CENTRO UNIVERSITÁRIO GERALDO DI BIASE

FUNDAÇÃO EDUCACIONAL ROSEMAR PIMENTEL

PRÓ-REITORIA DE ASSUNTOS ACADÊMICOS
INSTITUTO SUPERIOR DE EDUCAÇÃO CURSO
DE LETRAS

THE MAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AMERICAN AND

BRITISH PRONUNCIATION OF THE LETTERS R AND T:
ENGLISH LANGUAGE SPEECH ANALYSIS IN MIDDLE AND END POSITION

Everton Eduardo Timóteo da Fonseca

Volta Redonda, 2018

 Everton Eduardo Timóteo da Fonseca

THE MAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AMERICAN AND

BRITISH PRONUNCIATION OF THE LETTERS R AND T:
ENGLISH LANGUAGE SPEECH ANALYSIS IN MIDDLE AND END POSITION

Artigo científico apresentado como requisito

parcial para obtenção do grau de licenciado pelo
Curso de Letras do Instituto Superior de
Educação, do Centro Universitário Geraldo Di
Biase.

Professor-orientador: M.e Paulo Lúcio Scheffer

Lima

Volta Redonda, 2018

 THE MAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AMERICAN AND
BRITISH PRONUNCIATION OF THE LETTERS R AND T:
ENGLISH LANGUAGE SPEECH ANALYSIS IN MIDDLE AND END POSITION

Everton Eduardo Timóteo da Fonseca1

ABSTRACT

The main reason for this survey is to try to clarify why two English-speaking countries
differ so much, not only in culture, but also in words that have the same spelling, but
which the speakers pronounce in a slightly different way. This article aims to show the
differences between the consonants r and t in American and British English, that is, to
show through speech analysis the differences between two English-speaking native
speakers. However, these consonants will be analyzed only in the middle and at the
end of the words, since there is no difference in pronunciation when they are at the
beginning. That is, American and British English do not differ in pronunciation when a
word begins with r or t.

Key words: American. British. Speeches. Differences. Pronunciation. Sound. R. T.

1 INTRODUCTION

According to Underhill, “The pronunciation of a word is more than the sum of its
individual phonemes. It consists rather of a flow of sound in which it may no longer be
obvious exactly where one phoneme ends and the next begins” (UNDERHILL, 1994.
p, 49).
One of the most pertinent questions in the English language is why the United
States and England have some differences in the pronunciation of certain words.
Although they speak the same language, the two nationalities are extremely different,
be it in customs or culture among other things.
However, besides those differences, the question of pronunciation is well
distinguished. From explanations found in books and websites, and especially from
communication with native speakers of the English language, comparisons were made

