Linguistic Variation Flashcards
Language vs Dialect
Dialect Continuum
One possible criterion of distinguishing between dialect and language is that dialects are mutually intelligible,
yet languages are not.
In theory, this may be the case; if I understand you and you understand me, it will probably mean that we are
speaking dialects of the same language. If not, then we are probably speaking different languages.
In practice, things are more complicated than this because dialects exist along what sociolinguists call “dialect
continuum”
= a situation in which a large number of contiguous (neighboring) dialects exist and each of those dialects is
mutually intelligible with the next, but with dialects at the opposite ends of the ”continuum” or “chain” being
mutually unintelligible.
Some scholars even argue that “there is no real distinction to be drawn between
language and dialect” (Hudson 1996: 37).
Dialect vs Accent
The notion of “dialect” is intricately bound up with the concept of “accent.”
In linguistics and sociolinguistics, “accent” refers to the way people or specific groups of people sound when
they speak.
From a linguistic point of view, accent and dialect are neutral concepts: If one speaks a language, one speaks
a dialect of that language. And if they speak a dialect of that language, they have an accent.
For reasons of practicality (see the fuzzy boundary between language and dialect)
of avoiding negative connotations → “varieties” of language = dialects and accents
Accent, like dialect, is regionally determined and, in some cases, dictated by socio-economic factors.
→ regional varieties (dialects)
social varieties (dialects)
REGIONAL Varieties
The study of regional dialect comes under the field of dialect geography. Dialect geography attempts to “map
the different distribution of various linguistic features so as to show their geographical provenance” (Wardhaugh
1992: 42). It seeks to describe how the different distinctive features of a language are used in different areas.
→ based on studies in this field, maps are drawn to distinguish the areas where certain items are found from those
in which they do not exist.
The geographical boundary line marking the area in which a distinctive linguistic feature commonly occurs is
called isogloss. This linguistic feature may be phonological (e.g You Guys vs Y all)
Isoglosses approximate phonological
and/or lexical boundaries.
When a number of isoglosses come
together and form a “bundle,” a more
solid line can be drawn, which indicates
a dialect boundary. Dialect areas are
determined by large “bundles” of such
isoglosses.
Classification of REGIONAL Varieties
a) intra-national or intra-continental variation: e.g., British English dialects such as Scouse, Geordie,
Cockney, etc.
b) international variation: American English (AmE), British English (BrE), Australian English, etc.
c) cross-continental variation aka “dialect continua” or “dialect chains”. (e.g Romania and Moldova; Spanish (Catalan vs Valencian); German, Dutch, Flemish. )
Varieties in British English
The UK has some of the highest levels of accent diversity in the English-speaking world. There are almost 40
different accents in the UK; approximately one per county.
the older the language, the higher the number of accents
1) Received Pronunciation (RP)
2) Cockney
3) Multicultural London English
Received Pronuntiation (Varieties in BRE)
“Received Pronunciation,” “Queen’s English,” or “BBC English” are all labels that refer to the accent of English
in England that is associated with people from the upper- and upper-middle-classes. RP was widespread
among students at fee-paying public schools and universities by the end of the 19th century. The prevalence of
RP has declined since then, and it is currently said to be the native accent for only about 3% of the UK
population. Nevertheless, RP remains the national standard. While many think of RP as one accent, there are in
fact different versions of RP that correspond to different social categories.
a) Conservative RP: older generations and the aristocracy.
b) Mainstream RP: the most common version heard today, and is used, for example, by many presenters on the
BBC.
c) Contemporary RP: younger upper-middle-class speakers, and shares certain similarities with Estuary
English.
Characteristics:
a) Non-rhoticity, meaning the /r/ at the ends of words isn’t pronounced
(“mother” sounds like /ˈmʌðə/).
b)Trap-bath split, meaning that certain /ɑː/ words,
like ”bath,” ”can’t,” and ”dance” are pronounced with the broad /a/ in ”father”:
/bɑːθ/, /kɑːnt/, /dɑːns/. This differs from most American accents, in which these
words are pronounced with the short /æ/ in ”cat.”
Cockney (Varieties in BRE)
Traditionally a Cockney speaker was a working-class Londoner born within
the sound of the ‘Bow Bells’ (St Mary-le-Bow Church). The accent is
associated with East London – particularly the boroughs of Hackney and
Tower Hamlets.
The word “Cockney” has had a pejorative connotation, originally deriving
from a late Middle English word of the 14th century that meant, literally,
“cocks’ egg” (i.e., a small or defective egg, imagined to come from a
rooster—which, of course, cannot produce eggs).
Large parts of modern East London are inhabited by multiethnic
communities who speak “Multicultural London English.” Many of the
Cockney-speaking communities have reportedly moved further East into Essex.
Characteristics:
a) Cockney would replace voiceless /θ/ in words like “think,”
“theatre,” “author,” with /f/, so they would be pronounced
/fɪŋk/, /fɪəʔə/, /ɔ:fə/.
b) Similarly, voiced /ð/ in “the,” “this,” and “Northern,” would
be pronounced /v/, so /və/, /vɪs/ and /nɔ:vən/
c) In Cockney, you don’t pronounce /h/ at all. So “horrible” is
/ɒrɪbəw/, “hospital” is /ɒspɪʔəw/, “who” is /uː/ and “help” is
/ewp/.
