Editing Jamaican English (section)

==Phonology==
{{IPA notice|section}}
Features of standard Jamaican English include the characteristic pronunciation of the {{IPA|/aʊ/}} [[diphthong]] in words like {{sc2|MOUTH}}, which is often more closed and rounded {{IPA|[ɵʊ]}} than in British [[Received Pronunciation]] (RP) or [[General American]] (GA); the pronunciation of the {{Sc2|STRUT}} vowel {{IPA|/ʌ/}} to {{IPA|[ɵ~o]}} (again, more closed and rounded than the RP or GA varieties); and the very distinctive feature of "variable semi-[[Rhoticity in English|rhoticity]]".<ref>Rosenfelder, 2009, p. 81.</ref> Non-rhoticity (the pronunciation of "r" nowhere except before vowels) is highly variable in Jamaican English and can depend upon the phonemic and even social context.<ref>Rosenfelder, 2009, p. 95.</ref> Jamaican English accents are: non-rhotic regarding words of the {{sc2|LETTER}} [[lexical set]] (at the ends of unstressed [[syllables]]); rhotic (i.e., fully preserving the "r" sound) regarding words of the {{sc2|NEAR}} and {{sc2|FORCE}} sets; high to middling in degrees of rhoticity regarding the {{sc2|SQUARE}}, {{sc2|NURSE}}, and {{sc2|CURE}} sets; and low regarding rhoticity with most other word sets.<ref>Rosenfelder, 2009, p. 89.</ref><ref>{{cite book
|isbn=0-521-28541-0
|first=J C
|last=Wells
|title=Accents of English 3: Beyond the British Isles
|publisher=Cambridge University Press
|year=1982
|page=577
}}</ref> When "r" is followed by a consonant, non-rhoticity is more likely than when "r" is not followed by a consonant.<ref>Rosenfelder, 2009, pp. 93, 176.</ref> However, overall more rhoticity is positively correlated with higher levels of education. This has been attributed to the Jamaican education system normalising and promoting a rhotic variety of English.<ref>Irvine-Sobers, G. Alison (2018). "The acrolect in Jamaica: The architecture of phonological variation" (Studies in Caribbean Languages 1). Berlin: Language Science Press. p. 53</ref> Thus, the overall degree of rhoticity in educated Jamaican English remains very low, with rhoticity occurring  21.7% of the time.<ref>Rosenfelder, Ingrid (2009). "Rhoticity in Educated Jamaican English: An analysis of the spoken component of ICE-Jamaica." p. 68.</ref>

Merger of the diphthongs in [[near-square merger|"fair" and "fear"]] takes place both in Jamaican Standard English and [[Jamaican Patois]], resulting in those two words (and many others, like "bear" and "beer") often becoming [[homophones]]: the sound being {{IPA|[eːɹ]}}, though often {{IPA|[iɛɹ]}} (something like "ee-air"; thus "bear/beer" as "bee-air").<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Devonish|Harry|2004|p=463}}</ref>

The short "a" sound ({{Sc2|TRAP}}, man, hat, etc.) is very open {{IPA|[a]}}, similar to its Irish variants, while {{sc2|BATH}}, {{sc2|PALM}}, and {{sc2|START}} all use this same sound too, but lengthened,<ref name="Devonish 2004 460">{{Harvcoltxt|Devonish|Harry|2004|p=460}}</ref> and perhaps slightly backed;<ref>Rosenfelder, 2009, p. 146.</ref> this distinction can maintain a London-like [[trap-bath split|{{sc2|TRAP&ndash;BATH}} split]]. Both {{Sc2|LOT/CLOTH}} and {{sc2|THOUGHT}} use a rounded {{IPA|[ɔ]}}, though a [[cot-caught merger]] is theoretically avoided by the latter set of words being more lengthened;<ref name="Devonish 2004 460"/> however, in reality, a full merger (of {{Sc2|LOT/CLOTH/THOUGHT}}) is reportedly increasing in informal contexts.<ref>Rosenfelder, 2009, pp. 145, 147.</ref> For Jamaican Patois speakers, the merged vowel is much lower. {{Sc2|GOAT}} and {{sc2|FACE}} vowels in the standard educated dialect are long [[monophthong]]s: respectively {{IPA|[oː]}} and {{IPA|[eː]}}.<ref name="Devonish 2004 460"/> The unstressed [[schwa]] phoneme ({{sc2|COMMA}}) appears to be normally produced in the area of {{IPA|[a~ɐ]}}.<ref>Rosenfelder, 2009, pp. 139-140.</ref>

