Re: CHAT: This or that that.
| From: | Lars Finsen <lars.finsen@...> |
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| Date: | Tuesday, February 13, 2007, 1:20 |
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Den 11. feb. 2007 kl. 01.55 skrev T. A. McLeay:
>
> Outside of Britain (and Ireland?) most people have [æ]. In parts of
> England they even used to have [æ], which is where the rest of us got
> it from, but now it's moved lower/central for a lot of English
> dialects (and for others was probably never fronted in the first
> place). I'm told the reason it was fronted was because the vowel of
> LOT was unrounded and low (much like the present day American value,
> but no doubt shorter), so TRAP moved forwards to help the contrast. As
> in all things, formal education is a bit behind the cutting edge.
Thanks, that was interesting. I guess the [{] in England always has
been a minority phenomenon, maybe a small one too.
> You'll be understood perfectly well if you pronounce it as [a]
> wherever you go. If you want to learn an American accent, it's
> probably best to try for [æ].
You know I have my school English, but I notice that when I stay with
some friends that I have on Humberside for a few days, my school
English is giving way somehow - to a more real English I suppose.
LEF
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