Chapter I ììLLLIri.

"

(^
?^,
'"%, '

va,ailon'
regional and social

8JRegionaIandsocialvariati0n:+^l.nt.o"rlifferentl
" J::'::; t1;
ge
"T: ::*r",,;:" ::t: .:Hiflffit
N ot o nly
Ì l'.,i,:I" :: n'
do e s lan
ff
gua ge. chan
:i?; *T,;?il i;' "' Jir*' "' o
mmu n it
c ie

:iilq
#;::il'ii"""",,i:1",X1"1'';#f
instead, each learns a , . r
*,mi"il'ilTiilp:
.,*,,r-]- .rho acouire Englit
'.l'Ji,l'l;f X"'X::iil'lt*"il;""dch*drenwhoacquiret"*t"l,i"l,ilr4
gr?g. i nr i'' * i, u'" iiI X' o' J l 1 ] T,""T":,T:; ffi1fl : ]J l;
ritu
i

ii"il*-,tt",
.
similar to these peop
will sound

t *ffi
words, grammatlcal

f:".::;
eT*r'ilJ,:l':# :ffi trlffillffi

'WltttttLt

i:lirlllfiililllrlLLrill ili., rr.

ff #"';I;m::ililii..}Iffi:ffif
and standard Pronun< profe
,rà.iri.a wiih them' but people with

:
tend to use languagt
'""
àf"tently: professional people are mor€

1il'"jT:Il;T:;il'1il{
the-
IlMIiln 'r

ìn language use
H:fil'ili"Tili#::*ril;;r;"i"t'n
iiì

are to adopt standar<

educatiori' #*"* itkely thev
als spend in broad re
mar and the less tn"ìit"-à tpt"rt wiitr a strong or
"u"ir
Ensll:l] t1!s11s:
152 , MASTEBTNG Advanced

