Editing General American English (section)

== Consonants ==
A table containing the [[consonant]] [[phoneme]]s is given below:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Consonant phonemes in General American
!
! colspan="2" | [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! colspan="2" | [[Interdental consonant|Dental]]
! colspan="2" | [[alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! colspan="2" | [[postalveolar consonant|Post-<br />alveolar]]
! colspan="2" | [[palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! colspan="2" | [[velar consonant|Velar]]
! colspan="2" | [[glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! <small>[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]</small>
| style="width: 20px; border-right: 0;" | || style="width: 20px; border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|m}}
| colspan="2" |
| style="width: 20px; border-right: 0;" | || style="width: 20px; border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|n}}
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| style="width: 20px; border-right: 0;" | || style="width: 20px; border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|ŋ}}
| colspan="2" |
|-
! <small>[[Stop consonant|Stop]]</small>
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|p}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|b}}
| colspan="2" |
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|t}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|d}}
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|k}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|ɡ}}
| colspan="2" |
|-
! <small>[[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]</small>
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| style="width: 20px; border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|tʃ}} || style="width: 20px; border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|dʒ}}
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
|-
! <small>[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]</small>
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|f}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|v}}
| style="width: 20px; border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|θ}} || style="width: 20px; border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|ð}}
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|s}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|z}}
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|ʃ}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|ʒ}}
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| style="width: 20px; border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|h}} || style="width: 20px; border-left: 0;" |
|-
! <small>[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]</small>
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| style="border-right: 0;" | || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|l}}
| style="width: 20px; border-right: 0;" | || style="width: 20px; border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|ɹ̠|r}}
| style="width: 20px; border-right: 0;" | || style="width: 20px; border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|j}}
| style="border-right: 0;" | ({{IPAlink|ʍ}}) || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|w}}
| colspan="2" |
|}

===Pronunciation of R===
{{main|Pronunciation of English /r/}}
The [[phoneme]] {{IPA|/r/}} is pronounced as a [[postalveolar approximant]] {{IPAblink|ɹ̠|audio=y}} or [[retroflex approximant]] {{IPAblink|ɻ|audio=Retroflex_approximant.ogg}},{{sfn|Hallé|Best|Levitt|1999|p=283}} but a unique [[velar bunched approximant|"bunched tongue" variant]] of the sound is also associated with the United States, perhaps mostly in the [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]] and the South.{{sfn|Kortmann|Schneider|2004|p=317}} All these variants exhibit various degrees of [[labialization]] and [[pharyngealization]].{{sfnp|Zhou|Espy-Wilson|Boyce|Tiede|2008}}

====Rhoticity====
{{main|Rhoticity in English}}
Full rhoticity (or "R-fulness") is typical of American accents, in which {{IPA|/r/}} is pronounced in all historical environments spelled with the letter {{Angbr|r}}. This includes in syllable-final position or before a consonant, such as in ''pearl'', ''car'' and ''fort'', whereas most speakers in England do not pronounce this {{angbr|r}} in these environments and so are called non-rhotic.<ref name="Plag">{{cite book|last1=Plag|first1=Ingo|last2=Braun|first2=Maria|last3=Lappe|first3=Sabine|last4=Schramm |first4=Mareile |title=Introduction to English Linguistics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bLvZHmGA8q4C|access-date=July 4, 2013|year=2009|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|page=53|isbn=978-3-11-021550-2}}</ref>{{sfn|Collins|Mees|2002|p=178}} Non-rhotic American accents, such as some accents of [[Eastern New England English|Eastern New England]], [[New York City English|New York City]], and [[African American Vernacular English|African-American]]s, and a specific few (often [[older Southern American English|older]] ones) spoken by [[Southern American English|Southerners]], are often quickly noticed by General American listeners and perceived as sounding especially ethnic, regional, or antiquated.<ref name="Plag" />{{sfn|Collins|Mees|2002|pp=181, 306}}<ref>Wolchover, Natalie (2012). "[http://www.livescience.com/33652-americans-brits-accents.html Why Do Americans and Brits Have Different Accents?]" ''LiveScience''. Purch.</ref>

