of [ɛ] as [ɛI], so that ‗egg‘ number of countries of the world have adopted it as and ‗leg‘ are pronounced ‗ayg‘ and ―iayg‖; while their Lingua Franca. The development of English ‗leisure ‗and ‗pleasure‘ are pronounced ‗iayzur‘ language has led to different varieties or dialects. These and ‗piayzhur‘ respectively. varieties or dialects do not only exist in the regions  ‗The. merger of /ar/ and /or/, so that ‗born‘ may be where English is spoken as an official or second pronounced ‗barn‘ and the town of ‗American fork‘ language, but also in the regions that have it as their becomes ‗American fark‘ first language or mother tongue. In the analysis, it was

discovered that many dialects exist in the regions where The Pacific North West English is similar to English language is spoken as first or official/second Californian English and West/Canadian English. For language. In other words, as English spread from one instance, the accent of Southen Oregon shares several region to another, different varieties in grammar, features of Californian English (including the vocabulary and pronunciation came to exist. In Great Californian vowel shift), while Northern Washington Britain, there are dialects of English in England, has some features similar to West/Central Canadian Scotland and Wales. Ireland has Ulster, Connacht, English (including the Canadian vowel shift). The Leinster and Munster, while in North America there are following examples can suffice: different dialects in USA and Canada.  [ɛ] and sometimes [ӕ] as [ei] before (g), such that ‗leg‘ and ‗lag‘ are pronounced [eig]. The analysis also shows different dialects of  /ӕ/ is raised and diphthongized to [ea] or [ie] English spoken in Australia, New Zealand, Helena, before nasals by some speakers. Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa. The Asian  /ӕ/ is lowered in the direction of [a] by some continent is not left out in these variations as different speaker. dialects of English are identified in Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. Nigeria and As already noted, Canadian English used in other African countries have different dialects of the Canada. its accents are very similar to those of the language. That is why for instance, in Nigeria, the /i/ Western and Midlands regions of the United States. sound is used for both /i/ and /1:/ as in ‗sit‘ and ‗see‘. However, the most distinctive features are the Canadian raising and the Canadian Vowel Shift. An important RECOMMENDATIONS feature of rising is the raising of the nucleus of the It is a fact that language does not consist of /ai/ and /au/ before voiceless consonants. In letters, but of sounds and until this fact has been other words, when a diphthong is followed by the brought home to us, our study of W will be little better voiceless consonants such as /p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, etc, the than an exercise of memory. Based on the above words starting point of the diphthong raises from an open and the findings discussed, that the following to a mid-one. For instance ‗ride‘ is recommendations are made in order to facilitate pronounced [raid), while ‗write‘ is pronounced [reit]. effective teaching of and communication in English Canadian Vowel Shift on the other land is mostly found language: in , English-speaking Montreal and further west.

