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{{Short description|Accents typical of English in the US}}
{{redirect|General American|other uses|General American (disambiguation)}}
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{{IPA notice}}{{Use American English|date=January 2019}}{{Inline audio}}
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'''General American English''', known in [[linguistics]] simply as '''General American''' (abbreviated '''GA''' or '''GenAm'''), is the umbrella [[Accent (sociolinguistics)|accent]] of [[American English]] spoken by a majority of Americans, encompassing a continuum rather than a single unified accent.{{sfnp|Van Riper|2014|pp=123}}{{sfnp|Kövecses|2000|pp=81–82}}{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=34, 470}} It is often perceived by Americans themselves as lacking any distinctly regional, ethnic, or socioeconomic characteristics, though Americans with high education,{{sfnp|Kretzschmar|2004|p=257}} or from the [[Midland American English|North Midland]], [[Western New England English|Western New England]], and [[Western American English|Western]] regions of the country are the most likely to be perceived as using General American speech.{{sfnp|Van Riper|2014|pp=128–9}}<ref>Labov, William; Ash, Sharon; Boberg, Charles (1997). "[http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atlas/NationalMap/NationalMap.html#Heading11 A National Map of the Regional Dialects of American English]" and "[http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atlas/NationalMap/NatMap1.html Map 1]". Department of Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania. "The North Midland: Approximates the initial position|Absence of any marked features"; "On Map 1, there is no single defining feature of the North Midland given. In fact, the most characteristic sign of North Midland membership on this map is the small black dot that indicates a speaker with none of the defining features given"; "Map 1 shows Western New England as a residual area, surrounded by the marked patterns of Eastern New England, New York City, and the Inland North. [...] No clear pattern of sound change emerges from western New England in the Kurath and McDavid materials or in our present limited data."</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Clopper |first1=Cynthia G. |last2=Levi |first2=Susannah V. |last3=Pisoni |first3=David B. |year=2006 |title=Perceptual similarity of regional dialects of American English |journal=The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America |volume=119 |issue=1 |pages=566–574 |bibcode=2006ASAJ..119..566C |doi=10.1121/1.2141171 |pmc=3319012 |pmid=16454310}} See also: [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3319012/figure/F1/ map].</ref> The precise definition and usefulness of the term continue to be debated,{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=118}}{{sfnp|Van Riper|2014|pp=124, 126}}{{sfnp|Kretzschmar|2004|p=262}} and the scholars who use it today admittedly do so as a convenient basis for comparison rather than for exactness.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=118}}{{sfnp|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=263}} Other scholars prefer the term '''Standard American English'''.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=34}}{{sfnp|Kretzschmar|2004|p=257}}

[[Standard Canadian English]] accents are sometimes considered to fall under General American,{{sfnp|Boberg|2004a|p=159}} especially in opposition to the [[United Kingdom]]'s [[Received Pronunciation]]; in fact, typical Canadian English accents align with General American in nearly every situation where [[Comparison of General American and Received Pronunciation|British and American accents differ]].{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=491}}

== Terminology ==
=== History and modern definition ===
The term "General American" was first disseminated by American English scholar [[George Philip Krapp]], who in 1925 described it as an American type of speech that was "[[American West|Western]]" but "not local in character".{{sfnp|Van Riper|2014|p=124}} In 1930, American linguist [[John Samuel Kenyon]], who largely popularized the term, considered it equivalent to the speech of "the North" or "Northern American",{{sfnp|Van Riper|2014|p=124}} but, in 1934, "Western and Midwestern".{{sfnp|Van Riper|2014|p=125}} Now typically regarded as falling under the General American umbrella are the regional accents of the [[Western American English|West]],{{sfnp|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=146}}{{sfnp|Van Riper|2014|p=130}} [[Western New England English|Western New England]],{{sfnp|Van Riper|2014|pp=128, 130}} and the [[Midland American English|North Midland]] (a band spanning central Ohio, central Indiana, central Illinois, northern Missouri, southern Iowa, and southeastern Nebraska),{{sfnp|Van Riper|2014|pp=129–130}}{{sfnp|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=268}} plus the accents of highly educated Americans nationwide.{{sfnp|Kretzschmar|2004|p=257}} Arguably, all [[Canadian English]] accents west of [[Quebec]] are also General American,{{sfnp|Boberg|2004a|p=159}} though [[Canadian raising|Canadian vowel raising]] and certain newly developing features may serve to increasingly distinguish such accents from American ones.<ref>Harbeck, James (2015). "[http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150820-why-is-canadian-english-unique Why is Canadian English unique?]" ''BBC''. BBC.</ref> Similarly, [[William Labov]] et al.'s 2006 ''[[Atlas of North American English]]'' identified these three accent regions—the Western U.S., Midland U.S., and Canada—as sharing those pronunciation features whose convergence would form a hypothetical "General American" accent.

Regarded as having General American accents in the earlier 20th century, but not by the middle of the 20th century, are the [[Mid-Atlantic United States]],{{sfnp|Van Riper|2014|pp=128–9}} the [[Inland North|Inland Northern United States]],{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=470}} and [[Western Pennsylvania English|Western Pennsylvania]].{{sfnp|Van Riper|2014|pp=128–9}} However, many younger speakers within these regions have reversed away from mid-20th century accent innovations back towards General American features.<ref name="syracuse">{{cite journal | url = https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol21/iss2/6/ | title = Reversal of the Northern Cities Shift in Syracuse, New York | first1 = Anna | last1 = Driscoll | first2 = Emma | last2 = Lape | journal = University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics | volume = 21 | number = 2 | year = 2015}}</ref><ref>Dinkin, Aaron (2017). "[http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~dinkin/NWAV46handout.pdf Escaping the TRAP: Losing the Northern Cities Shift in Real Time (with Anja Thiel)]". Talk presented at NWAV 46, Madison, Wisc., November 2017.</ref><ref name="lansing">{{cite journal | url = http://msusociolinguistics.weebly.com/uploads/9/3/1/9/9319621/reversalandreorganization_nwav44.pdf | first1 = S. E. | last1 = Wagner | first2 = A.| last2 = Mason | first3 = M. | last3 = Nesbitt | first4 = E. | last4 = Pevan | first5 = M. | last5 = Savage | year = 2016 | title = Reversal and re-organization of the Northern Cities Shift in Michigan | journal = University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics 22.2: Selected Papers from NWAV 44}}</ref><ref>Fruehwald, Josef (2013). "[https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2020&context=edissertations The Phonological Influence on Phonetic Change]". Publicly Accessible University of Pennsylvania Dissertations. p. 48.</ref> Accents that have never been labeled "General American", even since the term's popularization in the 1930s, are the regional accents (especially the [[rhoticity in English|''r''-dropping]] ones) of [[Eastern New England English|Eastern New England]], [[New York City English|New York City]], and the [[Southern American English|American South]].{{sfnp|Van Riper|2014|pp=123, 129}} In 1982, British phonetician [[John C. Wells]] wrote that two-thirds of the American population spoke with a General American accent.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=34}}