1Graduando do curso de Letras (UGB-VR). Artigo apresentado como Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso,
sob orientação do professor M.e Paulo Lúcio Scheffer Lima do (UGB-VR), em junho de 2018.
between the nationalities and we realized that the same words were pronounced in
different ways between the two nations.
This research is due to the interest in the English language and, knowing that
there are notable differences in speech between the British and Americans, there was
a need to know why there are such differences between people from these two
countries. From this idea, we will analyze some of the main differences of English,
which can be noticed directly in communication. It should also be noted that this subject
is quite discussed, since the country of origin of English is England, and the United
States was colonized by it, and thus received this inheritance.
As many people know, there are several countries that have English as an
official language. However, as the United States is a rich country in many aspects, such
as culture, job opportunities and because it is known around the world as well, we
chose it to be compared to England, which colonized them. That is why we chose these
two nations. We also know that there are many other countries that could be here for
reference as well, but if we were to make analyses of all of them, we would take a lot
of time, since each country has a sort of variation in speech. However, Americans do
not use British English. Thus, as Brazil was the colonized by the Portuguese, even
having acquired Portuguese, we Brazilians do not speak with the same accent of the
colonizer. Therefore, a research of this type may help several language learners, since
when they are studying, questions can often arise such as:
"Why does X speak differently than Y, since it is the same language?” among other
questions.
The main goal of this paper is to analyze how the consonants r and t are
pronounced in British and American English. Other goals of this article are to analyze
how these consonants are pronounced in British and American English from random
words; to compare the American and the British pronunciation from tests like a tongue
twister and the question: “What would you do if you were rich?”; to compare the way
English speakers pronounce words that are finished in t and join them with others using
the speeches of Hillary Clinton (USA) and Theresa May (UK); to understand the
behavior of the letter r at the end of the words in British English.
For years, the reason for the difference in speech between England and the
United States has been discussed. It can be said that there are several differences in
the two countries. However, we will highlight only two: the way in which the consonants
R and T are pronounced in certain words.
The British only pronounce the letter r when it is followed by a vowel sound
(CRISTÓFARO SILVA, 2015), as in area and brown. In American English, the r is
pronounced in all positions, the postvocalic one as, for example, in park. If the British
were to pronounce park, for example, they would pronounce /pa:k/, without the r sound,
because after the r there is a consonant sound, that is why they would not pronounce
it with the r sound. Undoubtedly, this is the main difference between the two English-
speaking countries.
The consonant T is also pronounced differently in the US and UK. This can be
noted through the phonetic transcription of the word "pretty": American English /prɪt̬ ·i/
and the British /'prɪt.i/.
For this research, we will use field research (in which two people, one from the
USA and one from England, are interviewed), websites and a bibliographic referential.
Thus we can discuss the differences which both countries show in their speeches. This
research will be divided into four stages. In the first stage we selected random words
that have consonants such as r and t so that people from these countries can
pronounce them in order to be analyzed since in these two countries show a different
way of pronouncing when the r and t are in the middle and at the end of certain words.
However, when words begin with these letters, the two countries have the same
pattern, for example, the word run. The r sound at the beginning of the word run is the
same sound produced both by the Americans and the British. That is, when it is in the
beginning the two nations equalize.
After that discussion, two collaborators will answer the question, "What would
you do if you were rich?" Then they will read a tongue-twister aloud. This will be done
by two friends, one from the United States, and the other from England;
Finally, we will see the behavior of the letter r at the end of the words from the
recorded speeches as well.

2 HOW THE COLONIZATION OF THE UNITED STATES CHANGED THE ENGLISH

STANDARD
The first British immigrants arrived in the North American continent in 1620,
denominating such a continent as “New World”. During the Independence of this New
World, in 1776, the country already showed a dialect different from that of the British.
This aspect can be understood due to the initial contact with the new indigenous
cultures and later with the Spanish colonies adjacent to the south, besides the great
migratory flow in the 20th century. Today, the differences between British and American
dialects are primarily in pronunciation, as well as small differences in vocabulary
(SCHÜTZ, 2017).
3 SPEECH ANALYSES

3.1 ANALYSIS OF RANDOM WORDS FROM A BRITISH SPEAKER

Ten words were selected in order to analyze how the English pronounce them.
As this article aims to analyze differences in pronunciation in words that have the letter
"r" and "t", in the middle and at the end of them, they all have these consonants to be
compared.
It is noted that the words north, bird, forget, birthday, forgive, thirty and forty do
not show the r sound when pronounced by our English collaborator. This could be
explained due to the fact that, after the letter r, they have a consonantal sound, that is
why he does not pronounce the letter r when it is followed by a consonantal sound.
(CRISTÓFARO SILVA, 2015, p.75).
Now, we are going to analyze the British pronunciation of the words water,
pretty, city, thirty and forty. All these words have the letter t between two consonant
sounds.
We can notice that in British English, the consonant t, regardless of its position,
does not show different forms of pronunciation. That is, the sound of the letter t in the
middle and at the end of these words is similar to the t sound at the beginning of words,
that is, there is no change at all. Celce-Murcia, Brinton and Goodwin (1996) say that
when the letter t is in initial, mid and final position, its sound will always be /t/ in British
English.

