General American (sometimes called Standard Midwestern, Standard Spoken American English or American Broadcast English) is one of the most homogeneous and widespread accents of Anglophone North America. It is the accent of American English perceived by Americans to be most "neutral" and free of regional characteristics. Within American English, General American and accents approximating it are contrasted with Southern American English, several Northeastern accents, and other distinct regional accents and social group accents like African American Vernacular English. Midwest States (United States of America, ND to OH) The Midwest is a common name for a region of the United States of America. ... Accents mark speakers as a member of a group by their pronunciation of the standard language. ... For other uses, see American English (disambiguation). ... Southern American English is a group of dialects of the English language spoken throughout the Southern region of the United States, from Southern and Eastern Maryland, West Virginia and Kentucky to the Gulf Coast, and from the Atlantic coast to throughout most of Texas. ... The U.S. Northeast is a region of the United States of America defined by the US Census Bureau. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ...

General American in the media

General American—like British Received Pronunciation as well as most standard language varieties of many other societies—was never the accent of the entire nation. Rather, it is most closely related to a generalized Midwestern accent and is spoken particularly by many newscasters, in part because the national broadcasters preferred to hire people who exhibited similar speech. The famous news anchor Walter Cronkite is a good example of a broadcaster using this accent. General American is sometimes promoted as preferable to other regional accents; in the United States, classes promising "accent reduction" generally attempt to teach speech patterns similar to this accent. The well-known television journalist Linda Ellerbee, who worked hard early in her career to eliminate a Texas accent, stated, "in television you are not supposed to sound like you're from anywhere." General American is also the accent generally taught to people learning English as a second language in the United States, as well as outside the country to anyone who wishes to learn "American English." Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... A newscast typically consists of the coverage of various news events and other information, either produced locally by a radio or television station, or by a broadcast network. ... A news anchor (US,Can. ... Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. ... For other uses, see Journalist (disambiguation). ... Linda Ellerbee (born Linda Jane Smith in Bryan, Texas, U.S., August 15, 1944) is a journalist and propagandist who is most known for several jobs at NBC News, including Washington (DC) correspondent, and reporter and co-anchor of NBC News Overnight, which was recognized by the duPont Columbia Awards... For other uses, see Texas (disambiguation). ... ESL redirects here. ...

Regional home of General American

Further information: North Central American English

General American originated in the dialect of the Inland North region. One reason may be that, as long ago as the U. S. Civil War, residents of areas such as Michigan and northern Ohio adopted a precise version of their pronunciation to set themselves apart from nearby speakers of Southern dialects. Particularly important in setting standards was northeastern Ohio, as the home of John Kenyon, the pronunciation editor of the second edition of Webster's New International Dictionary.^[1] However, since the 1960s northeastern Ohio and much of the rest of the Inland North have been affected by the Northern Cities Vowel Shift^[2] and thus the pronunciation giving rise to General American is now far less common there. This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... John Samuel Kenyon (1874-1959) was an American linguist. ... 1888 advertisement for Websters Dictionary Websters Dictionary is the common title given to English language dictionaries in the United States, derived from American lexicographer Noah Webster. ... Three isoglosses identifying the NCVS. In the brown areas is more retracted than . ...

The area of the United States where the local accent is largely free of regional features

The Telsur Project^[3] of William Labov and others examines a number of phonetic properties by which regional accents of the U.S. may be identified. The area that is now most free of these regional properties is indicated on the map: eastern Nebraska (including Omaha and Lincoln), southern and central Iowa (including Des Moines), and western Illinois (including Peoria and the Quad Cities but not the Chicago area). It may therefore be the case that the accents spoken in this region are deemed the most "neutral" by Americans. This is borne out in an article in the November 1998 issue of National Geographic Magazine, in which the locals' "neutral accents" are cited as one of the reasons why Omaha is home to a large number of telemarketing companies. Image File history File links General_American. ... Image File history File links General_American. ... Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2006-02-04, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... For other uses, see Nebraska (disambiguation). ... Omaha redirects here. ... Nickname: Location in Nebraska Coordinates: , Country   State     County United States   Nebraska     Lancaster Founded[1]   Renamed   Incorporated 1856   July 29, 1867   April 1, 1869 Government  - Mayor Chris Beutler Area  - City 195. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... “Des Moines” redirects here. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... : Will it Play in Peoria? United States Illinois Peoria 46. ... The I-74 Bridge, connecting Bettendorf, Iowa, and Moline, Illinois is located near the geographic center of the Quad Cities. ... For other uses, see Chicago (disambiguation). ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The National Geographic Magazine, later shortened to National Geographic, is the official journal of the National Geographic Society. ... Telemarketing office Telemarketing is a method of direct marketing in which a salesperson uses the telephone to solicit prospective customers to buy products or services. ...

Notable media personalities from this region include former talk show host Johnny Carson, and CNN Headline News personality Chuck Roberts, who was a local news anchor in Omaha. A talk show (U.S.) or chat show (Brit. ... For other persons named John Carson, see John Carson (disambiguation). ... The Cable News Network, commonly known as CNN, is a major cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. ... Chuck Roberts is weekday news anchor on CNN Headline News. ...