)hapter I ' :lar forms of English must include consideration of both general and per-
,:.: itrrtns that.-
tr :nd acqurlr -'
.: cotnmunic,:
. s -: alticular soc 1 ;:.
:.--1sh as a fìrs. -'
. ,:'.e people a:. -'
.r <rntilar \\'ofc: - -
:..':l and fronl .
::-.-n one reqiL,:-
:... -dual nla\' Ìr: -
. : DrOnUnCi::.
-.. ,ri tI-re conì:ì-.
-'
,-r: :lso take r,' -.
:, ,cial and cl. :-'
ì'-ìiech conlt:'.,-
.: -:l i tive.
, irgllists alst .- -
educational bair,
r. -.: adrtioniìl : '-
.: -rrr-rced br c *: : ,
--.c.-,-ld iolnrs,: ,'
:-.,-i.'liiielv lo -... 'r
,-- r tct-specii. ..
: :r:sional ttr::
-.' :.t iikelr to i-.-- :'
,P iron-prote:...-"
,i- r:rùl experrc.- :
..-; .t)1-ì9€f irlc-. . :
-..:.r leris .lr1d : -'-
I : =:Lonal àCCr -
.-e study of language variation is therefore very complex, and analysis of
. .. ariants. The variety people use may or may not be Standard English and
- .sis are interested both in the kinds ofvariants that change Standard English
'. :he changes themselves.
r
-.r'Lng recognised that personal identity, social, cultural and educational I
-.,ruù affect the kind of language an individual uses, linguists analyse the!
-:s that these variants cause. By using SraNoenn EuclrsH and Rrcrrvr» i
ì \u)icrATroN as norms, they can discuss variations in lexis, grammar andl
:-.ciation. Rather than seeing any differences as examples of 'bad' English,
I
:r, they recognise all forms as equally valid in appropliate contexts. t
'he nineteenth century, the phrasetstan_dard Englis!ì. was used to describqil '1.
ri English that was 'common' or 'universal' because it was a recognised sys-i'
'.iriting. withjggglslgg-s i .:
. {. !hq_1!3Qp, \o1,ever, !! lqd beqome 3_sro*9-r_1!ed
.' seen by many as the languqge- otth€..gdueated. In the 1933 'supplement'
Z-
Dictionary, it was de{ined as a form of language with cultural
t',.ford English
,r;il status which many users considered to be the:b=g$:@. The intro-
: of social judgements in the early part of the twentieth century made the
- - of SE very emotive. By linking it to social 9tass, fegli1gs of qocial superior-
. :rleriority were reinforced in the vely*]a.nguage that different people used.
:.ng SE àa tFe 'bèir' implÈd [hat all other varieties were substandard, and
.
. implicttj_udgeSnentg were made not only about the different versions of
. rur i;ffipetple *ho used rhem.
.r modern linguist*try to avoid the political and class associations of SE.
- lhey see it as a form o{-frutiolAl to,llggll.utr and treat it as a bench-' '"
-
"
-:.cause it is not limited to any particular region, SE can act as a point of
- .on lor all other varieties of English, whether they are marl<ed by personal,
:eographical variations.
.. :s SE establishes a norm for the lexis and syntax of spoken and written
. - -.:. so Received Pronunciation fulfils a similar function. It is a regionally
- .ccent which is closely associated with public school education and high
:ss. Linguists can describe and classify the sounds heard in different ver-
. r)oken English by_Sgryqtpffglu1g*ions of vowels and consonants in
,r cents *itn tn" ti!È6f nD fi;.ì6;ifdÈ-upt". 21. *'
.11 as language forms changing, so too dq attitudes to the different forms
" - .:i. Becaule ySgS=BpBle tend t9 .Qe mo.q! iq,fluenqed- by and involved
-ffièloG of education in maintaining 'standards' is much
-, -:ee changes,
\ er'i'spap.ers regularlv report
-:--!r''- I
on @'tfullrn-Lsl3Udafd; oJ li1eq4gy, poor general
:e andìfr the increase in'lazy'and 'careless' speech - particularly among _ì\
-: Such coverage sensationalises issues by focusing on iudgemental social
. ' :.rsrrhile failing to take account of linguistic factors. Individual cases are
. .. as evidence for a general picture of linguistic doom and gloom.
': \\-al(e of all the ct q+g9.t-.t_t,9_{ygl_t1on during the 1980s and 1990s, the
,,.:rve government fòcuded attentioilon the nature of 'correct' English and
"
.:',ould be taught in schools. The'1990s National Curriculu.m highlighted
- .:ren had to be taught about SE: it was the language of wide social com-
Language variat 0n: regronal ancl socia , 153
 e re:'§+usrr^"tl'
so closely interwoven'

ì-'

\
\ fl:H;I.ffi
s* à*ngt i'n' rhe o ri
ginat,::Hi
;il;;it, "HffiH {l,lHÌ"!r1r11rÌì

\ rt'n x :rum ft1ifu"i;#;;I"*ffi+ f+ 'lillflffi!,r".,,

illiffil{lllllllLL

:llllffillllllllll

, .ilfimr"

x' [,H:,']:"'-",ì1iHl,t"T#i:"tr*;[l#Hffiffi'
.
--* .^,n,.* J
llllllLlill

lllÌlll

lfìll l

the 9-bssgn-aÉ
a---nd
tilpnr
*à*5[ffi :i,Hoì:]];3nr;ir*urli:':! rilltt,;ilu

rf*ru+_.[É*i:*"T-ry1fi
11'"={a gi51lffie;"r,: ;".1::,
wiir ue abre to
x*ffi mar<e
diln^,umm*

rlffi'l"rlilltlttllt{t

fiflms#lr .,

r
fiai*; à.{-non-'t""0::1]i"':"Iiint[1." avnerls: -il
:ffi.T"ìì;il;tlrr**i+*r**Jlli"Tryi""iffi:
lf the education p"::i::* s
^

i*j'"r ,""*uase
rr
*,,,'i*i',i.""a"aro1;i";;;;i, :l:il:Iffi i'1 u" t::l.li SE 'gm
,":,rlll_t
writers. lf
they.can
Yi
an
parricipant: li;:l*n.#'::ln:,,,i1
theY will be active "à;7;'".

