Phonemic differentiation is the phenomenon of a phoneme in a language splitting into two phonemes over time, a process known as a phonemic split. The opposite of a phonemic split is a phonemic merger, in which two phonemes become one over time. In oral language, a phoneme is the theoretical basic unit of sound that can be used to distinguish words or morphemes; in sign language, it is a similarly basic unit of hand shape, motion, position, or facial expression. ...

These splits and mergers may be complete or conditioned, that is limited to certain phonemic contexts. In the former case, all minimal pairs for the two phonemes in a splitting accent will be homophones in a merging accent; in the latter case, only some pairs will be homophones. For example, the father-bother merger completely merges /ɑ/ and /ɒ/, whereas the pin-pen merger merges /ɪ/ and /ɛ/ only before /n/ or /m/ (for example pit and pet remain distinct). In phonology, minimal pairs are pairs of words or phrases in a particular language, which differ in only one phoneme, toneme or chroneme and have a distinct meaning. ... Accents mark speakers as a member of a group by their pronunciation of the standard language. ... Homonyms (in Greek homoios = identical and onoma = name) are words which have the same form (orthographic/phonetic) but unrelated meaning. ... This article deals with the history of the English language. ... The merger of pin and pen in American English. ...

Sometimes a phonemic merger causes a certain phoneme to become a restricted phoneme. For example, the fill-feel merger causes /iː/ to become a restricted phoneme that cannot occur before /l/, although the contrast between /iː/ and /ɪ/ is maintained elsewhere, as in beat /biːt/ vs. bit /bɪt/. In oral language, a phoneme is the theoretical basic unit of sound that can be used to distinguish words or morphemes; in sign language, it is a similarly basic unit of hand shape, motion, position, or facial expression. ... The fill-feel and fell-fail mergers are two conditioned phonemic mergers occurring in some varieties of American English. ...

It is sometimes difficult to determine whether a split or a merger has happened in cases where one dialect has two phonemes corresponding to a single phoneme in another dialect; diachronic research is usually required to determine which dialect is the conservative and which is the innovative. It is also important to note that while some splits and mergers are considered to be part of standard languages, others are not considered standard and may be stigmatized. For example, the fleece merger is considered to be standard, but the line-loin merger is usually stigmatized. In descriptive linguistics, however, the question of which splits and mergers are prestigious and which are stigmatized is irrelevant. Historical linguistics (also diachronic linguistics or comparative linguistics) is primarily the study of the ways in which languages change over time, by means of examining languages which are recognizably related through similarities such as vocabulary, word formation, and syntax, as well as the surviving records of ancient languages. ... A standard language (also standard dialect or standardized dialect) is a particular variety of a language that has been given either legal or quasi-legal status. ... Descriptive linguistics is the work of analyzing and describing how language is actually spoken now (or how it was actually spoken in the past), by any group of people. ...

Occasionally, speakers of one accent may believe the speakers of another accent to have undergone a merger, when in fact there has been a chain shift. For example, an American may hear an Irish person use pronunciations like [bɑɹn] for born, [fɑɹm] for form, and [kɑɹd] for cord and incorrectly conclude that Hiberno-English has undergone the card-cord merger. In fact, there is no merger in Hiberno-English: the words barn, farm, and card are pronounced [bæɹn, fæɹm, kæɹd]. In the study of phonetic changes, a chain shift is a type of sound shift in which a group of sounds all change at about the same time, with some sounds taking the place of others. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The card-cord merger (known by Wells as the start-north merger) is a merger of Early Modern English with , resulting in homophony of pairs like card/cord, barn/born and far/for. ...

When phonemic changes occur differently in the standard language and in dialects, the dialect pronunciation is often stigmatized. This can result in hypercorrection, when the dialect speakers attempt to imitate the standard language, but overshoot, as with the foot-strut split, where failing to make the split is stigmatized in Northern England, and speakers of non-splitting accents often try to introduce it into their speech, sometimes resulting in hypercorrections such as pronouncing pudding /pʌdɪŋ/. Hypercorrection is the unnecessarily elaborate or prescriptive correction of common grammar, inappropriately introduced in an attempt to avoid vulgarity or informality. ... The put-strut split (known by Wells as the foot-strut split) is the split of into two distinct phonemes and that occurs in most accents of English; the most notable exception is Northern England. ...

