Preface . . 11

PART 1 . . 17

1 Introduction to American English  . 19
1.1 American English Dialects . . 19
1.2 The delimitation of a reference dialect . . 25
1.3 Summary of the main points . . 34

2 The phoneme and the phoneme inventory of North American English . . 37
2.1 Introduction . . 37
2.2 The phoneme and the linguistic hierarchy . . 37
2.3 Phonemes and allophones . . 43
2.4 The phoneme as an organising unit of sound structure . . 46
2.5 Establishing the phoneme inventory of NAERD. . . 47
2.6 Summary . . 50

3 Obstruent consonants in American English . . 53
3.1 Articulatory, acoustic and auditory descriptions . . 53
3.2 The organs of speech and their three systems: articulatory, phonatory and respiratory . . 54
3.3 The classification of the consonant system . . 58
3.4 Classes of obstruents in NAERD - stops . . 63
3.5 The individual stops . . 70
3.6 Classes of obstruents in NAERD - fricatives . . 80
3.7 The individual fricatives . . 85
3.8 Summarising the obstruent consonants of NAERD . . 94

4 Sonorant consonants in American English . . 97
4.1 Types of sonorant consonants . . 97
4.2 The individual sonorants . . 99
4.3 Syllabic consonants . . 113
4.4 Summarising the sonorant consonants of NAERD . . 115

5 Vowels in American English . . 117
5.1 How to describe vowels . . 117
5.2 Subclasses of vowels . . 120
5.3 Ongoing vowel changes in American English . . 130
5.4 The individual vowels . . 132
5.5 Vowels in unstressed syllables . . 142
5.6 Summarising the vowels of NAERD English . . 151

PART II . . 153

6 Syllable structure in American English . . 155
6.1 Prosodic or suprasegmental phenomena . . 155
6.2 Introduction to syllable structure . . 157
6.3 The structure of the syllable . . 158
6.4 The sonority sequencing principle . . 162
6.5 Permissible onsets and codas in NAERD . . 163
6.6 The syllabification of polysyllabic words . . 172
6.7 Summary of syllable structure . . 175

7 Word stress in American English . . 177
7.1 Introduction to word stress . . 177
7.2 Stress rules in non-compounds . .178
7.3 Stress in compounds and compound-like combinations . . 184
7.4 Rhythm . . 188

8 Intonation in American English . . 193
8.1 The nature and function of intonation . . 193
8.2 What is represented between the two horizontal lines? . . 197
8.3 The tone group - structure and demarcation . . 199
8.4 The classification of nucleus types . . 209
8.5 The use of the NAERD nuclei . . 214
8.6 Some communicative implications of the nucleus types . . 220
8.7 Simplified transcription . . 224
8.8 The intonation of some characteristic syntactic constructions . . 227 
8.9 Summary of the main points . . 236

PART III . . 239

9 Variation and change . . 241
9.1 Types of inter-segment influence . . 241
9.2 Types of assimilation . . 243
9.3 Elision and epenthesis . . 248
9.4 Diachronic change . . 252

10 Survey of American English dialects . . 269
10.1 Introduction . . 269
10.2 The main dialect areas . . 271
10.3 The North . . 273
10.4 The Midland and the West . . 278
10.5 The South . . 282
10.6 The East . . 288
10.7 Canada . . 297
10.8 Summing up North American dialects . . 300

Bibliography . . 305
Index . . 307