Dialect Levelling

• Dialect levelling is the process by which language forms of different parts of the country converge and become more similar over time, with the loss of regional features and reduced diversity of language.
• Milroy (2002) argued that increased geographical mobility leads to the 'large-scale disruption of close-knit, localised networks that have historically maintained highly systematic and complex sets of socially structured linguistic norms'.
• Paul Kerswill believes social mobility has increased, leading to 'the consequent breakdown of tight knit working class communities'.
• Kerswill cites the 'increased interaction with people of other speech varieties' as a possible cause of dialect levelling.
• Dialect levelling is often linked with standardisation.