3.2 ANALYSIS OF RANDOM WORDS FROM AN AMERICAN SPEAKER

The same words pronounced by the British speaker will be analyzed again, but
this time uttered by a native speaker of American English.
The words north, bird, forget, birthday, forgive, thirty and forty have the r sound.
Differently from British English, these words have the presence of the consonant sound
that corresponds to the letter r. Americans tend to pronounce the letter r as /r/ in any
position. CRISTÓFARO SILVA says “in varieties such as American, Irish and Scottish
English, r is typically pronounced in the final syllable position”.
Now, we are going to analyze the words water, pretty, city, thirty and forty.
Here the pronunciation for the letter t is different from the one in British English.
American English has the flapping or tapping t sound / /, which happens in intervocalic
position and is not present in British English (MURCIA, 1996. p 392).

3.3 TONGUE-TWISTER PRONOUNCED BY A BRITISH SPEAKER: Analyzing the

R and T sounds.

“Terry Teeter, a teeter-totter teacher, taught her daughter Tara to teetertotter,

but Tara Teeter didn't teeter-totter as Terry Teeter taught her to”.

As one hears and analyzes this tongue-twister, it is clear that the British do not
pronounce the middle position letter t as a flap / / like Americans do. That is, we
realized that British pronounce the letter t as if it were in the beginning.
In the British pronunciation, the r sound of this tongue-twister is not pronounced
due to the fact that most of the times it comes before a consonant sound, either in the
same word or in the next one, which is the case with totter as, in which the /r/ connects
the two the words. Silva states that the letter r, in final syllable position, can be omitted
in British English. (CRISTÓFARO SILVA, 2015, p. 75).

3.3 TONGUE-TWISTER PRONOUNCED BY AN AMERICAN SPEAKER: Analyzing

the R and T sounds.

“Terry Teeter, a teeter-totter teacher, taught her daughter Tara to teetertotter,

but Tara Teeter didn't teeter-totter as Terry Teeter taught her to”.

We noticed that in this tongue-twister the letter t in intervocalic position, shows

the flap /ɾ/ (MURCIA, 1996, p.392).
About the r sound, we noticed that all the letter r is pronounced, that is, even if
preceded by a consonant, in American English the letter r will always be pronounced,
unlike British English that the letter r is omitted before consonant sounds.

4 WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF WERW RICH? HARRY ROSPONSE

“If I was rich I would give money to all of my family members, especially
my ones in Thailand, who hasn't got a lot of money. I'd give money to all
 my brothers, my sisters, my friends, but I wouldn't spend all my money
on materialistic materials such as a car. I would like to have a nice house,
but not a big house, just enough for me and whoever else is in there,
maybe my family. I’d like to invest my money into a business that is in a
good cause, for example, make a business that makes people’s health
even better, and make people’s life even better, such as gyms, education
for children and charities and much more. I would just like to make my
money go to good causes if I’m honest with you. Thank you”.

In this speech, recorded by a British man, we have a presence of the letters r

and t, which we are analyzing in this final paper. First, we will start analyzing the letter
r.
Members Car
Brothers Better
Sisters For

As said before by CRISTÓFARO SILVA in a previous analysis of the letter r, in

these cases where the letter r is at the end of the syllable is omitted are called
nonrhotic dialects.

In this part of analyzing of r, we have the linking r. See examples.

Whoever else* For example

When we have a final r and next we have a word that starts with a vowel sound,
we “…taking the consonant from the end of one word and putting on the next word that
begins with a vowel…”. (SMITH, Rachel). We noticed that in “whoever else” we do not
have a presence of the r linking. In this case we have a non-rhotic r.

About the letters t in this speech, we have two different t. Take a look.