Phonemic differentiation in English

Note: The information in this section is in the process of being merged into History of the English language. See that page for more information about sound changes in English and for a list of all pages related to English sound change. This article deals with the history of the English language. ...

The various accents of English are characterized by various splits and mergers. Listed below are cases where a single phoneme of Early Modern English has split in two or more accents of Modern English, and cases where two phonemes of Middle English have merged in two or more accents of Modern English. Splits and mergers that affect only one accent (or have failed to affect only one accent) are discussed in the article on the accent in question (see the list of English accents and dialects at the right). The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... This is a list of varieties of the English language. ... Selected languages and dialects of the British Isles. ... Highland English is the variety of Gaelic influenced Scottish English spoken in the Scottish Highlands. ... Mid Ulster English (Ulster Anglo-Irish) is the dialect of most people in Ulster, including those in the two main cities. ... Diagram showing the geographical locations of selected languages and dialects of the British Isles. ... Welsh English refers to the dialects of English spoken in Wales by Welsh people. ... African American Vernacular English (AAVE), known colloquially as Ebonics, also called Black English, Black Vernacular or Black English Vernacular, is a type of Southern American English lect (dialect, ethnolect and sociolect) of American English. ... American English (AmE) is the form of the English language used mostly in the United States of America. ... Hawaiian English is the standard of the English language as used in the State of Hawaii, and is — along with the Hawaiian language — an official language of the state. ... Spanglish, a portmanteau of the words Spanish and English, is a name used to refer to a range of language-contact phenomena, primarily in the speech of the Hispanic population of the USA, which is exposed to both Spanish and English. ... Chicano English is a dialect of American English used by Chicanos. ... Australian English (AuE) is the form of the English language used in Australia. ... Bermudian English is the variety of English spoken in Bermuda, a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic. ... Canadian English is the form of English used in Canada, spoken as a first or second language by over 25 million Canadians (as recorded in the census of 2001). ... Caribbean English is a dialect of the English language spoken in the Caribbean. ... For more background on this topic, see languages of Hong Kong. ... Indian English is a catch-all phrase for the dialects or varieties of English spoken widely in India (by about 11% of the population, according to the 1991 census although the nuber of Indian English speakers have dramatically increased since then) and the Indian subcontinent in general, but also by... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Jamaican English or Jamaican Standard English is a dialect of English encompassing in a very unique way, parts and mergers of both American English and British English dialects. ... Liberian English is the form of English spoken in the African country of Liberia. ... Malawian English is the English language as spoken in Malawi. ... Manglish (or sometimes Malglish) is the version of the English language as spoken in Malaysia and shares substantial linguistic similarities with Singlish in Singapore. ... New Zealand English is the dialect of English spoken in New Zealand, occasionally referred to within New Zealand as Newzild. ... Newfoundland English is a dialect of English specific to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, distinct from Canadian English. ... Philippine English refers to the English language as it is used in the Philippines, where it is one of two official languages, the other being Filipino, which is based on Tagalog. ... Singlish, a portmanteau of the words Singaporean and English, is the English-based creole spoken colloquially in Singapore. ... South African English is a dialect of English spoken in South Africa and to some extent, in neighbouring countries with a large number of Anglo-Africans living in them, such as Namibia and Zimbabwe. ... Sri Lankan English (SLE) is the English language as spoken in Sri Lanka. ... Tinglish (also Thenglish or Thailish) is the imperfect form of English produced by native Thai speakers due to language interference from the first language. ... Basic English is a constructed language with a small number of words created by Charles Kay Ogden and described in his book Basic English: A General Introduction with Rules and Grammar (1930). ... Commonwealth English is intended as a collective term for the perceived standard English language used in the Commonwealth of Nations1, applying in theory to Australian English, British English, Caribbean English, Canadian English, Hiberno-English (Irish English)2, Hong Kong English3, Indian English (includes Pakistani English), formal Malaysia English, New Zealand... Globish, a portmanteau of the words Global and English, is a simplified version of the English language that uses only the most common English words and phrases. ... International English is the concept of the English language as a global means of communication in numerous dialects, and the movement towards an international standard for the language. ... Plain English focuses on being a flexible and efficient writing style that readers can understand in one reading. ... Simplified English is a controlled language originally developed for aerospace industry maintenance manuals. ... Special English is a simplified version of the English language used by the United States broadcasting service Voice of America in daily broadcasts. ... Standard English is a general term for a form of written and spoken English that is considered the model for educated people. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Early modern English is a name for the modern English language the way it was used between around 1485 and 1650. ... Middle English is the name given by historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion in 1066 and the mid-to-late 15th century, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become widespread, a process aided by the...

