Accent and Dialect-Key Terminology

Question 1

Accommodation Theory

Answer 1

We adjust our speech to suit the person we are addressing- Howard Giles

Question 2

Convergence

Answer 2

moving our speech (accent) closer to the speech of the other person

Question 3

Divergence

Answer 3

moving our speech away from the other person

Question 4

Downward Convergence

Answer 4

moving speech away from RP to accommodate non RP speaking listeners

Question 5

Upward Convergence

Answer 5

moving speech closer to RP to accommodate RP speaking listeners

Question 6

Phoneme

Answer 6

basic unit of a sound

Question 7

Diphthong

Answer 7

a sound formed by the combination of two vowels in a single syllable ,where the speaker glides from one to another

Question 8

Voiced Sounds

Answer 8

sounds made with a vibrating voice box

Question 9

Unvoiced Sounds

Answer 9

sounds made without a vibrating voice box

Question 10

Place of Articulation

Answer 10

the position in the mouth were a constant sound is produced

Question 11

International Phonetic Alphabet

Answer 11

the ‘alphabet’ of all sounds used in languages across the world

Question 12

Long a

Answer 12

the vowel sound used in ‘part’

Question 13

Short a

Answer 13

the vowel sound used in ‘cat’

Question 14

Schwa

Answer 14

the vowel sound ‘ah’

Question 15

Rhotic

Answer 15

speakers who pronounce the post - vocalic ‘r’ such as accents in the South West of the UK

Question 16

Glottal stop

Answer 16

closing off the vocal chords to prevent sounds from coming out

Question 17

‘th’ fronting

Answer 17

using ‘f’ instead of ‘th’ e.g ‘nofing’

Question 18

Social mobility

Answer 18

a persons move from ones social class to another

Question 19

Prescriptivism

Answer 19

An attitude where language is viewed as correct/incorrect