english_africa · South Africa
General South African English
South Africa · General/Cultivated South African
This preset models General/Cultivated South African English, one point on a real sociolectal continuum that also includes Broad South African English, Cape Flats English, and Black South African English -- each shaped by different substrate contact (Afrikaans, and indigenous languages including isiXhosa and isiZulu) and not modelled separately here; that gap is stated explicitly rather than letting this one preset stand in for all of South African English. Non-rhotic, like RP. The single most recognizable South African feature is KIT-centralization: KIT raises and centralizes toward a schwa-like vowel, which is why 'fish and chips' is the classic outsider's parody of the accent (Lass 2002; Wells 1982 vol. 3). TRAP is raised toward [ɛ], closer to where DRESS sits in RP.
Live example
Transformed live against this preset's phonetic matrix.
Hear it
A/B where you're starting from against this accent, for the same sentence. That first clip is your own accent when you've said how you speak, and your language's reference variety when you haven't — the player says which.
Compare — Where you're starting from vs. the accent you're building
Active features
Every phonetic parameter that deviates from this schema’s diffing anchor, with a plain-English gloss.
| Feature | Value | Meaning | Drill |
|---|---|---|---|
| Languagelanguage | en | Drill | |
| Mixed Languagesmixed_languages | — | Drill | |
| S Treatments_treatment | standard | Drill | |
| D Intervocalicd_intervocalic | standard | Drill | |
| D Finald_final | standard | Drill | |
| R Infinitiver_infinitive | standard | Drill | |
| R Initialr_initial | approximant | Drill | |
| N Final Velarizationn_final_velarization | No | Drill | |
| Final Consonant Dropfinal_consonant_drop | none | Drill | |
| Vowel Reductionvowel_reduction | crisp_open | Drill | |
| Syllable Timingsyllable_timing | stress_timed | Drill |