American English

• Exoglossic


  Multiple languages are spoken in the same area, with American English being the most common
• American English


  Started from 17th-century English but has changed a lot since then, becoming quite different from British English
• American English


  • Fewer dialects compared to British English due to historical factors like the presence of Standard English when settlers arrived, high population mobility, and community migrations
• Types of educated American English speech

  • Eastern
  • Southern
  • General American
• Eastern Type


  Spoken in New England and New York City, similar to Southern English with minor differences
• Southern Type


  Used in the southern and southeastern USA, characterized by a distinctive "vowel drawl," consisting in the diphthongization and even triphthongization of some pure vowels and monophthongization of some diphthongs
• General American (GA)


  Spoken in central Atlantic states, the standard pronunciation used in media, science, culture, and business
• Compared to English English, North American English is conservative in its phonology
• Most North American speech is rhotic, meaning the "r" sound is pronounced clearly, unlike some British accents
• Vowels in GA


  • No strict division into long and short vowels, though some vowels are tense and slightly longer
  • Five main diphthongs identified: [ei], [ai], [i], [au], [ou]
  • The "r" sound influences the pronunciation and length of preceding vowels
  • Vowels are often nasalized when near nasal consonants, known as the American twang
• Notable American English dialects

  • Inland North Dialect
  • Midland Speech (North Midland and South Midland)
  • Coastal Southern Dialects
  • Minnesota Nice
• Other regions, like Hawaii, have distinct dialects (e.g., Hawaiian Pidgin)
• Major cities like Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Charleston, New Orleans, and Detroit have also influenced regional speech patterns
• Regional differences in spoken American English

  Despite standardized written language, the East Coast has the most distinct accents due to early settlement patterns and contact with England, while interior regions developed more generic linguistic patterns due to diverse migrations