This course has two main aims, though these are highly intertwined.

One aim of the course is to help you learn to use the vocabulary and techniques of phonetics and phonology to describe the sounds, and the sound patterns of a wide variety of “Englishes”: varieties spoken in different communities and regions of the US, and ones spoken around the world. We will discuss differences in the individual sounds (consonants and vowels) from one variety to another, as well as differences in the shapes of syllables, position of accent or stress, and sentence intonation. We will focus on varieties spoken by adult native speakers, but will also discuss some varieties spoken by child and adult learners of English.

The second aim of the course is to help you to develop an understanding of socio-cultural aspects of phonological variation: how are the varieties of English that people speak related to social factors? How does one’s belonging to a particular social group, or the social context in which one speaks, relate to the use of particular phonological patterns? We will also touch on the question of the source of the differences between varieties of English, due to factors both internal and external to language.