Consonants

Sonorants: N, L, R

Little variation is found concerning nasals in America. The realization of velar nasals with a velar stop following, i.e. of words spelled with <-ng-> as [ŋg], is reported to occur normally in AAVE and ChcE and sometimes in NYCE (stereotypically associated with the city accent) and some Caribbean varieties (T&TCs, JamC/E). The velarization of word-fi nal alveolar nasals, i.e. the pronunciation of words like down with a final [-ŋ], is characteristic of Caribbean (and related) creoles , i.e. JamC, T&TC, TobC, Eastern islands, Sranan, Gullah, and possible also in ChcE.

Post-vocalic /l/ may be vocalized commonly in SAmE (both rural and urban), NEngE, PhilE and JamC and in some contexts in WMwE, InlNE, NYCE, NfldE, AAVE, ChcE, BahE, TobC and JamE. A tendency to confuse or neutralize /l/ and /r/ is documented as occurring regularly in SurC and Gullah and possibly in T&TC and NfldE, but in general this is not common in AmE.

On the other hand, rhoticity and possible phonetic realizations of /r/ are an important issue in American and Caribbean types of English. Generally, StAmE is considered to be fully rhotic; more specifically, this applies to WMwE, InlNE, PhilE, CanE, most of NfldE and ChcE, and also, as a consequence of recent changes, urban SAmE, whereas NYCE, rural SAmE, NEngE, a small part of NfldE, AAVE, BahE and JamE/C are variably rhotic. Baj is the only Caribbean variety which is described as consistently rhotic. This leaves Gullah and CajE in North America and the Eastern islands dialects as well as T&TCs in the Caribbean as nonrhotic varieties. Phonetically, postvocalic /r/ tends to be realized as velar retroflex constriction in AmE, less commonly also as an alveolar flap (in CajE, JamE/C, and possibly ChcE), not at all as an apical trill and highly exceptionally (possibly in T&TC) as a uvular sound. An intrusive r, e.g. idea-[r]-is, may be heard in NYCE, NEngE, SAmE, NfldE, JamE/C, and the T&TCs.