We will listen to examples from speakers of several varieties of English spoken in the United States and the UK (from the Sound Comparisons website at the University of Edinburgh)
US: Boston English, Chicago AAE, North Carolina AAE
UK: RP, Tyneside English, Belfast English
As well as listening to the differences, keep track of the properties of each of these varieties.
1. Which of these speakers pronounces this pair of words with a vocalic /l/? (the other has “dark” or velarized [?])
Boston English
Chicago AAE
2. Which of these speakers pronounces this pair of words with [t?]
RP
Tyneside English
3. Which of these speakers pronounces the orthographic ‘th’ as [v]?
Tyneside English
North Carolina AAEbrother
4. Which of these speakers pronounces this pair of words with a flap [?]
a. Belfast English
b. RP
5. Which of these speakers pronounces this pair of words with “light” [l]? (The other has “dark”[?])
Belfast English
RP
6. Which of these speakers neutralizes the contrast between /?/ and /t/?
a. Edinburgh
b. Liverpool English
7. Which of these speakers pronounces the orthographic ‘th’ as [f]?
Tyneside English
North Carolina AAE
8. Which of these speakers pronounces the orthographic ‘r’ at the end of the word?
Boston English
Chicago AAE
9. Which of these speakers pronounces the orthographic ‘r’ at the end of the word?
Belfast English
RP
10. Which of these speakers seems to have free variation between [?] and [t] in final position?
North Carolina AAE
Chicago English AAE