PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY
Segmental Aspects

The exact number of speech sounds found in the British English phonemic inventory includes 44 phonemes and is based on the accent known as the Received Pronunciation (RP) – RP General Accent. This way of pronunciation of English is heard in the south of England. 12 pure vowels Ʌ e ɪ ɒ ʋ ə æ ɑ: i: ͻ: u: ɜ:, 8 diphthongs eɪ aɪ ͻɪ əʋ aʋ ɪə eə ʋə, it means 20 vowel-phonemes altogether plus 24 distinctive consonant-phonemes p t k b d g f v θ δ s z ʃ ʒ h ʧ ʤ l m n η r j w are included in the British English PI. In English, there occur triphthongs, i.e. eɪə aɪə ͻɪə əʋə aʋə, but according to most phoneticians, they are generally defined as combinations of diphthongs and the schwa /ə/. As stated by Jones in Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, “these three-vowel sequences are generally held to be composed of one of the diphthongs plus a schwa” (Jones, 2003, ix). A similar statement is found in Pavlík´s publication, when he says: “Triphthongs are not considered phonemes in the traditional sense” (Pavlík, 2000, p. 81). Trnka also supports this theory when he says that triphthongs always occur at the “morphemic boundary”, e.g. low-er, employ-er, pray-er (Trnka, 2014, p. 34).

Many characteristic features of the British English variety could be applied to the American English variety, too, though, of course, there also exist specific differences. They are manifested not only in pronunciation, but also in vocabulary, spelling, some grammatical features, and strategies of discourse.

American English includes 17 vowel phonemes including 11 monophthongs Ʌ ɛ ɪ ʊ ə æ ɑ i ͻ u ɜ and 6 diphthongs eɪ aɪ ͻɪ oʊ aʊ jʊ. In contrast to British English, there are no diphthongs with the schwa as the second segment. American English is a rhotic variety, it means that the schwa is not pronounced syllable-finally. The same feature results in the absence of triphthongs. American English consonant phonemes are almost the same as the British English consonants: p t k b d g f v θ δ s z ʃ ʒ h ʧ ʤ l m n η ɹ j w, only the quality of ɹ differs. While /r/ is defined as post-alveolar in RP, it is described as retroflex or tap in GA. Nasality termed nasal twang is typical for pronunciation in specific American accents.