=== Disputed usage ===

[[English studies|English-language scholar]] William A. Kretzschmar Jr. explains in a 2004 article that the term "General American" came to refer to "a presumed most common or 'default' form of American English, especially to be distinguished from marked regional speech of New England or the South" and referring especially to speech associated with the vaguely-defined "[[Midwestern United States|Midwest]]", despite any historical or present evidence supporting this notion. Kretzschmar argues that a General American accent is simply the result of American speakers suppressing regional and social features that have become widely noticed and stigmatized.<ref>{{harvp|Kretzschmar|2004|p=262}}: 'The term "General American" arose as a name for a presumed most common or "default" form of American English, especially to be distinguished from marked regional speech of New England or the South. "General American" has often been considered to be the relatively unmarked speech of "the Midwest", a vague designation for anywhere in the vast midsection of the country from Ohio west to Nebraska, and from the Canadian border as far south as Missouri or Kansas. No historical justification for this term exists, and neither do present circumstances support its use... [I]t implies that there is some exemplary state of American English from which other varieties deviate. On the contrary, [it] can best be characterized as what is left over after speakers suppress the regional and social features that have risen to salience and become noticeable.'</ref>

Since calling one variety of American speech the "general" variety can imply [[Linguistic prescription|privileging and prejudice]], Kretzchmar instead promotes the term ''Standard American English'', which he defines as a level of American English pronunciation "employed by educated speakers in formal settings", while still being variable within the U.S. from place to place, and even from speaker to speaker.{{sfnp|Kretzschmar|2004|p=257}} However, the term "standard" may also be interpreted as problematically implying a superior or "best" form of speech.<ref>{{harvnb|Kretzschmar|2004|p=257}}: "''Standard English'' may be taken to reflect conformance to a set of rules, but its meaning commonly gets bound up with social ideas about how one's character and education are displayed in one's speech".</ref> The terms '''Standard North American English''' and '''General North American English''', in an effort to incorporate [[Canadian English|Canadian speakers]] under the accent continuum, have also been suggested by sociolinguist [[Charles Boberg]].<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Boberg|2004a}}</ref><ref>Boberg, Charles (2021). ''Accent in North American film and television''. Cambridge University Press.</ref> Since the 2000s, '''Mainstream American English''' has also been occasionally used, particularly in scholarly articles that contrast it with [[African-American English]].<ref>Pearson, B. Z., Velleman, S. L., Bryant, T. J., & Charko, T. (2009). Phonological milestones for African American English-speaking children learning mainstream American English as a second dialect.</ref><ref>Blodgett, S. L., Wei, J., & O'Connor, B. (2018, July). Twitter universal dependency parsing for African-American and mainstream American English. In Proceedings of the 56th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics (Volume 1: Long Papers) (pp. 1415–1425).</ref>

Modern language scholars discredit the original notion of General American as a single unified accent, or a [[standard English|standardized form of English]]{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=118}}{{sfnp|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=263}}—except perhaps as used by [[television network]]s and other [[mass media]].{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=470}}<ref>Labov, William (2012). ''Dialect diversity in America: The politics of language change''. University of Virginia Press. pp. 1–2.</ref> Today, the term is understood to refer to a continuum of American speech, with some slight internal variation,{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=118}} but otherwise characterized by the absence of "[[markedness|marked]]" pronunciation features: those perceived by Americans as strongly indicative of a fellow American speaker's regional origin, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. Despite confusion arising from the evolving definition and vagueness of the term "General American" and its consequent rejection by some linguists,{{sfnp|Van Riper|2014|p=129}} the term persists mainly as a reference point to compare a baseline "typical" American English accent with other [[World Englishes|Englishes around the world]] (for instance, see [[Comparison of General American and Received Pronunciation]]).{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=118}}

== Origins ==
===Regional origins===
Though General American accents are not commonly perceived as associated with any region, their [[phonology|sound system]] does have traceable regional origins: specifically, the English of the non-coastal [[Northeastern United States]] in the very early 20th century, which was relatively stable since that region's original settlement by English speakers in the mid-19th century.{{sfnp|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=190}} This includes western [[New England]] and the area to its immediate west, settled by members of the same dialect community:{{sfnp|Bonfiglio|2002|p=43}} interior [[Pennsylvania]], [[Upstate New York]], and the adjacent "[[Midwestern United States|Midwest]]" or [[Great Lakes region]]. However, since the early to mid-20th century,{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=470}}<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/11/14/051114ta_talk_seabrook|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|title=Talking the Tawk|year=2005|publisher=Condé Nast}}</ref> deviance away from General American sounds started occurring, and may be ongoing, in the eastern Great Lakes region due to its [[Northern Cities Vowel Shift]] (NCVS) towards a unique [[Inland North|Inland Northern accent]] (often now associated with the region's urban centers, like Chicago and Detroit) and in the western Great Lakes region towards a unique [[North Central American English|North Central accent]] (often associated with [[Minnesota]], [[Wisconsin]], and [[North Dakota]]).

