🌍• Language & Region: Key Jargon & Studies Flashcards
Dialect is the difference in ________ used
Dialect is the difference in words used
Accent is the difference in ________ used
Accent is the difference in sounds used
What factors make up your Idiolect?
- Your accent (way you speak/ articulate words)
- Your dialect (words you use)
What 3 factors were the main influences on the development of accents in the UK?
- Migration/ Invasion
- Social Classes
- Music
What is the goal for sombody using overt prestige? And are they more likely to diverge or converge from others around them?
- Adapting language to seek power/ fit with dominant culture
- More likely to diverge from others to seek dominance/ power
What is the goal for sombody using covert prestige? And are they more likely to diverge or converge from others around them?
- Adapting language to seek social acceptance/ to fit in
- To seek belonging
- More likely to converge towards others to appeal/ belong
What is code switching?
When a person actively uses two different languages or dialects within a sentence or switches between languages or dialects depending on who an individual is speaking to
What is accentism?
Discriminatory or unfair behaviour centred on someone’s accent or language use
What is orderly heterogeneity?
The idea that accent vairation is orderly, purposeful and structured, not random
What is social stratification?
The organisation of a society into groups based on socioeconmic factors such as wealth, gender, race, ethnicity, income, education, occupation, social status, or power. Its a heriarchy that places groups into different levels of privilege
What is Dialect levelling?
The process of accents becoming more similar mainly due to the modern dissipation of social segregation and an increase in contact between classes (therefore merging of langauge/ dialects)
Explain the two types of Dialect Levelling?
- Geographical Shrinkage: when the area where people used a linguistic feature is now smaller
- Quantitative Shrinkage: when the area where people used a lingusistic feature is the same but the fewer people use the features
What is geographical diffusion?
The spread of accent/ dialect features from one geographical location to another, with the features spreading from populous urban areas and reaching the larger cities/ towns before the smaller ones, regardless of physical proximity
What does Diachronic mean?
That language change is random/ unstructured and will change slowly over time, bereft of purpose or reason
What is a quote (+who said it) that showcases the belief in the previous idea that language change was diachronic?
That language change has a ‘complete absence of any pattern’
Hubbell 1950 (Was belived until Labov in 1963)
What does synchronic mean?
That language change occurs at one place at one time & has causation (e.g social stratification) and isnt random
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What is the first main study for this unit?
The BBC Voice Poll
What was the BBC Voice Poll?
- The most significant survey of regional English ever undertaken around the UK
- Survey that recorded convorsations of people talking about accent and dialect varation aroud the UK - including their attitudes to different types of accents/ dialects/ langauge
When was the BBC Voice Poll conducted & for how long did it last?
- Conducted from 2004-2005
- Lasted 9 months
How many participants took part in the BBC Voice Poll?
5000 people
In what environment and with what people was the BBC Voice Poll conducted?
- Where possible all members knew eachother
- From a wide range of social groups/ ethnic groups and age groups
- People chosen with similar backgrounds - those that share interests or passions to promote the most mundane/ normal setting so they were comfortable with sharing correct opinions
- Environments would have consisted of an area which represented ‘home turf’ for the group e.g. at local pub, living room or workplace
What was observed/ measured/ recorded in the BBC Voice Poll?
- Regional dialect/ conversation
- Different peoples own opinions on accents & languages across Britain
- ATTITUDES TOWARDS CELEBRITY VOICES
- WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR VOICE?
- ATTITUDES TOWARDS OTHER ACCENTS
- ATTITUIDES TOWARDS LANGAUGES OTHER THAN ENGLISH
BBC Voice Poll
Who was voted the most pleasant voice & what was their accent?
CELEBRITY VOICES
- Sean Connery
- Edinburgh Accent
BBC Voice Poll
Who was voted very highly on how pleasant their voice was & what was their accent?
CELEBRITY VOICES
- Peirce Brosman (Mamma Mia)
- Irish Accent (soft and gentle)
BBC Voice Poll
Who was voted the least pleasant voice & what was their accent?
CELEBRITY VOICES
- Ian Paisley
- Northern Irish Accent (Thick) (Derry Girls)
BBC Voice Poll
Respondants indicated a ________________ towards accents that were ________
CELEBRITY VOICES
Respondants indicated a preference towards accents that were local
BBC Voice Poll
How many participants wished occasionally that they had a different accent?
59%
BBC Voice Poll
What is the most wished for accent?
Received Pronunciation (RP)
BBC Voice Poll
In most regions voters considered ____________ accent to be prestigious and helpful for increased employability
In most regions voters considered their own accent to be prestigious and helpful for increased employability
BBC Voice Poll
What affect did intoxication have on peoples accents?
It was mentioned throughout the survey that intoxication brings out a persons accent to make it much more prominant/ obvious/ amplifies it
BBC Voice Poll
Many people voted ‘an accent identical do your own’ as one of their ____________ accents
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR VOICE
Many people voted ‘an accent identical do your own’ as one of their favourite accents
BBC Voice Poll
What was the primary insecurity people expressed revolving around their accent?
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR VOICE
That they were difficult to understand/ made them ‘reluctatnt to speak in meetings’
What percentage of participants stated they enjoy hearing a wide variety of accents?
78%
BBC Voice Poll
What 2 accounts were accents scored on?
ATTITUDES TOWARDS ACCENTS
- Prestige (How prestigious/ helpful career-wise)
- Pleasantness
BBC Voice Poll
What link was made between the 2 account accents were scored on?