Engll'! lii9:i9:
154 , r.lrnsrenrHG At1\janced
 oj a speakers of RP are often
background
-.,rural and educational ,speaker.
netd lf linguistics everyone
has some
In\ People objecte: ' -.ed, as having ;#;';ì?t tn"^
rn'rined, on the bas"' "" of nlunlii"gri'n accents' despite the fact ,
. eCCent: RP is ther.à,-,i',ion. diflers dramatrglly;i
thel'believed, ch''- - '. not linked to a specific region' Wl*1"**tiation
rÈe and identi§ art
€ j altered the
l.ì foci:' 'i;;j*i:*";1tio"l;'ilffiffi ranguage than in written
has shown that one
- rrlPlicitlY sugger'- .,iarion is t-rrereto'i'é"é;rr:;ùJ*,rd,a. Research twice and pronuncla-
same way
itrrced to adoPt-on-'
- l.: rirely says the ''-" i;;A;-tfiI"tffin" RP sqeakers do not all pronounce
rdtisers in 1994 u'e:':
- ,,10"."4.o'l"t"tt' to-sUlÉffi$Et!Even used tob^e pronounced
as
rriish in a Position c: '-. rdentically' Eor i,.,ià"t"' *T?ffittd iik;';à (a
a MoNoPurHoNc
'à .'.rsions of sPoke: RR it is p'or'ìilt"a as
rHrHoNc , lP;i"''"àin"a
:roustrated to schoc'- personar l
iÉ -shouid be taught :' l:ì'ì1"'r",1,:,?'iX#," accenls, ,n"l
on rerevant reatiièi
-.:?::1:i.:^i;","';TaÌeas: under , t
,,,,.',o neoDIe should bt sy?;."'i"g
_"'- F

, :dapt their languar'

, , :rr social accent,
"l'àì'd;il;;i;i
to conclusio""J;;h'"
kind of pronunciations
an \ :

. eadings, th"y t;;;;; are usually domi- t{

,991 docume4!-there elements of an accent
or a group ;;'Th; ';gional an individual speaker's
b"';;ifrJbv
;
c -r -Lal
--.,ì-1. acce Ptab-le 3r! rut a particular ;il;i;;;i"iv 'u''' -
,r.c lo adoPt one forr:'
--r: lr Littfl with friendt .;it,Yl. or cultural background'
-.. 'trtJqe 1,oung PeoPl'
1r-.:nal àòcents ,
ororoio"t rather thai-
:: :1;ì+'#,fl#trHi?t: [: : : il: :'lil;
-:-.,rt linguisticaliY' seer' n. i o n chan ge s m av
onu
-uar pr ll:
ate in a sp ch e e
:]:,: il";:i, u,,",n"y p articip
1 1'.-le u'aY in which Peo ::l[:tri]: i$:lm']:"*speakers to articulate words
tiiety
::r-rJ. tnformation and a
,.',.r. rn-q-tqryqgltt4g{L' "'"-fu' '"te 2) willbe less
: .t linowledge of SE i' u"a r"aì.,i." (see ihapter
_..^ _ erision, be quickeì and the articula-
of the law court-q
:-,:ì()1-1,
"r#i;ffi;fi;;
- rent. It*&;G;;;"tp"g'h *ìil;r;;;
air"ppear or wilr be modified'
: rlle to use the univer- .,1rbe te$ p.".ir1rÌìil;trir-i,[
r : ., rflùl situations it it hlormal context
.oci.rl or cultural grouP ;rÌal context (assimilation)
'rt ls onlY one accePtabie - '^ 'Ò+a /gri:rlgert/
(llarson
:-:..l1ts' linguistic awqre-
I

