Language And Class

Question 1

Ross’s U and non U language

Answer 1

MC attempted to speak like UC however their lexical choices gave them away as they acted as “shibboleths”
E.g “serviette” instead of “napkin”

Question 2

Bernstein restricted and elaborated code

Answer 2

Restricted code- Used in informal settings with family and friends etc. It is highly implicit and can also occur in the work place if you always work with the same people or in the same place eg factory workers
Elaborated - explicit doesn’t assume background or prior knowledge instead makes everything clear and overt suitable for outsiders or discussing unfamiliar or challenging ideas
Mc- can speak both depending on context
Wc- only speak restricted

Question 3

Trudgill’s Norwich study

Answer 3

Study to find out why peoples accent varied- he focuses on the final consonant in present participle verbs such as “walking”. In standard English the sound spelt “ng” is a velar nasal /n that looks like j/ trudgill found a direct correlation- higher the class the more you are likely to pronounce it whereas WC typically g-dropped and pronounced the alveolar nasal /n/

Question 4

Estuary English

Answer 4

RP + Cockney= Estuary English
Main feature is t-glottalisation eg “wa/?/er” instead of saying “water”
It is becoming wide spread due to the prestige of RP and friendliness of Cockney.

Question 5

Labovs department store study

Answer 5

Went to 3 different department stores (sak’s-UC Macy’s-MC klein’s-WC) to see which ones would pronounce /r/ more he found saks used it the most to show overt prestige whereas WC didn’t to show covert prestige he also found Macy’s changed it the most to pronounce the R