SAE

-In the present-day English is mainly used as a lingua franca in the country.
-Phonetic:The same phonemic symbol. In SAE it does not show the tendency to diphthongisation
found in other South Hem. varieties Phonotactic:/iː/ (phonetically half-long [iˑ]) tends to be used
instead of /ɪ/ in words with UNstressed orthographic final –y, -ie, and –i, and also –ee, -ey and –ea, ,
although there is a great range of likely pronunciations.
-By 1822 English had become the official language of the region, with considerable Afrikaans
influence, phonetically speaking
-Eventually during the twentieth century there was a gradual displacement of RP English as the
prestige norm in favour of new indigenous dialects, which ranged from those that were near to RP
English to those strongly coloured by Afrikaans that differed from RP more extensively
-All.

Various

-The term ‘South African English’ refers to the English of native speakers in South Africa and it
shows greater regional variation than the other two countries in the South Hemisphere, Australian
English and New Zealand English.
-Following previous terminology, a distinction can be made among Mild (or cultivated), Broad and
the General accents. The Mild English, close to RP, is associated to upper classes. The Broad
English is spoken by the working class in addition to speakers of an Afrikaans descent who speak
English as a second language
-All.

Exam

RP-SAE-GAE EXAMS-Does she *have to have it *on quite so *loud?

| dəʃ ʃi ˈhæf tə hæv ɪt ˈɒŋ kwaɪt səʊ ˈlaʊd | SA

| dəʃ ʃi ˈhæf tə hæv ɪt ˈɒŋ kwaɪt səʊ ˈlaʊd | RP
dəʃ ʃi ˈhæf tə hæv ɪt ˈɑŋ kwaɪt soʊ ˈlaʊd GA
All.

All these allophones are NOT shown in a phonemic transcription, but the phoneme is /ɪ

-General English is the representative of the middle class. That is the accent described here
-Vowel system There are no noticeable differences of PHONEMIC inventory from RP, especially in
milder accents, except the tendency to monophthonging of diphthongs.
-the phoneme /ɪ/ seems to have a specific allophonic variation * A close front vowel, [ɪ] (or even [i])
restricted to stressed syllables, that occurs *…… before and after velar consonants /ŋ/, /k/ and /g/,
as in tick [tɪk], big [bɪg], ring [rɪŋ *… before /ʃ/ (and for some speakers before /ʒ/ /ʧ/ and /ʤ/ as
well), as in dish [dɪʃ] *.......after /h/, as in hit [hɪt] *..........… in word-initial position, as in inn [ɪn]
(for some speakers). Words like it or is are also heard as [ət] and [əz], respectively IMPORTANT
-A more centralized or central vowel, [ə] (or even [ ɪ ̈]), heard both in stressed as well as unstressed
syllables, occurs elsewhere, as in limb /lɪm/ (pronounced [ləm]), dinner /ˈdɪnə/ ([ˈdənə]), or bit /bɪt/
([bət]).
-All.

Differences RP SAE VOWELS Vowels All.

DIFFERENCES VOWEL RP SAE Examples All.

VOWELS

-Notice the raising of the front short vowels in South African English and the strong tendency of the
DIPHTHONGS to be narrow or monophthongised.
-There is not much information on South African English closing diphthongs plus schwa
-As a non-rhotic accent with a noticeable narrow movement of many of the vocalic sequences,
smoothing in TRIPHTHONGS (with the elision of the second element, and the lengthening of the
first element) must be commonly used.
-All.

