Received Pronunciation vs General American

Comparación entre la pronunciación del Inglés Americano y el Inglés Británico

1. RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION VERSUS GENERAL AMERICAN BY NORMA FERREYRA COACH - SOFA  - /   -  better  better    Learnt or Learned ?

2. DIFFERENCES IN ACCENT Water and wine     Water  ᵊ Borrow 

3. VOWEL PRONUNCIATION- MONOPHTHONGS Change of Vowel  / WORD RP GA clock /  ɒ k / /  ɑ  k / model /  m ɒ dl /  ɑ/ dog /  /   into  ɑ /  into / ɔ  Before the voiceless fricatives ,, and sometimes before  and  WORD RP GA loft / / / ɔ/ cloth  /  ɔ  / loss   dog /  / ɔ long /  / ɔ  into  / and / WORD RP GA produce /    /    /    wasn’t   

4. VOWEL PRONUNCIATION- MONOPHTHONGS Change of Vowel  / It is before the voiceless fricatives , , and . It is followed by consonant clusters such as , , , and  The changes are not applied before other consonants, as in car, bar, star WORD RP GA pass   calf   path   dance   can’t   ranch   sample  ᵊ  ᵊ car   Vowel  becomes  when :

5. VOWEL PRONUNCIATION- MONOPHTHONGS Change of Vowel  / In General American, the sound  only occurs when the following sound is , as in war . When no  follows ,  is used instead of  WORD RP GA law   bought   horse  

6. VOWEL PRONUNCIATION- DIPHTHONGS The shift consists in the change of the mid central unrounded vowel  to the close-mid back rounded vowel  in the first vowel of the diphthong. Change of Diphthong  to  WORD RP GA go   phone   cocoa  

7. VOWEL PRONUNCIATION- DIPHTHONGS Change of Diphthong  -  -  In General American, the sound  dissapears and the former diphthongs become “ vowel + ”  to   to   to  ()

8. VOWEL PRONUNCIATION- DIPHTHONGS Change of  and   to  in the suffix - ization  to 

9. CONSONANT PRONUNCIATION Pronunciation of  When it is at an intervocalic position It consists of pronouncing an alveolar flap. It sounds like  or 

10. CONSONANT PRONUNCIATION Pronunciation of 

11. CONSONANT PRONUNCIATION Pronunciation of r

12. STRESS DIFFERENCES Words of foreign origin WORD RP GA ballet   attache   Words of having first-syllable stress in GA WORD RP GA address   cigarette    Some compound words WORD RP GA weekend   Pollysyllabic words ending in – ory or – ary have secondary stress on the penuntimate syllable in GA whereas in RP this is reduced WORD RP GA auditory   dictionary ᵊ 

13. SPELLING DIFFERENCES RP - our - ou - - ae / oe - colour , favour honour mould , moult mediaeval , amoeba GA - or -o- -e- color, favor, honour mold , molt medieval, ameba RP en- - dgement -re -ce enclose , ensure judgement centre, theatre defence , licence GA in- - dgment - er -se inclose , insure judgment center, theater defense , license RP - ise - xion doubled consonant apologise , capitalise inflexion , connexion travelling, counsellor GA - ize - ction single consonant apologize , capitalize inflection , connection traveling , counselor

14. SPELLING DIFFERENCES RP Hypenated words Retains French diacritics ash-tray , flower-pot Café, élite, fiancée GA Fused or two separate words Diacritics is not necessary Ashtray , flower pot Café, elite, fiancee RP single “l” - gg - - st Others skilful , fulfil faggot , waggon amidst , amongst cheque, plough GA double “l” -g- No ending Others skilfull , fulfill fagot, wagon amid , among , check , plaw

15. GRAMMATICAL DIFFERENCES THE VERB RP has regular and irregular verbs . In GA many irregular verbs have become regularized and other forms are more irregular than the RP ones . Infinitive Simple Past Past Participle RP & GA RP GA RP GA burn burnt burned burnt burned dream dreamt dreamed dreamt dreamed learn learnt learned learnt learned dive dived dove dived dived get got got got gotten PAST TENSE FORMS

16. GRAMMATICAL DIFFERENCES Americans use the present perfect tense less than speakers of British English THE PRESENT PERFECT RP GA Have you done your homework yet? Did you do your homework yet? I’ve already done it . I already did it .

17. GRAMMATICAL DIFFERENCES Shall / Shan’t . Rarely used in GA, except in legal documents . It is replaced by will ( or should in questions with first person subjects ) and won’t in negatives . RP GA I shall / will tell you later / I’ll tell you later I will tell you later / I’ll tell you later I shan’t be able to come. I won’t be able to come. Shall I drink this now ? Should I drink this now ? Advice or opinion AUXILIARIES and MODALS Needn’t / Don’t need to . RP GA They needn't / don’t need to come to school today. They don't need to come to school today. Future

18. GRAMMATICAL DIFFERENCES Verb phrase substitution with Do . In both , RP and GA do can substitute for a simple finite verb phrase and it is inflected for tense and person . Do subtitution with an auxiliary . In RP, this can occur after most auxiliaries . In GA instead of substitution , a deletion process is used . Also if there are two aspectual auxiliaries , the second can be deleted . DO- substitution (RP only ) Deletion ( Both RP and GA) A: Are you coming with us? B: Yes, I might do / might . B: Yes, I might. A: Will you have finished by 8 p.m.? B: Yes, I will have done / will have / will . B: Yes, I will have / will . VERB PHRASES

