I have spent the week in Bristol and have enjoyed hearing the Bristolian accent. Here is a summary of some of the features, as outlined by Yvonne Wren and colleagues in a paper that is currently in submission for publication:
Vowels:
1. Use of [ə] for /ʌ/ (as in ‘putt’).
2. Use of [a] for /ɑː/ (as in ‘bath’)
3. Slightly longer or fuller vowels than RP e.g.
mad [maˑd]; job [ʤɑˑb];
also - bucket [bəˑkɪˑʔ] rather than /bʌkɪˑʔ/; goodness [ˈgʊdnɛs]
rather than /gʊdnəs/ or /gʊdnɪs/.
Consonants:
1. Post vocalic /ɹ/ as in [fɑɹm]
2. Presence of /l/ following word final /ə/
(as in ‘Americal’) and also medially in e.g. ‘drawling’ and ‘chimley’. (This is a feature
known as Bristol ‘l’ and is confined to the local area of Bristol. ‘Eva’ and ‘evil’ would be
homonyms in a child who shows this feature.)
3. Use of [f] for /θ/
4.
Use of glottal stop for /t/ before a pause e.g. Pete – [piːʔ]
