LL-L: "Language varieties" LOWLANDS-L, 10.AUG.2000 (03) [E]

[Alfred Brothers]

John Feather asked:

> Some questions about American English.
>
> 2. In Standard BE we pronounce "the" differently before vowels and
> consonants. We pronounce "the elephant" as "theeyelephant" - the intensity
> of the "y" sound depending on the speaker. Americans tend to say "th@
> elephant", the length of the pause again depending on the speaker. Do I have
> this right? Are there regional and social differences?

In contrast to Stefan Israel's response, in New England we also pronounce "the"
differently depending on whether the following word begins with a vowel or
consonant. It's "th@ book" but "thee(y)elephant" and "thee(y)apple".
Interestingly, if we are stressing "the" before a vowel, the "y"-glide is often
reduced or is replaced by a glottal stop or hiatus. However, I clearly hear many
Americans link the two words as Stefan describes, often to the point that -- to
my ears -- the vowel of "the" almost disappears, giving "th'elephant, th'apple".
Which brings me to "to Italy":  To me it seems that many Americans link this
preposition in the same way as "the". In New England, however, most speakers say
"he wants t@ speak t@ me" but "they tried too open it too everyone" (= "...to
open it to everyone") and not "...t@ open it t@ everyone". I'm not sure that
these pronunciations are limited to New England. I believe they're common as far
south as New York or New Jersey. But I do know they're not common in the
mid-Atlantic or southern coastal regions.

> 3. Has anybody ever tried to explain consonant shifts such as those in
> Robert Mitchum's (I think in "Wings of War") "Naddlies gone tiddly"

Again I agree for the most part with Stefan's comments; however, in addition to
the writes/rides example, I hear a distinct difference between writer/rider,
writing/riding, whiter/wider (assuming it's a speaker who doesn't distinguish w
from wh), waiter/wader, even looter/lewder. The vowel or diphthong before "t"
(in my speech, and I think in the speech of most others) retains the shorter
quality of a vowel or diphthong before a voiceless consonant, even though the
"t" has become (semi-)voiced**, i.e, the same as in "price/prize" and
"races/raises". True, the difference is almost imperceptable or totally
non-existent, in latter/ladder, betting/bedding, "little" rhyming with "middle"
--  I suppose because of the short vowel sound.

** It's not really voiced to a /d/; Stefan's example of a single-flapped r
describes the sound exactly.

By the way, does this "voicing" occur in any British English or Scots dialects?
It seems to me I've heard Scots English spoken with this sound, but it could
have been by Americans putting on an not-too-good accent. How about Low Saxon or
Dutch? I seem to remember seeing things like "zidden/sidden" (for
"zitten/sitten"), but I'd probably never locate them again. Oh yeah, it must
happen -- isn't "Hamborg an de Waterkant" usually pronounced "...Wodakant"? Or
is that just a poor imitation, too?

Alfred Brothers