Editing Regional accents of English (section)

==North America==
{{Main|North American English regional phonology|North American English|American English|Canadian English}}
''North American English'' is a collective term for the dialects of the United States and Canada. It does not include the varieties of [[Caribbean English]] spoken in the West Indies.

* Rhoticity: Most North American English accents differ from Received Pronunciation and some other British dialects by being [[Rhoticity in English|rhotic]]. The rhotic consonant {{IPA|/r/}} is pronounced before consonants and at the end of syllables, and the [[r-colored vowel]] {{IPA|[ɚ]}} is used as a syllable nucleus. For example, while the words "hard" and "singer" would be pronounced {{IPA|[hɑːd]}} and {{IPA|[ˈsɪŋə]}} in [[Received Pronunciation]], they would be pronounced {{IPA|[hɑɹd]}} and {{IPA|[ˈsɪŋɚ]}} in [[General American]].  Exceptions are certain traditional accents found in [[New England English|eastern New England]], [[New York City English|New York City]], and the [[Southern American English|Southern United States]], plus [[African-American English]].
*  Mergers before {{IPA|/r/}}: ''R''-coloring has led to some [[English-language vowel changes before historic /r/|vowel mergers before historic {{IPA|/r/|cat=no}}]] that do not happen in most other native dialects. In many North American accents, "Mary", "merry", and "marry" sound the same ([[English-language vowel changes before historic /r/#Mary–marry–merry merger|''Mary''–''marry''–''merry'' merger]]), but they have the vowels {{IPA|/ɛə/}}, {{IPA|/æ/}}, {{IPA|/ɛ/}}, respectively, in RP. Similarly, "nearer" rhymes with "mirror" ([[English-language vowel changes before historic /r/#Mirror–nearer merger|''mirror''–''nearer'' merger]]), though the two have different vowels in RP: {{IPA|/iː/}} and {{IPA|/ɪ/}}. Other mergers before {{IPA|/r/}} occur in various North American dialects.
* Mergers of the low back vowels: Other North American mergers that are absent in Received Pronunciation are the merger of the vowels of [[cot–caught merger|"caught" and "cot"]] ({{IPA|[kɔːt]}} and {{IPA|[kɒt]}} in RP) in many accents, and the merger of "father" (RP {{IPA|[ˈfɑːðə]}}) and "bother" (RP {{IPA|[ˈbɒðə]}}) in almost all.
* Flat ''a'': Most North American accents lack the so-called [[trap–bath split]] found in Southern England: Words like "ask", "answer", "grass", "bath", "staff", and "dance" are pronounced with the short-a {{IPA|/æ/}} of "trap", not with the broad "A" {{IPA|/ɑ/}} of "father" heard in Southern England as well as in most of the Southern Hemisphere. In North America, the vowel of "father" has merged with that of "lot" and "bother" (see above).  Related to the [[trap–bath split]], North American dialects have a feature known as [[/æ/ tensing]].  This results in /æ/ in some environments, particularly nasals to be raised and even diphthongized, typically transcribed as {{IPA|[eə]}}.  Thus, "answer" is typically pronounced as {{IPA|[eənsɚ]}} rather than {{IPA|[ænsɚ]}}.<!--I'll add in the citation later.-->
* [[Intervocalic alveolar flapping|Flapping of {{IPA|/t/|cat=no}} and {{IPA|/d/|cat=no}}]]: In North American English, {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/d/}} both become the [[alveolar flap]] {{IPA|[ɾ]}} after a stressed syllable and between vowels or syllabic consonants, making the words "latter" and "ladder" homophones, either as {{IPA|[ˈlædɚ]}} or {{IPA|[ˈlæɾɚ]}}.

The United States does not have a concrete "standard" accent in the same way that Britain has [[Received Pronunciation]]. A form of speech known to linguists as General American is perceived by many Americans to be "accent-less", meaning a person who speaks in such a manner does not appear to be ''from'' anywhere in particular. The region of the United States that most resembles this is the central Midwest, specifically eastern Nebraska, including Omaha and Lincoln; southern and central Iowa, including Des Moines; and parts of Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, and western Illinois, including Peoria and the Quad Cities but not the Chicago area.{{Original research inline|date=February 2013}}

===Canada===
{{Main|Canadian English}}
Three major dialect areas can be found in Canada: Western/Central Canada, the Maritimes, and [[Newfoundland English|Newfoundland]].

The phonology of [[West/Central Canadian English]], also called ''General Canadian'', is broadly similar to that of the Western US, except for the following features:
* The diphthongs {{IPA|/aɪ/}} and {{IPA|/aʊ/}} are raised to approximately {{IPA|[ʌɪ]}} and {{IPA|[ʌʊ]}}<ref name="AutoZC-1"/> before voiceless consonants. For example, the vowel sound of "out" {{IPA|[ʌʊt]}} is different from that of "loud" {{IPA|[laʊd]}}. This feature is known as [[Canadian raising]]. The {{IPA|/ʌʊ/}} is even more raised in Atlantic Canada, closer to {{IPA|/ɛʊ/}}.
* The short "a" of "bat" is more open than almost everywhere else in North America {{IPA|[æ̞ ~ a]}}. The other front lax vowels {{IPA|/ɛ/}} and {{IPA|/ɪ/}}, too, can be lowered and/or retracted. This phenomenon has been labelled the [[Canadian Shift]].
The pronunciation of certain words shows a British influence. For instance, "shone" is {{IPA|/ʃɒn/}}, "been" is often {{IPA|/biːn/}}, "lieutenant" is {{IPA|/lɛfˈtɛnənt/}}, "process" can be {{IPA|/ˈproʊsɛs/}}, etc.

Words like "drama", "pajamas"/"pyjamas", and "pasta" tend to have {{IPA|/æ/}} rather than {{IPA|/ɑ/}}~{{IPA|/ɒ/}}. Words like "sorrow", "Florida", and "orange" have {{IPA|/ɔr/}} rather than {{IPA|/ɑr/}}; therefore, "sorry" rhymes with "story" rather than with "starry".

===United States===
{{Main|North American English regional phonology|North American English|American English|General American English}}

===West Indies and Bermuda===
For discussion, see:
*[[Bahamian English]]
*[[English in Barbados|Barbadian English]]
*[[Bequia English]]
*[[Bermudian English]]
*[[Caribbean English]]
*[[Jamaican English]]
*[[Saban English]]
*[[Trinidadian English]]