Language and Region Flashcards
What was Peter Trudgill’s Accent study?
- Made Brits and Americans rank accents
- The Brits had a clear ranking while the Americans did not
- This suggests that we judge accents based on our knowledge of the place they originate from
(For example, the West Country accents were prefered and they are known for being visually appealing areas)
What was Howard Giles’ Matched Guise Experiment?
- The same speaker performed the same speech to different audiences with different accents
- Giles tested for the audience’s perception of status, personality, and persuasiveness
How were different accents percieved in Howard Gile’s study?
- RP was seen as self-confident, intelligent, ambitious, cold, ruthless
- Northern accents were seen as honest, reliable, generous, sincere, warm, humourous
- Regional accents were seen as persuasive and friendly
What is a criticism of Howard Giles’ Matched Guise experiment?
The speaker may have not been able to perform al the accents accurately and convincingly
What does Peter Trudgil say about accents and dialects?
- We all have an accent and dialect
- Our regional features are part of our identity
- Where we are from is important to people
What does Tom Leonard’s Unrelated Incident No. 3 poem express?
- He calls for more representation of regional accents in mainstream media
- Argues that people with a regional accent are negatively stereotyped and not seen as reliable
- People see a right and wrong way of speaking
What is an accent?
The way language sounds
What is a dialect?
The regional words used
Why does the UK have so many accents?
Due to the early settlers and invaders that brought their language to certain areas
What did George Bernard Shaw say?
‘It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him’
Why did George Bernard Shaw name his play Pygmalion?
To reflect how language and education could sculpt a person, much like the statue
What is Received Pronunciation also known as?
The King’s Speech or the voice of the BBC
What are some features of RP?
- Region-less
- Form of overt prestige
- Has connotations of wealth, high social status, money, power, influence
- Often spoken by politicians, lawyers, royalty
What happened in 1922?
Lord Reith established the BBC and wanted everyone to speak RP as it is clear to understand, which has made it associated with knowledge and power
What percentage of the UK population use RP?
Only 3%
What phonological differences does RP use?
- Long /a/ vowel sound
- Hard /t/ sound
What does the Essex University study say about Cockney and RP?
- RP and Cockney are being replaced by 3 new accents
- Researchers analysed ~200 voices of 18-33 year olds
- New accents are no longer class or region based
What accents did the Essex University study name?
- Standard Southern British Englisg (SSBE)
- Estuary English
- Multicultural London English
Estuary English
- 26% of people surveyed used it
- Its a mix between Cockney and RP
- Orignates in the South East, along the Thames Estuary
- Used by Olly Murs and Johnathon Ross
Why has Estuary English become so popular?
- Less judgment due to it being in the middle of RP and Cockney
- Classless
- Intelligent (RP) + freindly and reliable (Cockney)
Standard Southern British English
- 49% of people surveyed used it
- Modern, updated version of RP
- Used by Prince Harry
- Drops t at the end of words but not in the middle
Multi-Cultural London English (MLE)
- Formed due to the many cultures in London
- Has spread to over major cities
- An accent and dialect
- Associated with young people
- Influenced heavily by Jamaican
- Is said to be replacing Cockney
- Used by Stormzy and Lil Simz
Origins of MLE
- The Windrush Generations settled in Essex
- In the 60s and 70s there were many mixed-race relations, exposing eachother to their language
- Sebba and Hewitt called it Black Cockney when white young people converged their language to be like their black friends
What did Ben Rampton (2010) say about Creole?
‘Creole was widely seen as cool, tough, and good to use. It was associated with assertiveness and verbal resourcefulness, competence in heterosexual relationships and opposition to authority@
What did John Pitts say about MLE in the 1980s?
- Noted the start of a new youth language among young black people in the East End of London at a time when they were being mistreated by society
- They used their language as deliberate divergence
- The new dialect was seen statement of resistance
What do Kirswell and Fox say about MLE?
- It is used increasingly in Southern England
- It is replacing Cockney and other dialects
- Multicultural dialects are emerging in other large UK cities
What is The Wave Model?
- Language spreads like ripples on a pond
- It becomes diluted the further it spreads