===Theories about prevalence===
Linguists have proposed multiple factors contributing to the popularity of a [[rhoticity in English|rhotic]] "General American" class of accents throughout the United States. Most factors focus on the first half of the twentieth century, though a basic General American pronunciation system may have existed even before the twentieth century, since most American English dialects have diverged very little from each other anyway, when compared to dialects of single languages in other countries where there has been more time for [[language change]] (such as the [[English language in England|English dialects of England]] or [[German dialects|German dialects of Germany]]).<ref>{{cite book|last=McWhorter|first=John H.|author-link=John McWhorter|year=2001|title=Word on the Street: Debunking the Myth of a "Pure" Standard English|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0-7867-3147-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TfcovMPyLjEC&q=%22american+english+dialect+that+diverges%22}}</ref>

One factor fueling General American's popularity was the major demographic change of twentieth-century American society: increased [[suburbanization]], leading to less mingling of different social classes and less density and diversity of linguistic interactions. As a result, wealthier and higher-educated Americans' communications became more restricted to their own demographic. This, alongside their new marketplace that transcended regional boundaries (arising from the century's faster transportation methods), reinforced a widespread belief that highly educated Americans should not possess a regional accent.{{sfnp|Kretzschmar|2004|pp=260–2}} A General American sound, then, originated from both suburbanization and suppression of regional accent by highly educated Americans in formal settings. A second factor was a rise in immigration to the Great Lakes area (one native region of supposed "General American" speech) following the region's rapid industrialization period after the [[American Civil War]], when this region's speakers went on to form a successful and highly mobile business elite, who traveled around the country in the mid-twentieth century, spreading the high status of their accents.{{sfnp|Bonfiglio|2002|pp=69–70}} A third factor is that various sociological (often race- and class-based) forces repelled socially-conscious Americans away from accents negatively associated with certain minority groups, such as [[African Americans]] and poor white communities in the South and with Southern and Eastern European immigrant groups (for example, Jewish communities) in the coastal Northeast.{{sfnp|Bonfiglio|2002|pp=4, 97–98}} Instead, socially-conscious Americans settled upon accents more prestigiously associated with [[White Anglo-Saxon Protestant]] communities in the remainder of the country: namely, the West, the Midwest, and the non-coastal Northeast.{{sfnp|Van Riper|2014|pp=123, 128–130}}

Kenyon, author of ''American Pronunciation'' (1924) and pronunciation editor for the second edition of ''[[Webster's Dictionary|Webster's New International Dictionary]]'' (1934), was influential in codifying General American pronunciation standards in writing. He used as a basis his native Midwestern (specifically, northern Ohio) pronunciation.{{sfnp|Seabrook|2005}} Kenyon's home state of Ohio, however, far from being an area of "non-regional" accents, has emerged now as a crossroads for at least four distinct regional accents, according to late twentieth-century research.<ref>Hunt, Spencer (2012). [https://web.archive.org/web/20210928135157/https://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/science/2012/11/18/dissecting-ohios-dialects.html "Dissecting Ohio's Dialects"]. ''The Columbus Dispatch''. GateHouse Media, Inc. Archived from [http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/science/2012/11/18/dissecting-ohios-dialects.html the original] on September 28, 2021.</ref> Furthermore, Kenyon himself was vocally opposed to the notion of any superior variety of American speech.<ref name="Hampton">Hampton, Marian E. & Barbara Acker (eds.) (1997). ''The Vocal Vision: Views on Voice.'' [[Hal Leonard Corporation]]. p. 163.</ref>

== In the media ==
General American, like the British [[Received Pronunciation]] (RP) and [[Prestige (sociolinguistics)|prestige accents]] of many other societies, has never been the accent of the entire nation, and, unlike RP, does not constitute a homogeneous national standard. Starting in the 1930s, nationwide radio networks adopted non-coastal [[Northern American English|Northern U.S.]] rhotic pronunciations for their "General American" standard.<ref>{{cite web |last=Fought |first=John G. |date=2005 |url=http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/southern/ |title=Do You Speak American? {{!}} Sea to Shining Sea {{!}} American Varieties {{!}} ''R''ful Southern |publisher=PBS |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161208194238/http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/southern/ |archive-date=2016-12-08 |url-status=live}}</ref> The entertainment industry similarly shifted from a [[rhoticity in English|non-rhotic]] standard to a rhotic one in the late 1940s, after the triumph of the [[Second World War]], with the patriotic incentive for a more wide-ranging and unpretentious "heartland variety" in television and radio.<ref>{{cite book |last=McWhorter |first=John H. |author-link=John McWhorter |year=1998 |title=Word on the Street: Debunking the Myth of a "Pure" Standard English |publisher=Basic Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Edt7yUD6PkMC&q=%22this%20accent%20passed%20out%20of%20fashion%22 |page=32 |isbn=0-73-820446-3}}</ref>