Consonant system

-No relevant PHONOLOGICAL variation in the consonant system between RP and South African
English, with the exception of the presence of a velar fricative /x/ in words borrowed from
Afrikaans or German, as in the words gogga (meaning ‘insect’) and Bach, for instance.
-The most noticeably PHONETIC consonantal features can be summarised as follows No aspiration
of /p, t, k/ in stressed word-initial position [p=, t =, k=], as in pin, tin, kin (very noticeable in more
general and broader varieties).
-T-Tapping (with voicing): Intervocalic /t/ can be pronounced as a voiced tap [ɾ] (also represented as
[d̯]), as in better (in the environment ˈV_V). It is not as frequent, standard or consistent as it is in
GA.
-/r/ is usually a post-alveolar approximant or even a retroflex in pre-vocalic position [ɻ]. But it can
also be pronounced as an alveolar tap [ɾ] in intervocalic position (ˈV_V), and with the environment
of a preceding velar plosive or /θr/, as in sorry, great or thread). A trilled [r] is often heard among
speakers whose first language is Afrikaans
-All.

Phonetic

-/l/ has the clear/dark allophony for most speakers. For this population, the consonant is velarized
when it occurs in final position or when the liquid is followed by another consonant, as in RP. This
consonant exerts a lowering and retracting effect on certain preceding vocalic sounds, in particular /
e, ə, əʊ/
-There is an audible release of both plosives in plosive clusters, as in doctor. Remember that in RP
the first plosive is not audibly released due to the temporal overlapping of the articulatory gesture
for the two plosives.
-Lack of T-glottalling, that is, /t/ is not replaced by [ʔ] in final position, as in lot which is never
pronounced /lɒʔ/* but /lɒt/. /h/ is pronounced voiced [ɦ] when it comes before a stressed syllable, as
in ahead or hand (broad varieties only)
-All.

Prosody

-INTONATION: It is surprising how little has been written about the intonation of this variety.
Uptalk rises on declaratives has been reported, and these seem to have a later rise onset than in
questions. Nevertheless, it is not a feature shared by all native speakers.
-TEMPO & PITCH: It is worth mentioning the tendency towards strengthening final unstressed
syllables at the end of an intonation unit in which the nuclear tone is rising. These final syllables
contain extra duration and pitch prominence
-SYLLABIC CONSONANTS: (broad accents only): There is a trend of keeping the schwa that
precedes /n/ or /l/ in words like listen /ˈlɪsən/ or middle /ˈmɪdəl/, in contrast with the tendency
observed in RP of eliding the schwa and a syllabic consonant (/ˈlɪsn̩/ and /ˈmɪdl ̩/, respectively).
IMPORTANT
-All.
Phonotactic/lexical distribution differences

-Rhoticity: South African English is mostly a non-rhotic accent, that is, /r/ does not occur in pre-
consonantal and word-final positions. Nevertheless, R-insertion (both intrusive and linking /r/) does
NOT take place in connected speech in many varieties of SAE. A very peculiar characteristic of this
variety of English. So, we won’t show it in our transcription practical exercises
-/i/ (phonetically raiser, tenser and longer than /ɪ/, [iˑ]) tends to be used at the end of words like
many (words with unstressed orthographic final –y, -ie, and –i, and also –ee, -ey and –ea), although
there is a great range of likely pronunciations
-Weak Vowel Merger: As in Australian English, use of the vowel /ə/-like (its quality is a bit closer
than a schwa [ə]) rather than /ɪ/ in unstressed syllables of content words, -as in illusion, buses,
naked or cabbage-, EXCEPT before velar consonants, as in building.
-Words which in RP have /ɑː/ before clusters of a nasal plus another consonant (as in dance, plant,
can’t…), or before the voiceless fricatives (/θ, f, s/) (as in laugh, path, half), usually have the same
phoneme in South African English, /ɑː/
-All.

Phonotactic/lexical distribution differences

-Yod-dropping: It is much the same as that of England. Notice that it is very frequent in the case of /
s/ when followed by /j/ in stressed syllables (as in suit or assume), whereas in RP both
pronunciations are heard (with and without Yod-dropping) in this context.
-uk /tjuːn, tʃuːn/ us /tuːn/ Tune RP GA
-The Yod-dropping phenomenon, that is, the elision of /j/ when preceded by an alveolar stop
(plosive or nasal) t d n as in new [nuː] instead of [njuː], can be considered a _____phonotactic____
distribution Yod-Dropping (pérdida de la /j/) can be heard in all environments of a preceding /l, s, z,
θ/. The early Yod-Dropping occurred in the following environments: after palatals (including /tʃ/
and /dʒ/), /r/ and clusters with /l/, as in chute /tʃu:t/, grew /gru:/ or glue /glu:/.
All.

