On the status of Canadian English pronunciation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31548/philolog0(276).2017.018%20-%2024Abstract
This article is an overview of the problem of defining varieties of the English language on the territory of North America. Close inspection of the varieties in Great Britain and the USA reveals that they are essentially different in character. English is different not only between countries, but on the territory of the country, which doesn’t have a unified territorial variant. It is not difficult to establish that the varieties spoken in small areas are local dialects. The status of the other varieties is more difficult to establish. Canadian English contains elements of British English and American English in its vocabulary, as well as many distinctive И?Canadianisms’. However, these distinctions are confined to the articulatory-acoustics characteristics of some phonemes, to some differences in the use of others and to the differences in the rhythm and intonation of speech. The few phonemes characteristic of American pronunciation and alien to British literary norms can as a rule be observed in British dialects. The comparative analysis of the national varieties of English pronunciation shows that they have identical as well as divergent features at all levels of the phonetic system of English: the system of vowel and consonant phonemes, the accentual structure of words and intonation.
The North American accent is that of an educated Central-Eastern variety. Elsewhere in the Eastern USA there are distinctive varieties to be found in New England, New York City and the South-East (with certain south-eastern features).The status of it still needs further investigation.
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