Dialect levelling in Milton Keynes

• What is dialect levelling?

  When dialects mix and lose features
• Why has dialect levelling been observed since the late 20th century?

  Increased dialect contact due to mobility
• What caused increased dialect contact in the 20th century?

  Improved transport links and commuting
• Who investigated dialect levelling in Milton Keynes?

  Paul Kerswill
• What social change did Kerswill study in Milton Keynes?

  Effects of geographical and social mobility
• When did Milton Keynes become a new town?

  1969
• How much did the population of Milton Keynes grow?

  From 44,000 to 176,330
• What is the significance of children's speech in Kerswill's study?

  Children's speech is less fixed and adaptable
• What methodology did Kerswill use in his study?

  He analyzed ten long vowel variables
• How many children participated in Kerswill's study?

  48 children
• What types of studies did Kerswill conduct?

  Elicitation, spontaneous speech, caregiver influence
• What did Kerswill find about children's accents compared to their parents' accents?

  Children's accents showed less variation than parents'
• What phonological features did Kerswill find in children's speech?

  Influence from accents across the south-east
• What is vowel fronting?

  Vowel produced towards the front of the mouth
• How did vowel fronting affect the pronunciation of 'coke' in Milton Keynes?


  'Coke' could sound like 'cake'
• What age group did Kerswill find did most linguistic work in forming new dialects?

  Children around the age of 12
• What are the key findings of Kerswill's study on dialect levelling in Milton Keynes?

  • Children show less variation in accents than parents
  • Influence from south-east accents, including Cockney
  • Younger speakers mimic parents, especially mothers
  • Vowel fronting observed in children's speech
  • Children around age 12 are key in dialect formation