Phonetics

Phonetics (from the Greek word φωνή, phone

meaning 'sound, voice') is the st ud y of so unds
an d the huma n vo ice . It is concerned with the
actual properties of speech sounds (phones) as well
as those of non-speech sounds, and their production,
audition and perception, as opposed to phonology,
which is the study of sound systems and abstract
sound units (such as phonemes and distinctive
features). Phonetics deals with the sounds themselves
rather than the contexts in which they are used in
languages. Discussions of meaning (semantics) do not
enter at this level of linguistic analysis.

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 Phonology
Phonology (Greek phonē = voice/sound and
logos = word/speech), is a subfield of
linguistics which studies the sound system of a
specific language (or languages). Whereas
phonetics is about the physical production and
perception of the sounds of speech, phonology
describes the way sounds function within a
given language or across languages.

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 Dialects of English
Europe
British • East Anglian • English English • Estuary • Euro-English • Guernsey
English • Hiberno-English (Ireland) • Highland • Manx • Mid Ulster • Midlands •
Northern • Received Pronunciation • Scottish • Welsh • West Country dialects
North America
United States • African American Vernacular • Appalachian • Baltimorese • Boston
• California • Chicano • Cajun • General American • Maine • Maine-New
Hampshire • New Jersey • New York City • North American • North Central
American • Inland Northern American • Pacific Northwest • Philadelphia •
Pittsburgh • Southern American • Tampanian • Utah • Yat • Yooper • Canadian •
West/Central Canadian • Maritimer • Newfoundland • Quebec
West Indies
Bermudian • Bahamian • Caribbean • Jamaican
Oceania
Australian • New Zealand • Australian Aboriginal • Hawaiian Pidgin
Asia
Burmese • Hong Kong • Indian • Manglish • Philippine • Singlish • Sri Lankan
Africa
Liberian • Malawian • South African
Miscellaneous
Basic • Commonwealth •International • Mid-Atlantic • Plain • Simplified • Special •
Standard
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General American (sometimes called Standard
Midwestern or American Broadcast English) is
the accent of American English perceived by
Americans to be most "neutral" and free of
regional characteristics. The General American
accent is not thought of as a linguistic standard
in the sense that Received Pronunciation (RP)
has historically been the standard, prestige
variant in England, but its speakers are
perceived as "accentless" by most Americans.

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Rogério Azeredo 5
The region of the United States where the local
accent most closely resembles General
American

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 Received Pronunciation (RP) is a form of pronunciation of the
English language which has been long perceived as uniquely
prestigious among British accents and is the usual accent taught
to non-native speakers learning British English.

Note that RP is accent (a form of pronunciation), not a dialect (a

form of vocabulary and grammar). A person using an RP accent will
invariably (except for comic effect) speak Standard English although
the reverse is not necessarily true.

RP is also the usual accent taught to non-native speakers learning British

English. Non-RP Britons abroad may modify their pronunciation to something
closer to Received Pronunciation, in order to be better understood by people
who themselves learned RP in school. They may also modify their vocabulary
and grammar to be closer to Standard English, for the same reason. RP is
used as the standard for English in most books on general phonology
and phonetics; and represented in the pronunciation schemes of most
dictionaries.

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Estuary English is a name given to the form of English widely
spoken in and around London and, more generally, in the
southeast of England and along the river Thames and its estuary.
It is defined as a variant of Standard British English, using
some non-standard grammatical forms and some divergences
from Received Pronunciation.
David Rosewarne originated the term Estuary English (EE) in a
ground-breaking article published in 1984 in the London edition
of The Times Educational Supplement1.
Rosewarne's definition follows:
'Estuary English' is a variety of modified regional speech. It is a
mixture of non-regional and local south-eastern English
pronunciation and intonation. If one imagines a continuum with
Received Pronunciation (RP) and London speech at either
end, 'Estuary English' speakers are to be found grouped in the
middle ground.
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Estuary English (EE) is like RP, but unlike Cockney, in being associated
with standard grammar and usage; it is like Cockney, but unlike RP (as
traditionally described), in being characterized by tendencies towards, for
example,
vocalization of preconsonantal/final /l/, perhaps with various vowel
mergers before it (miwk-bottoo 'milk-bottle')
use of [?] for traditional [t] in many non-initial positions (take i' off)
yod coalescence even before a stressed /u:/ (Chooseday)
Phonetically EE differs from Cockney in usually not being characterized by,
for example,
h-dropping ('and on 'eart)
TH fronting (I fink)
monophthongal realization of the MOUTH vowel (Sahfend).
(WELLS, John. Speech Hearing and Language: UCL Work in Progress,
volume 8, 1994, pages 259-267 )

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