Accent and Dialect

• Prescriptivism


  Want to safeguard pronunciation in the UK
• Descriptivism


  Belief we should use the accents/dialects that best show our identities
• Crumbling castle - Jean aitchison

  RP was gradually assembled until it reached its highest point and now has worsened and broken down
• Convergence


  When individuals shift their speech patterns so that they more resemble the speech patterns of their audience
• Sociolect


  Changing your language for specific social groups
• language arttrition


  Gradual-over time

  Sudden-someone dies, only person speaking that language
• Restricted code


  Highlights speech patterns used by the working class.

  Used language to bring unity between people
• Elaborated code


  Middle and upper classes use this speech style to gain access to education and career advancement
• Code switching


  When someone changes their speech to match the class situation they find themselves in OR when a bilingual person switches languages when talking.
• Accent discrimination


  Discriminating against an accent dissimilar from your own
• Social mobility


  People moving around causes an accent to spread
• High prestige


  The judgement that comes from using standard speech styles
• infectious disease


  Highlights how bad habits in speech such as the adaptation of a very slang speech style or an imperfect language can spread through society
• Idiolect


  Speech habits specific to a particular person
• Situational register


  A situational register is language appropriate in a certain place e.g. Church
• Topical register


  Language appropriate to describe specific things e.g. Holidays
• Divergence


  When a member of a speech community emphasises the linguistic differences between them and their audience
• Substratum theory


  Patterns of language when immigrants relocate to a new area and learn their adopted language imperfectly passing these on through generations and potentially altering the language
• Low prestige


  The judgment that comes from using non standard speech styles
• Language shift - trudgill


  Occurs when a community that shares a native language abandon it and collectively shifts to speaking another instead
• Jargon


  Language specific to certain activities or jobs
• Creole


  When a pidgin loses its purpose and taken out of its situation it becomes a creole
• Pidgin


  Creation of a language to fit a certain purpose
• Principle of linguistic subordination


  Any language used by a smaller

  not dominant

  classed as inferior
• Occupational register


  Language appropriately used by people in a similar job
• Speech communities


  A group of people who use language in a unique and shared way amongst themselves
• dialect leveling - trudgill


  Affected the traditional rural dialects of the country.

  Decreasing rural dialects to under 50%
• Wave theory - aitcheson


  Explains how dialects gradually change by highlighting new dialect terms that enter society then either take off or die
• Nation Language


  A language that associates you with a country
• What is a dialect?

  A dialect refers to the vocabulary, grammar and spelling that we use.
• What is accent?


  Accent refers to the pronunciation of words.
• What is Standard English?

  Standard English has distinctive features of vocabulary, grammar and spelling that is considered 'acceptable' and understood.
• Why is there a standardised form of English?

  William Caxton noted that there wasn't a standard of English that everyone recognised and understood. This caused issues and as a consequence, William Caxton sought to standardise English. Samuel Jameson also achieved this through creating the dictionary (codifying language).
• Where did Standard English originate from?

  Standard English originally came from the East Midlands and originated as a regional dialect.
• Received pronounciation as a social accent


  Received pronunciation is an accent associated with educated and upper class people.

  This means received pronunciation is different to other accents as typically, accents indicate the region the speaker comes from.

  Received pronunciation is also known as 'Queen's English' and 'BBC English', as received pronunciation and Standard English are often linked. However, in recent years, many BBC news readers have regional accents but a Standard English dialect.
• What are some features of received pronunciation?

  Long vowel sounds in words such as 'grass' and 'bath'.

  Long vowel sounds in words such as 'come' and 'under'.

  Pronouncing the letter's 'h' and 't' in words such as 'hat' and 'better'.

  Trap-bath split: pronouncing long vowel sounds in words such as 'bath'. The 'a' is pronounced /a:/, not /ae/.
• How has received pronunciation changed?

  - Very few speak received pronunciation in modern society.

  - There has been a downward convergence due to its declining popularity.

  - There has been levelling (Kerswill) which helps to integrate different language varieties in society.

  - Estuary English has become more popular. Cockney speakers use it to obtain higher status whereas received pronunciation speakers use it to downward converge their speech.

  - Estuary English is considered a 'classless accent' and there aren't as many prejudices against it as it can be heard all over the country.
• The difference between Standard English and regional dialects

  Standard English is a social dialect that is associated with the educated and the middle and upper class. This is typically taught in schools.

  Regional dialects are associated with the uneducated and lower classes.
• What did Workman's 1998 study show?

  That people associate accent with intelligence. In Workman's 1998 study the research showed that the Yorkshire accent was considered the most intelligent whereas the Birmingham accent was considered the least intelligent.
• Petyt conducted a study in West Yorkshire concerning the trap-bath split


  Petyt discovered that there was a certain dislike of the use of /a:/ in words such as 'grass', with some describing it as 'comical', 'snobbish', 'pompous' or even, 'for morons'.