- differences in Accent (i.e. Phoneme ''inventory'' and ''realisation''). Accents vary widely within AmE and within BrE, so the features considered here are mainly differences between General American (GAm) and British Received Pronunciation (RP); for information about other accents see Regional Accents Of English Speakers .
- differences in the pronunciation of individual words in the , which mostly follows BrE, uses the AmE pronunciation of '' Vitamin '', and a pronunciation of ''foyer'' different from both the BrE and AmE. In this article, transcriptions use RP to represent BrE and GAm and to represent AmE.
In the following discussion
- superscript A2 after a word indicates the BrE pronunciation of the word is a common variant in AmE
- superscript B2 after a word indicates the AmE pronunciation of the word is a common variant in BrE
- GAm is Rhotic while RP is non-rhotic; that is, R is only pronounced in RP when it is immediately followed by a vowel. Where GAm has before a consonant, RP either has nothing (if the preceding vowel is or , as in ''bore'' and ''bar'') or has a Schwa instead (the resulting sequences are Centring Diphthong s or Triphthong s). Similarly, where GAm has R-coloured Vowel s ( or , as in ''cupbd'' or ''bird''), RP has plain vowels or . However many British accents, especially in Scotland and The West Country , are rhotic, and some American accents, such as the traditional Boston Accent , are non-rhotic.
- The " Intrusive R " of many RP speakers (in such sequences as "the idea-r-of it") is absent in GAm; this is a consequence of the rhotic/non-rhotic distinction.
- GAm has Fewer Vowel Distinctions Before Intervocalic than RP; for many GAm speakers, unlike RP, ''merry'', ''marry'' and ''Mary'' are homonyms; ''mirror'' rhymes with ''nearer'', and ''furry'' rhymes with ''hurry''. However, some eastern American accents, such as the Boston Accent , have the same distinctions as in RP.
- For some RP speakers (upper class), unlike in GAm, some or all of ''tire'', ''tower'', and ''tar'' are homonyms; this reflects the Merger Of The Relevant Vowels ; similarly the Pour-poor Merger is common in RP but not in GAm.
- RP has three Open Back vowels, where GAm has only two or even one. Most GAm speakers use the same vowel for RP "short O" as for RP "broad A" (the Father-bother Merger ); many also use the same vowel for these as for RP (the Cot-caught Merger ).
- For Americans without the cot-caught merger, the '' Lot-cloth Split '' results in in some words which now have in RP; as reflected in the Eye Dialect spelling "dawg" for ''dog''.
- The Trap-bath Split has resulted in RP having "broad A" where GAm has "short A" , in most words where A is followed by either followed by another consonant, or , , or (e.g. ''plant, pass, laugh, path''). However, many British accents, such as most Northern English Accents , agree with GAm in having short A in these words, although it is usually phonetically rather than .
- RP has a marked degree of contrast of length between "short" and "long" vowels (The long vowels being the diphthongs, and , , , , ). In GAm this contrast is much less evident, and the IPA length symbol () is often omitted. American phoneticians often prefer the characterizations "tense"/"lax" or "checked"/"free" rather than "short"/"long".
- The "long O" vowel (as in ''boat'') is realised differently: GAm pure or diphthongized ; RP central first element. However there is considerable variation in this vowel on both sides of the Atlantic.
- The distinction between unstressed and (e.g. ''roses'' vs ''Rosa's'') is Often Lost in GAm. In RP it is retained, in part because it helps avoid nonrhotic homonyms; e.g. ''batted'' vs ''battered'' as vs . It is, however, lost in Australian English, which is also non-rhotic.
- Where GAm has in an unstressed syllable at the end of a Morpheme , Conservative RP has . This distinction is retained in inflected forms (e.g. ''candied'' and ''candid'' are Homonym s in RP, but not in GAm).
- In GAm, phoneme and an un Stress ed Vowel phoneme, it is realized as an Alveolar-flap Allophone . This sounds like a to RP speakers, although many GAm speakers distinguish the two phonemes by aspirating in this environment, especially after ) or ( (thus ''bitter'' and ''rated'' are distinguishable from ''bidder'' and ''raided''). is an allophone of in conservative RP, which is hence caricatured in America as a "veddy British" accent.
