accent and dialect - theories

Question 1

Carmen Llamas

Answer 1

• created sense relation networks (SRNs)
• this draws upon the idea that within the mind there exists a network of interconnected words and phrases
• used to explore patterns of lexical variation across regions

Question 2

Dixon, Mahoney and Cocks

Answer 2

• used a ‘matched guise’ approach to explore the correlation between accent and perceived guilt
• suspects were perceived to be significantly more likely to be guilt when they spoke with the non-standard Birmingham form

Question 3

Gerard Van Herk

Answer 3

• the use of covert prestige is ‘the linguistic equivalent of street credibility’

Question 4

Howard Giles (73)

Answer 4

• 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

Question 5

Howard Giles (75)

Answer 5

• investigated RP and Birmingham accent
• the same speaker used two different accents to discuss psychology
• the RP ‘speaker’ was rated higher in terms of competence and intelligence

Question 6

Harrington

Answer 6

• 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

Question 7

Kerswill

Answer 7

• 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 to be able to have an impact on language used

Question 8

Trudgill

Answer 8

• studies the -ng sound at the end of words in Norwich
• found the -g was dropped more widely in lower social classes

Question 9

Thomas Pear

Answer 9

• people had different perceptions of a speaker depending on the accent that they had heard them speak with

Question 10

Labov (60s)

Answer 10

• martha’s vineyard study
• the locals resisted dialect levelling due to ‘summer people’, claiming their identity as residents
• divergence was used to mark the change

Question 11

Labov (66)

Answer 11

• studies the procononantal /r/ in New York City department stores
• foudn that lower middle class were most susceptible to overt prestige