regional accents

Question 1

What is standard english?

Answer 1

recieved form of the language which operates by grammar, syntax and spelling - associated with formality, clarity and overt prestige

Question 2

define regional accent…

Answer 2

the manner of pronunciation/articulation particular to a geographical place

Question 3

define regional dialect…

Answer 3

lexical, syntactical and grammatical variations due to geographical place

Question 4

Give an example of regional lexical variations

Answer 4

ginnel, kecks, nowt, teacake, bobby dazzler (Lancashire)
bevvy, bird (liverpool)
bishy barnabee (east anglia)

Question 5

Give an example of synatctic variation

Answer 5

‘does he not like it’ as opposed to ‘doesn’t he like it’

Question 6

What are the 3 types of RP?

Answer 6

conservative (queen), contemporary (made in chelsea), mainstream (benedict cumberbatch & keira knightley)

Question 7

what percentage of the country use RP?

Answer 7

2%

Question 8

Why is RP viewed as powerful?

Answer 8

used by judges and news presenters, director of BBC banned regional accents in 1929

Question 9

What did George Bernard Shaw comment about regional accents?

Answer 9

‘it is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making another Englishman hate or despise him’

Question 10

What did Dr Lance Workman investigate in his experiment?

Answer 10

accent and perception of intelligence and attractiveness

Question 11

What was Workman’s experiment?

Answer 11

showed photos of 4 different women speaking (yorkshire, brummy, RP and silent) and asked participats to rate each on intelligence and attractiveness

Question 12

What did Workman find with attractiveness?

Answer 12

no change

Question 13

What did Workman find with Intelligence?

Answer 13

yorkshire (most intelligent)
birmingham & brummy (least intelligent)

Question 14

What is a critique of the phonemic alphabet?

Answer 14

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

Question 15

What is a difference in pronunciation between northern and southern accents?

Answer 15

/æ/ and /ɑ:/, southerners pronouce grass and bath with a: whereas northeners use æ

Question 16

Give an example of a rhotic accent

Answer 16

Lancashire, Scottish, Irish and in the west country

Question 17

Why is ‘g dropping’ not ‘sloppy speech’?

Answer 17

It is simply substituting the /ŋ/ sound for the /n/ sound, therefore not dropping any syllables

Question 18

What is the glottal stop?

Answer 18

Closing off the vocal chords to prevent a sound from being produced, typically used to conserve breath while lifting a heavy object.

Question 19

Why should the glottal stop not be considered lazy?

Answer 19

It takes more energy than producing a sound

Question 20

What three factors did Giles research?

Answer 20

Persuasiveness, Status and personality

Question 21

What did Trudgill find with the link between non-standard variations use and gender identity?

Answer 21

After Trudgill had explained what variations he was looking for, men tended to over-report whereas women would under-report (covert vs overt prestige)

Question 22

give an example of a standard English double negation

Answer 22

it is not undeniable to say that

Question 23

Is there historical context behind double negation?

Answer 23

Yes, used for emphasis, as seen in Chaucner’s ‘the friars tale’: “Ther nas no man nowher so vertuous”

Question 24

Define Estuary English.

Answer 24

Modified regional speech (Rosewarne, 1987) placed between RP and Cockney, first seen on the Thames estuary

Question 25

What are some aspects of estuary English?

Answer 25

Glottal stops and the L-vocalisation

Question 26

Who is an example of speaking Estuary english in place of the typical RP accent?

Answer 26

prince George, footbaw

Question 27

Give an example of variations in preposition use?

Answer 27

Yorkshire dialects use ‘while’ in place of ‘until’

Question 28

Give an example of variation in pronoun use

Answer 28

the pluralization of the pronoun ‘you’ in the Liverpool (scouse) accent, ‘yous’

Question 29

What is a variation relating to the verb to be?

Answer 29

The cockney accent uses the singular past imperfect verb of ‘was’ regarding singular and plural situations, ‘we was’

Question 30

What does the rise in usage of estuary English suggest?

Answer 30

a shift to more centralized varieties all over the UK

Question 31

What are the connotations of Estuary English?

Answer 31

classless, so sidesteps negative connotations of RP but also the connotations of ill-education from accents

Question 32

Where is one place with no traces of hybrid accents or estuary English?

Answer 32

‘Liverpool appears to be a dialectal island’ Watson (2008, Liverpool speech study)