Phonetic and Phonological Analysis of the West Country British Accent

This report provides a detailed analysis of the West Country accent, focusing on its phonetics and phonology. It begins with an introduction to the accent and its geographical origins, tracing its roots back to West-Saxon dialects. The report then defines key terms such as 'accent,' 'dialect,' and 'linguistic variety,' clarifying their distinctions. The core of the analysis examines the vowel and consonant inventories of the West Country accent, including features like T-dropping, TH-fronting, Yod-dropping, L-vocalization, H-dropping, G-dropping, rhoticity, [d]-dropping, and [v]-dropping. Each feature is explained with examples, demonstrating how they manifest in the accent. The report also explores how these sounds are articulated using the components of the vocal tract, showcasing an understanding of speech production. The analysis highlights the unique characteristics of the West Country accent, comparing it to Standard English and other British accents. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and emphasizing the distinctiveness of the West Country accent within the broader context of English language variation.

Running head: BRITISH ACCENT-WEST COUNTRY 1
British Accent-West Country Accent
Name
Institutional Affiliation

BRITISH ACCENT-WEST COUNTRY 2
BRITISH ACCENT-WEST COUNTRY
Introduction
The regional pronunciation English accent chosen for this discussion is the British accent
primarily that spoken in the West Country Accent. The main discussion or analysis focuses on
the phonetics and phonology of the West Country accent by including the vowels and consonant
inventories with relevant descriptions based on labels studied for different characteristics and
group of sounds. The analysis also includes detail regarding how the West Country Accent
sounds are articulated using the components of the vocal tract, thus demonstrating the
understanding of the production of speech.
Analysis of British Accent:
West Country English (WCE)
The WCE is a cohort of English language varieties alongside accents utilized by much of
the indigenous population of South West England; the area occasionally called West Country.
West Country is made up of counties like Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset, City of Bristol,
and Wiltshire alongside Gloucestershire. The West Country accent remains the most awesome in
Britain with the origin being traced back to several West-Saxon dialects that ultimately
developed into Old English (OE) in Middle Ages (Najafian, Safavi, Hansen & Russell, 2016).
Certain academics still believe that accents of several Saxon tribes remain manifested to
date in the somewhat variations amongst the accents in towns in West Country. The Saxon
influence remains unhidden in most basic verbs, “I be” rather than the Standard English (SE) “I
am.” It is never a mistake-it really reflects how the verb was being conjugated in OE. Though
never common in the contemporary West Country, bist, instead of the SE "(you) are," was

BRITISH ACCENT-WEST COUNTRY 3
further a feature of this WCA. The West Country dialect showcases that German and English
come from same Saxon-dictated family, even when German looks, well, fully foreign.
The West Country accent has stayed do unique up till date. This is attributed to the
geography-this region remains extremely isolated, implying there have traditionally been few
external linguistic influences. The accent remains usually linked to seafaring and farming, both
traditional industries in this region, and both of which add to the isolation of the linguistic accent.
Indeed, the fishing industry culminated in West Country accent being the foundation for what
one might acknowledge as a typical “pirate” discourse.
Definition of Accent/Dialect/Variety
Accent refers particularly to regular pronunciation variations like the utilization of a
specific set of vowels or the usage of the glottal stop for come consonants. On the other hand,
dialect refers explicitly to characteristics of linguistic mechanism particular to a specific
geographical and or social group. Dialect can widely refer to any linguistic resource which
includes, for example, grammar and vocabulary.
"Dialect" and "accent" usually have negative connotations as compared to "language" and
"standard." Accent can be utilized as a neutral phrase because everyone has a specific accent.
Linguistic variety, on the other hand, refers to a cluster of features of a language which merge to
form a unique way of writing or speaking. It is a more comprehensive and neutral phrase which
entails such concepts as "dialect' and "accent."

BRITISH ACCENT-WEST COUNTRY 4
Figure 1. Accents of British Isle:
Source: map of British Isle accents and dialects
From the above diagram, the West Country accent is chosen for this discussion.
Phonetics and phonology of the West Country
This section analyzes both vowel and consonant inventories of the West Country Accent
based on the description of label terms studied in a range of groups and characteristics of sound.
Phonology is defined as the study of sound patterns in a language and crossway language and
deals with categorical organizations of sounds of speech in languages, how speech sound get
organized in our minds and utilized in meaning conveyance. On the other hand, phonetics is the

