questions for topic 5

(try answer the questions, then move the pointer below the question to see the answer)

1. What is a nonrhotic accent of English?
   an accent in which some historical Rs (shown in spelling) are not pronounced, in CUBE these are the Rs that are not followed by a vowel
2. What is compensatory lengthening?
   the lengthening of a segment (in English a vowel) that compensates for the loss of an other segment (in English typically /r/): as in /bard/ → /baːd/
3. What is broadening?
   the historical changes of a short vowel before R
4. What are carrot words?
   words in which a checked vowel is unaffected before an R that is followed by a vowel within the same morpheme, the /a/ of carrot is unaffected (cf the vowel in car or card, which is /aː/)
5. Which diphthongs may occur before r?
   the wide diphthongs, [aj aw oj]; all other diphthongs are changed before R
6. What is breaking?
   the epenthesis (insertion) of a schwa between a diphthong and an R (or L), as in near [nijr] > [nijər] or kneel [nijl] > [nijəl]
7. What is smoothing?
   the loss of a glide before schwa, followed by the loss of the schwa and the lengthening of the preceding vowel, as in near [nijə] > [niə] > [niː]
8. What is hiatus?
   two adjacent vowels create hiatus, many languages tend to avoid them, in English [r] is epenthesized between two vowels in hiatus
9. What is the difference between a linking and an intrusive R?
   linguistically, nothing; the former is shown in the spelling, the latter is not
10. What is the nurse merger?
    the words bird, herd, turd contain the same vowel, the difference between the historical vowels (preserved in Scottish Standard English) is merged in most other accents of English
11. What is the north–force–cure merger?
    the words north, force, cure contain the same vowel in Current British English (but not in General American)

I did well, let’s move on
I did poorly, let’s check again