Accent and Dialect Flashcards
TRUE OR FALSE:
Although there are a variety of accents in the UK, there are many people who don’t speak with an accent at all.
FALSE! Although you will often hear people say ‘I don’t really have an accent’, it is actually impossible to speak without one – Dr Catherine Sangster said It would be like “painting without a colour!”
TRUE OR FALSE: The best accent to have in the UK is Received Pronunciation (the accent spoken by the King)
FALSE! As linguists, we should resist the urge to make value judgements about language varieties. The prestige of RP, as you will see during this unit, does not come from its ‘superiority’.
TRUE OR FALSE: Globalisation means accents are dying out; in a few generations we will all sound the same.
FALSE! Dialect levelling is an overall reduction in the variation or diversity of features, accompanied by an increase in the similarities, between two or more dialects in contact with each other.
This is at the result of multiple factors as well, not just globalisation - migration, urbanisation, the influence of the media, and social variables such as socioeconomic status, age, level of education, and interaction with individuals outside the local community.
Whilst it is true that some regional features are ‘dying out’, the situation is complicated -
although there are some signs of accents and dialects levelling out in some respects, there is no indication at all that they will disappear.
yes it is happening, but not at the rate people think it is, as it has been a phenomenon in progress for some 100 years already, and we are still very lexically diverse today.
Additionally, we psychologically need to have a variety of accents as it identifies us with our specific communities, connecting us with ‘our own’ and excluding outsiders, a natural human urge that we will subconsciously preserve.
TRUE OR FALSE: Accent and dialect are two ways of referring to the same thing; they both simply refer to regional varieties of language.
FALSE! They do both refer to aspects of regional variation, but there is a distinction between the levels of language they refer to.
Dialect: Variation in words and structures associated with a particular geographical region
Accent: Variation in pronunciation, often associated with a specific geographical region
Explain regional variation:
One of the most important influences on both our accent and our dialect is where we grew up, with each area of a country having slightly different ways of saying some things than its neighbours, creating what we know as regional variation.
Why is the UK so diverse in terms of dialect / regional variation?
The UK is particularly rich and diverse in this respect, so much so that people from one part of the country can find it difficult to understand people from another part of the country, despite the fact they are both speaking English!
The reason for this rich diversity can be seen in the history of the UK, with various groups of people conquering and settling different parts of the islands at different times, each bringing their own language or dialect with them.
This amalgamation has lead to different types of accents depending on region that have all been affected by different things.
Consider the wide range of regional variation in the UK; even though we are a small country, accents such as… are distinct and individually recognisable.
Geordie, Scouse, Mancunian, Brummies, Cockney, Sussex, Glaswegian, Yorkshire, Devonshire, Cumbrian, Welsh, etc.
Define Accent
Phonological variation in pronunciation, often associated with a specific geographical region.
Define Dialect
Grammatical variation in words and structures associated with a particular geographical region.
Define Idiolect
The speech habits peculiar to a particular person.
List the key features of Recieved Pronunciation.
The long [ɑː] sound in words such as bath, palm and start.
RP speakers never drop the letter ‘h’ at the beginning of words.
The inserting of a small ‘y’ sound (/j/) in front of a vowel (e.g. tune, news, stupid etc.)
Who helped to create a “standard” for English Language in his famous dictionary of 1757?
Daniel Johnson
Daniel Johnson created his dictionary in what year?
A. 1756
B. 1757
C.1758
D. 1759
B. He helped to create a “standard” for English Language in his famous dictionary of 1757.
Where did Received Pronunciation originate?
Historically, it has its origins in the speech areas around London, although now it is associated with social class and prestige rather than a given region.
Why is RP seen as so prestigious historically?
The power in the UK, at least since the eleventh century, has centred in and around London, whilst educational prestige has centred around Oxford and Cambridge. Therefore, it was the accent that emerged in these regions that came to be seen as most prestigious.
What is the disadvantage of speaking with an RP accent?
RP speakers emerge less favourably than speakers with regional accents in terms of personal attractiveness. They score lower in terms of sincerity, good nature and sense of humour.
Who found that RP is unpopular? Why?
RP – seen as accent of the ‘ruling class’. However, Trudgill in 1973 found only 3% of speakers spoke with this accent, which means 97% people can’t relate to ‘being from the same place as that person’ - We don’t seem to trust people if they don’t come from where we do, according to recent studies.
What did Mark Thomas – Director of the BBC in 2007 - do that was so controversial?
Wanted to champion regional accents throughout the BBC, but, Due to complaints, he was forced to scale back his plans. The public didn’t trust those with regional accents to deliver ‘trusted’ information.
Daniel Jones made what impact on to lexicography in 1916?
Introduced pronunciation guides in his English Pronunciation Dictionary, 1916, by the time RP had become accepted as the ‘accent of the establishment’.
Example of more regional accents not being as authoritative / respected as RP:
In 1941, the BBC first allowed a Northern accent to deliver the news - Wilfred Pickles. Some listeners were less inclined to believe the news when Pickles was reading it. (This wasn’t an early attempt to appeal to the general public, but actually a war tactic so Nazis couldn’t impersonate BBC broadcasters.)
Broadcaster Susan Rae was sent hate mail when her ‘incomprehensible’ Scottish accent was heard by Radio 4.
