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MAIN TYPES OF LITERARY PRONUNCIATION IN BRITAIN AND AMERICA

TYPES AND STYLES OF PRONUNCIATION

Styles of speech or pronunciation are those special forms of speech suited to the aim and the contents of the utterance, the circumstances of communication, the character of the audience, etc.

two styles of pronunciation

L.V. Shcherba wrote of the need to distinguish a great variety of styles of speech, in accordance with the great variety of different social occasions and situations, but for the sake of simplicity he suggested that only two styles of pronunciation should be distinguished

colloquial style characteristic of people's quiet talk, and (2) full style, which we use when we want to make our speech especially distinct and, for this purpose, clearly articulate all the syllables of each word.

colloquial style

British and American English

There are many differences between British and American English which don’t

concern pronunciation. For example, in England you live in a block of flats, take the

underground and go on holiday. In the United States, you live in an apartment house,

take the subway and go on vacation. These are examples of vocabulary differences.

There are differences of grammar as well. In Britain you ask, “Have you got the

time?” and receive an answer, “It’s ten past two.” In the United States you say, “Do

you have the time?” and they tell you that “It’s ten after two.” British and American

English also differ in terms of spelling. Thus, British English has colour and centre,

where American English has color and center. Catalogue is spelt catalog, without -ue

in the end in the United States, and so on. But it is in terms of pronunciation that

British and American English differ most.

BBC and General American

pronunciation

BBC pronunciation General American

box bÅks bå:ks

hot hÅt hå:t

o’clock \«klÅk \ «klå:k

bother «bÅ∂\ «bå:∂\r

knowledge »nÅn«prÅfˆt »nå:n«prå:fˆt

Notice, however, that there are also words which are pronounced with /å:/ in both

accents, e.g., father, palm, balm, part, start, large, card, etc.

• On the other hand, in a number of words in which BBC pronunciation has /å:/,

General American has the front open /æ/ vowel, e.g.

accents

In conclusion, it must be said that there is a lot of accentual variation both within

Britain and the United States. Also, some Eastern accents in the USA sound closer to

BBC pronunciation than to General American, while some British accents resemble

General American rather than BBC English. Nevertheless, BBC pronunciation and

General American still are, and will most probably continue to be, the two accents

which learners of English who wish to acquire (near) native-like pronunciation take as

their model.

conclusion

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