An acoustic analysis of White South African English (WSAfE) monophthongs

Abstract

This article has two main aims: (1) to introduce instrumental acoustic techniques to the analysis of the WSAfE accent, and (2), to provide tentative evidence for a new prestige value in the Johannesburg (Northern Suburbs) variety of this accent. As such, focus falls on an acoustic analysis of the monophthongs of WSAfE, as produced by ten young South African women in citation-form. Half of the subjects are from the Northern Suburbs of Johannesburg, the other half from East London. The results of the analysis provide some evidence for a new prestige value in the Johannesburg (Northern Suburbs) variety of WSAfE i.e. the lowering and retraction of the so-called TRAP vowel.