NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Phonological history of English short A

The trap-bath split is a vowel split that occurs mainly in southern varieties of English English (including Received Pronunciation), in the Boston accent, and in the Southern Hemisphere accents (Australian English, New Zealand English, South African English), by which the Early Modern English phoneme /æ/ was lengthened in certain environments and ultimately merged with the long /ɑː/ of father. (Wells 1982: 100–1, 134, 232–33) Phonemic differentiation is the phenomenon of a phoneme in a language splitting into two phonemes over time, a process known as a phonemic split. ... English English is a term that has been applied to the English language as spoken in England. ... Received Pronunciation (RP) is a form of pronunciation of the English language, sometimes defined as the educated spoken English of southeastern England. ... The Boston accent is the dialect of English not only of the city of Boston itself, but more generally of all of eastern Massachusetts; it shares much in common with the accents of New Hampshire and upper Maine. ... Australian English (AuE) is the form of the English language used in Australia. ... New Zealand English is the dialect of English spoken in New Zealand, occasionally referred to within New Zealand as Newzild. ... 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 Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. ... Early modern English is a name for the modern English language the way it was used between around 1485 and 1650. ...

In this context, the lengthened vowel in words such as bath, laugh, grass, chance in accents affected by the split is referred to as a broad A (also, in Britain, long A). Phonetically the vowel is a long back [ɑː] in Received Pronunciation (RP); it is a fronter vowel, [ɐː] or [aː], in some other accents, including many Australian and New Zealand accents, and it may be a rounded [ɒː] in South African English. Received Pronunciation (RP) is a form of pronunciation of the English language, sometimes defined as the educated spoken English of southeastern England. ... 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 Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. ...

In accents unaffected by the split, these words usually have the same vowel as words like cat, trap, man, the short A or flat A.

The sound change probably occurred during the late eighteenth century in southern England, and changed the sound of [æ] to [ɑː] in words in which the former sound appeared before [f, s, θ, ns, nt, ntʃ, nd, mpl], leading to RP [pɑːθ] for path and [sɑːmpl] for sample, etc. The sound change did not occur before other consonants; thus accents affected by the split preserve /æ/ in words like cat. See the Variations section below for more details on the words affected. (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ...

British Isles accents

The presence or absence of this split is one of the most noticeable differences between different accents of English English. An isogloss runs across the Midlands from the Wash to the Welsh border, passing to the south of the cities of Birmingham and Leicester. North of the isogloss, the vowel in most of the affected words is usually the same short [a] as in cat; south of the isogloss, the vowel in the affected words is generally long. (Gupta 2005) English English is a term that has been applied to the English language as spoken in England. ... Isoglosses on the Faroe Islands An isogloss is the geographical boundary of a certain linguistic feature, e. ... The Wash, as seen looking west from Heacham, Norfolk The Wash is also the name of a 2001 film. ... The city from above Centenary Square. ... Leicester city centre, looking towards the clock tower Leicester (pronounced ) is the largest city in the English East Midlands. ...

There is some variation close to the isogloss; for example in Brummie most of the affected words have a short [a], but aunt usually has a long vowel. Additionally, some words which have /æ/ in most forms of American English, including half, calf, rather and can't, are often found with long vowels in northern England. Brummie (sometimes Brummy) is a colloquial term for the inhabitants, accent and dialect of Birmingham, UK, as well as being a general adjective used to denote a connection with the city, locally called Brum. ... American English (AmE) is the dialect of the English language used mostly in the United States of America. ...

In some West Country accents of English English where the vowel in trap is realized as [a] rather than [æ], the vowel in the bath words was lengthened to [aː] and did not merge with the /ɑː/ of father. In those accents, trap, bath and father all have distinct vowels /a/, /aː/ and /ɑː/. (Wells 1982: 346–47). The West Country is an informal area of southwestern England, roughly corresponding to the administrative region South West England. ... English English is a term that has been applied to the English language as spoken in England. ...

In some other West Country accents, and in many forms of Scottish English, there is no distinction corresponding to the RP distinction between /æ/ and /ɑː/. Diagram showing the geographical locations of selected languages and dialects of the British Isles. ...

