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English pronunciation is different depending on the country!?
When trying to train listening with overseas news and videos while learning English
"I've never heard English like this!"
"I can't hear it at all "
Is there a moment like that?
Even if you say "pronunciation of English" in a word, there are various different ways of speaking English spoken in the world, from individual to country-based trends.
This time, I would like to introduce the difference in English pronunciation in such a world.
How many countries have English as the official language?
First of all, how many people on earth speak the language of English?
It is said that there are about 1.5 billion people who are said to speak English all over the world.
With a total population of about 7.5 billion people in the world, 20% of people speak English, right?
However, the number of people who actually speak English as their mother tongue is even smaller, at around 360 million.
Eighteen countries (Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahama, Barbudos, Belize, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, etc. Giana, Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad Tobago, United Kingdom, USA).
Of these, the five countries with the highest speaker population are the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, which you all know.
In addition to these 18 countries, there are 36 countries (Botswana, Cameroon, Micronesia, Philippines, Ghana, India, Kenya, Kiribas, Resoto, etc. ) where English is the official language, although there are not many speakers compared to their own language. Liberia, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Namivia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rwanda, St. Lucia, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Sudan, South Africa, South Sudan, Switzerland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe).
Despite the fact that there are other languages, English is the focus of the country as a common language, and many are multi-ethnic and multi-lingual nations. English is set as a tool for communicating with the same people, although there are differences in learning.
There are actually about 2,000 languages in India, but most of the business is done in English, and government notices are published in English and local languages.
Characteristics of English pronunciation by country
So far, I've seen a lot of names of countries where English is spoken, but from here on, the difference in English pronunciation between the United States and the United Kingdom, which is mainly involved in learning English, is the center of the English-speaking world. Let's see the pronunciation tendency!
Characteristics of American English
The first is American English, which is often used in Japanese education.
American English is linguistically classified as General American (GA), and general American English pronunciation characteristics are being studied.
Historically in the United States, the diversity of English itself can be seen in the north, south, east and west, especially in the north and south, but here we will focus on the major GA in phonetics.
Here are three typical characteristics of American English GA.
- Sound intensity of [r]
- Pronunciation characteristics of broad A
- Change of plosive to repellent
First of all, I think that Japanese people feel the most, but [r] is pronounced clearly in any position of the word in American English.
This may be the reason why words like hear [híɚ] and race [réɪs] sound like a strong curly tongue.
The second broad A is a vowel [αː] that is pronounced with a wide open mouth in phonetics.
For example, the vowel "a" part of a word such as dance or bank is pronounced by that broad A in British English. However, it is pronounced [æ] in GA.
This powerfully pronounced [æ] sound is very impressive in American English.
The third is "change of plosive to repellent".
This is a phenomenon in which the consonants of plosives such as [t] and [d] in a word are not pronounced as spelled for the purpose of ease of pronunciation.
A typical example is water [wɔ́ːtɚ].
The pronunciation of [t] when sandwiched between vowels changes to a flicking sound called Flap-t, which is a lighter sound different from the original [t].
The phonetic symbol is [ṭ], which is represented by a symbol under t. This Flap-t flips the upper jaw with the tip of the tongue, and is neither [d] nor [l] in Japanese. It is pronounced with a "do" -like sound that is not a line.
This phenomenon does not occur in British English, and the sound of [t] sandwiched between vowels is pronounced as a plosive sound.
Features of British English
Next, let's take a look at British English, which is often contrasted with American English.
British English is hard to hear if you don't usually touch it! I think there are many people who have felt that.
There is a difference in pronunciation between the north and the south in England, but here are the three main points that are quite different from American English.
- American English [æ] pronunciation changes
- Assimilation of diphthongs
- Single note of triple vowels
First, if the pronunciation of [æ], which is characteristic of GA, comes before the fricatives such as [f, s, θ, ð, z, v] and the nasal sounds [m, n] in British English, broad. It tends to be pronounced as [ɑː] in A.
The word bath is [bæθ] in American English pronunciation, but [bɑːθ] in British English.
