The pronunciation of vowels can vary significantly in English dialects. The vowel in words such as bath, laugh and mask is a front vowel in most of southern England but a back vowel in northern England. In Scotland, many speakers pronounce the words boot and foot with the same vowel. The pronunciation of consonants can also vary.
The letter r has different pronunciations. In rhotic varieties it is always pronounced. In non-rhotic varieties, it is not pronounced in the syllable coda or it is pronounced as a schwa. In intervocalic position, some speakers produce an alveolar tap or trill.
Another liquid which has different pronunciations is the l. In Received Pronunciation, it is an alveolar lateral in the syllable onset and a velarized lateral in the coda. In northern England, however, it is velarized in all positions, and in the southwest of England, many speakers vocalize the lateral syllable-finally.
The t also has different pronunciations. In Canadian and American English, it is often flapped intervocalically between a stressed vowel and unstressed vowel. In British English, the t can become a voiced plosive or a glottal stop.
The interdental fricative is often pronounced as a plosive in Irish English. However, words such as thin and tin are not pronounced identically because thin is pronounced with a dental articulation and tin with an alveolar one. The articulation of the th as a plosive can also be heard among certain speakers of New York.
English dialects differ in their pronunciation of vowels. However, differences in the pronunciation of consonants also occur. Consonants which vary include the alveolar approximant, the lateral and the voiceless alveolar plosive.
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