Southern Hemisphere accents

Evidence for the date of the shift comes from the Southern Hemisphere accents, those of Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

In Australian English, there is generally agreement with southern British in words like path, laugh, class. But before N+consonant, as in dance, plant, most Australians use a flat A (aunt and can't are exceptions and are invariably pronounced with [ɐː]). Phonetically the broad A is [ɐː]. In Australia there is variation in the word castle, both pronunciations are commonly heard. For more information, see the table at Australian English phonology. Australian English (AuE) is the form of the English language used in Australia. ... Australian English is a non-rhotic variety of English spoken by most native-born Australians. ...

South African and New Zealand accents have a similar distribution of sounds to RP.

North American accents

Most accents of American English and Canadian English are unaffected by the split. The main exceptions are parts of New England (see Boston accent), where the broad sound can be used in some of the same words as in southern England, such as can't, aunt, ask, bath etc. Of these, the one in widest use is aunt; those who speak this way find calling a close relative "ant" jarring, and say that it's spelled differently from that word. American English (AmE) is the dialect of the English language used mostly in the United States of America. ... Canadian English is the form of English language used in Canada, spoken as a first or second language by over 25 million â€“ or 85 percent of â€“ Canadians (2001 census). ... The Flag of Plymouth Colony, also know as the First Flag of New England First Flag of New England, 1686-c. ... The Boston accent is the dialect of English not only of the city of Boston itself, but more generally of all of eastern Massachusetts; it shares much in common with the accents of New Hampshire and upper Maine. ...

A related, but distinct, phenomenon is the phonemic æ-tensing in the accents of New York and Philadelphia. The variety of the English language spoken in the New York City and North Jersey region is often considered to be one of the most recognizable accents within American English. ... Philadelphia is a village located in Jefferson County, New York. ...

Variations

The change did not happen in all eligible words. It is hard to find a clear reason why some changed and others did not. Roughly, the more common a word the more likely that the change from flat /æ/ to broad /ɑː/ took place. It also looks as if monosyllables were more likely to change than polysyllables. Here are some examples from RP, to illustrate the variety:

There are some words in which both pronunciations are heard among southern speakers:

Use of broad A in mass is distinctly conservative and probably rare now. The other fluctuations are both common, but with further complications. While graph, telegraph, photograph can have either, graphic, graphology always have flat A. The broad A is more likely when the s is voiceless (thus transfer [trɑːnsfɜː], transport [trɑːnspɔːt]) than when it is voiced (thus translate [trænzleɪt], trans-Atlantic [trænzætlæntɪk]).

Bad-lad split

The bad-lad split is a phonemic split of the Early Modern English short vowel phoneme /æ/ into a short /æ/ and a long /æː/. This split is found in some varieties of English English and Australian English in which bad (with long [æː]) and lad (with short [æ]) do not rhyme. (Wells 1982: 288–89, 596; Horvath and Horvath 2001; Leitner 2004). Phonemic differentiation is the phenomenon of a phoneme in a language splitting into two phonemes over time, a process known as a phonemic split. ... Listen to this article Â· (info) This audio file was created from the revision dated 2005-07-18, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... English English is a term that has been applied to the English language as spoken in England. ... Australian English (AuE) is the form of the English language used in Australia. ...

The phoneme /æ/ is usually lengthened to /æː/ when it comes before an /m/ or /n/, within the same syllable. It is furthermore lengthened in the adjectives bad, sad, glad and mad; family also always has a long vowel, regardless of whether it is pronounced as two or three syllables. Some speakers and regional varities also use /æː/ before /g/, /ŋ/, /l/ and/or /dʒ/; such lengthening may be more irregular than others. Lengthening is prohibited in the past tense of irregular verbs and function words and in modern contractions of polysyllabic words where the /æ/ was in an open syllable. Lengthening is not stopped by the addition of word-level suffixes.

Note that British dialects with the bad-lad split have instead broad /ɑː/ in many words with an /m/ or /n/ following the original /æ/. In this circumstance, Australian speakers usually (but not universally) use /æː/, except in the words ‘aunt’, ‘can’t’ and ‘shan’t’, which have broad /aː/.

