Accent And Dialect Case Studys

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Capital Punishment Experiment

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Howard Giles: Stufents listen to presentations on capital punishment in different accents. (Somerset, South Welsh, Birmingham, RP). They were asked which they found most impressive and persuasive.

Results: RP= most impressive. Birmingham= least. But, regional accents found to be more persuasive than RP speakers.

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Alison Smith Study (2017)

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Six accents tested (RP, Edinburgh,Cardiff-positive) and (Birmingham, Liverpool, Somerset- usually negative). Participants asked to rate based on friendliness, attractiveness… Participants Brits and American.

Results: Americans more positives (aren’t aware of stereotypes). Edinburgh very positive- wealthy, cultural, educated. Cardiff negative for Brits (working class mining town cheap to live), most Positive for Americans (rhythmic). Liverpool very negative- glottal stops, unpleasant sounding, cheap working class city.

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Petyt’s Bradford Study (1980)

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Looked at the dropped ‘h’ at the beginning of words.

Results: 94% of lower working classes did. 67% of upper working class. 28% of lower middle class. 12% of upper middle class.

Criticisms: generalisations of social class, more nuanced that just income and job.

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William Labov’s post-vocalic r (1966). New York City Research

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Post-vocallic r seen as socially prestigious (like pronouncing the h in the UK).

Results: in casual speech upper middle class used it more than lower middle class. However, in formal speech, this was reversed.

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The Lancashire Study.

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Pupils fill out a questionnaire and deliver a presentation. Dropping of the ‘h, t and th’ recorded. Aspirational score (academically) /1. Home Culture (parents have professional occupation, degree, purchase broadsheet newspaper or tabloid? /1. Score under each accent feature is percentage of times the student uses the sound.

Results: loosely positive correlation.

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Howard Giles’ Accomodation Theory, 1970s. USE EXAMPLES WHEN WRITING ABT IT

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We change the way we speak according to audience.

E.g. speaking to children.

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Paul Kerswell and Williams Study (1994)

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Speech of children in Milton Keynes and found that children used more Estuary English Features than their parents. Spreading North

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Paul Kerswell Paper

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Accents and dialects are dying out ‘dialect levelling’. Reason for this may be a reduction in rural employment 90% of ppl live in cities (1991) only 30% (1831). Also cites increase in social mobility and increase of interaction between different varieties of speech

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Leslie Milroy (2002)

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Increased geographical mobility leads to ‘large scale disruption of close knit localised networks’.

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BBC drive to end domination of RP

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2008, Mark Thompson (director general of bbc) called for more regional accents on channels as viewers were being ignored. Some disagree, regional accents less credible, difficult to understand.

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Labov’s Martha’s Vineyard Research (1963)

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Studied accent inhabited by this island on the north east coast of America. Small resident population but a popular holiday resort for thousands of Americans.

Results: pronunciation of certain vowel sounds shifting, over time, away from American pronunciation

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RP

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Accent associated with upper class speakers which doesn’t indicate region.

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Rhotic

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Accents where speakers pronounce the post vocallic R

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Glottal stip

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Closing off vocal cords to prevent a sound coming out. Butter-?

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Convergence + examples

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Adapting to others communicative behaviours to reduce social differences.e.g. Diluting accents and using local slang or simply speaking slower

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Divergence

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Accentuate the verbal and nonverbal differences between communicators e.g. football chants, doctor and patient

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Mutual convergence

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Both speaker change in order to accommodate eachother

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Upward convergence

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Less strong regional, more like RP e.g. speaking in a ‘telephone voice’

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Downward concergence

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Less RP more regional e.g. politics

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Dialect word: standard: origin:

Beck

Brew

Arse

Kecks

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River- Yorkshire

Tea- Lancashire

Bottom- cockney

Trousers- Scotland

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Cockney rhyming slang examples

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Apples and pears

Porky pies

Bag for life

Trouble and strife

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Cockney rhyming slang info

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Originates in East End of London during early 19th C. Probs initially used by criminals, replacing a word with a rhyme. New slang - Barack Obama’s (pyjamas). Almost 80% of Londoners don’t understand its phrases.

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Estuary English (used by? Origins? Term first used by?)

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Gervais, Lampard, Beckham.

Originated in the South East- named after Thames Estuary, separated Essex and Kent.

First used by David Risewarne in early 1980s- spread!

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Features of EE

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Standard grammar, L vocalisation, glottal stop, happY-tensing. Yod coalescence (Chuesday)

Kind of modified cockney: associated with youth- Tony Blair used in speech

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Why EE is spreading?

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Movement away from London. Upward convergence (of Cockneys). Downward convergence (of RPs). Considered fashionable and relatively classless. Prevalent in the media ‘language of the disc jockey’. Connotations of Cockney but more standardised.

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MLE words

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Ends - Jamaican slang

Bruv- Black American in 1970-

Bredren- Rastafarian’brethren’

Man dem- Afro Caribbean

Wasteman- loser

, sick, creps,

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MLE (is? Can create? Roots? Prevalent?

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An urban dialect. A resistance identity. (often slang) Caribbean, South Asian, Cockney, Esturay. East London and among young people.

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Reasons of standardised vocab

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Travel, less isolated communities. Dialectical vocab spreads and ceases to exist. Standard English taught in education. Mass media exposes to different accents.

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Covert vs overt prestigr

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Social value from using standard vs non standard language forms

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Covert vs overt prestigr

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Social value from using standard vs non standard language forms

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Code swiyching

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Switching language varieties according to context.

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Quotes

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‘a linguistic impossibility to speak without any accent’-mughlestone 2007.

‘to use that [language] as an exclusionary tactic’- Prof. Kerswell

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Name for tests in which audiences listen to one speaker in different accents

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Matches guise

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Dixon, Mahoney and Cox 2002 their ‘matches guise on how we perceive guilt’.

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Dialogue between policeman and suspect (changed from Birmingham to closer to RP). Significantly more likely to be perceived guilty when speaking non standard Birmingham.

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Accents should be procured under…

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The equality act

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Inherent value hypothesis

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Ways of speaking are more inherently pleasing than others, nothing to do with contexts.

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Inherent value hypothesis

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Ways of speaking are more inherently pleasing than others, nothing to do with contexts.

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Social Connotations Hypothesis

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Pleasantness of speaking based on social attributes of the speaker. Powerful social groups have the privilege of media, education and public life.

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Dr Turtons 2023 study

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Took 28 speakers who lived in Blackburn all life, to see whether they say post vocallic r in words. Also read strings of words like ‘spa’ and ‘spar’, ‘pander’ and ‘panda’ to find differences. Blackburn maintain language due to its self sufficiency, local armenities and manufacturing rates high- less commuting. In a valley, isolated. When more concious accent more stronger. Younger loosing Rhotic r.

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Differences of EE from Cockney

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Doesn’t drop ‘h’.

Doesn’t ‘th’ front.