en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trap%E2%80%93bath_split
1 correction found
In Cornwall, Bristol and its nearby towns, and many forms of Scottish English, there is no distinction corresponding to the RP distinction between /æ/ and /ɑː/.
This overgeneralizes Cornwall and Bristol. Recent research finds a BATH/TRAP distinction in both areas, though it is often realized differently from Received Pronunciation.
Full reasoning
Recent scholarship does not support a blanket statement that Cornwall and Bristol have no corresponding BATH/TRAP distinction.
- A 2019 peer-reviewed study of Bristol English reports that "there is evidence for a traditional length-only trap-bath split" in Bristol, alongside other changing patterns. That directly contradicts the article's categorical claim that there is no corresponding distinction there.
- A 2019 PhD thesis on Cornish English likewise describes a distinct BATH vowel in Cornwall: it finds that "the majority of West Cornwall early adolescents have retained the fronted BATH vowel" and that this traditional Cornish BATH vowel "maintains its distinctiveness". That is not the same realization as RP /ɑː/, but it is still a BATH/TRAP distinction rather than the absence of one.
So while the phonetic details in Cornwall and Bristol may differ from RP—and may involve fronting or length rather than an identical RP-style quality contrast—the sentence is too absolute in saying there is "no distinction" in those places.
2 sources
- The trap-bath split in Bristol English | English Language & Linguistics | Cambridge Core
Abstract: "The picture suggested by these data is complex: there is evidence for a traditional length-only trap-bath split, for a length and backness split diffusing from the east and for a merger diffusing from the north."
- Productions and Perceptions of BATH and TRAP Vowels in Cornish English - White Rose eTheses Online
Abstract: "The diachronic analysis finds that the majority of West Cornwall early adolescents have retained the fronted BATH vowel... in shortening the traditional Cornish English BATH vowel ... it maintains its distinctiveness in comparison to the RP form."