General American is thus sometimes associated with the speech of North American radio and television announcers, promoted as prestigious in their industry,<ref name="freshair1" /><ref name="60minutes" /> where it is sometimes called "Broadcast English"<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/is-there-a-place-in-america-where-people-speak-without-accents|title=Is There a Place in America Where People Speak Without Accents?|last=Nosowitz|first=Dan|date=2016-08-23|website=Atlas Obscura|language=en|access-date=2019-10-12}}</ref> "Network English",{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=470}}<ref name="Cruttenden">{{cite book |last1=Cruttenden |first1=Alan |title=Gimson's Pronunciation of English |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-41-572174-5 |page=87 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M2nMAgAAQBAJ&q=%22general+american%22+%22network+english%22}}</ref><ref name="Melchers & Shaw">{{cite book |last1=Melchers |first1=Gunnel |last2=Shaw |first2=Philip |title=World Englishes |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-44-413537-4 |pages=85–86 |edition=2nd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6AsVAgAAQBAJ&q=%22general+american%22+%22network+english%22}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Lorenz |first1=Frank |title=Basics of Phonetics and English Phonology |date=2013 |publisher=Logos Verlag Berlin |isbn=978-3-83-253109-6 |page=12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nY0Thjq2-J8C&q=%22general+american%22+%22network+english%22}}</ref> or "Network Standard".{{sfnp|Kövecses|2000|pp=81–82}}{{r|Melchers & Shaw}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Benson |first1=Morton |last2=Benson |first2=Evelyn |last3=Ilson |first3=Robert F. |title=Lexicographic Description of English |date=1986 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |isbn=9-02-723014-5 |pages=179–180 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_T5CAAAAQBAJ&q=%22sometimes+called+the+network+standard%22}}</ref> Instructional classes in the United States that promise "[[accent reduction]]", "accent modification", or "accent neutralization" usually attempt to teach General American patterns.{{sfnp|Ennser-Kananen|Halonen|Saarinen|2021|p=334}} Television journalist [[Linda Ellerbee]] states that "in television you are not supposed to sound like you're ''from'' anywhere",<ref name="Burner">{{cite web |last=Tsentserensky |first=Steve |title=You Know What The Midwest Is? |url=http://www.thenewsburner.com/2011/10/20/you-know-what-the-midwest-is |website=The News Burner |date=2011-10-20 |access-date=2018-12-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118205803/http://www.thenewsburner.com/2011/10/20/you-know-what-the-midwest-is/ |archive-date=2018-11-18 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and political comedian [[Stephen Colbert]] says he consciously avoided developing a [[Southern American accent]] in response to media portrayals of Southerners as stupid and uneducated.<ref name="freshair1">{{cite web|url = https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4464017|title = A Fake Newsman's Fake Newsman: Stephen Colbert|first = Terry|last = Gross|author-link= Terry Gross|work= [[Fresh Air]]|publisher = [[National Public Radio]]|date = 2005-01-24|access-date = 2007-07-11}}</ref><ref name="60minutes">{{cite web|url = http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/27/60minutes/main1553506.shtml|title = The Colbert Report: Morley Safer Profiles Comedy Central's 'Fake' Newsman|first = Morley|last = Safer|author-link= Morley Safer|publisher = [[60 Minutes]]|date = 2006-08-13|access-date =2006-08-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060820141728/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/27/60minutes/main1553506.shtml|archive-date=2006-08-20|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Phonology ==
Typical General American accent features (for example, in contrast to British English) include features that concern consonants, such as [[Rhoticity in English|rhoticity]] (full pronunciation of all {{IPA|/r/}} sounds), [[T-glottalization]] (with ''satin'' pronounced {{IPA|[ˈsæʔn̩]}}, not {{IPA|[ˈsætn̩]}}), [[flapping|T- and D-flapping]] (with ''metal'' and ''medal'' pronounced the same, as {{IPA|[ˈmɛɾɫ̩]}}), [[dark L|L-velarization]] (with ''filling'' pronounced {{IPA|[ˈfɪɫɪŋ]}}, not {{IPA|[ˈfɪlɪŋ]}}), [[yod-dropping]] after [[alveolar consonant]]s (with ''new'' pronounced {{IPA|/nu/}}, not {{IPA|/nju/}}), as well as features that concern vowel sounds, such as various vowel mergers before {{IPA|/r/}} (so that ''Mary'', ''marry'', and ''merry'' are all commonly [[Mary–marry–merry merger|pronounced the same]]), raising of pre-voiceless {{IPA|/aɪ/}} (with ''price'' and ''bright'' using a higher vowel sound than ''prize'' and ''bride''), raising and gliding of pre-nasal {{IPA|/æ/}} (with ''man'' having a higher and tenser vowel sound than ''map''), the [[weak vowel merger]] (with ''affecting'' and ''effecting'' often pronounced the same), and at least one of the {{sc2|LOT}} vowel mergers (the [[father–bother merger|{{sc2|LOT}}–{{Sc2|PALM}} merger]] is complete among most Americans and the [[cot-caught merger|{{sc2|LOT}}–{{Sc2|THOUGHT}} merger]] among at least half). All of these phenomena are explained in further detail under [[American English#Phonology|American English's phonology section]]. The following provides all the General American consonant and vowel sounds.

=== Consonants ===
A table containing the [[consonant]] [[phoneme]]s is given below:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Consonant phonemes in General American
!
! colspan="2" | [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! colspan="2" | [[Interdental consonant|Dental]]
! colspan="2" | [[alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! colspan="2" | [[postalveolar consonant|Post-<br />alveolar]]
! colspan="2" | [[palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! colspan="2" | [[velar consonant|Velar]]
! colspan="2" | [[glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! <small>[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]</small>
| style="width: 20px; border-right: 0;" | || style="width: 20px; border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|m}}
| colspan="2" |
| style="width: 20px; border-right: 0;" | || style="width: 20px; border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|n}}
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| style="width: 20px; border-right: 0;" | || style="width: 20px; border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|ŋ}}
| colspan="2" |
|-
! <small>[[Stop consonant|Stop]]</small>
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|p}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|b}}
| colspan="2" |
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|t}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|d}}
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|k}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|ɡ}}
| colspan="2" |
|-
! <small>[[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]</small>
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| style="width: 20px; border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|tʃ}} || style="width: 20px; border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|dʒ}}
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
|-
! <small>[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]</small>
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|f}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|v}}
| style="width: 20px; border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|θ}} || style="width: 20px; border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|ð}}
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|s}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|z}}
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|ʃ}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|ʒ}}
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| style="width: 20px; border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|h}} || style="width: 20px; border-left: 0;" |
|-
! <small>[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]</small>
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| style="border-right: 0;" | || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|l}}
| style="width: 20px; border-right: 0;" | || style="width: 20px; border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|ɹ}}
| style="width: 20px; border-right: 0;" | || style="width: 20px; border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|j}}
| style="border-right: 0;" | ({{IPAlink|ʍ}}) || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPAlink|w}}
| colspan="2" |
|}

=== Vowels ===
[[File:General American monophthong chart.svg|thumb|upright=0.9|right|Monophthongs of General American without the ''cot–caught'' merger, from {{harvtxt|Wells|1982|p=486}}. {{IPA|[e]|cat=no}} and {{IPA|[o]}} are monophthongal allophones of {{IPA|/eɪ/}} and {{IPA|/oʊ/}}.]]
[[File:General American diphthong chart.svg|thumb|upright=0.9|right|Diphthongs of General American, from {{harvtxt|Wells|1982|p=486}}.]]

