Vowels FACE

This is one of the few variables for which there appears to be a consistent difference between the Black Country and Birmingham conurbations.

As Wells (1982: 210–211) explains, the West Midlands variety has undergone long mid diphthonging, producing diphthongs rather than pure vowels in FACE. It appears from the BCDP data that Birmingham typically has , much as in South-East England, while the Black Country typically has . In more formal styles,  occurs in both areas.

According to Wells (1982: 357), the long mid mergers were generally carried through in the Midlands, so that distinctions are no longer made between pairs like mane and main.

Mathisen (1999: 109) maintains that Sandwell speakers typically have [æi], compared to Bm ; elderly speakers also have [εi], or [ε] as in TAKE. Hughes and Trudgill (1996: 55) have WM . Painter (1963: 30) similarly has BC , realized as , alternating with /e/, realized as , the latter presumably in the TAKE subset. Chinn and Thorne (2001: 22) maintain that Bm speakers’ realization here is typically “very open, similar to (…) Cockney speakers” (  ), e.g. in break, way, waist, weight. However, he notes [ε] in various verb forms of the TAKE subset, e.g. make, made, take.

There is evidence for various non-short realizations (quality unclear – possibly ):

There is evidence (written, also audio) for various short-vowel realizations, apparently:

(1) [ε] in verb forms in Bm <en’t/ennit> ain’t; Bm/ BC <tek/tekkin’/tekin> take/taking; Bm/ BC <mek/mekin/med> make/making/made (the TAKE subset).

(2) [I] in Bm <in’t/inarf> ain’t/ain’t half (isn’t/isn’t half), <agin>again(st), <allis> (also Bm/ BC <allus> ) always. Note especially [I] or [i:] in Bm <causey> causeway (as in other dialects, e.g. North-eastern place-name Causey Arch).

(3) [a] in Bm/ BC <babby> baby.

Heath (1980: 87) has  for Cannock.

مواضيع ذات صلة

Spelling and Pronunciation SUMMARY

American English vs. British English

Morphological Basis of English Spelling

Phoneme–Grapheme Correspondences in English Vowels

Phoneme–Grapheme Correspondences in English Consonants

Spelling and Pronunciation Irregularity of English Spelling

Structural Factors in Second Language Phonology SUMMARY

Perception

Optimality Theory (OT)

Ontogeny Phylogeny Model (OPM)

Markedness

Hypercontrast