Rhoticity is common in most American accents despite being now rare in England because, during the 17th-century British colonization of the Americas, nearly all [[dialects of English]] were rhotic, and most [[North American English|English in North America]] simply remained that way.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=25484343 |title=Early Mainland Residues in Southern Hiberno-English |journal=Irish University Review |volume=20|issue=1 |pages=137–148 |last1=Lass |first1=Roger |year=1990 }}</ref> The North American preservation of rhoticity was also supported by waves of rhotic-accented Scotch-Irish immigrants, most intensely during the 18th century, when this ethnic group eventually made up one-seventh of the colonial population, plus smaller waves during the following two centuries. Scotch-Irish settlers spread from [[Delaware]] and [[Pennsylvania]] throughout the larger [[Mid-Atlantic region]], the inland regions of both the South and [[Northern United States|North]], and throughout the [[Western United States|West]]: American dialect areas that were all uninfluenced by upper-class non-rhoticity and that consequently have remained consistently rhotic.<ref>Wolfram, Walt; Schilling, Natalie (2015). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=fOPLCgAAQBAJ&q=scots-irish+one+in+seven American English: Dialects and Variation]''. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 103–104.</ref> While non-rhoticity spread on the East Coast (perhaps first in imitation of early 19th-century London speech), even the East Coast has gradually begun to restore rhoticity, due to it becoming nationally prestigious since the mid-20th century.

===Yod dropping after alveolar consonants===
Dropping of {{IPA|/j/}} after a consonant, known as [[yod dropping]] in linguistics, is much more extensive in American accents than in most of England. In most North American accents, {{IPA|/j/}} is "dropped" or "deleted" after all [[alveolar consonant|alveolar]] and interdental consonants (that is: everywhere except after /p/, /b/, /f/, /h/, /k/, and /m/), so ''new, Tuesday, assume, duke'' are pronounced {{IPA|[nu]}}, {{IPA|[ˈtʰuzdeɪ]}}, {{IPA|[əˈsum]}}, {{IPA|[duk]|audio=En-us-duke.ogg}} (compare with British {{IPA|[nju]}}, {{IPA|[ˈtʰjuzdeɪ]}}, {{IPA|[əˈsjum]}}, {{IPA|[djuk]|audio=En-uk-duke.ogg}}.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=247}}

===T glottalization===
{{main|T-glottalization}}
{{IPA|/t/}} is normally pronounced as a [[glottal stop]] {{IPA|[ʔ]}} when both after a vowel (or a [[liquid consonant|liquid]]) and before a [[syllabic consonant|syllabic]] {{IPA|[n̩]}} or any non-syllabic consonant, as in ''button'' {{IPA|[ˈbʌʔn̩]|audio=en-us-button.ogg}} and ''fruitcake'' {{IPA|[ˈfɹuʔkʰeɪk]|audio=en-us-fruitcake.ogg}}. Similarly, in absolute final position after a vowel or liquid, {{IPA|/t/}} is replaced by, or simultaneously articulated with, glottal constriction:<ref>Seyfarth, Scott; [[Marc Garellek|Garellek, Marc]] (2015). "[https://pages.ucsd.edu/~mgarellek/files/Seyfarth_Garellek_2015_ICPhS.pdf Coda glottalization in American English]". In ICPhS. University of California, San Diego, p. 1.</ref> thus, ''what'' may be transcribed as {{IPA|[wʌʔ]}} and ''fruit'' as {{IPA|[fɹuʔ]}}. (This innovation of [[T-glottalization|/t/ glottal stopping]] occurs in many British English dialects as well.)

===T and D flapping===
{{main|Flapping}}
{{Listen
| header = ''T''-glottalization and flapping
| plain = yes
| style = float: right; border: 1px solid lightgray;
| filename = en-us-mountain.ogg
| title = ''mountain'' (glottalized ''t'')
| description = {{IPA|[ˈmaʊnʔn̩]}}
| filename2 = en-us-partner.ogg
| title2 = ''partner'' (glottalized ''t'')
| description2 = {{IPA|[ˈpʰɑɹʔnɚ]}}
| filename3 = en-us-leader.ogg
| title3 = ''leader'' (''d''-flapping)
| description3 = {{IPA|[ˈɫiɾɚ]}}
| filename4 = en-us-cattle.ogg
| title4 = ''cattle'' (''t''-flapping)
| description4 = {{IPA|[ˈkʰæɾɫ̩]}}
| filename5 = en-us-party.ogg
| title5 = ''party'' (''t''-flapping)
| description5 = {{IPA|[ˈpʰɑɹɾi]}}
}}
{{listen
| plain = yes
| style = float: right; border: 1px solid lightgray;
| header = Optional flapping in certain contexts
| filename = En-US relatively.ogg
| title = ''relatively'' without flapping
| description = {{IPA|[ˈɹɛɫɨtʰɪvɫi]}}
| filename2 = En-US relatively (flapped).ogg
| title2 = ''relatively'' with flapping
| description2 = {{IPA|[ˈɹɛɫɨɾɪvɫi]}}
}}