Fleece merger

The fleece merger (also called meet-meat merger) is the merger of the Early Modern English vowel /eː/ (usually spelled ea, as in meat, peace, sea, receive) with the vowel /iː/ (as in meet, piece, see, believe)^[1]. The merger is complete outside the British Isles and virtually complete within them. Some speakers in Northern England distinguish [ɪə] in the first group of words from [iː] or [əi] in the second group. Old-fashioned varieties of Hiberno-English and the West Country dialects preserve the Early Modern English /eː/–/iː/ contrast, but it is rare in these accents nowadays. A handful of words (such as break, steak, great) escaped the fleece merger in the standard accents and are thus have the same vowel as words like brake, stake, grate in almost all varieties of English. The British Isles consist of Great Britain, Ireland and a number of much smaller surrounding islands. ... The three northern Regions Northern England is a rather ill-defined term, with no universally accepted definition. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The West Country dialects, or West Country accents, are generic terms applied to any of several English dialects or accents used by much of the indigenous population of the south western part of England, the area popularly known as the West Country. ...

Line-loin merger

The line-loin merger is a merger between the diphthongs /aɪ/ and /ɔɪ/ that occurs in some accents of Southern English English, Hiberno-English, Newfoundland English, and Caribbean English. Pairs like line/loin, bile/boil, imply/employ are homophones in merging accents.^[2] Selected languages and dialects of the British Isles. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Newfoundland English is a dialect of English specific to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, distinct from Canadian English. ... Caribbean English is a dialect of the English language spoken in the Caribbean. ...

Long mid mergers

The earliest stage of Early Modern English had a contrast between the long mid monophthongs /ɛː, oː/ (as in pane, toe) and the diphthongs /ɛi, ɔu/ (as in pain, tow). In the vast majority of Modern English accents these have been merged; whether the outcome is monophthongal or diphthongal depends on the accent. But in a few regional accents, including some in Northern England, East Anglia, South Wales, and even Newfoundland, the merger has not gone through (at least not completely), so that pairs like pane/pain and toe/tow are distinct. Also in Northern England, Middle English /ɛi/ and /ɛix/ are often kept distinct, so that way [weː] is distinct from weigh [wɛɪ] and late [leːt] does not rhyme with eight [ɛɪt]. ^[3] The three northern Regions Northern England is a rather ill-defined term, with no universally accepted definition. ... Norfolk and Suffolk, the core area of East Anglia. ... South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the East and South, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the North and West. ... Newfoundland (French: Terre-Neuve; Irish: Talamh an Éisc; Latin: Terra Nova) Newfoundland (originally, Terra Nova) was very likely named by the english John Cabot in 1497, which would make it the oldest European name in North America. ...

Notes

1. ^  John C. Wells (1982) Accents of English, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-22919-7 (vol. 1), ISBN 0-521-24224-X (vol. 2), ISBN 0-521-24225-8 (vol. 3), pp. 132, 196–99; 351–53
2. ^  Wells, op.cit., pp. 208–210
3. ^  Wells, op.cit., pp. 192–94, 337, 357, 384–85, 498

John Christopher Wells, MA (Cantab), Ph. ... 1982 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The city of Cambridge is an old English university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire. ... The headquarters of the Cambridge University Press, in Trumpington Street, Cambridge. ...

See also

• American and British English differences
• History of the English language
• List of dialects of the English language