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Vowel phonemes in General American
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" | [[Front vowel|Front]]
! colspan="2" | [[Central vowel|Central]]
! colspan="2" | [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! {{small|lax}}
! {{small|tense}}
! {{small|lax}}
! {{small|tense}}
! {{small|lax}}
! {{small|tense}}
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA link|ɪ}}
| {{IPA link|i}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|ʊ}}
| {{IPA link|u}}
|-
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| {{IPA link|ɛ}}
| {{IPA link|e|eɪ}}
| {{IPA link|ə}}
|
| ({{IPA link|ʌ}})
| {{IPA link|o̞|oʊ}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
| {{IPA link|æ}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|ɑ̈|ɑ}}
|
| ({{IPA link|ɒ|ɔ}})
|-
! [[Diphthong]]s
| colspan="6" | {{IPA|aɪ}} &nbsp; {{IPA|ɔɪ}} &nbsp; {{IPA|aʊ}}
|}

* Vowel length is not [[phoneme|phonemic]] in General American, and therefore vowels such as {{IPA|/i/}} are customarily transcribed without the length mark.{{Efn|Some British sources, such as the ''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary'', use a unified symbol set with the length mark {{IPA|ː}} for both British and American English. Others, such as ''The Routledge Dictionary of Pronunciation for Current English'', do not use the length mark for American English only.}} Phonetically, the vowels of GA are short {{IPA|[ɪ, i, ʊ, u, eɪ, oʊ, ɛ, ʌ, ɔ, æ, ɑ, aɪ, ɔɪ, aʊ]}} when they precede the [[Fortis and lenis|fortis]] consonants {{IPA|/p, t, k, tʃ, f, θ, s, ʃ/}} within the same syllable and long {{IPA|[ɪː, iː, ʊː, uː, eːɪ, oːʊ, ɛː, ʌː, ɔː, æː, ɑː, aːɪ, ɔːɪ, aːʊ]}} elsewhere. (Listen to the minimal pair of {{audio|General American kit kid minimal pair.ogg|''kit'' and ''kid''|help=no}} {{IPA|[ˈkʰɪt, ˈkʰɪːd]}}.) This applies to all vowels but the schwa {{IPA|/ə/}} (which is typically very short {{IPA|[ə̆]}}), so when e.g. {{IPA|/i/}} is realized as a diphthong {{IPA|[i̞i]}}, it has the same allophones as the other diphthongs, whereas the sequence {{IPA|/ɜr/}} (which corresponds to the {{sc2|NURSE}} vowel {{IPA|/ɜː/}} in RP) has the same allophones as phonemic monophthongs: short {{IPA|[ɚ]}} before fortis consonants and long {{IPA|[ɚː]}} elsewhere.{{huh?|date=September 2023|reason=An utterly incoherent non sequitur to the previous sentence, as well to itself. First of all, what's "this" that's supposed to apply to "all vowels but the schwa"? Pre-fortis clipping? If that's so, what's with the following "so"? How does this relate to a diphthongal realization of /i/? What happens to /i/ if it precedes a fortis consonant? Next, what "same allophones" is /i/ supposed to have as other diphthongs? Isn't it its own diphthong with its own allophones? What does "same" mean? Finally, how exactly does /i/ contrast to /ɜr/? What point is being made with this comparison?}} The short {{IPA|[ɚ]}} is also used for the sequence {{IPA|/ər/}} (the {{sc2|LETTER}} vowel). All unstressed vowels are also shorter than the stressed ones, and the more unstressed syllables follow a stressed one, the shorter it is, so that {{IPA|/i/}} in ''l<u>ea</u>d'' is noticeably longer than in ''l<u>ea</u>dership''.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=120, 480–481}}{{sfnp|Wells|2008}} (See [[Stress and vowel reduction in English]].)
* {{IPA|/i, u, eɪ, oʊ, ɑ, ɔ/}} are considered to compose a [[natural class]] of [[Tenseness|tense]] monophthongs in General American, especially for speakers with the [[cot–caught merger|''cot–caught'' merger]]. The class manifests in how GA speakers treat loanwords, as in the majority of cases stressed syllables of foreign words are assigned one of these six vowels, regardless of whether the original pronunciation has a tense or a lax vowel. An example of that is the surname of [[Thomas Mann]], which is pronounced with the tense {{IPA|/ɑ/}} rather than lax {{IPA|/æ/}} (as in RP, which mirrors the German pronunciation {{IPA|/man/}}, which also has a lax vowel).{{sfnp|Lindsey|1990}} All of the tense vowels except {{IPA|/ɑ/}} and {{IPA|/ɔ/}} can have either monophthongal or diphthongal pronunciations (i.e. {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|i}}, {{IPAplink|u}}, {{IPAplink|e}}, {{IPAplink|o̞|ö̞}}]}} vs {{IPA|[i̞i, u̞u, eɪ, ö̞ʊ]}}). The diphthongs are the most usual realizations of {{IPA|/eɪ/}} and {{IPA|/oʊ/}} (as in ''stay'' {{Audio-IPA|En-us-stay.ogg|[steɪ]|help=no}} and ''row'' {{Audio-IPA|En-us-row.ogg|[ɹö̞ʊ]|help=no}}, hereafter transcribed without the diacritics), which is reflected in the way they are transcribed. Monophthongal realizations are also possible, most commonly in unstressed syllables; here are audio examples for ''potato'' {{Audio-IPA|En-us-potato.ogg|[pəˈtʰeɪɾö̞]|help=no}} and ''window'' {{Audio-IPA|En-us-window.ogg|[ˈwɪndö̞]|help=no}}. In the case of {{IPA|/i/}} and {{IPA|/u/}}, the monophthongal pronunciations are in [[free variation]] with diphthongs. Even the diphthongal pronunciations themselves vary between the very narrow (i.e. {{IPA|[i̞i, u̞u ~ ʉ̞ʉ]}}) and somewhat wider (i.e. {{IPA|[ɪi ~ ɪ̈i, ʊu ~ ʊ̈ʉ]}}), with the former being more common. {{IPA|/ɑ/}} varies between back {{IPAblink|ɑ}} and central {{IPAblink|ɑ̈}}.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=476, 487}} As indicated in above phonetic transcriptions, {{IPA|/u/}} is subject to the same variation (also when monophthongal: {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|u}} ~ {{IPAplink|ʉ}}]}}),{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=476, 487}} but its mean phonetic value is usually somewhat less central than in modern RP.{{sfnp|Jones|2011|p=IX}}
* [[æ tensing|Raising of short ''a'' before nasals]]: For most speakers, the [[Traditional English short vowel|short ''a'']] sound, {{IPA|/æ/}} as in {{sc2|TRAP}} or {{sc2|BATH}}, is pronounced with the [[raising (phonetics)|tongue raised]], followed by a centering [[diphthong|glide]], whenever occurring before a [[nasal stop|nasal consonant]] (that is, before {{IPA|/m/}}, {{IPA|/n/}} and, for some speakers, {{IPA|/ŋ/}}).<ref>Boberg, Charles (Spring 2001). "Phonological Status of Western New England". ''American Speech'', Volume 76, Number 1. pp. 3–29 (Article). Duke University Press. p. 11: "The vowel {{IPA|/æ/}} is generally tensed and raised [...] only before nasals, a raising environment for most speakers of North American English".</ref> This sound may be narrowly transcribed as {{IPA|[ɛə]}} (as in {{Audio|En-us-Anne2.ogg|''Anne''|help=no}} and {{Audio|En-us-am.ogg|''am''|help=no}}), or, based on a specific dialect, variously as {{IPA|[eə]}} or {{IPA|[ɪə]}}. See the chart for comparison to other dialects.

