LEXICAL SET R.P.

ATS/GA EXAMPLES FRENCH

KIT ɪ ɪ ship, rip, dim, spirit i
DRESS e e/ɛ step, ebb, hem, terror ɛ
TRAP æ æ bad, cab, ham, arrow a
LOT ɒ ɒ/ɑ stop, rob, swan, knowledge ɒ
STRUT ʌ ʌ cub, rub, hum ɒ/ə
FOOT ʊ ʊ full, look, could u
BATH ɑ: a/æ staff, clasp, dance ɑ
CLOTH ɒ ɒ/ɑ cough, long, dog, soft ɒ
NURSE ɜ ɜ/ɝ hurt, term, work ɛʀ*
FLEECE i: i seed, key, seize
FACE ɛɪ eɪ/eɪ weight, rein, steak eː
PALM ɑ ɑ calm, bra, father
THOUGHT ɔ ɔ/ɒ taut, hawk, broad
GOAT əʊ oʊ soap, soul, home o (short)
GOOSE u u who, group, few y
PRICE aɪ aɪ ripe, tribe, aisle Sometimes [a]
CHOICE ɔɪ ɔɪ boy, void, coin
MOUTH aʊ aʊ pouch, noun, crowd
NEAR ɪə ɪə/ɪɚ beer, pier, fierce iʀ*
SQUARE ɛə ɛə/ɛɚ care, air, wear, Mary aʀ*
START ɑ ɑə/ɑɚ far, sharp, farm ɑʀ/aʀ*
NORTH ɔ ɔə/ɔɚ war, storm, for, ɒʀ/ɔʀ*
FORCE ɔ ɔə/ɔɚ floor, coarse, ore, oral ɒʀ/ɔʀ*
CURE ʊə ʊə/ʊɚ poor, tour, fury ɛʀ*
HAPPY i̞/ɪ i̞/i silly, Tony, merry i
COMMA ə ə the, China, sofa
LETTER ə ə/ə˞ beggar, martyr, visor əʀ/ɛʀ*
Mouth Posture: Send your lip corners forward while keeping your lips relaxed. (See the video of the little girl telling a story for a
great example.) Making the [y] sound will get you there. The tongue is high, but also relaxed.
Prosody: Syllable timed. This accent tends to flow in a legato matter from one sound into the next. The pitch range is fairly narrow.

 /th/ - ([θ] = [s], [ð] = [z]).

 /h/ - most often elided, but occasionally incorrectly inserted or  /ch/ →[ʃ]
overdone.  [h] is elided, but often added in error when speaking
 /l/ - post-vocalic light [l]. English
 */r/ - sounded, uvula-placed – [ʀ] [ʁ] [χ] [ʁ̞]  Suffixes -tion and -sion are pronounce [sjɔ],
 [p,t,k] – unaspirated . [zjɔ], or [tjɔ]
 [t,d,n] – may dentalize due to tongue placement nearer teeth
 Vowels before or after nasal consonants tend to nasalize

Kathryn L. Johnston – Florida Atlantic University – October 2021 Credits: Paul Meier, Andrea Caban,
Kathryn L. Johnston – Florida Atlantic University – October 2021 Credits: Paul Meier, Andrea Caban,