Phonotactic/lexical distribution differences

-Yod-coalescence: It is much the same as that of England but this feature in SAE occurs in both
stressed and unstressed syllables, for instance: /t/ and /d/ followed by /j/ are pronounced /tʃ/ and /dʒ/
(as in duke or tube).
-RP SAE /tʃuːb/ US /tuːb/ /dʒuːk/ US /duːk/
-All.

Ejercicios- phonemically it is represented /ɪ/

-on the words fish, in, iz, mild and milk to identify the short front vowel. Notice that phonemically
it is represented /ɪ/ but which sound do you actually perceive in each case?
-It sounds like a schwa in all these phonetic environments. It even occurs in the initial position of
the words in and iz
-In bath and calf the long vowel /ɑː/ has a very back pronunciation (more retracted than in RP). In
the word yard it is not that back due to the influence of the front consonant /j/
-The vowel is a bit closer. Remember that this closing can also occur with other sounds (/æ, ɒ, ʊ,
uː/)
-They all have lip rounding, even /ɜː/. In the case of /ʊ/ the lips are less rounded than in RP.
-All.

Ejercicios- DIPTHONGS: words day, nail and, bite, five containing the diphthongs /eɪ/ and /aɪ/,
respectively.

-Look for the words hear, swear and tear, and work out the sounds that are actually produced: Single
long sounds or centring diphthongs? They are produced as single long sounds. In the case of tear the
speaker introduces a yod before it. This monophthonging process can occur in the diphthong /ʊə/ as
well. CAN BE PRONOUNCED AS A LONG MONOTHONG O: Notice the weakening of the
second element towards [e]-like or a schwa quality. This phenomenon can also occur in the case of /
ɔɪ/ in broad South African English
-All.

differences between South African English and RP consonants-Exercises

-voiceless plosive sounds -They are not aspirated.

-Try to work out if the pronunciation of ‘r’ is different from the RP counterpart. Does the speaker
make use of linking ‘r’? It is produced an approximant, much like the RP sound. Yes, she uses
linking ‘r’ between are in (line 6) but she does not in other areas (line 6). Remember that in many
varieties of SAE R-insertion does not take place
-Note the pronunciation of ‘l’, is it clear or dark? It is velarized (although slightly) only when the
liquid is followed by another consonant in the subsequent word.This speaker has the clear/dark
allophon
-Pay attention to a likely Yod coalescence (initial /t, d/ +/j/ becoming /ʧ, ʤ---Yes, she merges the
phonemes
-All.

SAE TRANSCRIPTION
-When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow
is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch,
with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to
legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for
something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the
rainbow.Throughout the centuries people have explained the rainbow in various ways. Some have
accepted it as a miracle without physical explanation. To the Hebrews it was a token that there
would be no more universal floods. The Greeks used to imagine that it was a sign from the gods to
foretell war or heavy rain. The Norsemen considered the rainbow as a bridge over which the gods
passed from earth to their home in the sky. Others have tried to explain the phenomenon physically.
Aristotle thought that the rainbow was caused by reflection of the sun's rays by the rain. Since then
physicists have found that it is not reflection, but refraction by the raindrops which causes the
rainbows. Many complicated ideas about the rainbow have been formed. The difference in the
rainbow depends considerably upon the size of the drops, and the width of the colored band
increases as the size of the drops increases.
-All
-Elision of the final /d/ in the words explained (22nd intonation unit), as it occurs in coda position
and it is preceded by a consonant of the same voicing, and followed by another consonant (except
/h/) in the subsequent word
-The final consonant of the word of could be elided in a close-knit group as pot of gold (13th &
19th intonation units), although it is not recommended doing so.

