Accent and Dialect

Question 1

Define accent

Answer 1

variation in pronunciation associated w a particular geographical region

Question 2

Define dialect

Answer 2

variation in words and structures associated w a particular geographical region

Question 3

Joanna Thornborrow 2004

Answer 3

‘one of the most fundamental ways we have of establishing our identity and of shaping other people’s views of who we are, is through our use of language’

Question 4

Define idiolect

Answer 4

speech habits specific to a particular person

Question 5

Define sociolect

Answer 5

a style of language used within a particular social group

Question 6

Labov research when, where, what and who

Answer 6

• 1961
• Martha’s Vineyard: a fairly isolated island in Massachusetts
• small group of fishermen (31-45 years old) and ‘Up-Islanders’ (original inhabitants)
• diphthongs ‘au’ and ‘ai’ were pronounced as ‘(upside down e)u’ and ‘(upside down e)i’: different to normal, standard, mainland American accent

Question 7

Labov research evaluation

Answer 7

• to differentiate themselves as vine-yarders from tourists, creating a division
• create an islanders identity
• creates a strong sense of community
• expresses ‘claim’ over island, having ownership over the land, becoming superior over the visitors

Question 8

Origins of cockney rhyming slang

Answer 8

• 19th century
• East end London
• street sellers/beggars, lower working class, petty criminals
• secret language

Question 9

Cockney rhyming slang now

Answer 9

idiomatic phrases: metaphorical, well-known phrases

Question 10

Cockney rhyming slang examples

Answer 10

• Joanna as piano (pronounced ‘pianner’)

Question 11

What is Cockney rhyming slang?

Answer 11

replacing a word or phrase with a rhyming word or expression

Question 12

Explain social mobility and how it happens

Answer 12

spreading of dialect into different geographical regions other than where it originated from which happens through the growth of modern media such as film such as The Italian Job

Question 13

Cockney rhyming slang evaluation

Answer 13

• used to create an identity
• sense of community and belonging
• after it became more popular and used by ‘outsiders’, original users stopped using it

Question 14

What is MLE?

Answer 14

• youth slang

- Multi-cultural London English

Question 15

Origination of MLE

Answer 15

• Afro-American, Jamaican

- inward migration to London