PhDr. Radoslav Pavlk, PhD.

1 Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia

Pronunciation differences between British and American English

BrE and AmE are two different (but related) varieties of English.
Q: Can you think of any other varieties of English?

Both BrE and AmE have many different dialects/accents, but this discussion focuses on standard
pronunciation (the speech of educated speakers).
BrE Received Pronunciation RP (BBC, Oxford + Cambridge dictionaries, etc.)
AmE General American GA, Network English, Midwest accent (CNN, NPR, Webster dictionaries)

Q: Do you know any pronunciation differences between BrE and AmE?

Exercise 1. Listen to these five different speakers. Are they British or American?

Speaker 1: President Obama has announced that 34 thousand troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan
by the end of next summer.

Speaker 2: Last month President Obama asked for 80 million dollars ...

Speaker 3: Experts are warning that new types of bacteria are becoming a problem in hospitals.

Speaker 4. Russian scientists say theyve revived a plant that was preserved in the frozen ground of
Siberia for more than 30 thousand years.

Speaker 5: A train driver who drank a bottle of whiskey while on duty has been jailed for 135 days.
PhDr. Radoslav Pavlk, PhD. 2 Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
The differences between BrE and AmE will be described in terms of 4 main categories: vowels,
consonants, stress, and non-systematic pronunciation differences.

VOWELS

Q: What are vowels?

Q: What is the difference between monophthongs and diphthongs (pure vowels and gliding vowels)?
Give examples of monophthongs and diphthongs.

BrE vowel system AmE vowel system

/ / sit /e / late / / sit /e / late

/i / meet /a / my /i / meet /a / my
/ / look / / boy / / look / / boy
/u / food / / no /u / food /o / no
/ / dog /a / how / / dog /a / how
/ / door / / near / / door / r/ near
/ / cut /e / pair / / cut /er/ pair
/ / father, last / / sure / / father, cop / r/ sure
/ / about, tender / / about
/ / turn / / tender
/e/ bed / / turn
/ / axe /e/ bed
/ / axe, last
PhDr. Radoslav Pavlk, PhD. 3 Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
In BrE, vowels such as / /, /e/, / /, / / or / / are pure monophthongs they do not change in quality.
In AmE, these vowels tend to be diphthongized they slightly change their quality and some of them
are lengthened (/ / and / /).

BrE AmE
front central back
close

close-mid

open-mid

open

Exercise 2. Listen to the vowels / /, /e/, / /, / / and / / pronounced first in BrE, then in AmE.

(a) / / if (b) / / foot (c) /e/ debt (d) / / add (e) / / off

Exercise 3. Each of the following words is pronounced twice. Indicate BrE and AmE pronunciation.
cost damage is shook less

1. 2. 1. 2. 1. 2. 1. 2. 1. 2.
BrE AmE
PhDr. Radoslav Pavlk, PhD. 4 Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
BrE / / = AmE / / in words like cop, rock, not, etc. (/ / in AmE is not diphthongized).

BrE / / = AmE / / when followed by /f, s, , , / (remember that / / in AmE is diphthongized).

Examples: soft, boss, cloth, song, dog, etc. Some AmE speakers use / / in this context.

BrE / / = AmE / / in the words want, what, was, etc.

Exercise 4. Fill in the correct vowel symbol and pronounce these words in BrE and AmE.

BrE AmE BrE AmE

(a) often / f( )n/ / f( )n/ (i) bomb /b m/ /b m/
(b) lock /l k/ /l k/ (j) coffee /k f / /k f /
(c) wrong /r / /r / (k) common / k m n/ / k m n/
(d) from /fr m/ /fr m/ (l) cough /k f/ /k f/
(e) atomic / t m k/ / t m k/ (m) hotdog / h td / / h td /
(f) moth /m / /m / (n) want /w nt/ /w nt/
(g) body /b d / /b d / (o) hockey /h k / /h k /
(h) cross /kr s/ /kr s/ (p) loss /l s/ /l s/

BrE / / = AmE / / when followed by /n, s, f, v, , / (/ / in AmE is diphthongized).