SAE TRANSCRIPTION

To the Hebrews it was a token that there would be no more universal floods. --tə ðə ˈhiːbruːz ǀ ɪt wəz
ə ˈtəʊkŋ̍ ǀðət ðə wʊb ˈbiːː ǀ ˈnəʊ ˈmɔː ǀ juːnəˈvɜːsl̩ ˈflʌdz Progressive place assimilation: In the word
token (28th intonation unit), after the elision of schwa, the word-final alveolar syllabic nasal
becomes velar as it is preceded by a velar consonant in the previous syllable The Greeks used to
imagine that it was a sign from the gods to foretell war or heavy rain ðə ˈgriːks ˈjuːs tu əˈmæʤən ǀ
ðət ɪt wəz ə ˈsaɪn frəm ðə ˈgɒdz ǀ tə fɔːˈtel ˈwɔː ǀ ɔː ˈhevi ˈreɪn ǀ In the sequence Greeks used (32nd
intonation unit) fusion of phonemes is not possible, as the second word is stressed, which makes the
coalescence rather difficult to be produced… All.

Transcription
Transcription

SouthAfrican

The vowel /ɪ/ has split into ___two_ allophones in complementary distribution
The vowel /æ/ is a bit __closer__ than in RP
The vowel in bard has a very __back__ pronunciation
/l/ has a lowering and ___retracting_ effect on preceding vowels
The consonant /r/ tends to be a __tap__ in intermediate position (being stressed the first vowel), as
in lorry
Whine sounds the same as ___wine_
All.

SouthAfrican

Central diphthongs tend to be pronounced as ___monophthongs_ in South African English

Voiceless plosives are _unaspirated___ in stressed word-initial position
South African English is a _non-rhotic___ accent; therefore, car is pronounced /kɑː
t/ can be produced as a voiced __tap __ in inter-vocalic position (ˈV_V)
All.

Various

Words which in RP have /ɑː/ before the voiceless fricatives (/θ, f, s/) or before clusters of nasal plus
another consonant (as in dance, plant…) usually have /æ/ in SAE FALSE- They usually have /ɑː/ in
South African English; The Weak Vowel Merger occurs in SAE TRUE SAE /uː/ is usually
centralised [ʉː] or fronter, significantly more forward than its RP equivalent TRUE SAE short front
vowels (/æ, e/) are opener than in RP FALSE---They are ‘closer’ than in RP; /eə/ in SAE, as in RP,
shows an elision of the second element, resulting in a monophthong sound [eː] (represented as /eː/).
FALSE This process occurs in SAE, although it can also be found in RP-In general SAE varieties it
tends to be a long monophthong ([eː] or even [ɛː]), even merging with the previous diphthong when
that one is pronounced as a monophthong
-All.

Various

-As it may happen in RP, there is a tendency in SAE to Yod coalescence TRUE-In SAE /t/ and /d/
followed by /j/ are coalesced both in stressed and unstressed syllables;
-/l/ is clear in all environments in SAE but in certain contexts in RP FALSE-/l/ have two allophones
in RP, and in SAE for most native speakers. For this population who produce the clear/dark
allophony, the consonant is velarized when it occurs in final position or when the liquid is followed
by another consonant, as in RP
-There is a tendency towards strengthening final stressed syllables at the end of an intonation unit in
which the nuclear tone is rising. FALSE ---This general trend occurs in final unstressed syllables at
the end of an intonation unit in which the nuclear tone is rising
-All.

There is a_ of /ɒ ʊ/ in South African English

a) raising
b) lowering
e) backing
d) fronting .

Stressed word-initial voiceless plosives tend to be_ in South African English.

a) aspirated
b) unaspirated
e) voiced
d) devoiced.

/l/ has a_ and retracting effect on the preceding vowels in South African English.

a) fronting
b) backing
c) lowering
d) rising.

There is a tendency to pronounce r/ as a_ in South African English.

a) trill
b) fricative
c) plosive
d) flap.