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English language paper 2 > British accents and dialects > Flashcards

British accents and dialects Flashcards

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1
Q

what is language

A

a system of communication between humans

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2
Q

what are varieties of language

A

different idiosyncratic and nuanced subforms and styles

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3
Q

in what three ways are varieties of language distinguished

A
  • phonology
  • lexis
  • grammar
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4
Q

what is an accent

A

way we pronounce words

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5
Q

what is a dialect

A

variety distinguished by social group or geographical location

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6
Q

what is an idiolect

A

variety used by individual speakers

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7
Q

what is a sociolect

A

variety used by a particular social group

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8
Q

what are the two historical influences of the Northern Irish accent

A
  • Scotland
  • The English North and Midlands
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9
Q

what are the features of the Northern Irish accent

A
  • pronounced rhotic R on words ending with letter R
  • a tight, rigid mouth makes the ‘ow’ vowel sound shorter and less round than other English accents
  • use definitive words/phrases
  • distinct rhythm in speech
  • melodious intonation
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10
Q

key features of cockney accent

A
  • Glottal stop
  • H dropping
  • replacement of /th/ with /v/
  • back slang
  • humorous rhyming slang
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11
Q

what is a vernacular accent

A

dialect used by a group of people

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12
Q

what is a register

A

variety of language used in certain contexts

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13
Q

what is a regiolect

A

variety of language restricted to a specific region

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14
Q

what is an ethnolect

A

variety of language used by a particular ethnic group

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15
Q

what is a Genderlect

A

variety of language related to a specific gender

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16
Q

what does David Crystal say is the value of accent

A

accents have a more important value than other indicator of your identity

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17
Q

when did representation of accent first appear in literature

A
  • Shakespeare had mainly lower-class characters use accents
  • Chaucer
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18
Q

when and why did people start making judgement about accents

A

middle of the 18th century as it was the century of correction and manners

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19
Q

According to Observer newspaper, what accents do 80% of business managers say are used by people who are unreliable

A
  • Birmingham
  • Glasgow
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20
Q

what is the accent we associate with university and the BBC

A

received pronounciation

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21
Q

when did RP become dominant

A

19th century and became known in the 20th century due to the BBC

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22
Q

why do people have mixed accents

A
  • mobility
  • influence
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23
Q

what’s a key feature of accents

A

they change every day

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24
Q

what is the phenomenon of an individual’s accent variation called

A

the accomadation theory

25
Q

what is convergence

A

when accents become similar when speaking to others

26
Q

what is divergence

A

when accents start to differ more when speaking to others

27
Q

how have attitudes to RP changed

A
  • RP had positive attitudes, it was more authoritative and educated
  • but in the present, RP is considered posh, ‘untrustworthy’ and distant
28
Q

what’s the most popular accents for telesales according to Crystal

A
  • Edinburgh-Scots
  • Yorkshire
29
Q

what is Estuary English

A

the accent of the River Thames Estuary that lowly spread

30
Q

what is the geographical location of RP

A
  • RP isn’t tied to geographical location
  • anyone can speak RP if they want
  • very small percentage of people use it
31
Q

how is RP compared to other accents

A
  • RP is an accent of prestige
  • it’s valued above others in matters of power and influence in society
32
Q

what is a monophthong

A

vowel sound that remains constant throughout it realisation

33
Q

what is a diphthong

A

vowel sound that changes slightly throughout its realisation

34
Q

what alphabet is English written in and the effect of this

A

Roman alphabet and so there aren’t enough sound-letter correspondences

35
Q

what are some stereotypes about the north

A
  • friendly
  • cheap
  • cold
  • rural
36
Q

what are some stereotypes about the south

A
  • unfriendly
  • posh
  • expensive
  • urban
37
Q

when did the original north-south divide begin

A

arose in the ninth century, after a peace treaty between the Danes and the Anglo-Saxons, which created a territorial border

38
Q

what is the foot/strut distinction

A
  • foot vowel for words like full, look, could
  • strut vowel /A/ for words like cub, rub, hum
39
Q

what was the findings of Petyt 1985

A

lower the social class, more frequent h-dropping

40
Q

what was the findings of Labov 1963

A

language change is a process, as the more dialectal centralised /ay/ and /aw/ diphthongs becoming more frequent

41
Q

when and why did RP start

A
  • 18th century - the Industrial Revolution
  • 19th century - railroad expansion
    both of these factors led to social mobility
  • schools taught in RP
42
Q

how has RP affected Scottish English

A
  • 17th century there was adjustment of Scots to English
  • Scots looked to English as a model of speech
  • many English people moved to Scotland
43
Q

how has the Queens English changed

A
  • glottal stop
  • l-vocalisation
  • contemporary English
44
Q

what is l-vocalisation

A

the /l/ turns into a vowel or semivowel

45
Q

different reactions to the Queens English

A
  • beautiful
  • snobby
  • outdated
46
Q

what features are younger speakers bringing into English

A
  • glottal stops
  • l-vocalisation
47
Q

what are some arguments for RP usage

A
  • it’s beautiful
  • easily understood
  • frequently heard in media
  • overt prestige
  • basis of linguistic treatments of English pronunciation
  • used in EFL teaching materials
48
Q

what are some arguments against RP usage

A
  • saying it’s beautiful is based on social prejudice
  • many can’t distinguish RP from other accents
  • difficult to acquire because of the amount of diphthongs
  • its necessary to expose students to both RP and other accents
49
Q

what is code-switching

A

when speakers switch between different language varieties, conveying different meanings in the process

50
Q

what is Pidgin English

A

speakers of one or more languages come together and the lack of a common language results in an amalgamation of features
- has extremely simplified grammar

51
Q

what is Creole

A

next step for Pidgin and its usually developed when children of Pidgin speakers expand the vocabulary and grammar features until its a fully functioning language

52
Q

who is responsible for most of what we know about attitudes to English accents

A

Howard Giles

53
Q

what did Howard Giles discover about RP

A
  • associated with being competent, reliable and educated
  • but also with being unfriendly, insincere and less persuasive
54
Q

what is a common association with RP due to American films

A

in American sci-fi and horror films, RP was used by menacing characters

55
Q

what does Trudgill (2000) say about dialects

A

distinguishes traditional dialects and mainstream dialects
- traditional dialects are very different from mainstream dialects and the population of people who use this accent is growing smaller
- mainstream dialects include standard English + mainstream non-standard English dialects

56
Q

what is standard British English

A
  • dominant variety of English
  • characterised as the accepted, formal variety we use in writing
  • dialect
57
Q

what did Milroy & Milroy discover

A

a speakers idiolect is determined in part by their social network, rather than only being due to their social groups

58
Q

what is dialect levelling

A

dialect losing the marked features they once had over time
- occurs due to the contact between dialects
- dialects don’t lose features, one feature must be replaced by another

English language paper 2 (13 decks)

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