Region Flashcards
What does Labov say in his study of Martha’s vineyard?
He found that fisherman on the island pronounced the /au/ and /ai/ vowels (dipthongs) more predominantly than others- they were subconsciously trying to distance themselves as Vineyarders and not tourists
What does Trudgill say about the way in which people with a RP accent are perceived compared to those with a working class accent?
RP= haughty and unfriendly
WC may be evaluated by some teachers as having less educational potential than those with MC or UC accents
What is Dialect Levelling?
The process of an overall reduction in the variation of features between 2+ dialects, usually meaning the same dialect is found across a wider area
What did Kerswill say in his study of Dialect Levelling?
He found that in Milton Keynes, dialect levelling is clear- it is a newer town with a higher social mobility. Whereas in Hull (isolated northern town), there was little dialect levelling- little social mobility
What is a closed network?
When one’s contacts know each other/a close knit group of friends
What is an open network?
When one’s contacts don’t tend to know eachother
What did Milroy find in his Belfast study?
People in closed networks used more non-standard forms when speaking. He also discovered that men in tight knit communities tend to use more non-standard forms than women, as women seemed to be in less tight knit communities
What did Giles find in the Communication Accommodation theory?
People would either converge or diverge their language. Convergence= changing your language in order to move towards the language of another individual. Divergence= changing your language to move away from that of an individual
What did Trudgill find in his Norwich study?
The proportion of people in Norwich who dropped the ‘g’ in words ending in ‘-ing’ was higher in lower classes, especially in men rather than women. Women thought that they dropped the ‘g’ less than they really did and men thought they dropped the ‘g’ more than they really did
