General American

1.Notion of General American
2.Map
3.Ethnicity
4.History
5.Conventional spelling
6.Daily life
7.Phonology and phonetics
•Modifications of Consonants
•Modifications of Vowels
•Syllabic structure
•Stress (accentual structure)
•Intonation (patterns of sentences)
8.RP vs General American
•Analysis of the fragment
•Announcement of the usual RP version
•Announcement of the fragment according to the features of General American
9.Attitude.
Plan:

Notion of the dialect
A dialect is a variant of the language that includes differences in grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. Thus, a dialect includes an accent – a way of pronunciation the language.
3 main types of cultivated speech in USA
The Southern type
The Eastern type
General American

Map

General American is an umbrella variety of American English—a continuum of accents—commonly attributed to a majority of Americans and popularly perceived, among Americans, as lacking any distinctly regional, ethnic, or socioeconomic characteristics.
Ethnicity

History
John Samuel Kenyon largely popularized the term, considered it equivalent to the speech of "the North" or "Northern American’’, but, in 1934, "Western and Midwestern".
1930
1935
Albert Croll Baugh adopted the term General American, calling it "the dialect of the Middle States and the West’ and provided a map of 3 speech areas.
1940
It was possible to sketch the boundary separating the Northern and Midland areas in the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley regions
1966
General American Speech is defined as "a pronunciation of American English showing few regional peculiarities
2006
William Labov identified Western U.S., Midland U.S., and Canada—as sharing those pronunciation features whose convergence would form a hypothetical "General American" accent
1925
The term "General American" was offered by George Philip Krap in his work "the English language in America"

Conventional spelling

Daily life

Modifications of consonants
the retroflex pronunciation of /r/
Palatalization of /j/
The pronunciation of [t]
Elision of /t/
Existence of only dark /l/

Modifications of vowels
1.Absence of clear distinction between short and long vowels
2. Pronunciation of /ɑ:/ instead of /ɒ/
3. Pronunciation of /æ/ instead of / ɑ:/
4. Pronunciation of /a:/ instead of /ɔ:/
5. Rhotic pronunciation of vowels before /r/ in all positions
6. Pronunciation of /ou/ instead of /əu/
Seat/ sit [sit], pull/ pool [pul]

Syllabic structure

Stress

I don't want to go to the theatre
Shall we stay here?
Open the door.
Intonation

ˈbiːɪŋ ɪn staɪl wɪð ðə ˈleɪ.tɪs ˈfæʃ.n̩z ɪz ɪm.ˈpɔːʔnt fə səm ˈpiːp.l̩ bəʔ nɒt fə miː. ˈɑːf.tə ˈaɪ weɪk ʌp ən dræɡ maɪ.ˈself ˈaʊt əv bed, ˈaɪ tʃeɪnʒ ˈɪn.tə maɪ kləʊðz fə ðə deɪ. ˈaɪ ˈjuː.ʒə.li weər ə peər əv dʒiːnz ənd ə ˈtiː ʃɜː tə skuːl. ɪf ɪt s ə ˈlɪt.l̩ kuːl ˌaʊt.ˈsaɪd, ˈaɪ maɪʔ ˈθrəʊ ɒn ə ˈswe.tʃɜːt ɔːr ə ˈswe.tə. ðen ˈaɪ ˈpʊt ɒm maɪ ʃuːz ənd aɪm ˈaʊt əv ðə dɔː. jʌŋ ˈpiːp.l̩ əm maɪ eɪdʒ ten tə ˈfɒ.ləʊ ðə ˈleɪ.tɪs ˈfæʃ.n̩z bɪˈkɒz ˈðeɪ wɒn tə fɪt ɪn. maɪ mɒm ʒ dʒəsk ɡlæd, ɪf ˈaɪ dəʊnt weə ðə seɪm ʃɜːt θriː deɪz ɪn ə rəʊ. ˈwɒk kən ju ɪk.ˈspekʔ frəm ə ˈtiː.neɪ.dʒə?

Attitude