BRITISH ACCENT-WEST COUNTRY 5
study of sounds of speech and their physiological production alongside acoustic qualities, and it
deals with the vocal tract configuration utilized in the production of speech sounds; acoustic
qualities of speech sounds; and the way in which we combine sounds to make syllable, words,
and sentences.
The key variation between phonology and phonetics is that whereas the former is
concerned with abstract, the latter is concerned with physical qualities of sound. We can see the
infinite realization in phonetics, for instance, every time we say a "p" it shall somewhat be
different than other times we have said it. However, in phonology, all the production remain the
same within the phoneme inventory of a language, hence though every "p" is generated somehow
different each time, the real sound stays the same. This shows the central variation between
phonology and phonetic since despite no two "p's" being the same, they denote the same sound
in a language (Jansen & Westphal, 2017).
Consonantal and Vowel Inventories
Phonology:
The (t) dropping: The West Country Accent employs the t-dropping feature in certain
words. For example, in such words as “just”, “last” and “first” uses t-dropping feature and
subsequently uttered or pronounced as “jus”, “las” and “firs.” This shows that the consonant [t]
is dropped. The principle of ease of articulation informs the kind of words ending in [t] to be
dropped (Dragojevic, Mastro, Giles & Sink, 2016Dragojevic et al., 2016). This principle captures
the simplest means of pronouncing words and eases the speakers in words production. The West
Country speakers always tend to simplify such words whose pronunciation of the last consonant
[t] follows another consonant as shown below:

BRITISH ACCENT-WEST COUNTRY 6
The above words are often pronounced with [t] as the ultimate form. Nonetheless, the West
Country speakers will drop [t] so as to avoid pronouncing the last [t] phone. It is because of the
presence of another consonant that is before the [t] phone. As seen in the overhead three words, a
pattern exists of which specific words West Country speakers simplify.
All of the [t] phones follow the consonant [s]. The West Country speakers take the
principle of ease of articulation to find the need for simplifying the last [t] when another
consonant is present, in which case is consonant [s] which comes before [t]. However, the pattern
solely applies in the three aforementioned words since the word “must” does not receive the
same treatment of dropping the last [t]. Also, the word “about” has its last consonant [t] dropped
even when a vowel exists before the [t]. This word, “about” is usually pronounced as əˈbaʊt/ but
the West Country speakers pronounce it as ‘abou’ as they drop the last consonant [t] phone.
Nonetheless, the [t] dropping is solely applied on the ‘about’ and not to other words with last [t]
phones following a vowel (Djellab, Amrouche, Bouridane & Mehallegue, 2017).
Apart from dropping the last [t] consonant of certain words, West Country speakers also
drop the last consonant [t] when constructing negative words like ‘wouldn’t’ and mightn’t which
are pronounced as ‘wouldn’’ and ‘mightn.’ When constructing negations, these speakers omit the
last [t] phone. This is because of the fact that they tend to utilize standard form in some scenarios
in the purpose of being more strong and able to grab the desired attention.
For instance, when they are in rage towards a person. This means that where they
dialectically pronounce a former ‘about', the latter one will be pronounced using the standard
form. The scenario where the speaker produces becomes a serious one, for instance, where one

BRITISH ACCENT-WEST COUNTRY 7
keeps provocatively attempting to deter another to do something. Nonetheless, these speakers
show the inconsistency of how they speak specifically when utilizing dialectal qualities. Normal
circumstances exist; however, they use the standard form.
The [t]-dropping is also referred to as T-glottalization where [t] is replaced with the
glottal stop [ʔ]. Nonetheless, it is usually reported in media as ‘dropping the t’ and takes place
when within the middle or at the end of the phrase or word. Some of the illustration of T-
glottalization is presented below: ‘City’: [sɪti] vs [sɪʔi] ¨ ‘cat’: [kat] vs [kaʔ] ¨ ‘not very’ [nɒʔ
vɛɹi]. The intervocalic' dropping is usually stigmatized.
TH-Fronting: Where the speakers realized /θ/ and /ð/ as the labiodental fricative [f] and
[v] in that order, it is called TH-fronting. The example in cases where the West Country speakers
use this feature in their accents is; ‘think’: [θɪŋk] vs [fɪŋk] ¨ ‘bath’: [baθ] vs [baf] ¨ ‘leather’:
[ˈlɛðə] vs [ˈlɛvə]. It has only been in other accents like Essex, Cockney and is further making its
way into the Estuary English.
Yod-dropping: yod=/j/ and the Elision of /j/ in the syllable-initial consonant clusters has
been observed amongst the British accent. Specifically, it has been observed in East Angilia UK.
The examples of Yod-dropping is given as ‘news’ [nju:z] vs [nu:z] ¨ ‘stupid’ [ˈstju:pid] vs
[ˈstu:pid] ¨ ‘beauty’ à ‘booty’.
L-vocalization: When talking about the l-vocalization, there is a need first to
comprehend the difference between ‘clear' l and the ‘dark” l since /l/ has two major variants
based on its position. In the start of a syllable, (prior to V: [l]; ‘leaf’ and the tongue tip-alveolar
ridge. The second variant is at the end of the syllable (following V): [ɫ] ‘feel’ and the tongue tip-
alveolar ridge AND tongue back-velum. These speakers replace the dark l with the high back
vowel, for instance ([ʊ]). The illustration is given as dark [ɫ] à [ʊ], and the example is ‘ball’

