3.2 Language and Region

• Accent


  The way that people pronounce sounds.
• Descriptivism


  Belief that all types of language are acceptable - non judgemental.

  
  

  Linguistic norms are taken form the majority, not what an authority dictates should be spoken.
• Prescriptivism


  Belief that one type of language is acceptable - judgemental

  
  

  Correctness is absolute and cannot be changed from the past.
• Distribution


  Where a feature is used, within the language inventory of an individual or group.
• Inventory


  A list of items.

  
  

  In phonology, a list of sounds used in someone's accent.
• Non-regional


  An alternative name for theReceived Pronunciationaccent.
• Non-standard


  Different from normal or majority usage.
• Phonetic Alphabet


  An alphabet designed for transcribing the sounds of all of the world's langauges.
• Standard


  Used or accepted as normal or average.

  
  

  In language, it is socially agreed usage that is familiar to most language users.
• Trudgill (1974)


  Estimated only 3% of speakers used RP.
• Regional Variations in Accents

  A difference between Northern and Southern accents is the distribution of two pairs of vowel sounds. (/ae/ and /a:/) and (/u/ and /^/)

  Regional speakers typically have different numbers of sounds in theirinventories.
• Jones (1909)


  Wrote a book called 'The Pronunciation of English'.

  
  

  Book was aimed at students and teachers to correct 'cockneyisms or other undesirable pronunciations in their scholars.
• Jones (1950)


  Amended the same book with a new attitude.

  
  

  Jones stated that 'it can no longer be said any standard exists', a different view to the one he initially gave.
• Rhotic


  Accents here speakers produce post-vocalic /r/, such as in many rural accents in the south-west region of the UK.
• Trudgill (


  Norwich Study - already covered but applies here.

  
  

  'g-dropping' considered 'sloppy speech' by prescriptivists.

  
  

  It is not the case, since there is no g to be dropped.
• Covert Prestige


  Status gained from peer group recognition, rather than pblic acknowledgement.
• Estuary English


  A recent accent variety used in south east England which combines RP with some aspects of regional southern accents.
• Glottal Stop


  A closure of the vocal cords. This can be used to replace /t/ in some regional accents.

  
  

  Common in cockney and Geordie English.
• Linguistic Variable


  An item of language that is likely to vary and is therefore of intereset to sociolinguists
• Multicultural London English (MLE)


  A recent variety combining elements of the language of different ethnic group, particularly Afro-Caribbean English.
• Overt Prestige


  Status that is publicly acknowledged.
• Self-reported usage.


  People describing their own language use (as opposed to being recorded using language.)
• Dialect Levelling


  The way in which dialect terms have been dropping out of use.
• Regional dialect vocabulary


  Several key terms that vary are:

  Terms for 'bread roll'

  Vocab regarding people's moods or traits.

  Terms for certain clothing items.

  Endearments like 'love' and 'mate' vary on region.
• Isogloss


  A geographic boundary indicating where certain items of language are used.
• Slang


  Language that is used in informal contexts and widely recognised.
• Regional dialect grammar


  Opinions vary on the correctness and usage of regional dialect grammar.

  
  

  Some argue that regional dialectical grammar should not differ from what is 'standard' (Prescriptivist)

  
  

  Others suggest that regional dialectical grammar can differ since it contributes to local identity and could make the difference between the dialect and the 'standard'.
• Prepositions


  Prepositions vary regionally:

  In the south-west dialect 'where he to?' is more common than 'where is he?'.

  
  

  Yorkshire dialect speakers often say 'while' to replace 'until' e.g. 'ten while twelve'.
• Pronouns


  Liverpudlians use the plural 'yous'

  
  

  Some midland dialects retain the use of 'thee' and 'thou'.

  
  

  Reflexive pronouns like 'myself' and 'yourself' are regularised compared to standard english to 'hisself' and 'theirselves
• The verb 'to be'


  'to be' is an irregular system where 'was' is used in first and third person singular and 'were' in everything else.

  
  

  'Was' is used by cockney speakers for all so they'd say 'we was'

  
  

  South-western dialects use 'be' throughout like 'I be' and 'you be'.
• Other verb forms


  Dialects often simplify some systems, such as having an 's' on all present tense verb endings instead of just third person.

  
  

  Some dialects use perfective 'sat' and 'stood' rather than progressive form 'sitting' and 'standing
• Determiner


  They help determine what a noun refers to.
• Progressive form


  The 'ing' ending in words such as 'walking' and 'running' indicating ongoing activity.
• Relativizer


  Another word for relative pronoun.

  
  

  'Which', 'who', 'that' etc.