- . ,.0 no*
/hraranau/
pqr- (elision)
t,ri.ì1lce of audience, -:- /f::stoP/
out about both -.:cp
/hav/ done it
.:. incling (reduction)
: - - : have done it
1 66u1fl
choices
-, ::r.rlie informed a greater
a speaker's accent to
' :hese segmental phonologic,al'fuutt't],"^'affect frequent in con-
: exPerts then it Inung"'-*itt U* *o'" upfnt*nt and
more
..rr-Ls,uaqe
''tr degree S"n of
*ill be examples these
i,,-,. ]rbout the aPProPriate
'.:ron than in an intervf,*' fo'i''"tu'-ttt'T'iJih"'"
c .-.rc,hcient sPeakers and : e s in almo st
ut'"r's utte rance ge
,.,,..,,., alongside SE' then ""'f 'p " iì:,:::ìT::l"J: :1;1",'i1"? lan gua
:-..:e community'
tr*tx,il1Jffi::ffi lT'H:[?;*Tt]i;;"dili;irs!*a3a;r§"ilj
berween
upon ihà t"lationship depending
^rir *"r;ii;;';ìg-n.unity
accenr in which two
"' :i
the proceis of accent'chang'e l\|f
-lpants. t91t11p*1tìtla""'iu"' b5;;;"à-'i-trry uluallv a speaker
<trs modifv th"J;èè:;;;;'à9"' ; *:1
. 'cìt' a PeIS-ol it-flg*' .. n o n - stand". d
;iii r t r,., aur ai r "; ;;". RPt."is :,'j,':i:"',";;Ì i. il:i : iÌ''
. : 'r.ìlier to a sPecihc area ";;;;
existence of modified
evto
to ,-,'nl-,p"uf"'' U"t-àq""UV;he
soclAL AccENT relates
ttsl:lil : 155
Lansuase varrati0n il! :::lal
 also be altered by regional and social i+flq-enc"
m llY onlY ha5l
in the influence of other co'd
nities. On a small scale, it can occur where two speakers take part in a h{
speech encounter, both exaggerating their different accents in order to emplud
their opposing positions - an RP speaker may exaggerate 'standard' sounds, {
a speaker with marked regional pronunciation may adopt a'broad' accent. 1l
The most important thing about a personal accent is that it will rarely mq|
understanding. Most people at some point wil! adopt the characteristics of i{
mal speech and linguists study both the reasons for this and the kinds of mordi{
tions that take place. I
Social accents

W.hen linguists consider the 'social' elements of an individual's accent, thetl

interested in aspects such as thgalg4ssl§., edqggliguglbggliglgund, ofl
pation jn
--:-_;-_lj^:l_-r-_-^. speakers + Iower social claSses tended to il
r-*'- " ::_::r-à::: --- Traditionally,
and sender. é4..a*.+ --:
IeE-formal education erìhan profet"{
"utti"
jobs. Theywere far more likely to have a regionql accen!and to hrye_spgech mefl
bv informtl sesmental featqes likr gtjligLq$ ss-tflùqliqn Slghptqiiil
ficìàfclasses were more likq!-v-to have stayed in educatio:nirì-d. ta-hrye-Ptrl
s@it"t1,to-rpq,q\--&P*q-rrygdifl edJ(P.TheNewLtl
go"è;me"t eièciea lnIS}Z and led by Tony Blair promised a classleàs societ-vf
the twenty-first century. ln 2007, however, as Blair left office, some comm{
tors argued that society was actually less open to social mobility than ever haft
- changes in the labour market and in access to higher education might {
altered the balance of the traditional class system, but inequalities of wea.lth I
power continued to divide Britain and social background still influenced tlrl
o"'!'.""ljl-!L
*'-,, ,ougupwardly theiJ.l..-.g,.
m-obile teqd to mo$ifv
th' p rggli#
re i nfo rc'e s
"d
qrui§fl|
9ylt1!!y
ffi" i.1ri;g tt;-rlrt" thrl
Rp ofiten-6v-rnioMPENs-AlrE: in making sure
phoneme,n,,,p,o,ou;;;","*"'"ffi'tance,aSpeaKcrmnrI
ffi pronounce it where it is not needed. This process is -gglg(UyrryI^gB&qgg|
Atlitudes in society change and in--th6"tiltinty-first ce'rìI[ry it is comnro{

