regional accents Flashcards
What is standard english?
recieved form of the language which operates by grammar, syntax and spelling - associated with formality, clarity and overt prestige
define regional accent…
the manner of pronunciation/articulation particular to a geographical place
define regional dialect…
lexical, syntactical and grammatical variations due to geographical place
Give an example of regional lexical variations
ginnel, kecks, nowt, teacake, bobby dazzler (Lancashire)
bevvy, bird (liverpool)
bishy barnabee (east anglia)
Give an example of synatctic variation
‘does he not like it’ as opposed to ‘doesn’t he like it’
What are the 3 types of RP?
conservative (queen), contemporary (made in chelsea), mainstream (benedict cumberbatch & keira knightley)
what percentage of the country use RP?
2%
Why is RP viewed as powerful?
used by judges and news presenters, director of BBC banned regional accents in 1929
What did George Bernard Shaw comment about regional accents?
‘it is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making another Englishman hate or despise him’
What did Dr Lance Workman investigate in his experiment?
accent and perception of intelligence and attractiveness
What was Workman’s experiment?
showed photos of 4 different women speaking (yorkshire, brummy, RP and silent) and asked participats to rate each on intelligence and attractiveness
What did Workman find with attractiveness?
no change
What did Workman find with Intelligence?
yorkshire (most intelligent)
birmingham & brummy (least intelligent)
What is a critique of the phonemic alphabet?
the /ʌ/ sound does not exist in many northern accents, as seen in a southern pronunciation of ‘up’, and the alphabet is based upon RP which makes it difficult for northerners
What is a difference in pronunciation between northern and southern accents?
/æ/ and /ɑ:/, southerners pronouce grass and bath with a: whereas northeners use æ
Give an example of a rhotic accent
Lancashire, Scottish, Irish and in the west country
Why is ‘g dropping’ not ‘sloppy speech’?
It is simply substituting the /ŋ/ sound for the /n/ sound, therefore not dropping any syllables
What is the glottal stop?
Closing off the vocal chords to prevent a sound from being produced, typically used to conserve breath while lifting a heavy object.
Why should the glottal stop not be considered lazy?
It takes more energy than producing a sound
What three factors did Giles research?
Persuasiveness, Status and personality
What did Trudgill find with the link between non-standard variations use and gender identity?
After Trudgill had explained what variations he was looking for, men tended to over-report whereas women would under-report (covert vs overt prestige)
give an example of a standard English double negation
it is not undeniable to say that
Is there historical context behind double negation?
Yes, used for emphasis, as seen in Chaucner’s ‘the friars tale’: “Ther nas no man nowher so vertuous”
Define Estuary English.
Modified regional speech (Rosewarne, 1987) placed between RP and Cockney, first seen on the Thames estuary
What are some aspects of estuary English?
Glottal stops and the L-vocalisation
Who is an example of speaking Estuary english in place of the typical RP accent?
prince George, footbaw
Give an example of variations in preposition use?
Yorkshire dialects use ‘while’ in place of ‘until’
Give an example of variation in pronoun use
the pluralization of the pronoun ‘you’ in the Liverpool (scouse) accent, ‘yous’
What is a variation relating to the verb to be?
The cockney accent uses the singular past imperfect verb of ‘was’ regarding singular and plural situations, ‘we was’
What does the rise in usage of estuary English suggest?
a shift to more centralized varieties all over the UK
What are the connotations of Estuary English?
classless, so sidesteps negative connotations of RP but also the connotations of ill-education from accents
Where is one place with no traces of hybrid accents or estuary English?
‘Liverpool appears to be a dialectal island’ Watson (2008, Liverpool speech study)
