BRITISH AND AMERICAN PRONUNCIATION

BRITISH AND AMERICAN PRONUNCIATION

 Stressed vowels are often lengthened more in American English than in British. For instance,
the sound of ‘a’ in bad tends to be lengthened in American English, whereas it is a short vowel
in British English.
In American English vowels are often pronounced in a nasalized manner (that is, air is allowed to
pass through the nose as well as the mouth at the same time).
The vowel in the words home, go, so, etc. is essentially a diphthong in British English, but in
American English sounds like a single vowel sound similar to o, as we Indians normally say.
The short vowel sound of ‘o’ as in pot, god, dog, etc. is pronounced like the long vowel sound of
a in calm, palm, charm, etc. in American English.
The usual long vowel sound of a as in British English as in dance, fast, last, glass, after, can't, etc.
are pronounced like the pure vowel sound of a as in man, glad, sad, etc. in American English.
The sound ‘r’ is pronounced in Standard British English only before a vowel sound. It is not
pronounced after a vowel sound as in over, father, mother, brother, sister, etc, unless it is followed
by another vowel sound. However, ‘r’ is pronounced in all positions in a word in American English.
Moreover, ‘r’ is pronounced in American English in a slightly different way.
 The sound of ‘t’ and d between two vowel sounds become slightly different from the sounds of
the letters elsewhere in American English.
Before -u and -ew, the British pronounce t-, d-, d-, and n- like tyu-, dyu- and nyu-. For example,
tune, dew, due, news, etc. In American English such words are pronounced without adding the
sound y.
But again you are advised to learn such differences in pronunciation of the two varieties by listening to good models, such as the news on BBC (British English) and the news on CNN (American English).