Dialect leveling

Question 1

Kerswill

Answer 1

argues that there is a levelling process, whereby the modern or urban dialects over time move closer to spoken standard English whilst retaining their own distinctive forms.

Question 2

Modern dialects preserve some features of traditional dialects: Grammar

Answer 2

• present tense -s in whole verb paradigm
• multiple negation
• past tense of irregular verbs
• never as a past tense marker
• them as a demonstrative adjective
• absence of plural marking

Question 3

Phonology

Answer 3

• vowel of foot appears in cup in the North

- post vocalic r

Question 4

Dialect leveling

Answer 4

the process by which language forms of different parts of the country converge and become more similar over time, with the loss of regional features and reduced diversity of language