The consonants {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/d/}} become a [[alveolar flap|flap]] {{IPAblink|ɾ|audio=y}} both after a vowel or {{IPA|/r/}} and before an unstressed vowel or a syllabic consonant other than {{IPA|[n̩]}}. Common example words include ''later'' {{IPA|[ˈɫeɪɾɚ]|audio=En-us-later.ogg}}, ''party'' {{IPA|[ˈpʰɑɹɾi]}} and ''model'' {{IPA|[ˈmɑɾ.ɫ̩]}}. Flapping thus results in pairs of words such as ''ladder/latter, metal/medal,'' and ''coating/coding'' being pronounced the same. Flapping of {{IPA|/t/}} or {{IPA|/d/}} before a full stressed vowel is also possible but only if that vowel begins a new word or morpheme, as in ''what is it?'' {{IPA|[wʌɾˈɪzɨʔ]}} and twice in ''not at all'' {{IPA|[nɑɾɨɾˈɔɫ]}}. Other rules apply to flapping, to such a complex degree in fact that flapping has been analyzed as being required in certain contexts, prohibited in others, and optional in still others.<ref>Vaux, Bert (2000_. "Flapping in English." ''Linguistic Society of America'', Chicago, IL. p .6.</ref> For instance, flapping is prohibited in words like ''seduce'' {{IPA|[sɨˈdus]}}, ''retail'' {{IPA|[ˈɹitʰeɪɫ]}}, and ''monotone'' {{IPA|[ˈmɑnɨtʰoʊn]}}, yet optional in ''impotence'' {{IPA|[ˈɪmpɨɾɨns, ˈɪmpɨtʰɨns]}}.

Both intervocalic {{IPA|/nt/}} and {{IPA|/n/}} may commonly be realized as {{IPAblink|ɾ̃}} (a nasalized [[alveolar flap]]) ([[flapping]]) or simply {{IPA|[n]}}, making ''winter'' a [[homophone]] with ''winner'' in fast or informal speech.

===Pronunciation of L===
{{main|Velarized alveolar lateral approximant}}
England's typical distinction between a "clear L" (i.e. {{IPAblink|l|audio=y}}) and a "dark L" (i.e. {{IPAblink|ɫ|audio=y}}) is much less noticeable in nearly all dialects of American English; it is often altogether absent,<ref>{{cite book|title=Language Talent and Brain Activity: Trends in Applied Linguistics|editor=Grzegorz Dogil |editor2=Susanne Maria Reiterer |editor3=Walter de Gruyter|year=2009|publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH|page=299|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pfIGxRtdXsQC&pg=PA299|isbn=978-3-11-021549-6}}</ref> with all "L" sounds tending to be "dark", meaning having some degree of [[velarization]],{{sfn|Wells|1982|p=490}} perhaps even as dark as {{IPAblink|ʟ|audio=y}} (though in the initial position, perhaps less dark than elsewhere among some speakers).{{sfnp|Jones|Roach|Hartman|2006|p=xi}} The only notable exceptions to this "dark L" today are in some Spanish-influenced American English varieties (such as [[New York Latino English|East Coast Latino English]]) which can show a clear "L" in [[syllable onset]]s and intervocalically.

===Wine–whine merger===
{{main|Wine–whine merger}}
Word pairs like ''wine/whine, wet/whet, Wales/whales, wear/where,'' etc. are [[homophone]]s, in most cases eliminating {{IPA|/ʍ/}}, also transcribed {{IPA|/hw/}}, the [[voiceless labiovelar fricative]]. However, scatterings of older speakers who do not merge these pairs still exist nationwide, perhaps most strongly in the South.{{sfn|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=52}} This merger is also found in most modern varieties of [[British English]].