Examples: dance, grass, half, bath, rather, etc.

BrE / / = AmE / / when followed by r in the spelling and in some other words.
Examples: car, harm, calm, palm, grandpa, etc.
PhDr. Radoslav Pavlk, PhD. 5 Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
Exercise 5. Fill in the correct symbol and pronounce these words in BrE and AmE.

BrE AmE BrE AmE

(a) graph / r f/ / r f/ (i) laugh /l f/ /l f/
(b) gaga / / / / (j) spa /sp / /sp /
(c) target /t t/ /t t/ (k) answer / ns / / ns /
(d) cant /k nt/ /k nt/ (l) bar /b / /b /
(e) grandma / r (n)m / / r (n)m / (m) last /l st/ /l st/
(f) staff /st f/ /st f/ (n) parking / p k / / p k /
(g) argue / ju / / ju / (o) glass / l s/ / l s/
(h) apart / p t/ / p t/ (p) blah-blah / bl bl / / bl bl /

Exercise 6. Which words do the following transcriptions represent in BrE and AmE?

British English American English

(a) / k/ _______________ _______________
(b) /k p/ _______________ _______________
(c) /m k/ _______________ _______________
(d) /h t/ _______________ _______________
(e) / d/ _______________ _______________
(f) / p s bl/ _______________ _______________
PhDr. Radoslav Pavlk, PhD. 6 Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
BrE / / = AmE / / when there is no r letter in the spelling: above, sofa, testament, omit, etc.
BrE / / = AmE / / when the letter r is in the spelling, e.g. teacher, honour, permit, etc.
BrE / / = AmE / / in words like burn, return, urgent, etc.
BrE / / = AmE / / in words like up, blood, front, etc.
BrE / / = AmE / / in words like worry, hurry, curry, etc.
For example BrE / w r / = AmE / w r /, BrE / h r / = AmE / h r /, etc.

Exercise 7. Fill in the correct vowel symbol and pronounce these words in BrE and AmE.

BrE AmE BrE AmE

(a) Richard / r t d/ / r t d/ (i) ever / ev / / ev /
(b) dirt /d t/ /d t/ (j) serve /s v/ /s v/
(c) hurricane / h r kn/ / h r ke n/ (k) bucket / b k t/ / b k t/
(d) doctor / d kt / / d kt / (l) forget /f et/ /f et/
(e) current / k r nt/ / k r nt/ (m) scurry / sk r / / sk r /
(f) urban / b n/ / b n/ (n) earth / / / /
(g) dollar /d l / /d l / (o) danger / de nd / / de nd /
(h) oven / v n/ / v n/ (p) stomach / st m k/ / st m k/

BrE / / = AmE /o / in words like go, close, no, etc.

BrE / /, /e /, / / = AmE / r/, /er/, / r/ in words like fear, bear, tour, etc.
BrE /a / = AmE / / in words like civilization, organization, etc. (-ization)
BrE word-final /a l/ = AmE /( )l/ in some 2-syllable words ending in -ile: fragile, missile, mobile, etc.
PhDr. Radoslav Pavlk, PhD. 7 Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia

Exercise 8. Listen to the following words. Are they pronounced in BrE or AmE? Circle the correct
answer.

(a) slow BrE AmE (e) fragile BrE AmE

(b) year BrE AmE (f) airline BrE AmE
(c) civilization BrE AmE (g) share BrE AmE
(d) hostile BrE AmE (h) coast BrE AmE
PhDr. Radoslav Pavlk, PhD. 8 Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
CONSONANTS

Q: What is a consonant? Give some examples.

In BrE (RP), the letter r is pronounced only when followed by a vowel (in pronunciation), e.g. rat,
far away, unreasonable, etc.
In AmE (GA), the letter r is always pronounced, and it can function either as a vowel or a consonant,
e.g. teacher, forget, hear, ride, etc.