BRITISH ACCENT-WEST COUNTRY 8
given as [bɔːʊ]. Besides West Country accent, it is found in the British accent including the
Estuary accent, and Cockney accent, and Manchester accent.
H-dropping: This feature is also used in British accent, especially in West Country,
Cardiff, Cockney, Lancashire, and Yorkshire. It is done by deleting the [h], primarily at the start
of a word. For instance, the West Country speaker will delete [h] in such words as "harm" to
pronounce it as ‘arm" and ‘heat' being pronounced as ‘eat." However, such deletion is usually
being stigmatized but remains common in various British accents as highlighted above.
G-dropping: This is also a common feature in a British accent, especially in northern
British English speakers and shows no relationship with social class. In this case, /ŋ/ in the
unstressed syllable has three major pronunciation variants including [ɪn] ~ [ɪŋ] ~ [ɪŋɡ], especially
in the –ing suffix. Thus /ŋ/ becomes /n/ which is why it is called g-deletion or g-dropping. For
example, <mornin’>, <listenin’>. This feature is often considered non-standard and colloquial.
The /ŋ/ also becomes /ŋg/ in the case of velar nasal plus.
Rhoticity: The West Country speakers also use Rhoticity whereby "R" is generated in
such words as ‘bird' and ‘water' and the IPA: ɚ ɝ ˞ or the "rhotic hook.' This feature is also
known as ‘r-colouring,' and the examples of such a rhotic accent have been observed in West
Country and Scottish English.
The [d]-dropping: The West Country speakers will always drop the last [d] phone when
uttering the word ‘and’. For example, “James an Lily dead.” Nonetheless, other special case
exist which trigger the different pattern. For instance, “six years there ‘and’ she will not know
himself.” In such a scenario, the speaker is stressed out because the colleague knows nothing
regarding his magical background since it is kept as secret from her. Thus, when the speaker

BRITISH ACCENT-WEST COUNTRY 9
appears to lose his temper, he will tend to utilize standard form as his need to be well listened to
and attract attention.
The [v]-dropping: The [v] consonant is also dropped in the same manner we dropped the
consonant [d] and it is also accumulated solely in a single word, ‘of’. The West Country speakers
will drop the [v] phone of the phrase ‘of” to be solely ‘o’. However, it remains unique since
there is a similar word to ‘of” and ending in nearly identical consonant, yet the speakers
pronounce it correctly. This word is “off’ as seen in the under this illustration: “an” poor little
girl off ter live with her.’
This pronunciation of the word ‘off’ remains similar to the ‘of’ and the word ‘of’ is often
pronounced as /əv/ with firm form /ɑv/. Tentatively, the word ‘off' is often pronounced as /ɑf/.
Both the last [v] and [f] consonants get pronounced in their labiodentals parts. The variation
between them solely features on whether it is voiceless or voice. The [v] phone remains voices,
whereas the [f] phone stays voiceless. The voiceless and voiced spirants showcase different
properties of phonology. With the ease of articulation principle, the voice phone is instead
increasingly hard to pronounce as opposed to the voiceless phone (Carrie & McKenzie, 2018).
Goose-fronting: The British accent uses the fronting of the back vowel /uː/ in the vowel
space. It is significantly being practiced amongst the young West Country speakers in reference
to ‘you' and ‘food.' Occasionally, the speakers transcribe as [ʉ]. Goose-fronting has been widely
claimed to be a sound change-in progress.
-in ending: The –in pronunciation remains a common feature significantly amongst
West Country speakers conversation that denotes unique dialect. It is via the simplification of the
pronunciation of –ing form of a verb (verb+-ing) alongside words ending in –ing. The most
common-in ending appears in the form of –ing as illustrated below; “I got her out all right before

BRITISH ACCENT-WEST COUNTRY 10
he began ‘swarmin' around. The –ing ending further appears in words ended with –ing like
‘nothing' ‘something', which are uttered as ‘nothin' and ‘somethin.' However, these speakers stay
inconsistent when utilizing the –in ending like the word "doing." Instead, they will use a
dialectical quality of contracting pronunciation ‘dunno' but pronounce ‘doing' using the standard
form (Kayaalp, 2016). A substantial inconsistency exists as what has been unraveled in the
preceding point whereby the speakers use the standard form in the normal case. Further,
inconsistency appears when these speakers juxtapose dialectical feature with the standard form
within the same sentence (Dragojevic et al., 2016).
Contracting Pronunciation: The West Country speakers maximize the ease of
articulation principle in speech production. They simplify certain words through the contraction
into a non-standard form. Nonetheless, such contracted pronunciation still upholds similar
pronunciation to standard forms. Some of the contracted pronunciations are presented below:
Figure 2: Contracted pronunciations
Contracted Standard
Summat Somewhat
Myst’ry Mystery
‘course Of course
‘em Them
Outta Out of
Shouldn’ta Should have
‘cept Except
Sorta Sort of
S’pposed Supposed