Second, poor and pour are examples of words that are difficult to distinguish even if you listen carefully.
In British English, the diphthongs [ʊə] and [oə] are both long vowels [ɔː], and the poor and pour sounds are assimilated and both are pronounced as [pɔː].
The pronunciation will be the same, so you need to make a judgment in context.
Finally, the diphthong + ambiguous vowel [ə] pronunciation of the diphthong in the tricky fire [fάɪə (r)] and tower [tάʊə (r)] is the second vowel in British English. It tends to be missing and become a single long vowel.
The pronunciations of fire and tower are [fɑː] and [tɑː], respectively, which is a tendency in southern England where the traditional standard pronunciation called Received Pronunciation (RP) is pervasive in English phonetics.
The variety of English in Britain is profound, and there is a famous and unique English pronunciation called "Cockney" in the working class in London, which was also spoken by the main character of the movie "My Fairlady", and I feel a considerable difference in pronunciation. can do. Even in the same English, Americans can't understand even if they watch a movie made in England! It seems that there are times.
Features of Australia / New Zealand English
What is remarkable in Australian and New Zealand English is that the pronunciation of [eɪ] is [aɪ].
It is well known that today is pronounced [tʊdáɪ] and becomes "I thought you were saying To die!".
Another Australian youth greeting instead of "Hello, guys!" Is "Good day, mate!", But the pronunciation has changed significantly from the spelling, such as [gʊd dáɪ, máɪt]. There may be many situations where you will not understand the meaning unless you are a little used to it.
Besides this, in Australian English, it is also characteristic that r at the end of words such as super and dinner is not pronounced properly and becomes ambiguous like supaa and dinnera. This is a trend unique to regions that are strongly influenced by British English.
Features of Canadian English
Finally, Canada is one of the most popular destinations for studying abroad because it is the easiest to learn because there are not many habits in English.
As you can see, there are many places where there are few accents in each place, which is the same as the GA of American English, which is geographically adjacent, but since Canada is also an immigrant nation, there is a wide variety of minor English in the country. There is a lot of pronunciation diversity in Ontario, where the city of Toronto is located.
Not only the pronunciation but also the difference in English!
So far we have touched on pronunciation, but there are unique histories and trends in the use of words and meanings between countries where English is their mother tongue.
Of course, even in Japanese dialects, there is a variety of languages, such as saying the same thing differently, on a global scale.
Here are some of the differences in vocabulary between British and American English that are often compared!
For example, when we say "the number of floors in an apartment", we need to be a little careful in the United Kingdom and the United States.
The first floor refers to the first floor in the United States, while it refers to the second floor in the United Kingdom.
So what do you call the first floor in England? It's called the Ground floor.
Ground floors exist in countries that have been under British control in history, such as India.
Also, the difference between apartments in Japan is generally apartment in American English and flat in British English.
There are many other famous word differences, but if you don't know it, you might misunderstand the difference between the English word "French fries" and the meaning of "pants".
"French fries" is Japanese English, American English is French fries, while British English is chips.
When you hear chips, you might think of something like Japanese potato chips, but this usage is also reflected in the fish and chips, which is a typical British snack.
And another way to use "pants". In American English, it means the bottoms of clothes, but in the United Kingdom, it means underwear.
Recently, it has been used like American English in Japan, but it is a word that I want to distinguish when shopping.
Conclusion
So far, we have seen the differences in the main pronunciations of English between the official languages, but when you stumble that you cannot hear English, there are differences in English between these countries in the first place. May be the cause.
By touching pronunciations and expressions that are not limited to general American English and interacting with many native speakers, your sense of English will expand steadily, and when you interact with English speakers whose native language is not English. However, by knowing the variety and pronunciation tendency of English, you will be able to communicate smoothly between second language speakers.
Some dictionaries have both American English and British English phonetic symbols, so please check the difference in pronunciation while checking the meaning of the word.
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In this article, "What is the difference in pronunciation between countries, the official language of English?" I introduced about!