{{/æ/ raising in North American English|hidden=yes}}

* Before dark {{serif|''l''}} in a [[syllable coda]], {{IPA|/i, u/}} and sometimes also {{IPA|/eɪ, oʊ/}} are realized as centering diphthongs {{IPA|[iə, uə, eə, oə]}}. Therefore, words such as ''peel'' {{IPA|/pil/}} and ''fool'' {{IPA|/ful/}} are often pronounced {{IPA|[pʰiəɫ]}} and {{IPA|[fuəɫ]}}.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=487}}
* General American does not have the opposition between {{IPA|/ɜr/}} and {{IPA|/ər/}}, which are both rendered {{IPAblink|ɚ|audio=y}}; therefore, the vowels in ''further'' {{IPA|/ˈfɜrðər/}} are typically realized with the same segmental quality as {{IPA|[ˈfɚðɚ]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-further.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=121}} This also makes [[homophone|homophonous]] the words ''forward'' {{IPA|/ˈfɔrwərd/}} and ''foreword'' {{IPA|/ˈfɔrwɜrd/}} as {{IPA|[ˈfɔɹwɚd]}}, which are distinguished in Received Pronunciation as {{IPA|[ˈfɔːwəd]}} and {{IPA|[ˈfɔːwɜːd]}}, respectively.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=121}} Therefore, {{IPA|/ɜ/}} is not a true phoneme in General American but merely a different notation of {{IPA|/ə/}} preserved for when this phoneme precedes {{IPA|/r/}} and is stressed—a convention adopted in literature to facilitate comparisons with other accents.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=480–1}} What is historically {{IPA|/ʌr/}}, as in ''hurry'', is also pronounced {{IPA|[ɚ]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-er.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}, so {{IPA|/ʌ/}}, {{IPA|/ɜ/}} and {{IPA|/ə/}} are all [[Phonemic merger|neutralized]] before {{IPA|/r/}}.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=480–1}} Furthermore, some analyze {{IPA|/ʌ/}} as an allophone of {{IPA|/ə/}} that surfaces when stressed, so {{IPA|/ʌ/}}, {{IPA|/ɜ/}} and {{IPA|/ə/}} may be considered to be in [[complementary distribution]] and thus comprising one phoneme.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=132}}
* The phonetic quality of {{IPA|/ʌ/}} ({{sc2|STRUT}}) is an advanced open-mid back unrounded vowel {{IPAblink|ʌ|ʌ̟}}.{{Pronunciation|En-us-uh.ogg|listen|(|help=no}},{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=485}}{{sfnp|Roca|Johnson|1999|p=190}}

The 2006 ''[[Atlas of North American English]]'' surmises that "if one were to recognize a type of [[North American English]] to be called 'General American'" according to data measurements of vowel pronunciations, "it would be the configuration formed by these three" dialect regions: [[Canadian English#Standard|Canada]], the [[Western American English|American West]], and the [[Midland American English|American Midland]].<ref>{{Harvp|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=144}}</ref> The following charts (as well as the one above) present the vowels that these three dialects encompass as a perceived General American sound system.

