Accents and Dialects Flashcards
(15 cards)
define accent?
variation in pronunciation, associated with a particular region
define dialect?
variation in words associated with a particular region
what is dialect levelling? what si the argument for and against?
- the reduced diversity of language
- language forms from different parts of the country converge
- there is loss of regional forms
For = dialects are merging
against = people are choosing to emphasise their local accents as a sign of identity
what theorists link to accent and dialect?
- trudgill
- petyt
- kerswill and williams
- Labov
- moore
- Lesley milroy
- estuary english
- Howard Giles
- David crystal
what is Peter trudgills study?
Point = social class influences how we speak
- Norwich 1974
- looked at the use of ‘ing’ endings in present participle verbs such as ‘walking’
- he found that NSE forms were more frequently used by those from the lower classes suggesting that how you speak is due to how you were brought up, as stereotypically people of lower classes backgrounds tend to be less educated and therefore use more NSE forms than SE
- Trudgill also found that women were can more likely to use overt prestige forms whereas men used covert prestige. This highlights how other factors are influential in how we speak
what is Malcolm Petyts study?
- Bradford 1985
- investigated if there was a correlation between class and h- dropping (eg pronouncing the concrete noun ‘house’ as ‘ouse’)
- his study focused on the middle and working classes and found that h-dropping was much more common in working classes
what is kerswill and williams study?
Point = location influences speech
- Milton Keynes 1999
- study focused on the formation of a new dialect in milton keynes, a new town established in 1969
- following this the population grew rapidly with the influx of new people from different areas
- look at 48 children aged 4,8 and 12
- encouraged them to read out loud, recorded their spontaneous speech and also interviewed the caregivers of the children
findings:
- lots of variation in the accents of the parents but much less variation amongst the children
- children fronted vowels much more than adults
- the childrens accents differed from the accents of speakers in the area surrounding milton keynes
- the older children displayed phonological characteristics of a new speech community demonstrating that adolescent children are mainly responsible for developments in dialect in milton keynes
crituque = small sample size
what is william labovs NY study?
- New york (1996)
- visited 3 department stores frequented by distinct social classes (lower, middle and higher)
- American accents mostly are rhotic, however the NY and Boston accents are distinctly non-rhotic
- Pronunciation of the post-vocalic /r/ is seen to be more standard and prestigious
- Labov walked around 3 NYC department stores and asked for the “fourth floor”. By pretending not to hear he got the speakers to say the words twice, once spontaneously and once carefully
- He found that the lower classes are more aware of the prestige of the pre-consonantal “r” and when they think about it are more likely to change the way they speak to reflect the way that “posh people” sound
- The upper middle class pronounced the post vocalic /r/ the most and differed least between casual and careful speech styles.
- demonstrates how social class affects your accent
critique = he’s an american theorist and therefore his data may not be representative of england
what is William Labovs marthas vineyeard study?
- marthas vineyard 1963
- marthas vineyard is a fairly isolated island of the coast of massachusetts and a popular summer tourist destination
- his study focused on the pronunciation of the diphthongs /au/ and /ai/
- he interviewed 69 locals from differetn social groups asking them questions which prompted them to use words with these vowels
- he found that a small group of chillmark fisherman were the main users of these dipthongs. This was done sub-consciously to establish and identity between themselves as native vineyarders, creating a linguistic divide from the frequent tourists
Critique = small sample size
what is emma moores study?
- Bolton 2012
- a british linguist who investigated patterns of variation in speech amongst teenage girls
- looked at the variation of verb forms such as the non standard past tense verb “were” and the SE form “was”
- The ethnographic study follows the girls at school over a 2 year period beginning when they were 12-13 and finishing at ages 14-15
- She identified 4 groups of girls within the school:
Populars = engaged in rebellious activities such as drinking and smoking and had an anti-school attitude
Townies = engaged in even riskier activities such as drugs, they belong to a lower social class
Geeks = institutionally orientated and took part in school activities such as the choir and orchestra
Eden valley girls = a group of girls who come from a desirable home area were also school orientated and who in engaged in activities such as dancing and shopping – they were all from higher social groups - Findings: the townies highly favoured the NSE form “were” to create a sense of belonging/identity. The geeks disfavoured the NSE form “were” possibly due to them engaging with the institutional norms of the school and conform to using SE form
- The eden valley girls used the SE “was” almost all the time. This aligns with the stereotype that people higher up on the social scale are more likely to use standard forms. This connotes that how you speak is based on how/ where you were brought up. The populars neither favour nor disfavour the NSE form ‘were’
critique = focused on teenagers and therefore their findings may not reflect the attitudes/actions of adults
what is estuary english study?
- Estuary english is an example of modern day dialect levelling that has been taking place on the Thames Estuary over the past 20 years
- It is situated somewhere in the middle between popular London/ cockney speech and is received pronuncation (SE)
- Some claim that estuary english is becoming the new standard, replacing received pronuncaitaion and that received pronunciation speakers are adopting it themselves
- Some common features of estuary english are:
o Th- fronting where /f/ or /v/ replaces the /th/ sound
o Glottal stops in nouns such as water and bottle
It is said that speakers are aiming for a ‘classless’ profile
what is lesley milroys belfast study?
point = location influences how we speak
- Milroy found that speakers who were more integrated in the community they lived in were more likely to use regional forms such as /a/ fronting in words like “man” and non standard grammatical forms like “I says to him”
- This proves that geographically bounded communities foster specific linguistic behaviours, meaning that where a person lives and how embedded they are in that local context significantly influences how they speak
how can you link this topic to the english language being performative in nature?
language use reflects an individuals identity and speakers may exaggerate or downplay their accent/dialect to control how people percieve them reflecting the performative nature of lanaguge
what is Howard Giles theory?
Matched Guise experiment (1975):
- conducted a study where he had the same speaker deliver identical speeches in differetn accents, allowing listeners to judge them purely on linguitic differences
- found that recieved pronunciation was consistently rated as the most competent and authoritative, while regional accents, suchg as birmingham, were viewed as less prestigious but often warmer and more relatable
- this study reinforces the idea that accent plays a key role in shaping social hierarchies and linguistic bias, with RP maintaining its status as the most powerful and desirable accent in professional and academic contexts
what did david crustal say about accents and dialect?
- takes a descriptivist stance and argues that all accents and dialects are valid and should be embraced rather than corrected
- he believes that language variation is a natural and inevitable part of linguistic evolution and that NS forms are not inferior but simply different
- rejects the idea that SE is the only correct form of english and instead promotes linguistic tolerance and inclusivity