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Nwabueze & Ejike E., Sch. J. Arts. Humanit. Soc. Sci., Dec, 2018; 6(12): 2215-2225  Developing countries like Nigeria which have neutralization/reduction in order to enable native Ehglish s an official language do not have adequate speakers from the parent company communicate facilities in their citadels of learning for effective with non- native speakers where the company has teaching and learning of the language. To this end, been outsourced for customer satisfaction. enough language laboratories and standard oral  In countries like Nigeria where English is• studied English textbooks should be provided from the from the crèche to the higher institutions, there crèche School to the higher institutions. More should be a course or lessons on ―English Accents‖ attention should be paid to English language (this is a very important recommendation that learning in crèche, primary and secondary schools should be given adequate consideration and because they serve as the basic foundations. implementation). This course is offered in the  The native and non-native English teachers should higher institutions in the UK as one of the core be adequately exposed to the various phonological courses of English language (B.A Linguistics).The differences of English dialects and more course enables English language learners to be importantly the two standard dialects: the RP and familiar with different dialects of English language, GAM. It is very clear that many English language while more attention is given to some particular teachers are not conversant with different dialects dialects such as , Scouce, General of English and particularly the similarities and American, Australia, British, American, the RP, differences of the RP and GAM. If they are well  Scottish, , Northern Ireland and South knowledgeable of them, they will be able to reflect Africa. This of course will help all them in classes. This will• obviously improve speakers/learners of English language to master communication as learners/speakers of the these dialects for effective teaching of, and language are made to practice them continuously communication in the language. during classes. For instance, knowing that /015/ in  There should be, adequate exchange programmes American dialect (GAM) is /oU/ in British dialect for students and teachers of English language at all (RP)I an American accent speaker will be able to levels. Although this practice is on even in Nigeria, understand ‗go‘ /gəU/ as /goU/.Also, native it should be expanded and taken seriously. The speakers will be able to understand non-native exchange programmes will enable both students speakers like Nigerians who may pronounce ‗see‘ and teachers of English language to master /si:/ as /si/ because of the existence of only short /1/ different accents of the language spoken around the in for /I/ and /i:/ in the RP and world. Hence, they should not be limited to Britain GAM. and the USA as often thefl case, but should include  A lot of attention should be paid to ―Accent other continents such as Asia, southern Neutralization/Reduction‖ which is also known as Hemisphere, Africa, Europe and the Caribbean, accent modification. It is a systematic approach  Although this analysis focused on the phonological used in learning or adopting a new accent. The differences of the RP and GAM which represent method used involves several steps which include widely the British and American dialects among others: identifying deviations in the respectively, as well as dialects taught to non- person‘s current speech from the desired dialect native learners of English language, there should be (such as pronunciation, speech pattern and speech a further research that will specifically identify the habits), changing the way one uses one‘s mouth, phonological differences of all or a good number of teeth and tongue to form vowels and consonants, English dialects (P.H.D Thesis possibly). This will modifying one‘s intonation and stress patterns, as greatly facilitate communication in other dialects well as changing one‘s rhythm. It enables proficient (apart from British and American), since the world English speakers speak with a more American or is fast becoming a global village. British dialect.  Accent reduction training that is available include; REFERENCES workshops, seminars, classroom, software, online 1. Pandey M, Puntambekar GL. Maggi Noodles Sales software products, over the phone, over webcam, Trend: Before and After Controversy. International through books and recordings and on a one- on-one Journal of Multidisciplinary Approach & Studies. basis. Hence with accent neutralization/reduction, 2016 May 1;3(3). users of English can communicate effectively with 2. Ashade D. A-Z of JAMB‘s Use of English. Lagos: each other notwithstanding their backgrounds. Ashade Investment Limited. 2004.  Similarly as a result of the global market place 3. Barber C, Beal JC, Shaw PA. The English expansions which made outsourcing (i.e. the language: A historical introduction. Cambridge transfer of components of large segments of an University Press. 2009 Mar 26. organization‘s internal infrastructure, staff 4. Bragg M. The Adventure of English. London: processes or applications to an external resources Sceptre, 2004. where its work can be done at lower cost to the 5. Brook GC. Varieties of English. London: St. company) to be inevitable, there is need for accent Martin‘s press. 1973.

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Nwabueze & Ejike E., Sch. J. Arts. Humanit. Soc. Sci., Dec, 2018; 6(12): 2215-2225 6. Clark J and Yallop C. An Introduction to Phonetics 13. Mencken HC. The Arneilcan Language. U.S.A: and Phonology. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Alfred, A. Knoff, Inc. 1936. 1995. 14. Onuigbo S. Oral English for Schools and Colleges. 7. Crystal D. The Cambridge Encycjppaedia of Onitsha: Africana First Publishers.2003. English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 15. Peters P. The Cambridge Guide to English Usage. 2003. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.2004. 8. Francis N. The Structure of American EngjJ. 16. Quirk R and Greenbaum S. A University Grammar U.S.A: The Ronald Press. 1958. of gjjsh. Delhi: Addison Wesley Longman.2000. 9. Freeborn D, French, P and Langford D. Varieties of 17. Roach1 P. English phonetics and phonology: English: An Introduction to the Study of Language. Cambridge: I Cambridge University press.2004. London: Macmillan Education.1986. 18. Scot S. The History of English: A Linguistic 10. Jones D. Cambridge English Pronouncing Introduction Washington: Wardja press.2008. Dictionary. Eds. Roach, Peter, Hartman James and 19. Todd L and Hancock L. The setter Jane. Keppel Towers, Singapore: Cam bridge Usage. Buckingham: Croom Helm.1986. University press.2006. 20. Trudgill P. Langiage in the Biltisbisles. Cambridge: 11. Ker E and Aderman R. Aspects of American New Cambridge University Press.1984. York: Harcourt Brace and world.1963. 21. Wells JC. Accents of English. Cambridge: 12. Labov W, Ash S and Boberg C. The Atlas of Cambridge University Press.1982. North America. Pennsylvania: Mouton — de Gruyterl.2006.

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