==== Pure vowels ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Pure vowels ([[monophthong]]s)
|-
! [[Help:IPA/English|Wikipedia's<br/> IPA<br/> diaphoneme]]
! [[John C. Wells|Wells's]] <br />GenAm <br/>phoneme
! GenAm <br/>realization
! Example <br/>words
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/æ/}}
| {{IPAblink|æ}} {{Pronunciation|near-open front unrounded vowel.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}{{sfnp|Kretzschmar|2004|pp=263–4}}
| b'''a'''th, tr'''a'''p, y'''a'''k
|-
| {{IPA|[eə~ɛə~{{IPAplink|æ}}]}}{{sfnp|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=180}}{{sfnp|Thomas|2004|p=315}}{{sfnp|Gordon|2004|p=340}} {{Pronunciation|En-uk-ear.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}
| b'''a'''n, tr'''a'''m, s'''a'''nd (pre-nasal [[/æ/ tensing]])
|-
| {{IPA|/ɑː/}}
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/ɑ/}}
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|ɑ}}~{{IPAplink|ɑ̈}}]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-ah.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=476}}
| '''ah''', f'''a'''ther, sp'''a'''
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/ɒ/}}
| b'''o'''ther, l'''o'''t, w'''a'''sp ([[Father bother merger|father–bother merger]])
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/ɔ/}}
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|ɑ}}~{{IPAplink|ɒ|ɔ̞}}]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-awe.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=476}}{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=145}}
| b'''o'''ss, cl'''o'''th, d'''o'''g, '''o'''ff ([[lot-cloth split|lot–cloth split]])
|-
| {{IPA|/ɔː/}}
| '''a'''ll, b'''ough'''t, fl'''au'''nt ([[cot-caught merger|cot–caught variability]])
|-
| {{IPA|/oʊ/}}
| {{IPA|/o/}}
| {{IPA|[oʊ~ɔʊ~ʌʊ~{{IPAplink|o̞}}]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-o.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}<ref name="Heggarty" />{{sfnp|Gordon|2004|p=343}}{{sfnp|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=104}}
| g'''oa'''t, h'''o'''me, t'''oe'''
|-
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|/ɛ/}}
| {{IPAblink|ɛ|audio=En-us-Open-mid front unrounded vowel.oga}}{{sfnp|Kretzschmar|2004|pp=263–4}}
| dr'''e'''ss, m'''e'''t, br'''ea'''d
|-
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|/eɪ/}}
| {{IPA|[e̞ɪ~eɪ]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-a.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}{{sfnp|Kretzschmar|2004|pp=263–4}}
| l'''a'''ke, p'''ai'''d, f'''ei'''nt
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/ə/}}
| {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|ə}}~{{IPAplink|ɐ}}]}}{{sfnp|Wells|2008}} {{Pronunciation|Mid-central_vowel.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}
| '''a'''bout, '''o'''blige, '''a'''ren'''a'''
|-
| {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|ɨ}}~{{IPAplink|ɪ}}~{{IPAplink|ə}}]}}<ref>Flemming, Edward; Johnson, Stephanie. (2007). "Rosa's roses: Reduced vowels in American English". Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 37(1), 83–96.</ref> {{Pronunciation|Close-mid_central_unrounded_vowel.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}
| ball'''a'''d, foc'''u'''s, harm'''o'''ny ([[weak vowel merger]])
|-
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|/ɪ/}}
| {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|ɪ}}~{{IPAplink|ɪ|ɪ̞}}]}}{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=486}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-Near-close near-front unrounded vowel2.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}
| k'''i'''t, p'''i'''nk, t'''i'''p
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/iː/}}
| rowspan="2" |{{IPA|/i/}}
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|i}}~ɪi]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-Close front unrounded vowel2.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}{{sfnp|Kretzschmar|2004|pp=263–4}}{{fv|date=September 2023|reason=These particular pages make no claim of a diphthongal realization. They simply list phonemic symbols, i.e. the simplest symbols possible, with much less phonetic precision than claimed here.}}
| b'''ea'''m, ch'''i'''c, fl'''ee'''ce
|-
| happ'''y''', mon'''ey''', part'''ie'''s ([[happy tensing|happ{{sc2|Y}} tensing]])
|-
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|/ʌ/}}
| {{IPAblink|ʌ|ʌ̟}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-uh.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}
| b'''u'''s, fl'''oo'''d, wh'''a'''t
|-
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|/ʊ/}}
| {{IPAblink|ʊ|ʊ̞}} {{Pronunciation|near-close near-back rounded vowel.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=486}}
| b'''oo'''k, p'''u'''t, sh'''ou'''ld
|-
| {{IPA|/uː/}}
| {{IPA|/u/}}
| {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|u|u̟}}~ʊu~ʉu~ɵu]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-ooh.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}{{sfnp|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|p=154}}{{sfnp|Gordon|2004|p=343}}{{sfnp|Boberg|2004b|p=361}}<ref name="Heggarty">{{cite web|title=Accents of English from Around the World|editor=Heggarty, Paul|display-editors=etal|year=2015|url=http://www.soundcomparisons.com/|access-date=2016-09-24|archive-date=2011-04-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429190515/http://www.soundcomparisons.com/}} See under "Std US + 'up-speak'"</ref>
| g'''oo'''se, n'''ew''', tr'''ue'''
|}

==== Diphthongs ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ [[Diphthong]]s
! [[Help:IPA/English|Wikipedia's<br/> IPA diaphoneme]]
! GenAm realization
! Example words
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/aɪ/}}
| {{IPA|[äɪ]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-eye.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}<ref name="Heggarty" />
| br'''i'''de, pr'''i'''ze, t'''ie'''
|-
| {{IPA|[äɪ~ɐɪ~ʌ̈ɪ]}}<ref>{{cite book|first=Charles|last=Boberg|author-link=Charles Boberg|publisher=Cambridge University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uW2rM_6I3gMC&q=does%20occur%20in%20eastern%20New%20England|title=The English Language in Canada: Status, History and Comparative Analysis|year=2010|page=156|isbn=978-1-139-49144-0}}</ref>
| br'''igh'''t, pr'''i'''ce, t'''y'''ke ([[Canadian raising|price raising]])
|-
| {{IPA|/aʊ/}}
| {{IPA|[aʊ~æʊ]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-ow.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}{{sfnp|Kretzschmar|2004|pp=263–4}}
| n'''ow''', '''ou'''ch, sc'''ou'''t
|-
|-
| {{IPA|/ɔɪ/}}
| {{IPA|[ɔɪ~oɪ]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-oi2.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}{{sfnp|Kretzschmar|2004|pp=263–4}}
| b'''oy''', ch'''oi'''ce, m'''oi'''st
|}

