American "POLAR bear"
versus British "Polar BEAR," AmE "CROSS Dresser" vs.
British "Cross DRESSER," etc.
Affixes
-ary -ery -ory –bury -berry
Where the syllable preceding -ary,-ery or -ory is stressed, AmE and BrE alike pronounce all these endings /əɹi(ː)/. So military
is AmE /'mɪlɪtɛɹiː/ and BrE /'mɪlɪtəɹiː/ . The component -bury (e.g. Canterbury) has a similar difference after a stressed syllable:
AmE /bɛɹi/ and BrE /bəɹɪː/. The affix –berry: strawberry is BrE /'strɔːbəɹiː/ but AmE /'strɔbɛɹi/
-ine
AmE is more likely to favour /in/ or /ɪn/, and BrE to favour /aɪn/: e.g. carbine, philistine.
Single differences
BrE | AmE | Words | BrE | AmE | Words |
/æ/ | /ɑ/ | Bangladesh,Jan | /siː/ | /ʃ/ | Cassius |
/ɒ/ | /oʊ/ | Yoghurt | /uː/ | /ju/ | Houston |
/ɑː/ | /æ/ | Banana | /eɪ/ | /i/ | Helene |
/ɛ/ | /i/ | Cecil | /juː/ | /w/ | Nicaragua |
/æ/ | /eɪ/ | patriot, Sabine | /ɑː/ | /ət/ | Nougat |
/ɪ/ | /aɪ/ | Dynasty, idyll | /ɑː/ | /ɔɹ/ | Quark |
/z/ | /s/ | blouse,Glasgow | /eɪ/ | /ət/ | tourniquet |
/ɑː/ | /eɪ/ | amen, tomato | /ə(ɹ)/ | /ɑɹ/ | Madagascar |
/əʊ/ | /ɒ/ | Processor | /ə(ɹ)/ | /jɚ/ | Figure |
/ɒ/ | /ʌ/ | of, from, was | /ɛ/ | /ɑ/ | Envelope |
(sounded) | (silent) | Knossos, solder | /əʊ/ | /ɒt/ | Huguenot |
/ɑː/ | /ɚ/ | Clerk | /əʊ/ | /aʊ/ | Moscow |
/aɪ/ | /i/ | either, geyser | /iː/ | /ɪ/ | Been |
/iː/ | /aɪ/ | anti-, multi- | /juː/ | /u/ | Barracuda |
/ə/ | /ɒ/ | Hexagon | /s/ | /z/ | Asthma |
/iː/ | /eɪ/ | eta, beta, theta | /ʃ/ | /sk/ | Schedule |
/aɪ/ | /ɪ/ | Minority | /t/ | /θ/ | Anthony |
/ɜːz/ | /us/ | Betelgeuse | /uː/ | /aʊ/ | Route |
