Accent And Dialect Flashcards
Howard Giles: Accommodation Theory
• Adjusting accent, dictation or other aspects of language according to the speech style of the other participants
Convergence
> Changing own accent to be more like those around you
Divergence
> Using different language style of other speaker to signal social distance
Peter Trudgill Norwich Study Findings
> In all social classes, it was more likely for people to say “walking” rather than “walkin”
> Proportion of people saying “walkin” was higher in lower classes
> The non-standard “walkin” occurred more in men than in women for all social classes
> Women thought they used the standard “-ing” than they did
> Men thought they used the standard “-in” than they did
Biadialectism
> Using 2 dialects of the same language e.g. standard English paired with a regional accent
Accent softening
> Reducing / modifying an accent towards another
Accent modification
> Learning / adopting a new accent
Accentism
> Discriminating / unfair behaviour centered on someone’s accent / language use
Ethnolect
> Language variety that marks speakers as members of ethnic groups
Linguistic prejudice
> People holding bias about others based on how they speak
Accent levelling
> Two/more accents or dialects that come together to become more similar
Jean Aitchson said “all languages have their….”
> “ All languages have their ‘rules’ in the sense of reoccurring subconscious patterns” e.g. where the verb goes in a sentence
> English= “The spider caught the fly”
Welsh= “Caught the spider the fly”
• Without these rules, communication would break down
Lindsay Jones
> “Language can be a threat to power”
> “Street slang is all around us”
> “Street slang is self sabotage”
> “Politicians use SE”
> “Younger people have lowered vocabulary” e.g. a 14 year old had the vocabulary of a 9 year old because didn’t use SE
Anna-Brita Strenson: Features common in teenage language
> Irregular turn-taking
Overlaps
Indistinct articulation
Word shortenings
Teasing & name calling
Slang
Taboo
Eckert: What slang is used for
> Slang is used to “establish a connection to youth culture and to set themselves off from the older generation.. to signal coolness, toughness or attitude”
> Linguistic change is more common in teenagers e.g. the coining of new words/lexical items
Gary Ives West Yorkshire Secondary School Study Findings
> 63 teenagers questioned about whether people spoke differently according to their age
> 100% agreed
Jenny Cheshire argues what about adult and child language?
> Jenny Cheshire argues that “it is becoming recognised..that adult language, as well as child language, develops in response to important life events that affect the social relations and social attuitudes of individuals”
> Teens in Reading:
• Girls in Group A = disappointing of weapons, fighting, crime
• Girls in Group B = took part/approved of activities
Douglas Bigham states what about “important life events”?
> “Important life events are likely to occur post 18”
> Couldn’t remember a lot about childhood language e.g. “tig” but was very aware of how their teenage language use was distinctive e.g. taboo
Gary Ives Bradford Study
> 8 teenage boys said they all use the same diverse forms of language to be a part of a social or friendship group
> They use language to create a “well defined social identity” and are diverging from ‘elders’
> 1 boy stated all his peers use similar slang e.g. “bare” (lots), “sick” (cool), he also commented on the use of Punjabi when speaking to friends, but “only with certain people” “secret language”
How does Rosewarne describe Estuary English?
> A variety that compromises features of standard English phonology, RP and regional south-eastern speech patterns
> He places Estuary English speakers on a continuum of accents between RP and Cockney somewhere in the middle
> Can be used by those who hold power, as well as working-class members
Features of Estuary English
> T Glottinisation ( t being dropped , usually at the end of a word or before a consonant )
> L Vocalisation ( l replaced with w )
> H Dropping
> Non-rhetoric
> Linking R ( only pronounced before a vowel ) and Intrusive R ( putting an ‘R’ where there is no R )
Why did Estuary English gain momentum in the 90s/00s?
> Ambition and needs: social mobility and peer pressure
• Social mobility= “movement of individuals, families or groups through a system of social hierarchy or stratification”. If a change in role does involve a change in social-class position, it is called “vertical mobility” and involves either “upward” or “downward mobility”.
> Both types have led to what Rosewarne called the “middle ground”, where formerly upper middle or middle and lower classes meet, also linguistically
Public attitudes towards EE
> Some linguistics have criticised the term as it suggests the variety is restricted to the area
> Trudgill “ It suggests that it is a variety of English confined to the banks of the Thames Estuary, which it is not”.
> Some non-linguistics have responded to EE negatively, deeming it inauthentic
Features of MLE
> Diphthongs become shorter vowels e.g. face -> “fehs”
> Th-fronting e.g. third -> “fird”
> Bare = lots of, Nang = good
> Non-standard subject-verb agreement e.g. “I was”, “You was”, “We was”
> Tag questions limited to “innit”