Phonology

Consonants

A table containing the consonant phonemes is given below: In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by a closure or stricture of the vocal tract sufficient to cause audible turbulence. ... In human language, a phoneme is the theoretical representation of a sound. ...

The phoneme /ʍ/ is present only in varieties that have not undergone the wine-whine merger. /ʍ/ is often analyzed as a consonant cluster of /hw/. Also, many Americans realize the phoneme /ɹ/ (often transcribed as /r/) as a retroflex approximant [ɻ]. In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. ... In phonetics, labiodentals are consonants articulated with the lower lips and the upper teeth, or viceversa. ... Dentals are consonants such as t, d, n, and l articulated with either the lower or the upper teeth, or both, rather than with the gum ridge as in English. ... Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets) of the superior teeth. ... Postalveolar (or palato-alveolar) consonants are consonants articulated with the tip of the tongue between the alveolar ridge (the place of articulation for alveolar consonants) and the palate (the place of articulation for palatal consonants). ... Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... Glottal consonants are consonants articulated with the glottis. ... A nasal consonant is produced when the velum—that fleshy part of the palate near the back—is lowered, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. ... A stop or plosive or occlusive is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract. ... The voiceless bilabial plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. ... The voiceless alveolar plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. ... The voiceless velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. ... Affricate consonants begin as stops (most often an alveolar, such as or ) but release as a fricative (such as or or, in a couple of languages, into a fricative trill) rather than directly into the following vowel. ... Fricatives (or spirants) are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. ... The voiceless labiodental fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Approximants are speech sounds that could be regarded as intermediate between vowels and typical consonants. ... The palatal approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in many spoken languages. ... The voiced labiovelar (actually labialized velar) approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in certain spoken languages, including English. ... Laterals are L-like consonants pronounced with an occlusion made somewhere along the axis of the tongue, while air from the lungs escapes at one side or both sides of the tongue. ... The hole-whole merger is the replacement of with before the vowels and which occurred in Old English resulting in the following pronunciations: who - whom - whole - whore - hole and whole became homophonous. ... The retroflex approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ...

Vowels

General American has sixteen or seventeen vowel sounds that can be used in stressed syllables as well as two that can be used only in unstressed syllables. Most of the vowel sounds are monophthongs. The monophthongs of General American are shown in the table below: Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... A monophthong (in Greek μονόφθογγος = single note) is a pure vowel sound, one whose articulation at both beginning and end is relatively fixed, and which does not glide up or down towards a new position of articulation; compare diphthong. ...

Depending on one's analysis, people who merge the vowels of cot and caught to /ɑ/ either have no phoneme /ɔ/ at all or have the [ɔ] only before /r/. Words like north and horse are usually transcribed /nɔɹθ/ and /hɔɹs/, but since all accents with cot and caught merged to /kɑt/ have also undergone the horse-hoarse merger, it may be preferable to transcribe north and horse /noɹθ/ and /hoɹs/.^[6] Thus, in these cases, the [ɔ] before /ɹ/ can be analyzed as an allophone of /o/. Some speakers who have maintained the contrast between /ɑ/ and /ɔ/ realize /ɔ/ phonetically lower, closer to [ɒ].^[7] Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ...   In phonetics, an r-colored vowel or rhotacized vowel is a vowel either with the tip or blade of the tongue turned up during at least part of the articulation of the vowel (a retroflex articulation) or with the tip of the tongue down and the back of the tongue... A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. ... Vowels See also: IPA, Consonants Near‑close Close‑mid Mid Open‑mid Near‑open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels See also: IPA, Consonants Near‑close Close‑mid Mid Open‑mid Near‑open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels See also: IPA, Consonants Near‑close Close‑mid Mid Open‑mid Near‑open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... A close-mid vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... A mid vowel is a vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... The open-mid vowels make a class of vowel sounds used in some spoken languages. ... Vowels See also: IPA, Consonants Near‑close Close‑mid Mid Open‑mid Near‑open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... // Father-bother merger The father-bother merger is a merger of the Early Modern English vowels and that occurs in almost all varieties of North American English (exceptions are accents in Eastern New England (such as the Boston accent) and New York-New Jersey English. ... The English language has undergone a number of phonological changes before the historic phoneme . ...

[ɝ] and [ɚ] are often analyzed as sequences of /ʌr, ər/, respectively. [ə] is actually an indeterminate vowel that occurs only in unstressed syllables. Since the occurrence of [ə] is mostly predictable, it need not be considered a phoneme distinct from /ʌ/.

The diphthongs of General American are shown in the next table: In phonetics, a diphthong (also gliding vowel) (Greek δίφθογγος, diphthongos, literally with two sounds, or with two tones) is a monosyllabic vowel combination involving a quick but smooth movement from one vowel to another, often interpreted by listeners as a single vowel sound or phoneme. ...

In phonetics, a diphthong (also gliding vowel) (Greek δίφθογγος, diphthongos, literally with two sounds, or with two tones) is a monosyllabic vowel combination involving a quick but smooth movement from one vowel to another, often interpreted by listeners as a single vowel sound or phoneme. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ...