==== R-colored vowels ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ [[R-colored vowel]]s{{sfnp|Kretzschmar|2004|pp=263–4, 266}}{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=121, 481}}
|-
! [[Help:IPA/English|Wikipedia's<br/> IPA diaphoneme]]
! GenAm realization
! Example words
|-
| {{IPA|/ɑːr/}}
| {{IPA|[ɑɹ]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-r2.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}
| b'''ar'''n, c'''ar''', p'''ar'''k
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/ɛər/}}
| {{IPA|[ɛəɹ]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-air2.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}
| b'''are''', b'''ear''', th'''ere'''
|-
| {{IPA|[ɛ(ə)ɹ]}}
| b'''ear'''ing
|-
| {{IPA|/ɜːr/}}
| rowspan="2" | {{IPAblink|ɚ}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-er2.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}
| b'''ur'''n, f'''ir'''st, m'''ur'''der
|-
| {{IPA|/ər/}}
| murd'''er'''
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/ɪər/}}
| {{IPA|[iəɹ~ɪəɹ]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-ear2.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}
| f'''ear''', p'''eer''', t'''ier'''
|-
| {{IPA|[i(ə)ɹ~ɪ(ə)ɹ]}}
| f'''ear'''ing, p'''eer'''ing
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/ɔːr/}}
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|[ɔəɹ~oəɹ]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-or.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=483}}
| h'''or'''se, st'''or'''m, w'''ar'''
|-
| h'''oar'''se, st'''ore''', w'''ore'''
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/ʊər/}}
| {{IPA|[ʊəɹ~oəɹ~ɔəɹ]}} {{Pronunciation|En-us-oar2.ogg|listen|(|help=no}}
| m'''oor''', p'''oor''', t'''our'''
|-
| {{IPA|[ʊ(ə)ɹ~o(ə)ɹ~ɔ(ə)ɹ]}}
| p'''oor'''er
|}

== See also ==
{{colbegin|colwidth=25em}}
* [[List of dialects of the English language]]
* [[List of English words from indigenous languages of the Americas]]
* [[Accent reduction]]
* [[African-American English]]
* [[American English]]
* [[California English]]
* [[Chicano English]]
* [[English phonology]]
* [[English-language spelling reform]]
* [[Hawaiian Pidgin]]
* [[Northern Cities Vowel Shift]]
* [[Received Pronunciation]]
* [[Regional vocabularies of American English]]
* [[Standard Written English]]
* [[Mid-Atlantic accent|Transatlantic accent]]
{{colend}}

== Explanatory notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book
|last1=Baker
|first1=Adam
|last2=Mielke
|first2=Jeff
|last3=Archangeli
|first3=Diana
|year=2008
|chapter=More velar than /g/: Consonant Coarticulation as a Cause of Diphthongization
|editor1-last=Chang
|editor1-first=Charles B.
|editor2-last=Haynie
|editor2-first=Hannah J.
|title=Proceedings of the 26th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics
|pages=60–68
|location=Somerville, Massachusetts
|publisher=Cascadilla Proceedings Project
|isbn=978-1-57473-423-2
|chapter-url=http://www.lingref.com/cpp/wccfl/26/paper1656.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624101808/http://www.lingref.com/cpp/wccfl/26/paper1656.pdf |archive-date=2011-06-24 |url-status=live
}}<!-- Referenced in [[Template:/æ/ raising in North American English]] -->
*{{cite book
|last=Boberg
|first=Charles
|author-link=Charles Boberg
|editor-last=Hickey
|editor-first=Raymond
|year=2004a
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gZV7AAAAQBAJ
|chapter=Standard Canadian English
|title=Standards of English: Codified Varieties Around the World
|publisher=Cambridge University Press
|isbn=978-0-521-76389-9
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Boberg
|first=Charles
|year=2004b
|chapter=English in Canada: phonology
|editor1-last=Schneider
|editor1-first=Edgar W.
|editor2-last=Burridge
|editor2-first=Kate
|editor3-last=Kortmann
|editor3-first=Bernd
|editor4-last=Mesthrie
|editor4-first=Rajend
|editor5-last=Upton
|editor5-first=Clive
|title=A Handbook of Varieties of English
|volume=1: Phonology
|location=Berlin
|publisher=Mouton de Gruyter
|pages=351–365
|isbn=3-11-017532-0
}}
* {{cite journal
|last=Boberg
|first=Charles
|year=2008
|title=Regional phonetic differentiation in Standard Canadian English
|journal=Journal of English Linguistics
|volume=36
|issue=2
|pages=129–154
|doi=10.1177/0075424208316648
|s2cid=146478485
|url=https://www.academia.edu/7683591
}}<!-- Referenced in [[Template:/æ/ raising in North American English]] -->
* {{cite journal
|doi=10.1121/1.418333
|last1=Boyce
|first1=S.
|last2=Espy-Wilson
|first2=C.
|year=1997
|title= Coarticulatory stability in American English /r/
|journal=Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|volume=101
|issue=6
|pages=3741–3753
|pmid=9193061
|bibcode=1997ASAJ..101.3741B
|url=http://www.asel.udel.edu/icslp/cdrom/vol3/216/a216.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970722193042/http://www.asel.udel.edu/icslp/cdrom/vol3/216/a216.pdf |archive-date=1997-07-22 |url-status=live
|citeseerx=10.1.1.16.4174
}}
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{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite web
|last=Jilka
|first=Matthias
|title=North American English: General Accents
|place=Stuttgart
|publisher=Institut für Linguistik/Anglistik, University of Stuttgart
|url=http://ifla.uni-stuttgart.de/institut/mitarbeiter/jilka/teaching/dialectology/d10_GAGC.pdf
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140421051053/http://ifla.uni-stuttgart.de/institut/mitarbeiter/jilka/teaching/dialectology/d10_GAGC.pdf
|archive-date=2014-04-21
}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
* [http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/research/gsound/Eng/Database/Phonetics/Englishes/Home/HomeMainFrameHolder.htm Comparison with other English accents around the world]

{{English dialects by continent}}
{{Language phonologies}}

[[Category:American English]]
[[Category:Standard languages]]
[[Category:Standard English]]
{{Навигационная таблица/Портал/Английская Википедия}}
[[Категория:Английская Википедия]]
[[Категория:Википедия]]
[[Категория:Статья из Википедии]]
[[Категория:Статья из Английской Википедии]]