ATTITUDES TOWARDS ACCENTS
That they were closely linked e.g. If one was negative so was the other:
* Negatively rated pleasantness therefore commonly lead to negatively rated prestige
* Positively rated pleasantness therefore commonly lead to postitively rated prestige
BBC Voice Poll
What was the accent rated the most pleasant and most prestigious?
ATTITUDES TOWARDS ACCENTS
Edinburgh Accent
BBC Voice Poll
What 3 accents were rated the least pleasant and least prestigious?
ATTITUDES TOWARDS ACCENTS
- ** Birmingham Accent**
- Asian Accent
- Liverpool Accent
BBC Voice Poll
What were the 2 exceptions to the pattern between pleasantness and prestige? (+ explain)
ATTITUDES TOWARDS ACCENTS
- London Accent - Was rated very prestigious but not so pleasant sounding
- Newcastle Accent - Was rated very pleasant sounding but not so prestigious
BBC Voice Poll
What percentage of participants in the poll voted that speaking more than one language is helpful in getting a good job in the UK?
LANGUAGES OTHER THAN ENGLISH
56%
BBC Voice Poll
What fraction of participants claimed that they hear a wider variety of accents nowadays than they used to?
LANGUAGES OTHER THAN ENGLISH
⅔
BBC Voice Poll
What percentage of participants voted that they dislike hearing other languages that are not English?
LANGUAGES OTHER THAN ENGLISH
22%
BBC Voice Poll
What percentage of respondants were multilingual?
LANGUAGES OTHER THAN ENGLISH
84%
BBC Voice Poll
Out of the multilingual respondants, what are their opinions on being able to speak another language alongside English? (+ what do they find it useful for)
LANGUAGES OTHER THAN ENGLISH
The vast majority stated that they are very glad they can speak other languages alongiside English as they find it very useful for job applications
What is MLE?
Multicultural** L**ondon English
Its a variation of English that is influenced by Jamaican and other non-white populations
What is the second main study for this unit?
Howard Giles Matched Guise Study
When was Howard Giles’ Matched Guise Study Conducted?
1970, 54 years ago
Why does the year in which Howard Giles’ Matched Guise Study was conducted have to be taken into consideration?
Because langauge and social attitudes have changed since then
What were the 3 parameters used to measure in Howard Giles’ Matched Guise Study? (+ explain them)
- Status - testing how powerful/ important speakers appeared (Prestige)
- Personality - testing what traits of character came across
- Persusasiveness - testing how beliveable the person seemed
What was the process/ methodology of Howard Giles’
Matched Guise Study?
The Matched Guise Technique (MGT)
What is the MGT (Matched Guise Technique)
A research method that indirectly measures people’s attitudes toward language varieties by having participants evaluate the voices of multiple speakers
Explain the process of the MGT (Matched Guise Technique) In 3 main steps
- Participants listen to multiple actors/ speakers reading the same text but in different accents/ linguistic varieties or guises
- The participants are unaware that its the same speaker is reading mutliple in guises/ accents
- Participants rate the speakers on the series of traits specifed for this particular experiment (Status, Personality & Persuasiveness)
What are the 2 main limitations to Howard Giles’ Matched Guise Study?
- Is it really possible for one single speaker/ actor to preform mulitple accents/ guises convicingly?
- Did participants already have their own view on the accent/ guise?
Howard Giles’ Matched Guise Study
What were the results for Status? (ranked 1-4)
Testing how important/ powerful speakers seemed to be
1. RP
2. National Accents e.g. Welsh/ Scottish/ Irish
3. Regional Rural Accents e.g. somerset/ cornish
4. Regional Urban Accents e.g. birmingham/ liverpool
Howard Giles’ Matched Guise Study
What were the results for Personality? (2 main rankings)
- RP - seen as self-confident, intelligent and ambitious but also cold and ruthless (mainly negative)
- Northern Accents - seen as honest, reliable, generous, warm and humorous (mainly positive)
What is the main issue with ‘persuasiveness’ as a parameter?
People can seem persuasive because of social status or frendliness/ politness (status or personality) therefore deeming it less of an individual dimension and more difficult to directly measure the impact of
Howard Giles’ Matched Guise Study
What were the results for Persuasiveness? (1 example)
Due to difficult and ambiguous nature results slim:
* One of the experiments the speech was on capital punishment (death penalty)
* When questionnare was relased a week later, only those participants who heard the regional guises/ accents appeared to have been persuaded by views proposed
Inferring that the regional accents were more belivable + therefore linking with personality, perhaps more appear more friendly hence more beliveability
What is a key Phonological Feature of RP?
Trap-Bath Split
What is a key Phonological Feature of Cockney?
London Vowel Shift + Glottal Stopping of ‘t’
What is a key Phonological Feature of Estuary English?
L-vocalisation + Glottal Stopping of ‘t’
What is a key Phonological Feature of West Country English?
Rhoticity
What is a key Phonological Feature of Midlands English?
H-Dropping + Foot-Strut Merger
What is a key Phonological Feature of Northern English?
Non-Rhoticity + Foot-Strut Merger
What is a key Phonological Feature of Geordie?
Non-Rhoticity + Foot-Strut Merger
What is a key Phonological Feature of Welsh English?
Prosody: Trilling of ‘r’ + Non-Rhoticity
What is a key Phonological Feature of Scottish English?
Glottal Stopping of ‘t’ + Rhoticity + Trilling