H['^X'I ffifilllllllllllllll rrrL,.. """ .

tll n';:]il
Comediaml
I
illl ilrl

I llll
(

example, and the Conservative MP Liam Fox has a Scottish accent.

illlllr
Paul Merton (South), Peter l(ay (North-'West) and )ohnny Vegas (North-V-eSI
I

not use RP; while some celebrities, such as the singer Charlotte Church (\§dl llll$ll[, ] '

purposely reject RP in favour of a non-standard accent. D-"tpj!.IUq,-gryIoil

lilllllllll

It,
stilfmqdifii iheir regrqnql prqqqtqiqlloa lt-gr4er to acqui@1ige- I
xyù'l

u llllllllt lllu

r (llL[* I

ùltllllìl" 1

iiò,*orrr*,rcAd,ll!:9!!9ri:llSMig: . I
 -.e United Kingdom
main accent and dialect regions of the

1
{_ IRELAND

{\ s

; : , -ilal accenls j

--:r to deal with accents in a practical way' Ingqisfl-ofte-u$vide the-coun-

Figure 8'1 shows the broad regions
,o several *,11ltoqa-alqqq'-Ih9 -up in
o{ q.t} qgq i'
Àarkq-the bpqqdqfy
:11 be used here. Each line, or -lqoqLgsis,
u..*i
o1 dialect it ùt"ti' wfièn you cross an-isogloss' you pass
a part-iculal
. r.e accent .. aiJèàt-'iy* to another. Although the boundaries in Figure 8'1
.::1€fal,difterencesacros.seachisoglossaremoresignificantthanvariations
.:-. each area.
.refollowinglistsummarisesthemainpronunciationdifferenceswhichcan
:.ntifiedbetweenRPandotherBritishaccents.ltprovid.esastartingpointfor
.is of region"f i" Britain and shows how they contrast with RP'
".""ìit
157
Language va!'lation: regional and social .'
flT::::",^,
\rhile RP pronounces the phoneme /h/ in the initial position, most regionall
lects do not. This means that some minimal pairs sound the same: 7eal migf
I
I ll

air or hair; /it/ might be eat or heah /ra/ might be ear or hear/here I ìlrqrtl
ill ,

H:|ilffi: trl,t
^uurary
in one of two ways in regional accents. ,. ,-rl
'#:ffi#i.'*\l:iiT;;;Ti::;',i;#n::r:::;tr:#::f
Midlands and the North, speakers pronounce a final /g/ phoneme, thus
J;:#il
artill!
t,t{ìl