Got a lot of Not a

But I Better

We realized that these examples the letter t is not pronounced because of the
glottal stop /ɂ/. That is, in this part of the speech there is any presence of the sound
of t.
4.1 WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF WERE RICH? JESSEE

“If I won the lottery I would, It’s a good question, definitely, I would take
care of my mother, pay off her bills or debt she may have. Buy a
reasonable home that would do me good. Make sure it’s paid for a little
bit of land. Make sure I have no debt, no bills. Take some money and
invest it put some in the bank. Make sure all my kids got what they need
and maybe even start up a business. Maybe start a car lot. I am a car
salesman. Maybe doing that for myself would be in my best interest. Take
money, make money type of thing. So, this is what I would do if I won the
lottery”.

Mother For a

Her Car

Or

As we all know, Americans always pronounce the letter r. We also observe that
in these examples there is the presence of the letter r in the final position of the syllable
and, in this case, we call it a rótico dialect. (CRISTÓFARO SILVA, 2015, p.

75).

Analyzing the presence of the t sound in this speech, we can divide it in two
categories:
A little bit of Start a
Start up What I

For these examples we can say that them have a flap t, that is, Americans tend
to pronounce the letter t in the middle and the final position as a flap t.

“Intervocalic t is often realized as a flap

/ɾ/, as in letter, batter; Medial /t/ is often
represented by tt before lax vowels, as
in cattle”. (MURCIA, 1996, p. 392).
5 HILLARY CLINTON’S SPPEECH

“And I don’t have to wait to become president to take a stand and right
here and right now, against the devise rhetoric that demonizes
immigrants and their families. It was appalling to hear Donald Trump
described immigrants as drug dealers, rapists, and criminals. He’s talking
about people you and I know, isn’t it? He’s talking about people who love
this country, work hard and want nothing more than a chance to build a
better life for themselves and their children and when people and
businesses everywhere rejected his hateful comments, did he apologize?
No! He doubled down. It’s shameful and no one should stand for it. So, I
have just one word for Mr. Trump: Basta! Enough! And to all the other
Republicans running for president, why did it take weeks for most of you
to speak out you’re normally such a talkative bunch suddenly you have
nothing to say the sad truth is that even if some of the other candidates
now condemn those words if you look at many of their policies it’s hard
to tell the difference when they talk about legal status that’s code for
second-class status, when they talk about rolling back the president’s
executive actions that’s code for tearing families apart. Do they really
think they can get away with that kind of doublespeak? It’s not enough to
use language of respect if you refuse to support policies of respect”.

Looking at Hillary Clinton's speech, we note that the words that have the letter t
in their midst may have a sound equivalent to the sound of the letter r in Portuguese,
but that in the American perspective, the letter t in the middle of a word, can be
pronounced as a quick d, as the website Espresso English says: “The letter t in the
middle of a word can be pronounced like a fast d or flap d in American English”. Some
examples:
Better Status
Talkative Executive

When this letter is at the end and meets the next word, which has a vowel sound,
this one joins the next as a flap d. See below:

That even It’s not enough

Get away

We can prove from these analyzes that this can occur only when t is preceded
by some vowel sound, for this does not apply when it is at the beginning of the word
and not when preceded by a consonantal sound. To prove this, see examples:
 Immigrants Themselves
Rapists Comments
About people Rhetoric*

As already said and observed, the t sound can be preceded by both consonantal
and vowel sounds. However, in "rhetoric", even though it is preceded by a vowel sound,
it does not have the same status function as a flap t. In this case “In another group of
words, t is always obligatory (CRISTÓFARO SILVA, 2015, p. 104).
Concerning the consonants present in this American discourse, we may at first
say that all of them are pronounced independently of their positioning. That is, r is
pronounced at the beginning, middle and end of words without distinction if it is
preceded by a vowel or consonantal sound. Here are the examples:
Right Work
Here Hard
Dealers Apart

There is also the question of when r is at the end of a certain word and that when
the next word starts with vowel sound, we have the junction. Here's the example:

For it

It is observed then that r is at the end of a word and is preceded by the next
word that begins with vowel sound they join.

