Pronunciation Variation

Fonética y Fonología 1-B

Linguistic variation according to user

Different speakers use language in different ways. Language use varies according to the situation, but also
according to the user or the group each user belongs to. We can find variation at all linguistic levels (lexical,
grammatical, phonological, etc.)

These differences can be found among speakers of different socioeconomic background, age, educational
level, hometown, and sometimes even gender.
Pronunciation variation according to age
- Teenagers tend to speak faster than older people; therefore, they may
skip or change some sounds.
- Older adults produce relatively shorter phrases than younger adults,
which impacts intonation.
- Teenagers can use pronunciation and intonation to build their sense
of identity and belonging to a certain age group.
● Example: Older speakers from England tend to omit the /h/ sound in
the word “historic” while younger speakers pronounce it.
Pronunciation variation according to social
background
- Both upper classes and restricted or marginalized social groups seek to distinguish themselves from
other social classes and groups.

- However, speakers from middle or low classes may change their usual pronunciation in formal
situations to fit the register, choosing the pronunciation variant that is generally more prestigious.

● Example: The pronunciation of the -ing suffix with a final [n] instead of [ŋ] is usually associated with
the way speakers from lower classes speak.
Pronunciation variation according to geography

- As you may have already noticed, American English and British English are quite different in terms of
pronunciation and intonation.
- But there are also differences in the way people speak even within the same country.
- For example, speakers in the north and Midlands of England generally pronounce the vowel in words
such as cup, love and under with rounded lips and those in the south, who use a vowel with lips in a
more neutral position. So for a speaker from these areas of England, pairs such as book/buck,
hook/huck, look/luck, rook/ruck, shook/shuck and took/tuck might well be homophones.

https://sounds.bl.uk/resources/learning/soundsfamiliar/reg-voices-phonvar-strut~foot.mp3
Pronunciation variation according to geography
Pronunciation variation according to geography
Pronunciation variation

For the sake of clarity, we have considered the different factors that influence pronunciation
variation separately. However, in real life, all these factors plus situational factors interact with
one another, making it much harder to determine why someone is not pronouncing a word in
the same way that we were taught when learning English.
Therefore, it is important to keep in mind that you may find different pronunciations for the
same word and that does not necessarily mean that the speaker is making a mistake since we
all speak differently.
Sources

https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio
n/370515604_Concerning_the_different
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nd_differences/link/6453e2df809a53502
149b9fc/download