Language + Region

Question 1

RP English

Answer 1

Received Pronunciation
A regionally neutral accent that avoids non-standard features and localised vocabulary

Question 2

Vernacular English

Answer 2

Language specific to a country/region (COLLOQUIALISM, DIALECT, SLANG)

Question 3

Prescriptivism

Answer 3

The belief that there is a correct way of using language which is superior to others (RP usually)

Question 4

Descriptivism

Answer 4

Opposite to prescriptivism – non-judgemental and prefer to study the use of language

Question 5

Overt prestige

Answer 5

Status that is publicly acknowledged (e.g., using standard dialect to gain social status)

Question 6

Covert prestige

Answer 6

Status gained from peer group recognition rather than public acknowledgement (e.g., using a local dialect)

Question 7

Ethnocentrism

Answer 7

Believing your culture is superior to others and or using the values of your culture to value others

Question 8

Accent

Answer 8

Pronunciation and phonology (sound)

Question 9

Dialect

Answer 9

Words and their meanings and grammar

Question 10

Dialect levelling

Answer 10

Dialects becoming more similar

Question 11

Prepositions

Answer 11

Southwest - ‘Where’s he to?’

Southeast - ‘Where is he?’

Question 12

Pronouns

Answer 12

Liverpool – plural of you is ‘youse’

Question 13

Verb ‘To be’

Answer 13

Cockney - ‘We was’

Southwest - ‘I be doing this’

Question 14

Determiners

Answer 14

Southeast - ‘Those people’

Regional dialects - ‘Them people’

Question 15

Double negation

Answer 15

Southeast - ‘I didn’t eat that’

Regional - ‘I never ate that’, ‘I never saw nothing’

Question 16

Post-vocalic ‘r’
rhotic

Answer 16

Where speakers pronounce the ‘r’ after a vowel (e.g., work, car).

In Scotland and Ireland, they use this rhotic R.

In RP it would never be used, prescriptivists wouldn’t like it.

Question 17

‘g dropping’

Answer 17

Pronunciation of the weak ending ‘ing’ as ‘in’.

(Darling, darlin’)

Question 18

‘h dropping’

Answer 18

Not pronouncing words that begin with ‘h’.

(e.g., Holiday, hospital)

(Criticism against prescriptivists: why do they criticise the non-standard h dropping but not care about words like ‘honour’, ‘honest’ and ‘heir’? What makes them different?)

Question 19

Glottal stops

Answer 19

Closing off vocal cords to stop sound.

(Button, butter)

(Though prescriptivists judge, even RP speakers use them in words like ‘Gatwick’)

Question 20

L-vocalisation

Answer 20

Pronouncing ‘l’ as a vowel sound.

(Walk, talk)

Question 21

‘Th’ fronting

Answer 21

Pronouncing ‘th’ as ‘f’ or ‘v’.

(Think as fink)

Question 22

Matched guise technique

Answer 22

• People listen to the same person speaking about different topics, the only varying variable being their accent.
• The people are then asked to evaluate the speaker.
• This determines the true feelings of an individual towards a specific language, accent or dialect.
  Criticisms :
• The people could be dishonest
• If they realise it’s the same person speaking, that may affect their answer.

Question 23

Estuary English

Answer 23

(word coined by David Rosewarne in 1984)

• Modified regional speech between RP and Cockney
• Users of this dialect are thought to be aiming for a ‘classless’ profile
  Key features are:
  Glottal stops
  L-vocalisation
  Confrontational tag questions
  Double negatives
  ‘Ain’t’

Question 24

Cockney

Answer 24

(original London accent)
Features include:
‘h’ dropping
Glottal stops
L-vocalisation
‘th’ fronting
Me for my (me house)
Double negatives

Question 25

Multicultural London English (MLE)

Answer 25

Emerged from immigrant groups in London
Based on the Cockney accent, but has a few differences
Users gain covert prestige
Features:
‘innit’
‘You get me’
‘ting’ for thing
Glottal stops
‘wagwan’
Prescriptivist refer to it as slang

Question 26

Northern Irish

Answer 26

Rhotic
They use non-standard grammatical forms (e.g., give it me, I were happy)
Different pronunciation of vowel sounds

Question 27

Howard Giles (1975) - Matched-Guise Test

Answer 27

• researched the perception people have of the RP and Birmingham accents by using the matched-guise technique on the topic of capital punishment.
• he studied 2 groups of 17-year-olds and found the RP speaker was rated higher in terms of competence and intelligence.
  CRITICISMS:
• some may have not had an opinion but were forced to give one.
• may have answered with what they thought they should, not their own opinion.