5.1 THERESA MAY’S SPEECH

“While the recent attacks are not connected by common networks, they
are connected in one important sense. They are bound together by the
single evil ideology of Islamist extremism that preaches hatred Souls
division and promotes sectarianism. It is an ideology that claims our
Western values of freedom, democracy and human rights are
incompatible with the religion of Islam. It is an ideology that is a
perversion of Islam and a perversion of the truth. Defeating this ideology
is one of the great challenges of our time, but it cannot be defeated
through military intervention alone. It will not be defeated through the
maintenance of a permanent defensive counterterrorism operation.
However, skillful its leaders and practitioners it will only be defeated when
we turn people’s minds away from this violence and make them
understand that our values pluralistic British values are superior to
anything offered by the preachers and supporters of hate we cannot allow
this ideology the safe space it needs to breed yet that is precisely what
 the Internet and the big companies that provide Internet-based services
provide we need to work with allied democratic governments to reach
international agreements that regulate cyberspace to prevent the spread
of extremists and terrorism planning and we need to do everything we
can at home to reduce the risks of extremism online”.

In this part of the final project, we will see how the letter r behaves before a
consonant sound and in the end of a word in the British discourse. See below:

Networks Counterterrorism Supporters

Important However Internet
Together Leaders Services
Our Practitioners Work
Western Turn Governments
Perversion Understand International
Intervention Superior cyberspace
Permanent Preachers

As we can realize all the letters r in this discourse have no sound. As analyzed
before in another example, British tend to not pronounce the letter r before a consonant
sound and they do not pronounce it when is it in final syllable as CRISTÓFARO SILVA
says, she calls it non-rhotic dialect when the r is in a final position.

“Although the pronunciation of a word

can be represented by a sequence of
phonemic symbols, the phonemes in
the context of a word do not necessarily
have the same sound as when they are
spoken in isolation”.
(UNDERHILL, Adrian, 2005, p. 50).
6 CONCLUSION

After analyzing the speeches of English-speaking natives, we concluded that

English spoken in the United States differs a lot from English spoken in English as
regards pronunciation since Americans use the phoneme r in all positions, or initial,
median and final words. The allophone t also follows the same path in English spoken
in the United States. However, the allophone t presents a different way to the British
pronunciation, because while the Americans use the flap / ɾ /, which is a variation of the
letter t, and that is in an intervocalic position, the British do not use variations of the
phoneme t in the positions, that is, the t sound produced by the British has the same
sound in all positions. The r sound in British English is not pronounced when it comes
before consonantal sound or in final position, only between vowels and before the vowel
sound.

REFERENCES

CELCE-MURCIA, Marianne; BRINTON, M., Donna; GOODWIN, M., Janet. Teaching

Pronunciation: A reference for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.

CRISTÓFARO SILVA, Thaïs. Pronúncia do Inglês: Para falantes do português

brasileiro. São Paulo: Contexto, 2015.

ESPRESSO ENGLISH. Disponível em: www.espressoenglish.net/british-english-

vsamerican-english-pronunciation/ Acesso em:01/03/2018

MULTIMEDIA-ENGLISH. Disponível em: <www.multimedia-english.com> Acesso em:

22/04/2017.

SCHÜTZ, Ricardo. História da Língua Inglesa. English Made in Brazil.

<http://www.sk.com.br/sk-enhis.html> Acesso em: 22/05/2018.

SMITH, Rachel. English Pronunciation – Linking: Consonant to Vowel. Rachel’s

English. Available at <http://rachelsenglish.com/english-pronunciation-
linkingconsonant-vowel/> Retrieved 22 May. 2018

UNDERHILL, Adrian. Sound Foundation: Learning and Teaching pronunciation.

Macmillan, 2005.