- Yod-dropping occurs in GAm after ; i.e. historic (from spellings ''u'', ''ue'', ''eu'', ''ew''), is pronounced in a stressed syllable. In contrast, RP speakers:
- always retain after : e.g. ''new'' is RP , GAm ;
- retain or Coalesce it after : e.g. ''due'' is RP or , GAm ;
- retain or drop it after : e.g. ''allude'' is RP or (as GAm) .
- retain, coalesce or drop it after : e.g. ''assume'' is RP or , or (as GAm) ;
- ---In some words where has been coalesced in GAm, it may be retained in RP: e.g. ''issue'' is RP or (as GAm)
For many Loanword s from French where AmE has final-syllable stress, BrE stresses an earlier syllable. Such words include:
- BrE first-syllable stress: ''adult''A2,B2, ''ballet'', ''baton'', ''beret'', ''bidet'', ''blasé'', ''brevet'', ''brochure''B2, ''buffet'', ''café''A2, ''chagrin'', ''chalet''A2, ''chauffeur''B2, ''chiffon'', ''cliché'', ''coupé'', ''croissant'', ''debris''B2, ''debut'', ''décor'', ''detail''A2, ''détente''B2, ''flambé'', ''frappé'', ''garage''B2, ''gateau'', ''gourmet'', ''lamé'', ''montage''A2, ''parquet'', ''pastel'', ''paté'', ''précis'', ''sachet'', ''salon'', ''soupçon'', ''vaccine''; ''matinée'', ''negligée'', ''nonchalant'', ''nondescript''; also some French names, including ''Bernard'', '' Calais '', '' Degas '', '' Dijon '', '' Dumas '', ''Francoise'', '' Manet ''A2, '' Monet ''A2, ''Pauline'', '' Renault '', ''René''B2, '' Renoir '', '' Rimbaud '', '' Delacroix ''B2.
- BrE second-syllable stress: ''attaché'', ''consommé'', ''décolleté'', ''déclassé'', '' De Beauvoir '', '' Debussy '', ''démodé'', ''denouement'', ''distingué'', '' Dubonnet '', ''escargot'', ''fiancé(e)'', ''retroussé''
A few French words have other stress differences:
- AmE first-syllable, BrE last-syllable: ''address''A2 (postal), ''m(o)ustache''A2; ''cigarette''A2, ''limousine''B2, ''magazine''B2,
- AmE first-syllable, BrE second-syllable: ''exposé''B2, ''liaison''A2, Macramé , '' Renaissance ''
- AmE second-syllable, BrE last-syllable: '' New Orleans ''
Most 2-syllable verbs ending ''-ate'' have first-syllable stress in AmE and second-syllable stress in BrE. This includes ''castrate'', ''donate''A2, ''mandate''B2, ''prostrate'', ''pulsate'', ''rotate'', ''serrate''B2, ''spectate'', ''striated'', ''translate''A2, ''vacate'', ''vibrate''; in the case of ''cremate'', ''narrate'', ''placate'', the first vowel is in addition reduced to in BrE. (Examples where AmE and BrE match include ''debate'', ''elate'', ''relate''.) Derived nouns in ''-ator'' may retain the distinction, but those in ''-ation'' do not.
Most longer ''-ate'' verbs are pronounced the same in AmE and BrE, but a few have first-syllable stress in BrE and second-syllable stress in AmE: ''elongate'', ''infiltrate''A2, ''remonstrate'', ''tergiversate''.
The ending ''-atory'' is similarly different: in BrE primary stress moves from the root word to the first syllable of the suffix, while in AmE the stress of the root is unchanged, with a secondary stress in the second syllable of the suffix. Thus, from ''regulate'' comes ''regulatory'' with AmE and BrE .
An exception to this is ''laboratory'': AmE and BrE .
There are a number of cases where same-spelled noun, verb and/or adjective have uniform stress in one dialect but distinct stress in the other (e.g. ''alternate'', ''prospect''): see Initial-stress-derived Noun .
The following table lists words where the only difference between AmE and BrE is in stress (possibly with a consequent reduction of the unstressed vowel). Words with other points of difference are listed in A Later Table .