Daniel Jones noted for RP that some speakers had a phonemic contrast between a long and a short /æ/ which he wrote as /æː/ and /æ/, respectively. Thus, in An outline of English phonetics (1962, ninth edition, Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons) he noted that sad, bad generally had /æː/ but lad, pad had /æ/. In his pronouncing dictionary, he recorded several minimal pairs, for example bad /bæːd/, bade /bæd/ (also pronounced as /beɪd/). He noted that for some speakers, jam actually represented two different pronunciations, one pronounced /dʒæːm/ meaning 'fruit conserve', the other /dʒæm/ meaning 'crush, wedging'. Later editions of this dictionary edited by Alfred C. Gimson, dropped this distinction. Daniel Jones may be a reference to: Daniel Jones, (1881 - 1967), phonetician, author of The Pronunciation of English Daniel Jones, (1912 - 1993) Welsh composer Daniel Jones, Australian musician, member of Savage Garden Daniel Jones, British politician, MP for Burnley until 1979 This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages... Alfred Charles Gimson (7 June 1917 - 22 April 1985) was an English phonetician. ...

Commonly also in these accents, can 'able to' is /kæn/, whereas the noun can 'tin' or the verb can 'to put into a tin' is /kæːn/; this is similar to the situation found in æ-tensing in some varieties of American English. Australian speakers who use ‘span’ as the past tense of ‘spin’ also have a minimal pair between /spæːn/ ‘to span’ (the bridges /spæːn/ the river) and /spæn/, the past tense of ‘spin’ (the ball /spæn/). Various other minimal pairs can be created in the slang speech of social groups as /æg/ meaning ‘agriculture’ vs /æːg/, a La Trobe University–specific term referring to the part of the Uni known in full as the Agora. American English (AmE) is the dialect of the English language used mostly in the United States of America. ... La Trobe University La Trobe University is a multicampus university in Victoria, Australia. ...

Apart from Jones and Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1961; Springfield, Mass: G. & C. Merriam), where /æː/ (or rather, the American "tense æ") is noted as a secondary pronunciation and written with aaə, dictionary makers have never shown a difference between these varieties of the historical /æ/. In the 11th (2003) edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, which is derived from the Third unabridged, the distinction is discussed in an introductory section on pronunciation but ignored elsewhere in the text. The editors justify their decision by maintaining that "this distinction is sufficiently infrequent that the traditional practice of using a single symbol is followed in this book" (p. 34a). 1888 advertisement for Websters Dictionary Websters Dictionary is a common title given to English language dictionaries in the United States, deriving its name from American lexicographer Noah Webster. ... Pronunciation refers to: the way a word or a language is usually spoken; the manner in which someone utters a word. ... ...

æ-tensing

In the sociolinguistics of English, æ-tensing is a process that occurs in some accents of North American English by which the vowel [æ] is raised and lengthened or diphthongized in various environments. The realization of this "tense æ" varies from [æ̝ˑ] to [ɛə] to [eə] to [ɪə], depending on the speaker's regional accent. The most common realization is probably [eə] (that is, a centering diphthong with a starting point closer than the vowel [ɛ] as in dress); that transcription will be used for convenience in this article. Sociolinguistics is the study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way language is used. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Accents mark speakers as a member of a group by their pronunciation of the standard language. ... North American English is a collective term to describe the varieties of the English language that are spoken in the United States and Canada. ... In phonetics, a diphthong (Greek Î´Î¯Ï†Î¸Î¿Î³Î³Î¿Ï‚, diphthongos, literally with two sounds) is a vowel combination in a single syllable involving a quick but smooth movement from one vowel to another, often interpreted by listeners as a single vowel sound or phoneme. ... The regional accents of English speakers show great variation across the areas where English is spoken as a first language. ...

Phonemic æ-tensing in the Mid-Atlantic region

In Philadelphia and New York, the tense /eə/ is a separate phoneme from /æ/, since certain minimal pairs can be found: Philadelphia is a village located in Jefferson County, New York. ... The variety of the English language spoken in the New York City and North Jersey region is often considered to be one of the most recognizable accents within American English. ... In human language, a phoneme is a set of phones (speech sounds or sign elements) that are cognitively equivalent. ...