Characteristics

While there is not any single formal definition of General American, various features are considered to be part of it, including rhotic pronunciation, which maintains the coda [ɹ] in words like pearl, car, and court. Unlike RP, General American is characterized by the merger of the vowels of words like father and bother, flapping, and the reduction of vowel contrasts before [ɹ]. General American also generally has yod-dropping after alveolar consonants. Other phonemic mergers, including the cot-caught merger, the pin-pen merger, the Mary-marry-merry merger and the wine-whine merger, may be found optionally at least in informal and semiformal varieties. Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... Phonemic differentiation is the phenomenon of a phoneme in a language splitting into two phonemes over time, a process known as a phonemic split. ... // Father-bother merger The father-bother merger is a merger of the Early Modern English vowels and that occurs in almost all varieties of North American English (exceptions are accents in Eastern New England (such as the Boston accent) and New York-New Jersey English. ... This page discusses a phonological phenomenon. ... // H-cluster reductions The h-cluster reductions are various consonant reductions that have occurred in the history of English involving consonant clusters beginning with /h/ that have lost the /h/ in certain dialects. ... Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets) of the superior teeth. ... // Father-bother merger The father-bother merger is a merger of the Early Modern English vowels and that occurs in almost all varieties of North American English (exceptions are accents in Eastern New England (such as the Boston accent) and New York-New Jersey English. ... // Weak vowel merger The weak vowel merger (or Lennon-Lenin merger) is a phonemic merger of (schwa) with unstressed (sometimes written as ) in certain dialects of English. ... The English language has undergone a number of phonological changes before the historic phoneme . ... // H-cluster reductions The h-cluster reductions are various consonant clusters beginning with /h/ that have in the occurred in the history of English that have lost the /h/ in certain dialects. ...

One phenomenon apparently unique to General American is the behavior of words that in RP have [ɒɹV] where [V] stands for any vowel. These words are treated differently in different North American accents: in New York-New Jersey English they are all pronounced with [-ɑɹ-] and in Canadian English they are all pronounced with [-ɔɹ-] (thus "sorry" is pronounced by Canadians as "sore-ee"). But in General American there is a split: the majority of these words have [-ɔɹ-], like Canadian English, but the last four words of the list below have [-ɑɹ-], like New York-New Jersey English, for many speakers.^[8] Words of this class include, among others: The English language has undergone a number of phonological changes before the historic phoneme . ... New York Dialect is the variety of the English language spoken by most European Americans in New York City and much of its metropolitan area including Northern New Jersey, Westchester and Rockland counties, and all of Long Island. ... Canadian English (CanE) is the variety of North American English used in Canada. ...

Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... The New York dialect of the English language is spoken by most European Americans who were raised in New York City and much of its metropolitan area including the lower Hudson Valley, western Long Island, and in northeastern New Jersey. ... Canadian English (CanE) is the variety of North American English used in Canada. ...

See also

• American English
• Pacific Northwest English
• Utah English
• Northern cities vowel shift
• International Phonetic Alphabet for English
• IPA chart for English
• Received Pronunciation
• Accent reduction
• Regional vocabularies of American English
• Standard Written English

For other uses, see American English (disambiguation). ... Pacific Northwest English is a dialect of the English language spoken in the Pacific Northwest. ... Utah English, sometimes humorously referred to as Utahnics, is a dialect of the English language spoken in the U.S. state of Utah. ... Three isoglosses identifying the NCVS. In the brown areas is more retracted than . ... The symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet can be used to show pronounciation in English. ... This chart shows concisely the most common way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is applied to represent the English language. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... Accent reduction, also known as accent modification, is a systematic approach to reducing or eliminating a foreign accent. ... This article deals with lexical differences within American English; see American English regional differences for differences in phonology and grammar. ... Written English is an alphabetic, morphophonemic representation of the English language, and is the world’s most commonly used alphabetic code. ...

External links

• The CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
• Hollywords Audiovisual Industry Dictionary Project Style Guide (Includes pronunciation guides based on the American Broadcast English (ABE) accent)

Notes

Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... For the computer operating system, see Syllable (operating system). ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ...

References

• Labov, William; Sharon Ash & Charles Boberg (2006), The Atlas of North American English, Mouton-de Gruyter, 187–208, ISBN 3-11-016746-8
• Roca, Iggy & Wyn Johnson (1999), Course in Phonology, Blackwell Publishing
• Seabrook, John (May 19, 2005), "The Academy: Talking the Tawk", The New Yorker, <http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/11/14/051114ta_talk_seabrook>. Retrieved on 2008-05-14
• Shitara, Yuko (1993), "A survey of American pronunciation preferences", Speech Hearing and Language 7: 201–32
• Silverstein, Bernard (1994), NTC's Dictionary of American English Pronunciation, NTC Publishing Group, ISBN 0-8442-0726-8
• Wells, John C. (1982a), Accents of English, vol. 1, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-22919-7
• Wells, John C. (1982b), Accents of English, vol. 2, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-24224-X
• Wells, John C. (1982c), Accents of English, vol. 3, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-24225-8
• Wells, John C. (2000), Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (2nd ed.), Longman, ISBN 0-582-36468-X