Dialectal variation

While we do not see much of a difference across varieties regarding the labio dental and alveolar fricatives, interdentals and palato-alveolars present some notable variations. One does find dentalized realization of interdentals before vowels in New York City, as in think [t̪ɪŋk], they [d̪e]; the same has been reported in Southern Irish English. In African American Vernacular English (AAVE), interdentals turn into alveolar stops in the same environment (think [tɪŋk], they [de]), but are realized as labio-dental fricatives in intervocalic and postvocalic environments (e.g. nothing [nΛfɪŋ], with [wɪf], mother [mΛvɚ], smooth [smuv]). Also in AAVE, and in some southern dialects of England, one sees a labio dental replacement for the voiceless /θ/ before /ɹ̣/, as in three [fɹ̣i]. Notable too is the stopping of voiced fricatives /v/ and /z/ preceding nasals (e.g. seven [sεvən] → [sεbm̩], isn’t [ɪzn̩t] → [ɪdn̩t]).

In certain words, AE and BE show appreciable differences regarding the palate-alveolar fricatives. While targets such as Asia, Persia, version all have /Ʒ/ in AE, they may have either /Ʒ/ or /ʃ/ in BE. In issue, sensual, we invariably find /ʃ/ in AE; in BE these words may have either /ʃ/ or /sj/. Similarly, seizure and azure are pronounced with a /Ʒ/ in AE, while they may have either /Ʒ/ or /zj/ in BE.

Finally, although it was stated above that alveolars do not reveal any patterned dialectal variation, this author created from personal observation a list of respectable length containing words that could have either of the two alveolar fricatives /s, z/ (e.g. resources , Exxon, citizen, absorb, representing, greasy, absurd, desolate, disburse, Texas, Renaissance) among AE speakers.