Towards a Demarcation of a Phonological Reference Accent in North America

TY - JOUR

T1 - Towards a Demarcation of a Phonological Reference Accent in North America

AU - Staun, Jørgen

PY - 2014/11/17

Y1 - 2014/11/17

N2 - This paper redefines a phonological reference accent for North American English arguing that the regional extension of a representative accent varies depending on phonological category. Prosody and consonants are claimed to be least restrictive and vowels to restrict the regional extension of a reference accent mostly. Although it rejects General American as a viable reference accent, the paper traces the history of this variety and relates it to recent phonological data, contending that General American is compatible with the representative variety proposed here if its borders are allowed to expand and contract and the phonological contrast of the low back vowels is assigned an important role in the demarcation of the varying borderlines.

AB - This paper redefines a phonological reference accent for North American English arguing that the regional extension of a representative accent varies depending on phonological category. Prosody and consonants are claimed to be least restrictive and vowels to restrict the regional extension of a reference accent mostly. Although it rejects General American as a viable reference accent, the paper traces the history of this variety and relates it to recent phonological data, contending that General American is compatible with the representative variety proposed here if its borders are allowed to expand and contract and the phonological contrast of the low back vowels is assigned an important role in the demarcation of the varying borderlines.

KW - Faculty of Humanities

KW - Phonological Reference Accent

KW - North America

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0013-838X

VL - 97

SP - 1

EP - 23

JO - English Studies

JF - English Studies

IS - 8

ER -