Are they homophones? Hello everyone, I'm a bit confused with some words being homophones or not, because sometimes it depends on the regional accent. The words I'm talking about are: "aunt', "aren't"a

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Ana

Are they homophones?

Hello everyone,

I'm a bit confused with some words being homophones or not, because sometimes it depends on the regional accent. The words I'm talking about are: "aunt', "aren't"and "ant".

Here is what I think:

1. Aunt and aren't are homophones in British accent, but not in American accent.

2. Aunt and ant are not homophones in British accent, but they are homophones in American accent.

3. Aren't and ant are not homophones.

I hope I managed to get my meaning across.

Please, let me know your thoughts and comments on this.

Thanks

31 июля 2019 г., 13:17

Комментариев · 6

As you say, Ana, it depends on the regional accent.

I'll give you a British perspective.

One very important thing to realise is that there is no such thing as 'the British accent'. In fact, accents vary more within the British Isles than between Britain and other English-speaking countries. Every region of the UK has its own accent, and pronunciation of vowel sounds can vary enormously even from one city to another within the same region.

I'll try to answer your question based on a very simple North v South divide across England, comparing, for example, the accent of a person from London with one from Manchester.

These are homophones in most southern accents, but not in northern ones.

Southern accent: aunt /ɑːnt/ aren't /ɑːnt/ = homophones

Northern accent: aunt /ænt/ aren't /ɑːnt/ = not homophones

2. aunt/ant

These are homophones in most northern accents, but not in southern ones.

Northern accent: aunt /ænt/ ant /ænt/ = homophones

Southern accent: aunt /ɑːnt/ ant /ænt/ = not homophones

3. I don't know of any accent where 'aren't' and 'ant' would sound the same.

31 июля 2019 г.

1) To me, the British "aunt" sounds different from the British "aren't," but I'm not sure I can explain the difference. "Aunt" feels like a lower, more o-like sound to me. Maybe someone from the UK can explain the difference (if in fact there is one).

2) Yes, "aunt" and "ant" can sound the same in US pronunciation. However, the word "aunt" can also be pronounced with a different vowel sound, which sounds much like the "aw" in "lawn." (This is the pronunciation I use, personally. I don't pronounce "aunt" like "ant.")

3) Right.

31 июля 2019 г.

That's right. The accent which is misleadingly referred to as 'British' is RP (Received Pronunciation), a standard based on the educated, upper- and upper-middle-class pronunciation of southern England.

31 июля 2019 г.

Thanks Su.Ki. , now the British perspective is crystal clear.

The problem is the huge variety of regional accents in the UK and , although online dictionaries are extremely useful because you can actually listen to the pronunciation, they usually only provide two different pronunciations at the most (American and standard British pronunciation, which,I guess, is the Southern accent).

31 июля 2019 г.