What was the pronunciation of the a in “trap” in early to mid Modern English in the UK?
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I have often read that in Old and Middle English the "a" sound in words like "trap" was pronouned /a/. When it comes to modern English, Wikipedia suggests that this was raised to /æ/ in early Modern English and later lowered to /a/ again. See here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronunciation_of_English_%E2%9F%A8a%E2%9F%A9#Changes_in_realization_of_/a/
So the idea here is that /a/ changed to /æ/ across the whole of Britain, and then changed back to /a/, but was retained for a little longer in RP as /æ/.
To me that sounds a little odd, considering that literally the only accents with /æ/ that I can think of (and this is agreed by Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-open_front_unrounded_vowel) are from the Southeast of England. For example, RP, Essex, Cockney, Norfolk. In fact, in Scottish English, it can be closer to /ɐ/.
Outside of the UK, Australian English, New Zealand English and American English have /æ/, and these all had heavy migration from Southeast England (especially the former two). It's not found in the Carribean (see the first Wikipedia link) and as far as I know it's not found in traditional Indian English or African accents, although these were all colonised at fairly similar times.
So, using a simple Occam's Razor argument, wouldn't it make more sense if /æ/ was only ever a form found in Southeast England, while the rest of Britain and Ireland retained /a/, which is now simply spreading back to London and the Southeast?
phonetics vowels early-modern-english
edited 44 mins ago
sumelic
50.5k8121227
asked 50 mins ago
Tim FosterTim Foster
630113
add a comment |
I have often read that in Old and Middle English the "a" sound in words like "trap" was pronouned /a/. When it comes to modern English, Wikipedia suggests that this was raised to /æ/ in early Modern English and later lowered to /a/ again. See here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronunciation_of_English_%E2%9F%A8a%E2%9F%A9#Changes_in_realization_of_/a/
So the idea here is that /a/ changed to /æ/ across the whole of Britain, and then changed back to /a/, but was retained for a little longer in RP as /æ/.
To me that sounds a little odd, considering that literally the only accents with /æ/ that I can think of (and this is agreed by Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-open_front_unrounded_vowel) are from the Southeast of England. For example, RP, Essex, Cockney, Norfolk. In fact, in Scottish English, it can be closer to /ɐ/.
Outside of the UK, Australian English, New Zealand English and American English have /æ/, and these all had heavy migration from Southeast England (especially the former two). It's not found in the Carribean (see the first Wikipedia link) and as far as I know it's not found in traditional Indian English or African accents, although these were all colonised at fairly similar times.
So, using a simple Occam's Razor argument, wouldn't it make more sense if /æ/ was only ever a form found in Southeast England, while the rest of Britain and Ireland retained /a/, which is now simply spreading back to London and the Southeast?
phonetics vowels early-modern-english
edited 44 mins ago
sumelic
50.5k8121227
asked 50 mins ago
Tim FosterTim Foster
630113
add a comment |
I have often read that in Old and Middle English the "a" sound in words like "trap" was pronouned /a/. When it comes to modern English, Wikipedia suggests that this was raised to /æ/ in early Modern English and later lowered to /a/ again. See here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronunciation_of_English_%E2%9F%A8a%E2%9F%A9#Changes_in_realization_of_/a/
So the idea here is that /a/ changed to /æ/ across the whole of Britain, and then changed back to /a/, but was retained for a little longer in RP as /æ/.
To me that sounds a little odd, considering that literally the only accents with /æ/ that I can think of (and this is agreed by Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-open_front_unrounded_vowel) are from the Southeast of England. For example, RP, Essex, Cockney, Norfolk. In fact, in Scottish English, it can be closer to /ɐ/.
Outside of the UK, Australian English, New Zealand English and American English have /æ/, and these all had heavy migration from Southeast England (especially the former two). It's not found in the Carribean (see the first Wikipedia link) and as far as I know it's not found in traditional Indian English or African accents, although these were all colonised at fairly similar times.
So, using a simple Occam's Razor argument, wouldn't it make more sense if /æ/ was only ever a form found in Southeast England, while the rest of Britain and Ireland retained /a/, which is now simply spreading back to London and the Southeast?
phonetics vowels early-modern-english
edited 44 mins ago
sumelic
50.5k8121227
asked 50 mins ago
Tim FosterTim Foster
630113
I have often read that in Old and Middle English the "a" sound in words like "trap" was pronouned /a/. When it comes to modern English, Wikipedia suggests that this was raised to /æ/ in early Modern English and later lowered to /a/ again. See here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronunciation_of_English_%E2%9F%A8a%E2%9F%A9#Changes_in_realization_of_/a/
So the idea here is that /a/ changed to /æ/ across the whole of Britain, and then changed back to /a/, but was retained for a little longer in RP as /æ/.
To me that sounds a little odd, considering that literally the only accents with /æ/ that I can think of (and this is agreed by Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-open_front_unrounded_vowel) are from the Southeast of England. For example, RP, Essex, Cockney, Norfolk. In fact, in Scottish English, it can be closer to /ɐ/.
Outside of the UK, Australian English, New Zealand English and American English have /æ/, and these all had heavy migration from Southeast England (especially the former two). It's not found in the Carribean (see the first Wikipedia link) and as far as I know it's not found in traditional Indian English or African accents, although these were all colonised at fairly similar times.
So, using a simple Occam's Razor argument, wouldn't it make more sense if /æ/ was only ever a form found in Southeast England, while the rest of Britain and Ireland retained /a/, which is now simply spreading back to London and the Southeast?
phonetics vowels early-modern-english
phonetics vowels early-modern-english
edited 44 mins ago
sumelic
50.5k8121227
asked 50 mins ago
Tim FosterTim Foster
630113
edited 44 mins ago
sumelic
50.5k8121227
asked 50 mins ago
Tim FosterTim Foster
630113
edited 44 mins ago
sumelic
50.5k8121227
edited 44 mins ago
sumelic
50.5k8121227
edited 44 mins ago
sumelic
50.5k8121227
50.5k8121227
asked 50 mins ago
Tim FosterTim Foster
630113
asked 50 mins ago
Tim FosterTim Foster
630113
asked 50 mins ago
Tim FosterTim Foster
630113
630113
add a comment |
add a comment |
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