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English language paper 2 > British accents and dialects > Flashcards

British accents and dialects Flashcards

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
what is convergence
when accents become similar when speaking to others
26
what is divergence
when accents start to differ more when speaking to others
27
how have attitudes to RP changed
- RP had positive attitudes, it was more authoritative and educated - but in the present, RP is considered posh, 'untrustworthy' and distant
28
what's the most popular accents for telesales according to Crystal
- Edinburgh-Scots - Yorkshire
29
what is Estuary English
the accent of the River Thames Estuary that lowly spread
30
what is the geographical location of RP
- RP isn't tied to geographical location - anyone can speak RP if they want - very small percentage of people use it
31
how is RP compared to other accents
- RP is an accent of prestige - it's valued above others in matters of power and influence in society
32
what is a monophthong
vowel sound that remains constant throughout it realisation
33
what is a diphthong
vowel sound that changes slightly throughout its realisation
34
what alphabet is English written in and the effect of this
Roman alphabet and so there aren't enough sound-letter correspondences
35
what are some stereotypes about the north
- friendly - cheap - cold - rural
36
what are some stereotypes about the south
- unfriendly - posh - expensive - urban
37
when did the original north-south divide begin
arose in the ninth century, after a peace treaty between the Danes and the Anglo-Saxons, which created a territorial border
38
what is the foot/strut distinction
- foot vowel for words like full, look, could - strut vowel /A/ for words like cub, rub, hum
39
what was the findings of Petyt 1985
lower the social class, more frequent h-dropping
40
what was the findings of Labov 1963
language change is a process, as the more dialectal centralised /ay/ and /aw/ diphthongs becoming more frequent
41
when and why did RP start
- 18th century - the Industrial Revolution - 19th century - railroad expansion both of these factors led to social mobility - schools taught in RP
42
how has RP affected Scottish English
- 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
how has the Queens English changed
- glottal stop - l-vocalisation - contemporary English
44
what is l-vocalisation
the /l/ turns into a vowel or semivowel
45
different reactions to the Queens English
- beautiful - snobby - outdated
46
what features are younger speakers bringing into English
- glottal stops - l-vocalisation
47
what are some arguments for RP usage
- it's beautiful - easily understood - frequently heard in media - overt prestige - basis of linguistic treatments of English pronunciation - used in EFL teaching materials
48
what are some arguments against RP usage
- 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
what is code-switching
when speakers switch between different language varieties, conveying different meanings in the process
50
what is Pidgin English
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
what is Creole
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
who is responsible for most of what we know about attitudes to English accents
Howard Giles
53
what did Howard Giles discover about RP
- associated with being competent, reliable and educated - but also with being unfriendly, insincere and less persuasive
54
what is a common association with RP due to American films
in American sci-fi and horror films, RP was used by menacing characters
55
what does Trudgill (2000) say about dialects
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
what is standard British English
- dominant variety of English - characterised as the accepted, formal variety we use in writing - dialect
57
what did Milroy & Milroy discover
a speakers idiolect is determined in part by their social network, rather than only being due to their social groups
58
what is dialect levelling
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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