19. GRAMMATICAL DIFFERENCES Copular verbs seem , act , look, sound . RP GA It seemed a long time. It seemed like/to be a long time. That sounds a bad idea. That sounds like a bad idea. Want . In GA it can be followed directly by the adverbs in and out . In RP it must be follwed first by an infinitive . RP GA I wanted to come in. I wanted in. The dog wants to go out. The dog wants out . followed directly by an indefinite noun phrase they must be followed first by the preposition like

20. GRAMMATICAL DIFFERENCES Have vs take . with an object noun which describes an action (washing or resting) RP GA I'd like to have a bath. I'd like to take a bath. RP GA I have/have got a new car. I have got / have a new car. Have got. Denoting possesion . Both use it, but in RP is informal. Have to/Have got to. (must) Denoting obligation. RP GA I have to leave now. I have got to leave now . Have gotten. Used only in GA in some contexts Context Usage Obtain They’ve gotten a new boat . Become They’ve gotten interested . Moved He’s gotten off the chair .

21. GRAMMATICAL DIFFERENCES THE NOUN PHRASE Derivational endings RP GA Candidature Candidacy Centenary Centennial Transport transportation Collective nouns In RP collective nouns can be followed by a singular or plural verb depending on whether the group is thought of as one idea, or as many individuals. In GA collective nouns are always followed by a singular verb. RP GA Which team is /are losing ? Which team is losing ?

22. GRAMMATICAL DIFFERENCES ARTICLES THE/A/AN When referring to events in the past, RP does not require the definite article before the phrase next day. RP GA Next day, the rains began. The next day , the rains began . I saw him next day. I saw him the next day . In both, RP and GA, no article is required with count nouns when used in an abstract-generic sense. However there are a few nouns which need an article in GA. RP GA To be in hospital To be in the hospital To be at/go to university To be at/ go to a university

23. GRAMMATICAL DIFFERENCES In phrases beginning with half followed by some unit of measure, RP usually requires an indefinite article before the unit of measure. In GA, the indefinite article can also come before half. RP GA Half an hour A half hour or half an hour Half a dozen. A hlf dozen or half a dozen . Half a pound. A half pound of half a pound . RP does not use the definite article in the phrase in future in the meaning “from now on”, while GA does. RP GA In future, I’d like you to pay more attention to detail. In the future , I’d like you to pay more attention to detail .

24. GRAMMATICAL DIFFERENCES WORD ORDER For names of rivers, RP places the word river before the name of the river, while GA uses the opposite order. RP GA the River Thames. The Mississipi River The River Liffey . The Hudson River . In written standards, especially newspapers, RP generally places personal attributes after the person named. In GA the attributes tend to precede the name. RP GA Margaret Thatcher, the British Prime Minister, arrived in Washington today. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher arrived in Washington today .

25. GRAMMATICAL DIFFERENCES PREPOSITIONS In RP the preposition at is used with many time expressions meaning “time when”. GA uses over and in some cases on. RP GA At the weekend/Christmas Over t he weekend /Christmas Prepositions used in phrases indicating duration of time . RP GA I haven’t seen him for weeks I haven’t seen him in weeks In and on in non-temporal contexts RP GA To be in a team To be on a team to live in a street to live on a street .

26. GRAMMATICAL DIFFERENCES Prepositions can be deleted in GA before temporal nouns indicating repetition or habitual action. (nouns must become plural if deletion occurs). RP GA He works by day and studies at night He works days and studies nights Prepositions are often omitted in GA before a specific date or day of the week that indicates a time that is not the present. RP GA The sale started on Jan. 1 st . The sale started Jan . 1 In phrases denoting a period of time from or after a given time, from is often deleted in RP, but not in GA. RP GA A week this Tuesday A week from this Tuesday Omission of prepositions

27. VOCABULARY DIFFERENCES Same word , different meaning WORD RP GA homely Domestic Ugly (of people ) nervy Nervous Bold, full of nerve , cheeky pants Underpants Trousers pavement Footpath , sidewalk Road surface to tick off To scold To make angry Same word , additional meaning in GA WORD Meaning in common Aditional meaning in GA bathroom Room with bath or shower and sink Room with toilet only cute Endearing ( e.g . of kittens ) Attractive , charming dumb Mute stupid

28. VOCABULARY DIFFERENCES Same word , difference in style , connotation & use WORD Meaning in common Aditional meaning in RP Frontier A wild, open space Border between two countries Leader One who commands , guides, directs , is in front An editorial To mind To heed , obey To look after (as in mind the children ) Same word , additional meaning in RP WORD RP usage GA usage Autumn Common ; all styles Uncommon ; poetic , formal. ( fall used instead ) Clever Common ; positive Less common ; usually negative Quite Negative or neutral positive

29. VOCABULARY DIFFERENCES GA only Corresponds to RP Faucet Tap Same concept or item , different word RP GA to ring to call Tin Can To tick To check Sofa couch RP only Corresponds to GA Dynamo Generator Queue Line These words are not widely known in the other variety These words are known in the other variety

30. VOCABULARY DIFFERENCES RP GA Jam Jelly Cooker Stove Jug Pitcher Food & Cooking Clothing & Accesories RP GA Jumper Sweater Handbag Purse Household RP GA Garden Yard Torch Flashlight Dustbin Garbage can Commerce Transportation RP GA Chemist’s shop Drug store Off- licence store Liquor store RP GA Caravan Trailer / mobile home Lorry Truck Underground railway subway