- Irdina

- Zainab

Introduction

- Methodology 

- Demographic of speakers

Background history of Inner Circle Englishes

- Western American (California), United States of America

- England, United Kingdom

Analysis

• Audio files of both speakers & Transcriptions

• 3 Variations

- Phonemic variation

- Prosodic variation

- Lexical variation 

Reflection & Conclusion

References 

Camden Town has its origins in the 18th century, when it was a small rural settlement on the outskirts of London. The area was named after Charles Pratt, the 1st Earl of Camden, and it grew rapidly with the arrival of the Grand Union Canal in the late 18th century. The canal brought trade and industry to Camden Town, transforming it into a bustling industrial center.

Vowel, consonant, and intonation patterns can all change in British English phonemic variants.

1. "Mirror" /ˈmɪrə/, "tower" /ˈtaʊə/ and "her" /hɜː/: The 'r' sound is non-rhotic, meaning it is not pronounced at the end of words or before a consonant. So, "mirror" might sound more like "mi-uh," and "her" is pronounced more like "heh." Tower is also pronounced without the prominent "r" (ruh) sound at the end of the word, hence, when Thomas said it, it sounds as such, "toweh".

2. "Dress": The 'e' sound is pronounced with a shorter 'e' sound, sounding more like "/drɛs/" instead of "dress" with a longer 'e.'

3. "Goose": The 'oo' sound is pronounced with a rounded 'oo' sound, sounding more like "/gu:se/" instead of "goose" with a flatter 'oo.'

4. "Bath": The 'a' sound is pronounced with a shorter 'a' sound, sounding more like "/bɑːθ/" instead of "bath" with a longer 'a.'

INTONATION

The intricate structure of meaning conveyed by intonation is expressed through the rise and fall of a speaker's voice.

Thomas uses a fall to rise intonation pattern. While listening to the audio carefully, one can hear him saying his sentences like so, “Then she put on a plain yellow dress and a fleece jacket picked up her kit and headed for work”.

Whilst in the IPA system it would look as so, /ðen ˈʃi: ˈpʊt ˈɒn ə ˈpleɪn ˈjeləʊ ˈdres ənd ə fliːs ˈdʒækɪt pɪkt ˈʌp hɜː kɪt ənd ˈhedɪd fə ˈwɜːk/.

When he begin his sentence, he has this fall tone then towards the ending of his sentence, his intonation began to risen. Though occasionally, he would risen his intonation in the middle of his sentence. This is what we call a fall-rise intonation. The highlighted words are the risen intonation in the sentence.

STRESS

The process of pronouncing a word or syllable more emphatically than other words in the same sentence or other syllables within the same word.

When it comes to Thomas' accent make his stress words sound more prominent. For instance, "Before long, that itchy goose began to strut around the office like a lunatic, which made an unsanitary mess."

The IPA transcribed text would look as so, /bɪˈfɔː ˈlɒŋ, ðæt ˈɪtʃi ˈgu:s bɪˈɡæn tu strʌt əˈraʊnd ði ɒfɪs laɪk ə ˈluːnətɪk, wɪtʃ ˈmeɪd ən ʌnˈsænətri ˈmes/.

The highlighted words are which Thomas had put force on. This action makes listeners put on their ears more attentively as his reading had a proper stress on the information that is interesting for everyone who listens. "itchy" and "lunatic" describes the goose's distress form. Thomas' proper stressing on those words are very pleasing to listen to as listeners can identify that the goose was in such state. Whilst the stress on "un"-sanitary is also a great way of giving more expression towards the sentence. All in all, using stress while conveying or telling a story has great outcomes as it can pull in listeners to be more interested with the story the narrator is telling about.

1. The word "porridge" in the sentence, "She ate a bowl of porridge /ˈpɒrɪdʒ/, checked herself in the mirror and washed her face in a hurry".

   
   

   The term "porridge" in the UK and Ireland refers to what Americans refer to as "oatmeal". Oatmeal is technically a kind of porridge, however porridge may also be made with grains other than oats, such rice, maize, and millet. Congee, a rice porridge, is actually a staple in many Asian nations.

   
   

   Hence, in this sense, there is quite a difference how the Brits would call "porridge" as how it is and how American would use a different term instead in their normal basis. We could conclude that even though the ingredients to make porridge in both lands are almost to exact identical, yet the label on the name could be different depending on the country that is being spoken in. This is one of the many that differentiate American and British accents lexically.

   
   

   To include more evidence, there is a website named, "Not One-Off Britishsms", that claimed in their writing:

   
   

   The function that drew my attention was "Porridge," a term we don't often use in the United States outside of fairy tales like "The Three Bears." After eating it at English B and Bs, I got the impression that "porridge" is what we refer to as "oatmeal" in the United Kingdom. This is essentially what Anglo-American linguist Lynne Murphy affirmed. She claimed on Twitter that oatmeal is what is often served for porridge in Britain, where oats are the default ingredient. You would have to be more specific for others—"buckwheat porridge," for example.

   
   

2. Next there is a word "fleece" in a sentence that can be seen here; "Then she put on a plain yellow dress and a fleece jacket, picked up her kit and headed for work".

   
   

   The term "fleece" has two meanings which are:

   a) The dense wool that covers an animal, particularly a sheep, or the wool that is used to manufacture apparel.

   b) To deceive someone by charging them too much or taking their money dishonestly.

   In this context of sentence, it surely means of a material of clothing that Sarah was wearing in the story.

   
   

   Whilst, "jacket" is not regularly used by the British people. They would mostly use the term "jumper" or "sweater". Whereas Americans are the ones who accustomed to the usage "jacket" while talking about a piece of clothing, mostly used as an outerwear. For usual, Americans would use the word "jacket" in a sentence as such, "bring your jacket with you". It is usually heard when someone told their accompany to bring their jacket along with them to go out somewhere. This term is heard regularly in television shows too.

   
   

   Instead of using the term "fleece jacket" in British English, the people there would generally call it as a "jumper". Sweater and jumper are terms that are often used to refer to the same item because of their close similarities. In the UK, the word "jumper" is typically used more. Similar to a sweater, a jumper is a long-sleeved garment worn on top of the body that is often made of knit or crocheted fabric, however it can also be made of cotton or jersey. Depending on the fabric and pattern, jumpers and sweaters may often be worn up or down.

   
   

   In the United States, long-sleeved tops that are frequently worn over t-shirts or over coats are referred to as "sweaters". Though the Americans call "sweaters" as well, it is more common to hear the term being used amongst the Brits.

1. The word 'territory' in "An old zoo in a deserted district of the territory /ˈtɛrəˌtɔri/".

   
   

   People in British English may use the word "territory" to talk about a certain area or country a lot more frequently. The word that would mean the same thing in American English could be "region" or "area."

   However, this does not mean that Americans are not familiar with the word 'territory'. They still use the word mentioned, but usually for different context. It is rare, but not impossible to see American use the word 'territory' when they talk about region or area.

   
   

2. The word 'nearer' in "That area was much nearer /ˈnɪrər/ for her and more to her liking".

   
   

   This use of the term 'nearer' to refer to the closeness of the new workplace area represents a lexical pattern commonly found in British English. In the context of American English, individuals may use the terms 'closer' or some may even prefer to use 'more convenient' to express something of the same meaning. The use of the term 'nearer' in this audio helps highlight a significant variation in the way in which 'closeness' is articulated.