Accent and Dialect Flashcards
What is an Accent?
Variation in pronunciation, often associated with a particular geographical region.
What is a Dialect?
Variation in words and grammatical structures associated with a particular geographical region.
What is Code Switching?
When speakers who speak two or more different languages switch from one to the other, often in mid conversation. Can also be used to refer to switching between dialects of the same accent.
What is Convergence?
When a speaker adapts their accent to move closer to the accent of the other speaker
What is Divergence?
When a speaker adapts their accent to move away from the accent of the other speaker
What is Covert Prestige?
The less obvious or hidden prestige associated with the use of certain non-standard varieties of a language within particular social groups.
What is Overt Prestige?
The obvious prestige associated with the use of the standard variety of a language within a particular society. Connected to notions of speaking ‘properly’.
What is Dialect Levelling?
The process by which language forms of different parts of the country converge and become more similar over time, with the loss of regional features and reduced diversity of language.
What is an Idiolect?
An individual way of speaking with a distinct accent and dialect
What is a Sociolect?
Dialect associated with the class of a speaker
What is an Ethnolect?
Language associated with ethnic groups
What is Prosody?
Non-verbal aspects of speech like pace, stress, pitch, intonation and volume
What is a Register?
The situation or context in which a discourse event takes place which motivates the speaker or writer to adopt a particular register.
What is ‘Th fronting’?
Pronounciation of ‘th’ as /f/ or /v/. e.g. ‘think’ becomes ‘fink’ and ‘with’ becomes ‘wiv’.
What is Estuary English?
Accent spreading outwards, along the Thames, from London containing features of both RP and London speech.
What is MLE?
Multicultural London English - an Ethnolect that has been identified by Jenny Cheshire in London and is trasmitted by the Grime music scene.
What is the Post-Vocalic /r/ ?
The /r/ sound that appears after a vowel and before a consonant e.g. farm, or at the end of a word e.g. far. It is not pronounced in most English accents.
What is George Bailey’s Dialect Writing Study?
Identified that Regional forms are being spelt in the way they are spoken. For example Man Citeh rather than Man City
Explain Dixon, Mahoney and Cocks 2002 study
Used a ‘matched guise’ approach to explore the correlation between accent and perceived guilt. Suspects were perceived to be significantly more likely to be guilty when they spoke with the non-standard Birmingham form.
What is Howard Giles’ Accommodation Theory?
The idea that people have different levels of formality of language at their disposal, and will converge or diverge their language depending on their situation.
What is a Rhotic accent?
An accent which pronounces postvocalic /r/
What did Jonathon Harrington track in 2000?
Tracked changes in the Queens speech over a thirty year period. Certain aspects of her speech have moved towards a more general southern British English variety, rather than RP.
What is Paul Kerswill’s findings about dialect levelling?
Studied dialect levelling in Hull, Reading and Milton Keynes. The more people mix in different networks, the more people move in from elsewhere and the more scope there is for social mobility can have an impact on language used.
What did Trudgill study in Norwich? (1974)
Studied the –ng sound at the end of words in Norwich. Found the –g was dropped more widely in lower social classes.
What does Thomas Pear state about perceptions of speakers?
People had different perceptions of a speaker depending on the accent that they had heard them speak with.
Outline Martha’s Vineyard by Labov (1960s)
The locals resisted dialect levelling due to ‘summer people’, claiming their identity as residents. Divergence was used to mark the change.
Explain Labov’s Department Store Study (1966)
Studied the procononantal /r/ in New York City department stores. Found that the lower middle class were most susceptible to overt prestige.
Define indexicality
The process by which pronunications are attached to social meaning
What is a social meaning?
How we attribute certain social assumptions based on the way someone speaks.
What is MBE, proposed by Drummond?
A variety of English used by people in the UK which incorporates features associated with MLE alongside features from local accent and dialect
What is Accent Bias?
an unwarranted prejudice toward interlocutors based on the sound of their speech
What is a diaspora?
The spread of an accent to other areas
What is SSBE?
SSBE – Standard Southern British English – a rival for RP?
What is a protected characteristic?
The Act provides a legal framework to protect the rights of individuals and advance equality of opportunity for all. It provides Britain with a discrimination law which protects individuals from unfair treatment and promotes a fair and more equal society.
Protected characteristics within the act include, race, gender, sexuality but not accent
What is Dominic Watt campagining for?
A key campaigner and organiser of the Accent Bias in Britain research project is among some who are campaigning for this to be included.
Lobby Group – Equality Act Review – are taking this to Government to be addressed
What is a criticism of this?
People can modify an accent but you cannot modify your skin colour/disabilities
What did the Accent Bias Research Project aim to find?
Exploring whether the employability of a person can be dictated by the way they speak.
What was the main finding of the Accent Bias Research Project?
Young people are more positive to non-standard forms than older people