The consonant /r/ has a different quality in BrE and AmE.

BrE postalveolar AmE retroflex AmE bunched

BrE unstressed intervocalic /t/ = AmE / t / (flapped /t/ a voiced sound between /d/ and / /) in words
like eighty, later, get out, etc.

BrE unstressed /nt / or /nt / = AmE /n(t) / or /n(t) / in words like plenty, winter, etc.

BrE sequences /tju /, /dju /, /nju /, etc. = AmE /t(j)u /, /d(j)u /, /n(j)u /, in words like tune, duty, new, etc.
PhDr. Radoslav Pavlk, PhD. 9 Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia

Exercise 9. Fill in the correct consonant symbol and pronounce these words in BrE and AmE.

BrE AmE BrE AmE

(a) atom / m/ / m/ (i) ability / bl / / bl /
(b) twenty / twen / / twen / (j) dentist / den st/ / den st/
(c) due /d u / /d u / (k) Tuesday / t u zd(e) / / t u zd(e) /
(d) article / kl/ / kl/ (l) matter /m / /m /
(e) international / n n nl/ / n n nl/ (m) centre / sen / / sen /
(f) residue / rez d u / / rez d u / (n) metal / me l/ / me l/
(g) computer /k m pju / /k m pju / (o) neutral / n u tr l/ / n u tr l/
(h) enter / en / / en / (p) party /p / /p /

STRESS

In BrE, the word-final sequences -ary, -berry, -ory, and -mony are unstressed, in AmE they have
secondary stress:

military: BrE / m l tr / AmE / m l ter /

blackberry: BrE / bl kb( )r / AmE / bl k ber /
lavatory: BrE / l v tr / AmE / l v t r /
testimony: BrE / test m n / AmE / test mo n /
PhDr. Radoslav Pavlk, PhD. 10 Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
2-syllable verbs ending in -ate have stress on the first syllable in AmE, but on the second in BrE.

dictate: BrE /d k te t/ AmE / d kte t/

donate: BrE /d ne t/ AmE / do ne t/

Some words (simple or compound) have a different stress pattern in BrE and AmE:

caf: BrE / k fe / AmE /k fe /, /k fe /

weekend: BrE / wi k end/ AmE / wi kend/
ice-cream: BrE / a s kri m/ AmE / a skri m /

Exercise 10. Fill in the missing symbols and place stress (primary or secondary) correctly on these words.

BrE AmE
(a) ceremony / ser m n / / ser m n /
(b) ballet / b le / / b le /
(c) dictionary /dk r / /dk r /
(d) locate / l ke t / / lo ke t /
(e) magazine /m zi n / / m zi n /
(f) category /k t r / /k t r /
(g) peanut butter / pi n t b t / / pi n t b t /
(h) migrate / ma re t / / ma re t /
(i) strawberry / str b( )r / / str ber /
PhDr. Radoslav Pavlk, PhD. 11 Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
NON-SYSTEMATIC PRONUNCIATION DIFFERENCES

There is a number of words which cannot be transformed from BrE to AmE by means of simple
systematic rules. Here are some examples.

advertisement: BrE / d v t sm nt/ AmE / dv ta zm nt/

depot: BrE / dep / AmE / di po /
vase: BrE /v z/ AmE /ve s/

Q: How many differences can you identify in the BrE and AmE pronunciation of the word advertisement?

Exercise 11. Pronounce these words. Determine which pronunciation is British and which is American.

