Accents of English is about the way English is pronounced by different people in different places. Volume 1 provides a synthesizing introduction, which shows how accents vary not only geographically, but also with social class, formality, sex and age; and in volumes 2 and 3 the author examines in greater depth the various accents used by people who speak English as their mother tongue: the accents of the regions of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland (volume 2), and of the USA, Canada, the West Indies, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Black Africa and the Far East ( volume 3). Each volume can be read independently, and together they form a major scholarly survey, of considerable originality, which not only includes descriptions of hitherto neglected accents, but also examines the implications for phonological theory. Readers will find the answers to many questions: Who makes 'good' rhyme with 'mood'? Which accents have no voiced sibilants? How is a Canadian accent different from an American one, a New Zealand one from an Australian one, a Jamaican one from a Barbadian one? What are the historical reasons for British-American pronunciation differences? What sound changes are currently in progress in New York, in London, in Edinburgh? Dr Wells his written principally for students of linguistics, phonetics and English language, but the motivated general reader will also find the study both fascinating and rewarding.
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The first comprehensive study of how English is pronounced by different people in different places. It provides an integrated and unified framework for existing scholarly treatments of regional forms of speech and makes many original contributions to the field.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic,
By A Customer
This review is from: Accents of English: Volume 1 (Paperback)
Accents and dialectology can be pursued as a gigantic sequence of unrelated facts. Wells knows his facts, all right, probably better than anyone else, but what really distinguishes this book (the first of a three-volume series) is how Wells rigorously integrates his facts into a systematic pattern, based on the history of the English dialects and their descent from a common ancestor. He also covers synchrony--the linguistic system of the individual at any given time--with great insight.A delight to study and consult, for any professional linguist or serious amateur. ....
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Things I didn't know,
This review is from: Accents of English: Volume 2 (Paperback)
I am a Chilean student of English Phonetics and I bought the first volume of this book (Introduction). On its pages, you could read 'An illustrative cassette accompanies volume 1'. The cassette didn't come with the book and I got a little disappointed. But I learnt a lot with volumes 1 and 2 anyway. In volume 2, You can see about the pronunciation of English in the British Isles. The information is very clear but for people like me, with a Spanish speaking background, is a bit difficult to imagine the way words are pronounced sometimes, even though I have training in Phonetics. That's way these books needed illustrative cassettes. All of them.
I enjoyed reading it and I think I'll buy volume 3 ASAP.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic,
By Anonymous (California USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Accents of English: Volume 1 (Paperback)
An absolutely fundamental book in any study of the phonology of English. What is unique about Wells is that he systematically covers _all_ the different accents of English found in the world. Most other works focus either on North America or Southern England, with everything else treated as an afterthought at best. Wells shows how the historical differences in accents came about, and will give the reader a far more complete understanding of the how, the when, and the what of differences between different accents.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
In North America it is along the Atlantic coast that we find the sharpest regional and social differences in speech. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
happy vowel, lexical incidence, schwa offglide, merged vowel, centring diphthongs, standard accents, vowel system, following voiceless, lax vowels, other accents, lexical sets, weak vowels, broad accent, phonetic characteristics, dental fricatives, southern speech, distinction corresponding, central vowel, midland area, weak syllables, nasalized vowel, educated speech, minimal pairs Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, New England, South African, West Indian, New Zealand, United States, West Indies, Australian English, Black English, South Carolina, North America, New Jersey, Guyanese English, North Carolina, West Africa, Broad Australian, Canadian English, Cultivated Australian, Middle Atlantic, Leeward Islands, West Virginia, General Australian, Glide Cluster Reduction, Martha's Vineyard, Nasal Coalescence New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
In North America it is along the Atlantic coast that we find the sharpest regional and social differences in speech. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
happy vowel, lexical incidence, schwa offglide, merged vowel, centring diphthongs, standard accents, vowel system, following voiceless, lax vowels, other accents, lexical sets, weak vowels, broad accent, phonetic characteristics, dental fricatives, southern speech, distinction corresponding, central vowel, midland area, weak syllables, nasalized vowel, educated speech, minimal pairs Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, New England, South African, West Indian, New Zealand, United States, West Indies, Australian English, Black English, South Carolina, North America, New Jersey, Guyanese English, North Carolina, West Africa, Broad Australian, Canadian English, Cultivated Australian, Middle Atlantic, Leeward Islands, West Virginia, General Australian, Glide Cluster Reduction, Martha's Vineyard, Nasal Coalescence New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 16
books:
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100
books
cite this book:
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- A Dictionary of Jamaican English by Frederic Gomes Cassidy on page 64, and Back Matter
- Black English by J.L. Dillard on page 48, and Back Matter
- English Language (Opus Books) by Logan Pearsall Smith in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Singapore and Malaysia (Varietes in English around the world) by John Platt in Back Matter
- Twelve Nigerian Languages by Elizabeth Dunstan in Back Matter
See all 16 books this book cites
- A Survey of Modern English by Stephan Gramley on 6 pages
- The English Writing System (Arnold Publication) by Vivian Cook on page 2, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Phonologica 1988 by Wolfgang Dressler on page 238, and page 271
- An Historical Study of English: Function, Form and Change by Jeremy Smith in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Language and Its Ecology: Essays in Memory of Einar Haugen (Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs) by Stig Eliasson on page 101, and page 432
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