General American

Learn the American Accent online – Click here for Audio Study Syllabus

Notes and tips for learning the American Accent:

General/Midwest Accent: The Midwest area generally refers to the states around the Great Lakes, though the accent itself extends all the way to the West Coast and is not actually identified with any specific American accent, hence the name ‘General American’. It is commonly heard in mass-media as it the most easily understood. Historically, as migration progressed inland from the East Coast, the accents of the initial settlers fused and became more homogenous over time as the population expanded westward. The West Coast accents of the Pacific Northwest and California are closely related to the General American and Midwest accent but with subtle influences from the Southern states accent due to migration from these areas to the West. The area underwent surges of population growth following events like the mid-nineteenth century Gold Rush, which attracted migration from all parts of America as well as from Latin America, Europe, Australia and Asia. Then after the collapse in commodity prices following World War I, many bankrupted Midwestern farmers migrated to California, bringing with them the Midwest speech characteristics which are the main dominance in the West Coast accent.

Tips for learners:

• The General American/Midwest and the West Coast accents generally have a resonance caused by a natural point of tension between the body of the tongue and the hard palate.

• /l/ is ‘dark’ or ‘velarised’ in all environments.This affects the quality of adjacent vowel sounds.

• The General American/Midwest accent and also the West Coast accent are rhotic, so /r/ is pronounced in all environments. This affects the quality of preceding vowel sounds.

• /r/ is retroflex which means the tongue body and blade are very retracted toward the back of the hard palate. This affects the quality of adjacent vowel sounds.

• /j/ is dropped following alveolar consonants in words such as new, duty, tune, assume.

• /h/ is not usually dropped in any environment, except in the word ‘herbs’.

• Native speakers of the General American accent and also the West Coast accent » always pronounce a word final /r/ and don’t use the intrusive /r/