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   English language » English Pronunciation » Pronouncing English Vowels » General American

General American


General American is a national accent of American English based on speech patterns common in the Midwest of the United States and those used by many American network television broadcasters. It is also sometimes called Standard Midwestern. The General American accent or dialect is not thought of as a linguistic standard in the sense that Received Pronunciation (RP) is the standard, prestige variant in England and British society historically, but its speakers are perceived as "accentless" by most Americans. The idea of a uniform media American accent has declined in popularity since the late 1960s.

Full vowels:

Monophthongs Checked Free
Front Central Back Front Central
rhotacized		 Back
Close
 
 
Close-mid
 
 
 
 
Open-mid
 
 
Open
 
 
 
 

  • //: bid
  • //: good
  • //: bed
  • //: bud
  • //: bad
  • //: bead
  • //: booed
  • //: bayed
  • //: bode
  • //: bird
  • // or //: bought
  • //: pod, father

Note: the vowels // and // are diphthongal for many American speakers, so the transcriptions // and // are also often used.

Diphthongs Closing Rhotacized
to // to //
Starting close
 
 
  
Starting mid
 
  
Starting open

  • //: boy
  • //: buy
  • //: cow
  • //: beer
  • //: boor (often replaced by //, sometimes by // in American English)
  • //: bear
  • //: bore (sometimes phonemicized //)
  • //: bar


Reduced vowels:
  • //: roses (for many Americans merged with /ə/)
  • //: Rosa’s
  • //: runner
  • /l/: bottle
  • /n/: button
  • /m/: rhythm

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