Accent and Dialect Flashcards
Accent
Variation in pronunciation, often associated with a particular geographical region.
Dialect
Variation in words and grammatical structures associated with a particular geographical region.
Convergence
When a speaker adapts their accent to move closer to the accent of the other speaker
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.
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’.
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.
Idiolect
An individual way of speaking with a distinct accent and dialect
Sociolect
Dialect associated with the class of a speaker
Ethnolect
Language associated with ethnic groups
Prosody
Non-verbal aspects of speech like pace, stress, pitch, intonation and volume
Register
The term register refers to the various ways people use language based on who they’re talking to and their situation. An example of a register is the formal register, which we would use in formal situations, such as writing essays or talking to a headteacher.
‘th’ fronting
Pronounciation of ‘th’ as /f/ or /v/. e.g. ‘think’ becomes ‘fink’ and ‘with’ becomes ‘wiv’.
Received Pronunciation
Received pronunciation, commonly abbreviated as RP, is a once prestigious variety of British English spoken without an identifiable regional dialect. It is also known as British Received Pronunciation, BBC English, the Queen’s English, and posh accent.
“Received Pronunciation is only around 200 years old,” said linguist David Crystal. “It emerged towards the end of the 18th century as an upper-class accent, and soon became the voice of the public schools, the civil service, and the British Empire”
Estuary English
Estuary English is a contemporary variety of British English: a mixture of non-regional and southeastern English pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary, which is thought to have originated around the banks of the River Thames and its estuary. Also known as Cockneyfied RP and Nonstandard Southern English.
The term Estuary English was introduced by British linguist David Rosewarne in 1984.
Paul Coggle predicts that Estuary English (think Jonathan Ross) will eventually take over from RP. Estuary already predominates in the South East and has apparently spread as far north as Hull.
But Jonnie Robinson points out that this latest version of the imperialist south has turned out to be a false alarm.
‘There is no doubt the London dialect we have come to call estuary has spread out across the south-east,’ he says, ‘but research has shown that northern accents and dialects have withstood its spread.’
MLE
Multicultural London English - an Ethnolect that has been identified by Jenny Cheshire in London and is trasmitted by the Grime music scene.
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.
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
Dixon, Mahoney and Cocks 2002 study
Dixon aimed to further research effect of accent in legal context, in particular the Birmingham (Brummie) accent as this accent had more negative evaluations in previous studies in comparison with rural regional brit accents or RP accents.
- Dixon et al. predicted that Brummie-Accented suspect would receive higher guilt rating than standard brit-accented suspect.
- Study also aimed to see whether race or type of crime (blue or white collar) would make any difference to how the brummie or standard speaking suspect was judged.
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.
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.
Jonathon Harrington 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.
Paul Kerswill’s on 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.
Kerswill identified a gradual move among adolescent, Southern speakers towards the more standardised, less localised variations of speech. However, in Hull, the closed social networks encourage the continuation of traditional pronunciations, for example, dropping the /h/ was widespread in both old and young residents of Hull but far less so in Reading and Milton Keynes.
He suggests an economic factor – the prosperity of southern towns makes social mobility and achievable goal for young people, however, the high levels of unemployment in northern towns such as Hull makes children unconvinced of the value of education as a passport to social mobility and therefore reject the pressure from authoritarian systems such as the educational one to modify their accents.
Why the /th/ fronting and glottalling in Hull then, as this is common in Reading and Milton Keynes as well? Kerswill says that these linguistic variations are associated with youth culture rather than social class as they are spread though the media and celebrity culture popular with adolescents.
Hull teenagers can signify their allegiance to their region and class by maintaining the traditional northern accent as well as identifying themselves with their peer group by adopting new phonemes popular with youth culture which may still be working class but not traditionally northern.
Trudgill study in Norwich
Studied the –ng sound at the end of words in Norwich. Found the –g was dropped more widely in lower social classes.
Thomas Pear on the perceptions of speakers
People had different perceptions of a speaker depending on the accent that they had heard them speak with.
Martha’s Vineyard by Labov
The locals resisted dialect levelling due to ‘summer people’, claiming their identity as residents. Divergence was used to mark the change.
Labov’s Department Store Study
Studied the procononantal /r/ in New York City department stores. Found that the lower middle class were most susceptible to overt prestige.
The results from the department store study highlight the main themes of the research. Frequency of use of the prestige variable final or preconsonantal (r) varied with level of formality and social class.
indexicality
The process by which pronunications are attached to social meaning
social meaning
How we attribute certain social assumptions based on the way someone speaks.
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
Accent Bias
an unwarranted prejudice toward interlocutors based on the sound of their speech
SSBE
SSBE – Standard Southern British English – a rival for RP
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
Dominic Watt
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
Criticism: People can modify an accent but you cannot modify your skin colour/disabilities
Accent Bias Research Project aim
Exploring whether the employability of a person can be dictated by the way they speak.
main finding of the Accent Bias Research Project
Young people are more positive to non-standard forms than older people