Question 28

William Labov

Answer 28

MARTHA’S VINEYARD USA:
> FISHERMAN and LOCALS typically of the ages 31-45 formed a CLOSE KNIT SOCIAL GROUP

> Specifically made an EFFORT to distance themselves from NEW ENGLAND NORMS and the language of TOURISTS

> Labov focused on DIPHTHONGS ‘AW’ and ‘AY’

> INTERVIEWED a number of DIFFERENT PEOPLE across the ISLAND in order to CONSOLIDATE this

> FISHERMEN used the EXAGGERATION of vernacular vowels and EXAGGERATED the DIPHTHONGS tending within their speech which became DESIRABLE and REPRESENTED OLD VALUES

Question 29

Peter Trudgill

Answer 29

> Studied people of a LOWER SOCIOECONOMIC status

> Analysed the use of DROPPING ‘ING’ and found it was most PREDOMINANTLY ADOPTED by the WORKING CLASS rather than the middle class

> Found that TOWNS AND CITIES are more LIKELY TO ADOPT VARIANCE IN LANGUAGE and accents compared to rural areas

> LESS LOCALISED FEATURE in RURAL AREAS due to GEOGRAPHICAL DIFFUSION and DIALECT LEVELLING

> Found that CLASS is MORE OF A DETERMINER than GENDER in terms of USE OF NON-STANDARD ENGLISH although WOMEN in ALL SOCIAL CLASSES are MORE LIKELY TO USE OVERT PRESTIGE and RP FORM

> Found that MEN used MORE FREQUENT NON-STANDARD FORM but SAID they USED IT MORE THAN THEY ACTUALLY DID

Question 30

Lesley Milroy

Answer 30

> BELFAST STUDY

> Investigated THREE WORKING-CLASS COMMUNITIES with HIGH RATES OF UNEMPLOYMENT

> Investigated a CORRELATION between INTEGRATION of INDIVIDUALS IN A COMMUNITY and the WAY THOSE INDIVIDUALS SPEAK and found that MEN WITH NON-STANDARD FORMS of speech BELONGED to TIGHT-KNIT SOCIAL NETWORKS

> WOMEN’S SPEECH featured less NON-STANDARD FORMS as they were NOT PART OF THESE NETWORKS

> However, this is not always the case as in SOME TOWNS, the PATTERN was REVERSED due to SOCIAL PRESSURES in COMMUNITY and WOMEN WORKING TOGETHER

> DENSE MULTIPLE NETWORK exerting PRESSURE on MEMBERS to be LINGUISTICALLY HOMOGENOUS

Question 31

Paul Kerswill

Answer 31

> An increase in SOCIAL MOBILITY in the SECOND HALF of the 20th CENTURY has led to DOWNGRADING of RP and STANDARD ENGLISH

> INCREASE in REGIONAL ACCENTS

> Examined the LEXICAL and GRAMMATICAL DIFFUSION of TH-FRONTING amongst ADOLESCENTS in LONDON and EDINBURGH

LONDON - TH-FRONTING ALREADY well ESATABLISHED

EDINBURGH - TH-FRONTING relatively NEW PHENOMENON

Causes of GEOGRAPHICAL DIFFERENCES:

> DECREASE in RURAL EMPLOYMENT

> CONSTRUCTIONS of SUBURBS

> GREATER SOCIAL MOBILITY

> INTERACTION OF PEOPLE OF SOCIAL VARIETIES

Question 32

Penelope Eckert

Answer 32

> Analysed ADOLESCENT LANGUAGE in her ‘JOCKS VS BURNOUTS’ study in the DETROIT AREA

> People’s SPEECH closely RESEMBLES that of their SOCIAL GROUP

> BURNOUTS EXAGGERATE PRONUNCIATIONS ASSOCIATED with URBAN DETROIT AREA

> JOCKS SPOKE IN A SOCIALLY PRESTIGIOUS WAY

> JOCKS CRITICAL OF UNGRAMMATICAL LANGUAGE

> BURNOUTS CRITICAL OF SOUNDING LIKE THEIR PARENTS

Question 33

Gary Ives - Code-Switching

Answer 33

CODE-SWITCHING:

> STUDIED LANGUAGE in BRADFORD and LONDON

> PARTICIPANTS DISCUSSED LANGUAGE USE

BRADFORD - Created SOCIAL IDENTITY different to PARENTS and ELDERS

LONDON - They used their LANGUAGE to SET THEMSELVES APART from other AREAS and LEXIS is INFLUENCED by a WIDE RANGE

Question 34

Howard Giles - Communication Accommodation

Answer 34

CONVERGENCE - the PROCESS where PEOPLE tend to adopt to SUIT the OTHER PERSON’S COMMUNICATION CHARACTERISTICS to REDUCE SOCIAL DIFFERENCES

DIVERGENCE - The PROCESS of using INDIVIDUAL EMPHASIS on SOCIAL DIFFERENCES and NON-VERBAL DIFFERENCES between the INTERACTANTS

Question 35

Foulkes and Doherty (1999)

Answer 35

‘th’ is being replaced with ‘f’ or ‘v (th fronting) due to geographical and social mobility

this has spread from London

Question 36

Emma Moore (2010)

Answer 36

Investigated the variation of speech among teenage girls in Bolton, particularly around the non-standard use of were (Northwest England).

Region, social backgrounds, housing areas and social groups impacted their use of language.

DISCOVERIES:

Teenage girls used it to signal their localness to their area

It reflected class and where the girl’s parents came from (if one parent was born and raised in Boston, they were more likely to use it)

Social practices and networks influenced the use of it - more rebellious groups were more likely to use it

Good theory: many factors, modern and up to date

Question 37

Watson (2008)

Answer 37

Liverpool is a ‘dilectal island’ (maybe because of a strong identity)