Where the syllable preceding ''-ary'',''-ery'' or ''-ory'' is stressed, AmE and BrE alike pronounce all these endings . Where the preceding syllable is unstressed, however, AmE has a full vowel rather than schwa: for ''-ary'' and ''-ery'' and for ''-ory''. BrE retains the reduced vowel , or even Elides it completely to . (The elision is avoided in carefully enunciated speech, especially with endings ''-rary'',''-rery'',''-rory''.) So ''military'' is AmE and BrE or .
Note that stress differences occur with ending ''-atory'' (explained ''. Pronouncing ''library'' as rather than is highly stigmatized in AmE, whereas in BrE, is common in rapid or casual speech.
Formerly the BrE-AmE distinction for adjectives carried over to corresponding Adverb s ending ''-arily'', ''-erily'' or ''-orily''. However, nowadays most BrE speakers adopt the AmE practice of shifting the stress to the antepenultimate syllable: ''militarily'' is thus rather than .
The Placename component ''-bury'' (e.g. '' Canterbury '') has a similar difference after a stressed syllable: AmE and BrE or . The ending ''-mony'' after a stressed syllable is AmE but BrE . The word ''-berry'' in compounds has a slightly different distinction: in BrE, it is reduced ( or ) after a stressed syllable, and may be full after an unstressed syllable; in AmE it is usually full in all cases. Thus, ''strawberry'' is BrE but AmE , while ''whortleberry'' is BrE and similarly AmE .
Words ending in unstressed ''-ile'' derived from Latin adjectives ending ''-ilis'' are mostly pronounced with a full vowel () in BrE but a reduced vowel or Syllabic in AmE (e.g. ''fertile'' rhymes with ''fur tile'' in BrE but with ''turtle'' in AmE). This difference applies:
- generally to ''agile'', ''docile'', ''facile'', ''fertile'', ''fissile'', ''fragile'', ''futile'', ''infertile'', ''missile'', ''nubile'', ''octile'', ''puerile'', ''rutile'', ''servile'', ''stabile'', ''sterile'', ''tactile'', ''tensile'', ''virile'', ''volatile'';
- usually to ''ductile'', ''hostile'', ''(im)mobile'' (adjective), ''projectile'', ''textile'', ''utile'', ''versatile'';
- not usually to ''decile'', ''domicile'', ''infantile'', ''juvenile'', ''labile'', ''mercantile'', ''pensile'', ''reptile'', ''senile'';
- not to ''crocodile'', ''exile'', ''gentile'', ''percentile'', ''reconcile''; nor to compounds of monosyllables (e.g. ''turnstile'' from ''stile'').
Related endings ''-ility'', ''-ilize'', ''-iliary'' are pronounced the same in AmE as BrE. The name '' Savile '' is pronounced with () in both BrE and AmE. '' Mobile '' (sculpture), '' Camomile '' and ''febrile'' are sometimes pronounced with in AmE and ) in BrE. '' Imbecile '' has or in BrE and often in AmE.
The suffix ''-ine'', when unstressed, is pronounced sometimes (e.g. ''feline''), sometimes (e.g. ''morphine'') and sometimes (e.g. ''medicine''). Some words have variable pronunciation within BrE, or within AmE, or between BrE and AmE. Generally, AmE is more likely to favour or , and BrE to favour : e.g. ''adamantine''A2, ''carbine'', ''crystalline''A2, ''labyrinthine'', ''philistine'', ''serpentine''A2. However, sometimes AmE has where BrE has ; e.g. ''iodine''B2, ''strychnine''A2.
Some Function Word s have a Weak Form in AmE, with a reduced vowel used when the word is unstressed, but always use the full vowel in RP. These include: ''or'' ; ''you'' ; ''your'' .
On the other hand, the Title s '' Saint '' and '' Sir '' before a person's name have "weak forms" in BrE but not AmE:
before vowels, and ; before consonants, and .
These tables list words pronounced differently but spelled the same. See also the table of Words With Different Pronunciation Reflected In The Spelling .
Words with multiple points of difference of pronunciation are in the Table After This One . Accent -based differences are ignored. For example, ''Moscow'' is RP and GAm , but only the - difference is highlighted here, since the - difference is predictable from the accent. Also, ''tira'' is listed with AmE ; the Marry-merry-Mary Merger changes this vowel for many Americans.
The slashes normally used to enclose IPA phonemic transcriptions have been omitted from the following table to improve legibility.
|
