General American English

General American English is the closest to a standard accent in the United States. It is considered by many speakers to be free from regional features.  It is the accent spoken by most actors, newscasters, etc. Some of its most characteristic features are:

Phonology

• Rhoticity. /r/ is pronounced in coda positions as in teacher /ti:tʃər/
• L- velarisation. “Dark L” is used for all context in which /l/ occurs. There is no distinction between “clear L” and “dark L” as in RP.  
• Intervocalic /t/ flapping. /t/ become [r] in intervocalic positions.
• /j/ dropping in words like new /nu:/ and duke /du:k/
• In many contexts, where RP has /ɑː/, GA uses /æ/ as in plant /plænt/ 

Vocabulary

RP	GA
cinema	movies
underground	subway
petrol station	gas station
lift	elevator
chips	French fries
motor way	free way
rubbish	garbage

Spelling

• Use of <z> instead of <s> in words like organize, satirize, organization, etc.
• –er ending instead of –re in words like center, meter, theater.
• Words ending in –our (and their derivates and inflected forms) in RP usually ends in –or in GA. Eg: favor, color,

Activities

• Decide whether the sentences below would be samplers of General American or Received Pronunciation. Justify your answers.

o   Benedict Cumberbatch is my favourite actor.

o   The Natural History Museum is in the city center.

o   I went to the movies last night and it was great.

o   Tom told me to get off the underground at Charing Cross.

o   Can we take the elevator, please? I am really tired. 

o   By the time he arrived from Paris, everything was already organized. 

• Watch the following video and try to find phonetic features from both General American and RP.