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Below, several major North American English accents are defined by particular characteristics:
Accent name | Most populous city | Strong /aʊ/ fronting | Strong /oʊ/ fronting | Strong /u/ fronting | Strong /ɑr/ fronting | Cot–caught merger | Pin–pen merger | /æ/ raising system | Other defining criteria |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
African-American | Mixed | No | No | No | Mixed | Yes | pre-nasal | African-American Vowel Shift / Variable non-rhoticity / L-vocalization / Th-fronting | |
Atlantic Canadian | Halifax | Mixed | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | various | Canadian raising |
General American | No | No | No | No | Mixed | No | pre-nasal | ||
Inland Northern U.S. | Chicago | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | general | Northern Cities Vowel Shift |
Midland U.S. | Indianapolis | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Mixed | Mixed | pre-nasal | |
New Orleans | New Orleans | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | split | Mid-Atlantic Back Vowel Shift / Non-rhoticity / Th-stopping / Southern Vowel Shift / Variable horse-hoarse distinction / Canadian Raising / L-vocalization |
New York City | New York City | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | split | Mid-Atlantic Back Vowel Shift / Variable non-rhoticity / L-vocalization / Th-stopping / Variable Father-bother distinction / Northeastern /-ɒr-/ |
North-Central (Upper Midwestern) U.S. | Minneapolis | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | pre-nasal & pre-velar | |
Northeastern New England | Boston | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | pre-nasal | Variable non-rhoticity / Canadian raising / Father-bother distinction / Northeastern /-ɒr-/ |
Philadelphia | Philadelphia | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | split | Mid-Atlantic Back Vowel Shift / L-vocalization / Northeastern /-ɒr-/ / Merry–Murray merger |
Rhode Island | Providence | No | No | No | No | No | No | pre-nasal | Mid-Atlantic Back Vowel Shift / Variable non-rhoticity / Canadian raising / Northeastern /-ɒr-/ |
Southern U.S. | San Antonio | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Mixed | Yes | pre-nasal | Southern drawl / Southern Vowel Shift / Variable wine-whine distinction |
Standard Canadian | Toronto | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | pre-nasal & pre-velar | Canadian raising / Low Back Merger Shift |
Western U.S. | Los Angeles | No | Mixed | Yes | No | Yes | No | pre-nasal | Low Back Merger Shift |
Western Pennsylvania | Pittsburgh | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Mixed | pre-nasal | /aʊ/ glide weakening / L-vocalization |
Accent name | Most populous city | Strong /aʊ/ fronting | Strong /oʊ/ fronting | Strong /u/ fronting | Strong /ɑr/ fronting | Cot–caught merger | Pin–pen merger | /æ/ raising system | Other defining criteria |
A majority of North American English (for example, in contrast to British English) includes phonological features that concern consonants, such as rhoticity (full pronunciation of all /r/ sounds), conditioned T-glottalization (with satin pronounced [ˈsæʔn̩], not [ˈsætn̩]), T- and D-flapping (with metal and medal pronounced the same, as [ˈmɛɾɫ̩]), L-velarization (with filling pronounced [ˈfɪɫɪŋ], not [ˈfɪlɪŋ]), as well as features that concern vowel sounds, such as various vowel mergers before /r/ (so that, Mary, marry, and merry are all commonly pronounced the same), raising of pre-voiceless /aɪ/ (with price and bright using a higher vowel sound than prize and bride), the weak vowel merger (with affected and effected often pronounced the same), at least one of the LOT vowel mergers (the LOT–PALM merger is completed among virtually all Americans and the LOT–THOUGHT merger among nearly half, while both are completed among virtually all Canadians), and yod-dropping (with tuesday pronounced /ˈtuzdeɪ/, not /ˈtjuzdeɪ/). The last item is more advanced in American English than Canadian English.