ing lqglat the end of words: lkranqgl crying, lsisqgl seeing, lrttnqgl, running-
f
Consonant followed by lurl I
ll"11J"T:1:"IT$i:,i,,1il:?.r;:\:,;tr;:::,Ty,y:i;::if ;!:frì:il:Hl
tion is a remnant of earlier forms of English in which far more words werel
nounced with the /j/. Nowadays even RP pronunciation does not include ùI
in words beginning with /r/, and it is dying out in words beginning with isl. §l
RP speakers, however, will still articulate suit as lsju"tl .In some regional ao{
the loss of the phoneme ljl is common in many more words: /bu:trful/ for ttil
/bjutrful/ beautiful, and /tu:b/ for the RP ltlutbl tube.
I
*:ffiil:','il'oi.*r, or liaison described the way in which speakers d
Iinking /r/ between words that end with a vowel sound and are followed by anOI
word with a vowel in the initial position: /heapil/ hair oil. All accents includinlF
pronounce the post-vo calic lrl after a vowel, but RP would only pronoune I
word boundaries: while RP would pronounce sawing as /s:lrq/, a regional Yefl
would be /s:rrrq/. In the speech of older regional speakers, the post-voc ahc lrtl
occurs in words ending with a vowel soundt tar would be pronounced /to:/ ial
and /to:r/ by an older speaker in a rural community.
t
The glottal stop t
In RB the glottal stop is used on very few occasions, but in regional diatecsl
common, particularly amongst young people in urban areas. It frequently o{
as an ALLopHoNE (a variation in the articulation of a particular phoneme) of Àl
the medial and final position: waterwouldbe pronounced /wrrta/ in RP and &{
in a non-standard accent
I
vowels
The phoneme /i:/
I
{
In RB words ending with -y or -ey, and some words ending wlth -ee, are r|
nounced with the phoneme lkoftl cffie. Northl
lrl: lprtrl pity, lhttml honey,
accents also use lrl: ltJan:ul charity, /n:lrmatr/ normally; while Southern acul
tend to use /irl: lr:rlli'^l really I
I
"
iSg , ,orrrmlrc Advanced English Language 1
 *:: l
; it precedes a voice-
::e yowel a is pronounced as /ql/ rather than /a/ when
': -rtive (ltl, lel or lsl) or a consonant cluster with the phonemes lml ot lnl rn
nost regional di"- - :_al positio n: lgrolsl grass, /bolo/ bath, llra:nsf trance, /sormpl/ sample'Most
might b'
an're: /ea/ '--::n accents, howevei, will use the short lal: lgrasl ' lba)l' llransl' /sampl/'
:( l'e .

reme inventory
that occur in RP are absent from regional dialects'
It is therefore
mE r-owels
cents. ln almost a- . to distinguish between dialects by creating a PHoNEME TNVENToRY -a
and /u/ both occur
rce ,/q/ as /n/ in th.: .-..phoneÀes that are or are not used' The phonemes h/
Ì some Parts of ti" many regional
r'.- lltdllv rLÉrvrrsr dialects,
\ however,.only i<;/ is used: {ut/,a*ltYl/,:"^1,11
eme, thus articula:- .,:andlbntlbut.someolderregionaldialectspeakerstl5s/u:/todistinguish
:rpl, running. ::. pairs of words that would oiherwise sound :h::":::,l:li"iijT:11:l
. - as /tuki in regional accents'
..he pure vowel , u:
it is possible
This pronunci:'
:i-.e . .. transcripts of speakers from-different parts of Brìtain'
. -11g
will help you to iden-
.,re u'ords were Prc- -:ent variations in co^ntext. The following examples
s i'rot include the . ,-.rilèrences between RP and regional accents and to build up an awareness
ining with /s/. Sorr-' -.- distinctive accent characteriltics. Each transcript represents a speciflc
:re regional accenls :ltinageneralsensetheycanbeSeenaSillustrativeofthebroaderareas
burtrful/ for the Rr -: -.:ed on the maP in Figure 8'1'
- . ::anscriptions are brlad and do not aim to d.escribe the exact articulation
- '.s. Instead, they aim to give an overall sense of the speakers'
accents in
that
, :ed form. PHoNEMIC sYMBoLs are used to record pronunciatlons
,ch speakers insert ' .::-rificantlyfromRP.Toshowwherevowelsareeithermoreopenorclosed
low-
: rc,llowed bY anothe: . :he following IPA DrAcRrrrcs will be used: , tongue raised; ' tongue
lccents including R' .ong vowel.
it ": tradi-
Lr:llv pronounce
:clp you read the transcriptions easily' a written version using
:-.aregionalvaria:: ,'rhng.aphy and conventional punctuation will precede each monologue
/r/ st:
re post-vocalic
onounced /tori in Rl
=s8.2-8.5).lnthed.ialogue,thewrittenversionwillrecordonlythenon-
A key to the prosodic symbols
(Activity 8'1)'
. - - :ccent of the second sp"eaker
be found on Page 93.