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Source (Author’s own creation)
Distinctive Function Words Pronunciation: A key point of accent is the unique
pronunciation of function words. These speakers pronounce words of ‘to,' ‘your', ‘you' as well as
‘for' uniquely as ‘ter’, ‘yer’, ‘yeh’ and ‘fer’ in that order. The following table summarizes the
West Country speakers’ use of distinctive function words:
Figure 3: Distinctive function words
Function words Dialectal Features
For Fer
Your Yer
You Yeh
To Ter
Source: (Author’s own creation)
Special patterns further exist in this case whereby the speakers use the standard form in
place when angry and has the urge of getting additional attention.
Phonetics: Vowels
Figure 4: British Phonetic Vowels
SYMBOL NAME EXAMPLES Usual Spelling
tea seat bean cheek sheep teen ee / ea
ship sit bin chick lip tin i
bell set neck ten fell men e
cat sat ban lack pan hat a

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hut cut bun luck much cup u
car cart barn cast march part ar
sock cot lock posh fox cod o
fork caught port forks cord born or / au / aw
cook pull could put look foot oo / (u)
boot fool Luke soon brute mood oo / (u)
girl bird turn perch shirt learn er / ir / ur
schwa
Barbara Photograph a house t
hesun station
any vowel or vowel
combination
Source: https://multimedia-english.com/phonetics/british-vowels
The above diagram shows the phonetics of the British accent. The vowels can be long or
short in a British accent. The table above shows the long vowels indicated by phonetic symbols
proceeded by a colon (:). The short vowels are extremely short, whereas long vowels are often
taking more than double the time to utter. It should, however, be noted that all English vowels
sound unique, but where the speaker pronounces them with a foreign accent, some of will be
confused, respecting short-long variation shall assist natives comprehend the speaker (Najafian et
al., 2016).
Vowels are separated from consonant significantly by the less degree of limitations
imposed by the tongue and the lips on the airflow from the mouth. Variations within the class of
vowels are made by the particular shape of our lips and precise tongue body positioning. It

BRITISH ACCENT-WEST COUNTRY 13
remains traditional to describe such tongue positions by referring to a neutral point like that
corresponding to tongue body location occupies in the vowel production in English-word bed.
Figure 5: The British accent IPA vowels
Source: Hosseinzadeh, Kambuziya & Shariati (2015)
Figure 6: The phonetic variety of vowels in a British accent
Source: Hosseinzadeh, Kambuziya & Shariati (2015)
As shown in the above table, some phonetic varieties exist between British and standard
vowels. When talking about the variation in vowels, the phoneticians utilize a range of
keywords notated in small capitals like GOAT, BATH, FLEECE-to show a range of words
which share same vowel phoneme.
Conclusion
The patterns of West Country accent differ from an array of phonological and phonetic
features; grammatical as well as vocabulary variations. In terms of phonology feature, the West
Country accent features consonant droppings that omit the pronunciation of certain consonants
including [v], [d] and [t]. Via the creation of such a unique typing, these speakers invite readers
to create the desired imagination regarding how West Country speakers are supposed to
converse, which is via consonant dropping. These speakers further pronounce –in in place of –

BRITISH ACCENT-WEST COUNTRY 14
ing and further contracts certain words in their utterances (Chan, 2016). Moreover, they
pronounce certain function words uniquely including ‘fer’, ‘yer’, ‘yeh’ and ‘ter’ in place of ‘for’,
‘your’, ‘you’ and ‘to’ in that order.
In terms of phonetics, it is noted that every language has its rudimentary constituent
sounds. English thus becomes an essential language that is acquired or learned globally. For
learning English, sound s that remain the very starting aspects must be learned or acquired. A lot
of accentual variations exists in British accents (Najafian, Safavi, Weber & Russell, 2016).
Further, certain Eastern accents in the United States of America sound closer to BBC utterances
as compared to General American whereas certain British accents take after General American
instead of BBC English (Gu & Chen, 2019).
Nonetheless, Received Pronunciation (RP) and General America (GA) are thriving and
shall most likely continue to be the two major accents that English learners who wish to acquire
(near) indigenous-like pronunciation will take as their respective model (Bock & Shamir, 2015).
The information and data presented in this paper shall make learner of the English language to
have the proper realization of the British accents. Further, this paper shall assist them in utilizing
either the British accent consciously and having the desired comprehension and knowledge of
what is being utilized. This paper shall further pave the way for an additional study about other
elements of a British accent.

BRITISH ACCENT-WEST COUNTRY 15
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