(a) leisure / le / / li /
(b) either / i / /a /
(c) glacier / l s / / le /
(d) laboratory / l br t r / /l b r tr /
(e) moustache / m st / /m st /
(f) schedule / edju l/ / sked u l/
(g) tomato /t me to / /t m t /
(h) figure /f / / f j /
(i) record (n.) / rek d/ / rek d/
(j) zebra / zebr / / zi br /
(k) progress / pr res/ / pr res/
(l) Moscow / m ska / / m sk /
PhDr. Radoslav Pavlk, PhD. 12 Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
Key to Exercise 1.
Speaker 1: British
President Obama has announced that 34 thousand troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of next summer.
BrE / t/ /f / /f / /fr m/ /fr m/ / f n st n/ / v/ / v/ /s m /
AmE / t / /f r/ /f / /fr m/ /fr m/ / f n st n/ / v/ / v/ / s m /

Speaker 2: American
Last month President Obama asked for 80 million dollars ...
BrE /l st/ / skt/ /f / /f / /et / / d l z/
AmE /l st/ / skt/ /f r/ /f / /et / / d l z/

Speaker 3: British
Experts are warning that new types of bacteria are becoming a problem in hospitals.
BrE / eksp ts/ / w n / /nju / / v/ / v/ /b k t r / / // / / pr bl m/ / h sp tlz/
AmE / eksp ts/ / w rn / /nu / / v/ / v/ /b k t r / / r/ / / / pr bl m/ / h sp tlz/

Speaker 4: American
Russian scientists say theyve revived a plant that was preserved in the frozen ground of Siberia for more than 30
thousand years.
BrE /pl nt/ /w z/ /w z/ /pr z vd/ /f / /f / /m / / t/ /j z/
AmE /pl nt/ /w z/ /w z/ /pr z vd/ /f r/ /f / /m r/ / t / /j rz/

Speaker 5: British
A train driver who drank a bottle of whiskey while on duty has been jailed for 135 days.
BrE / dra v / / b tl/ / v/ / v/ / n/ / dju t / /h z/ /(h) z/ /bi( )n/ /f / /f / / t/
AmE / dra v / / b tl/ / v/ / v/ / n/ / du t / /h z/ /(h) z/ /b n/ /f r/ /f / / t /
PhDr. Radoslav Pavlk, PhD. 13 Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
Recommended literature:

BAILEY, R.W. and GRLACH, M. (eds.) (1982). English as a World Language. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.
BRONSTEIN, A. J. (1960). The Pronunciation of American English. An Introduction to Phonetics. New York: Appleton-Century-
Crofts, Inc.
CALVERT, D.R. (1986). Descriptive Phonetics, 2nd edition. New York: Thieme, Inc.
GIMSON, A. C. & CRUTTENDEN, A. (1994). Gimsons Pronunciation of English (5th edn.). London: Edward Arnold.
IPA (1999). Handbook of the International Phonetic Association. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
LADEFOGED, P. & JOHNSON, K. (2011). A Course in Phonetics, 6th edition. Boston: Wadsworth.
LADEFOGED, P. & MADDIESON, I. (1996). The Sounds of the Worlds Languages. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
LAVER, J. (1994). Principles of Phonetics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
PAVLK, R. (2003). A Theoretical Introduction to English Phonetics and Phonology. Bratislava: Retaas.
PULLUM, G. K. & LADUSAW, W. A. (1996). Phonetic Symbol Guide, 2nd edition. Chicago London: The University of Chicago
Press.
ROACH, P. (2009). English Phonetics and Phonology, 4th edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
STEVENS, K. N. (1998). Acoustic Phonetics. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
TIFFANY, W. R. & CARRELL, J. (1977). Phonetics. Theory and Application, 2nd edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
TOTTIE, G. (2002). An Introduction to American English. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
TRUDGILL, P. & HANNAH, J. (1985). International English: A Guide to Varieties of Standard English, 2nd edition. London:
Edward Arnold.

Recommended general-purpose dictionaries:

Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary

Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners

Specialized pronunciation dictionaries:

WELLS, J. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd edition. Pearson Longman.

JONES D. (2011). English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th edition. Edited by P. Roach, J. Setter, and J. Esling. Cambridge
University Press