The phonemic notation used in this article is based on the set of symbols used by .
Vowels s of Scouse (from ). and show considerable allophonic variation.|class=skin-invert-image s of Scouse (part 1, from )|class=skin-invert-image s of Scouse (part 2, from ). shows considerable allophonic variation.|class=skin-invert-image • The
square–nurse merger in Scouse renders minimal pairs such as
fair-
fur,
stare-
stir and
pair-
purr homophonous as , and . The actual realization is variable, but the current mainstream pronunciation is close to , as shown on the vowel chart. Other allophones include , , , and as well as the rounded and , with all but being more conservative than . In addition to those, there also exist the diphthongal variants and . Middle class speakers may differentiate from by using the front for the former (so that
fair,
stare and
pair are rendered ) and the central for the latter (so that
fur,
stir and
purr are rendered ), much like in RP. • As other Northern English varieties, Scouse lacks the
foot–strut split, so that words like
cut ,
luck and
up have the same phoneme as
bull ,
foot and
put . Speakers attempting to distinguish between the two typically use a stressed for the former set: , resulting in a Welsh English-like
strut–schwa merger. However, this often leads to hypercorrection, so that
good luck may be pronounced . • Words such as
grass,
path and
sample have a short , rather than the long due to the lack of the
trap–bath split: . As with the foot–strut split, an attempt to use in an RP-like way may lead to hypercorrections such as (RP ). • The words
book,
cook and
look are typically pronounced with the vowel of rather than that of , which is true within other parts of Northern England and the Midlands. This causes minimal pairs such as
book and
buck,
cook and
cuck, and
look and
luck. The use of a long in such words is more often used in working-class accents; recently, however, this feature has been becoming more recessive, being found less often among younger people. • The
weak vowel merger is in transition, making some instances of unstressed merge with , so that
eleven and
orange are pronounced and . The typical g-dropped variant of
ing is , which is subject to syllabic consonant formation (as in
disputing ). As in
Geordie, for standard may also occur, as in
maggot . • In final position, tend to be fronting/backing diphthongs with central onsets . Sometimes this also happens before in words such as
school . • The vowel is tense and is best analysed as belonging to the phoneme. • There is not a full agreement on the phonetic realisation of : • According to , it is back , with front being a common realisation for some speakers. • According to and , it is typically front . • The vowel is typically central , and it may be even fronted to so that it becomes the rounded counterpart of . • The vowel typically has a front second element . • The vowel is typically diphthongal , rather than being a monophthong that is commonly found in other Northern English accents. • The vowel has a considerable allophonic variation. Its starting point can be open-mid front , close-mid front or mid central (similarly to the vowel), whereas its ending point varies between fairly close central and a more back . The most typical realisation is , but and an RP-like are also possible. John Wells also lists and , which are more common in Midland English and younger Northern English. To him, variants with central or front onsets sound 'incongruously "posh in combination with other broad Scouse vowels. • The vowel can be monophthongised to in certain environments. According to and , the diphthongal realisation is quite close to the conservative RP norm (), but according to it has a rather back starting point (). • The vowel is , close to the RP norm.
Consonants •
H-dropping, as in many other varieties of Northern England English. This renders
hear ,
high and
hold variably homophonous with
ear ,
eye and
old . •
NG-coalescence is not present as with other Northern English accents, for instance realising
along as . • Like many other accents around the world,
G-dropping also occurs, with being the most common realization of the sequence. • has several allophones depending on environment: • Intervocalically (including at word boundaries), it is typically pronounced or , which is found in several other Northern English varieties. • Pre-pausally, it may be
debuccalised to , with older speakers only doing this in function words with short vowels:
it,
lot,
not,
that,
what pronounced respectively. On the other hand, younger speakers may further debuccalise in polysyllabic words in unstressed syllables, hence
aggregate . This is not differentiated from in this article. •
T-glottalisation is rarer than in the rest of England, with occurring before and
syllabic consonants. •
Affrication of as word-initially and
lenition to intervocalically and word-finally. The latter type of allophony does not lead to a loss of contrast with as the articulation is different; in addition, is also longer. For female speakers, the fricative allophone of is not necessarily but rather a complex sequence , so that
out is pronounced , rather than . In this article, the difference is not transcribed and is used for the latter two allophones. • can turn into an affricate or a
fricative, determined mostly by the quality of the preceding vowel. If fricative, a
palatal,
velar or
uvular articulation ( respectively) is realised. This is seen distinctively with words like
book and
clock. • can be fricatised to , albeit rarely. • As with other varieties of English, the voiceless plosives are aspirated word-initially, except when precedes in the same syllable. It can also occur word- and utterance-finally, with potential
preaspirated pronunciations (which is often perceived as
glottal noise or as oral friction produced in the same environment as the stop) for utterance-final environments, primarily found in female speakers. • The voiced plosives are also fricatised, with particularly being lenited to the same extent as , although the fricative allophone is frequently devoiced. • Under Irish influence, the dental stops are often used instead of the standard dental fricatives , leading to a phonemic distinction between dental and alveolar stops. The fricative forms are also found, whereas
th-fronting is not as common. • The accent is
non-rhotic, meaning is not pronounced unless followed by a vowel. When it is pronounced, it is typically realised as a tap between vowels (as in
mirror ) and sometimes in initial clusters as well (as in
breath ) and as an approximant otherwise, a variant sometimes also used in lieu of the tap. == Liaison in Scouse ==