Rhyming slang:
A highly distinctive feature of Cockney is its use of rhyming
words to communicate meanings.
e.g., Would you Adam and Eve it? [believe]
He’s on the dog and bone. [phone]
Influence on other accents:
Estuary English is somewhere between Received
Pronunciation and Cockney phonetically, although it does
not incorporate the slang elements of Cockney.
Multicultural London English (Varieties in BRE)
Multicultural London English is a label for a new accent of English that originated in East London (especially Tower
Hamlets and Hackney) and is now spreading throughout the London region. The accent is generally associated with
young, working-class people from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Linguists believe that MLE developed over the past 30 years as a result of close contact between speakers from different
ethnic and linguistic backgrounds in multiethnic parts of London. In many respects, MLE has replaced Cockney as
the local accent in the East End of London, especially among young people.
While there has been some debate over how exactly MLE emerged, some of the linguistic features found in MLE are
associated with different groups (e.g., Afro-Caribbean, white working-class, British Asian), which further supports the
idea that MLE emerged as a result of language and dialect contact.
Characteristics:
a) The Cockney /f/ for the voiceless /θ/ in words like “think” and “theater” are preserved in MLE so they would be
pronounced /fɪŋk/ and /fɪəʔə/
b) Unlike Cockney, MLE speakers do not lose the /h/ in “house,” for instance.
c) Some terms mock “uptight” English phrases such as “Oh my days!”, used with the same intonation as “Goodness
gracious!”
d) Other terms come from other English-derived languages (Caribbean pidgin): e.g., “boydem” for “boys” = “boys” +
“them”
Varieties in American English
Social scientists estimate the number of US dialects range from a basic three –
New England, Southern and Western/General American – to 24 or even
30. Some researchers go so far as to suggest it’s actually impossible to count
the number of dialects in the United States because under a loose definition of
the term, thousands of cities, towns and groups have their own varieties or
dialects.
some varieties are neither dialects nor accents proper, and they are more
accurately described as varieties of American English: e.g., African
American Vernacular English
Classification:
1. General American English (GA)
2. New England Accent
3. Southern American English
General American English (Varieties in AmE)
The idea that there is one accent that is the most neutrally American has
been around for a long time, and it is usually called “General American.” The
term was coined in 1925 by the descriptive linguist George Philip Krapp as
a way to describe the accent he thought was becoming the norm in the United
States.
The term – and its more recent alternatives “Standard American
English (SAE),” “Mainstream American English (MAE),” or “CNN
English” – has survived to describe what is considered the most unmarked,
i.e., neutral, American accent.
In the narrowest sense, the General American “heartland” is found in a tiny
chunk of the Midwest. However, it is associated more with American English
as it is spoken by news anchors on CNN, for instance.
Characteristics:
a) GA phonology does not have the RP broad /ɑː/in words such as ”class”
or ”dance,” but uses the older form /æ/. (In fact, GA is in various
characteristics close to seventeenth-century English).
b) It is a rhotic variety of the English language, in the sense that the /r/ sound is
pronounced in GA in any position of the word.
c) RP speakers use a short /ɪ/ in certain words such as “privacy,” which they
pronounce as /ˈprɪvəsi/. GA speakers use instead /aɪ/ as in /ˈpraɪvəsi/.
New England Accent (Varieties in AmE)
New England is the most north-eastern corner of the United States. It encompasses six states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
Connecticut, Delaware, and Massachusetts.
The largest city in the area is Boston with 4.9 million people in the metropolitan area. Geographically, the states of New England are the
smallest states in the USA. World-renowned Harvard and Yale Universities are located in New England.
New England got its name from the English colonists that arrived in the early 17th century. These English colonists brought with
them various accents from across England such as Yorkshire and Lancashire. Over four hundred years and thousands of miles removed
from England, these accents developed into the unique New England accents of today.
Different waves of immigration from Ireland, Portugal, and Italy also contributed to the ethnic diversity of the area and linguistic changes.
The New England accent isn’t just one accent: it’s actually several accents such as the Southern New England (Peter Griffin from Family
Guy)and the Eastern New England (The Shawshank Redemption). Common traits of New England accents are non-rhotic pronunciation
(they don’t use the /r/ sound) and a nasal /æ/ sound (“ma,” i.e., short for “mom,” becomes /mæ/ instead of /mɑː/)
Southern American English (Varieties in AmE)
Southern American English is the most widely recognized regional variety of
American English, but as most of its speakers know, widespread recognition is a
mixed blessing. SAE is also the regional dialect that is most negatively
evaluated.
In a recent study of folk beliefs about American dialects, Dennis Preston (1996)
found that the Michigan and Indiana respondents evaluated SAE as the most
“incorrect” variety of American English.
The American South extends over a huge area from Maryland in the north to
Florida in the south and Texas in the west. The South represents 16 (of 50) US
states and has a population of nearly 130 million people. It also includes the
nation’s capital, Washington D.C.
The first British colony in America was established in 1607 in Virginia. These
Southern colonies quickly grew wealthy from crops such as tobacco and
cotton. This wealth created a rich, upper class. They wanted to mimic
the ”posh” British accent as a sign of their wealth and status. This meant
dropping the /r/ sound (non-rhotic) (see “poor” example in the samples
referenced above) and elongating vowels (see “leg”).
There are multiple subvarieties of Southern American English: Atlantic (Gone
with the Wind), Appalachian Southern, Mississippi Delta (Britney Spears),
Texas (Matthew McConaughey)