Before the low central vowel {{IPA|[a]}}, the [[Velar consonant|velars]] {{IPA|[k]}} and {{IPA|[ɡ]}} can be realized with [[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalisation]], so that ''cat'' can be pronounced [k<sup>h</sup>at ~ kjat] and ''card'' as [k<sup>h</sup>a:d ~ kja:d]); while [ɡ] and [ɡj] coexist, as in ''gap'' [ɡap ~ ɡjap] or guard [ɡa:(ɹ)d ~ ɡja:(ɹ)d]. These variations are distinct [[phoneme]]s in Jamaican Patois before [a]: [ɡja:dn̩] is ''garden'' while [ɡa:dn̩] is ''Gordon''; [kja:f] is ''calf'' while [ka:f] is ''cough''. They are not distinct phonemes in Jamaica English because these word pairs are distinguished by the vowel ([a] vs [ɔ]) instead. However, this fact hasn't stopped educated speakers from incorporating [kj] in their English at least before unlengthened "a". However, vowel length can be a relevant factor, since it is possible to hear forms like {{IPA|[kjat]}} for ''cat'', {{IPA|[kjaɹɪ]}} for ''carry'', {{IPA|[kjaɹaktʌ]}} for ''character'', and {{IPA|[kjaɹɪbiǝn]}} for ''Caribbean'', but affluent or aspiring middle-class speakers tend to avoid {{IPA|[kja:ɹ]}} for ''car'' due to its longer vowel.<ref>Irving-Sobers, G. Alison, 2018, pp. 45-46.</ref><ref>Irving-Sober, G. Alison (1994). "Dialect Variation in Jamaican English: A Study of the Phonology of Social Group Marking". English World-Wide, Volume 15(1). p. 69.</ref>

Presumably less-educated [[Jamaican Patois]] speakers may speak English with several other notable features, including a {{sc2|TRAP&ndash;LOT}} merger (e.g. with ''rat'' and ''rot'' homophones) to {{IPA|[ɔ]}} and a [[line-loin merger|{{sc2|PRIZE&ndash;CHOICE}} merger]] (e.g. with ''line'' and ''loin'' homophones) to {{IPA|[ɔi]}}.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Devonish|Harry|2004|p=465}}</ref> [[Th-stopping]] is also common.

One of the most salient sounds of [[Caribbean English]] to speakers of outside English dialects is its unique rhythm and intonation. Linguists debate whether this system centres mostly on stress, tone, or a mixture in which the two interact. Sometimes, Jamaican English is perceived as maintaining less of a contrast between [[Stress (linguistics)|stressed and unstressed syllables]], in other words, making all syllables sound relatively-equally stressed: thus ''kitchen'' not {{IPA|/ˈkɪtʃɪn/}} so much as {{IPA|/kɪtʃɪn/}} (perhaps even perceived by a non-Caribbean as having second-syllable stress: {{IPA|/kɪˈtʃɪn/}}). In Jamaican English, normally reduced English vowels are sometimes not reduced, and other times are hyper-reduced, so that ''token'' is not  {{IPA|*[ˈtuokn̩]}} but {{IPA|[ˈtuoken]}}, yet ''cement'' can be as reduced as {{IPA|[sment]}}; the exact nuances of the rules at play here are also highly debated.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Devonish|Harry|2004|pp=462, 468}}</ref>