In these accents there has thus been a phonemic split. Nevertheless, the distribution between /æ/ and /eə/ is largely predictable in the Philadelphia and New York regions: In Philadelphia, tense [eə] occurs in closed syllables before the /n/, /m/, /f/, /θ/, and /s/, as well as the words mad, bad, and glad. In New York, tensing occurs in all those environments as well as before voiced stops and /ʃ/. Lax [æ] usually occurs before /ŋ/, /l/, and voiceless stops, and also usually occurs in open syllables regardless of the following consonant. 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 Empire State Building (right) and the Chrysler Building (left) are easily recognized symbols of New York City to the world. ... This article discusses the unit of speech. ... A stop, plosive, or occlusive is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract. ...

The phoneme /eə/ is also used in these accents before intervocalic /r/ in words like dairy and Mary and in non-rhotic varieties of these accents in words like square and scarce (which rhymes with glass for many non-rhotic speakers). Listen to this article Â· (info) This audio file was created from the revision dated 2005-07-18, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... Suffix has meanings in linguistics, nomenclature and computer science. ... Function words are words that have little lexical meaning or have ambiguous meaning, but instead serve to express grammatical relationships with other words within a sentence, or specify the attitude or mood of the speaker. ... In contrast to regular verbs, irregular verbs are those verbs that fall outside the standard patterns of conjugation in the languages in which they occur. ... English pronunciation is divided into two main accent groups, the rhotic and the non-rhotic, depending on when the letter r (equivalent to Greek rho) is pronounced. ...

The phonemic tensing of æ is similar to the broad A phenomenon of certain other dialects. The environment of broad A overlaps with that of æ-tensing, in that broad A occurs before voiceless fricatives in the same syllable and before nasals in certain environments; and both phenomena involve replacement of the short lax vowel /æ/ with a longer and tenser vowel. However, the "broad A" is lower and backer than [æ], while the result of æ-tensing is higher and fronter. The trap-bath split is a vowel split that occurs mainly in southern varieties of English English, in the Boston accent, and in the Southern Hemisphere accents (Australian English, New Zealand English, South African English), by which the Early Modern English phoneme was lengthened in certain environments and ultimately merged...

It is also related to the bad-lad split of some Southern British and Australian dialects, in which a short flat /æ/ is lengthened to [æ:] in some conditions. The most significant differences from the Philadelphian system described here are that bad-lad splitting dialects have the broad A phenomenon, so the split can't occur there; that 'sad' is long; and that lengthening can occur before /g/ and /l/. See that article for more information. The trap-bath split is a vowel split that occurs mainly in southern varieties of English English, in the Boston accent, and in the Southern Hemisphere accents (Australian English, New Zealand English, South African English), by which the Early Modern English phoneme was lengthened in certain environments and ultimately merged...

Non-phonemic æ-tensing

In accents that have undergone the Northern cities vowel shift, the phoneme /æ/ is raised and tensed in all environments, to [eə] or even higher. Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ...

Most other dialects of American English display an /æ/ which is raised and tensed in some environments and lower and laxer in others, without splitting it into two contrasting phonemes as the New York and Philadelphia accents do. Geographically the most widespread is the "nasal system", in which /æ/ is raised and tensed to [eə] exclusively before nasal consonants, regardless of whether there is a syllabic or morphemic boundary present. The nasal system is found variously in speakers of the southern Midwest, northern New Jersey, and Florida, among other regions, but it is most prominent—that is, the difference between the two allophones of /æ/ is greatest, and speakers with the nasal system are most concentrated—in eastern New England (see Boston accent). A nasal consonant is produced when the velum—that fleshy part of the palate near the back—is lowered, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. ... The Midwest is a common name for a region of the United States of America. ... Official language(s) None defined, English de facto Capital Trenton Largest city Newark Area - Total - Width - Length - % water - Latitude - Longitude Ranked 47th 22,608 kmÂ² 110 km 240 km 14. ... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Area - Total - Width - Length - % water - Latitude - Longitude Ranked 22nd 170,451 kmÂ² 260 km 800 km 17. ... The Flag of Plymouth Colony, also know as the First Flag of New England First Flag of New England, 1686-c. ... The Boston accent is the dialect of English not only of the city of Boston itself, but more generally of all of eastern Massachusetts; it shares much in common with the accents of New Hampshire and upper Maine. ...

