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Estuary Phonology
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For comments on the orthography used in <> see orthography link at bottom of page.
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Vowels (Where they differ from RP)
The “or” split
This refers to the sound “or” of RP as in “bought” and “door.” (Note, the r in this position is not pronounced in RP English so the sound is the same for both.) In Estuary this RP “or” has split depending on the position (0-9). If the base word has this sound and then a consonant then in Estuary it is pronounced “u-w.” If there is no consonant then it is pronounced ‘or’ as in RP. Thus “door“ <doo> is pronounced as in RP, whereas “corn” is pronounced “cu-wn” <cuwn>. This leads to interesting differences in pronunciation between “bored” <bood> and “board” <buwd> (identical in RP). “Bored” is based on the word “bore” <boo>, so it is pronounced as in RP “bord;” however, “board” being followed by a consonant is pronounced “buwd” (which is identical with Estuary “bald”!).
/æ/
In Estuary there are two ‘a’ (/æ/) sounds such that “had” <hæd> has a short vowel /æ/, whereas “bad” <bææd> has a long vowel /æ:/ (0-9). The rules are fairly complex, but roughly it’s always long before n and m at the end of a word so “haam” <hææm>, “maan” <mææn> – but not before –ng, so “bang” <bæng> (short). It’s long however before –ngle – “taangle” <tæængguw>. It’s long before d if the word is an adjective “maad” <mææd>, “baad” <bææd>, but sporadically long before other words, such that “cad” <kæd>, “tag” <tæg> are short but “laad” <lææd>, “baag” <bææg> are long – as said complex... Do you like a good challenge? How about trying to work out the rules... Click here for Nerdy Linguistics Puzzle :)
u fronting
In older speech (or if you listen to American English or conservative RP English) the 'oo' of "boot" <buut> is made at the back of the mouth, almost as if swallowing. In Estuary this u sound has been pushed forward and is almost like the German "ü" (/y/) so "boot" = <bywt>, but not with as much lip rounding (0-9). This has also had an affect on "put" <pyt> which has also 'fronted' (/Y/) and "go" <gëy> /ëY/ (ë = schwa).
Monophthongisation
Another change which I feel is underway is the change in vowel followed by r combinations – words like ‘ear’ and ‘air’ are pronounced like ‘ee-a’ <ië> and ‘eh-a’ <eë> in RP. In Estuary as with many other parts of the country these have (or are becoming) monothphongs – so losing the “-a” element(4-8). Phonologically these are moving towards /I:/ <ii> and /E:/ <ee> - so “beard” <biid> is like saying “bid” <bid> but with a long “i”, and “bared” <beed> is like “bed” <bed> but with the vowel lengthened. This monophthongisation is not always present in my own English, as mine tends to be more 'London' flavoured, however I know it's prominent in NE Hampshire, having written a dissertation about vowels in Hartley Wintney. Here my older informants didn't diphthongise, and they spoke with fairly heavy Hampshire accents, my younger informants, however, did monophthongise (as well as have lots of other Estuary features in their speech).
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Consonants (Where they differ from RP)
Linking letters
Estuary has many linking letters, which although quite common in England English, are less common in the other Englishes. Linking y : “me and you” = “meyan yu” <mi-jën jyw>, “high up” = “hiyupp” <ha-jap>, “AAA” = “AyAyA” <e-je-je>. Linking w : “you and me” = “yuwan me” <jy-wëm mij>, “do it again” = “dowi’ agen” <dy-wi' ëgen>. Linking r: “Canada is ...” = “Canadariz ...” <kænëdë-riz>, “drawing” = “drorin” <droorin> (0-8)
L-vocalisation
This refers to the changing of l before a consonant, or l in phrase-final position to a sound similar to ‘w’ or ‘u’ (phonetically /U ~ o/.; for example “milk” > “mi-wk” <miwk>, “hell” > “he-w” <hew> but “hell and back” > “hell am back” <hel ën bak> (l pronounced due to the following a) (0-8). L-vocalisation leads to lots | |||||||||||||||