More widespread among speakers of the Western United States and southern Midwest is a "continuous" system. This resembles the nasal system in that /æ/ is usually raised and tensed to [eə] before nasal consonants, but instead of a sharp divide between high tense [eə] before nasals and low lax [æ] before other consonants, allophones of /æ/ occupy a continuum of varying degrees of height and tenseness between those two extremes, with a variety of phonetic and phonological factors interacting (sometimes differently in different dialects) to determine the height and tenseness of any particular example of /æ/. For some speakers with continuous systems, particularly in Canada and the northern and northwestern United States, a following /g/ tenses an /æ/ as much as or more than a following nasal does; in much of Minnesota and Wisconsin, this extends to the point that /æ/ actually merges with /eɪ/ before /g/, so that flag rhymes with plague. The states shown striped may or may not be considered part of the informal western United States today. ... In Quebec, an allophone (French or English. ... State nickname: North Star State, The Land of 10,000 Lakes, The Gopher State Official languages None Capital Saint Paul Largest city Minneapolis Governor Tim Pawlenty (R) Senators Mark Dayton (D) Norm Coleman (R) Area - Total - % water Ranked 12th 225,365 kmÂ² 8. ... Official language(s) None Capital Madison Largest city Milwaukee Area - Total - Width - Length - % water - Latitude - Longitude Ranked 23rd 169,790 kmÂ² 420 km 500 km 17 42Â°30N to 47Â°3N 86Â°49W to 92Â°54W Population - Total (2000) - Density Ranked 18th 5,453,896 38. ... Phonemic differentiation is the phenomenon of a phoneme in a language splitting into two phonemes over time, a process known as a phonemic split. ...

In the Southern United States, the pattern most characteristic of Southern American English does not employ æ-tensing at all, but rather what has been called the "Southern drawl": /æ/ becomes in essence a triphthong [æjə]. However, many speakers from the South have the nasal æ-tensing system described above, particularly in Charleston, Atlanta, and Florida, and speakers from New Orleans have been reported to have a system very similar to the phonemic split of New York, Southern United States. ... Southern American English is a group of dialects of the English language spoken throughout the Southern region of the United States, from central Kentucky and northern Virginia to the Gulf Coast and from the Atlantic coast to eastern Texas. ... In phonetics, a triphthong is a monosyllabic vowel combination usually involving a quick, but smooth movement from one vowel to another that passes over a third one. ... Charleston, South Carolinas oldest city Motto: Aedes Mores Juraque Curat Nickname: The Holy City, The Palmetto City Founded 1670 Incorporated County Berkeley and Charleston Counties Borough {{{borough}}} Parrish {{{parrish}}} Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. ... Atlanta is the capital of and largest city in the U.S. state of Georgia. ... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Area - Total - Width - Length - % water - Latitude - Longitude Ranked 22nd 170,451 kmÂ² 260 km 800 km 17. ... New Orleans (local pronunciations: , , or ) (French: La Nouvelle-OrlÃ©ans, pronounced in standard French accent) is a major U.S. port city and historically the largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. ...

Contents

Trap-bath split

British Isles accents

Southern Hemisphere accents

North American accents

Variations

Bad-lad split

æ-tensing

Phonemic æ-tensing in the Mid-Atlantic region

Non-phonemic æ-tensing

See also

References

Trap-bath split

Bad-lad split

æ-tensing

Contents

Trap-bath split GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

British Isles accents

Southern Hemisphere accents

North American accents

Variations

Bad-lad split

æ-tensing

Phonemic æ-tensing in the Mid-Atlantic region

Non-phonemic æ-tensing

See also

References

Trap-bath split

Bad-lad split

æ-tensing

Trap-bath split