: regional dialects it -s TtVtTyA,l _*_*_4*@

s lt lrequentlY occur' who grew up
transcript records a conversation between two speakers
.'.-:ng
:l:r phoneme) of /tr i: ,:-,e. AÌthorrgh UotÌ. ,p.akers have lived away from
Yorkshire fot a number
,'o:ta/ in RP and /w::' ,::eaker 2 has largeiy retained his accent, whlle
speaker t has consciously
-:-mlSpronunclation.
. - -rrough the script and rewryite the words
transcribed phonemically in SE'
rent on:

-.:t"_ uith -€C, ?re prt'

roil coflee. Norther:
. r.le Southerrr aCCe fl'-:
WFITTEN VERSION (SPEAKER 2 ONLY)
As we remember it. As we remember it. What, thirty-eight years ago. lt was a ,,-
busy town, full of steel works. Now, to my knowledge, most of the steel works -. ,,
gone. Shopping centres have. Covered shopping centres have taken their plac: :.- :
a large sports area. Also all the houses have gone. Where the people have ::-*.
l've no idea. They've gone somewhere, but where ldon't know. lt used to be a - :*
It's a large town, but it used to be a nice safe place to be in because as a chilc {r
not as as a child but a young fellow, I used to do a lot of cycling into Derbyshir= :-:
camping on the weekends. No problem. Used to get spuds off the farmer fo. *rn
jobs around the farm or whatever. Yes. Just a mass of smoke. Lots of smoke. Ac:-,!,,,
it was a difty, sooty place. Yes. Through Sheffield. Oh yes, yes. I worked there , -
know the place. That's. That was called then, when I when I left school, The E- : :ir
steel corporation. The full length of the railway. No there was two. There was : -q
There was two businesses, but one ran the full length of the railway, from wl-a- u,,ri
used to call the Wicker Arches right out to the other side of Sheffield into Rothe--,-
There I first started in the building trade there.

SPOKEN VEFSION :

1 SPEAKER 1 we'll talk about Sheffield =

SPEAKER 2 = lazl we remember it =
SPEAKER 1 = as we I remember it
SPEAKER 2 lazl we remember it (.) what /01tr grt/ years lagttl (.) i1 ,,,,,," tl

5 I very busy ttdwni (.) full of steel w6rks i I dw (.) to my fnowtòc3e

SPEAKER 1
t'yes umm
SPEAKER 2 /m::st/ of the steel works have lgonel (.) lJoprnl centres have (.)
Joprn/ centres have /tg:kan/ their 'flplers/'l and a large sports
':.,

(.)/olso/ alllhe laazaz av/ gone (.)where the people /av/ I gone I

10 SPEAKER 1
Yeah
SPEAKER 2 idea =
= have they gone s6mewhere =
.1
SPEAKER r llll

SPEAKER 2 = they've gone /sumwear/ (.) but where I don't knòw (.) it used to
nice (1) it's a large town (.) but it used to be a nice /sef plgrs/ (. ll
15 in (.)/kps azl achild (1)well nol lazlas a chitd but a /j«_rl fela/ (r
to do a /lpta sarklrn/ into /da:brJei and /kamprn/ on the weeke' l[,
no pròblem (.) used to get spuds off lthe lta:mal (taughs) (.) for tih
SPEAKER 1 mm yes
round the lt|rml or /wo'teva/ =
ltl

SPEAKER 2
2A SPEAKER 1 = and when you went into Derbyshire did you look down on Shéffle
SPEAKER 2 =yes=
SPEAKER 1 = what did you see th6re =
SPEAKER 2 = just a mass of l/sm:tk/l (.) lots of l/smt:k/.l (.) actually it was a
Ì1.

SPEAKER 1 yeah mm
25 SPEAKER 2 /sutr/ /pl-e:s/
SPEAKER 1 um (.) lremember (.) the train to ScarlborouOh (.) every no,..
SPEAKER 2 yeah
SPEAKER 1 again it would be diverted thro ugh Sheffield and along the side c.
SPEAKER 2 through Sheffield
SPEAKER 1 railway track (.) there'd be sort of these arched (1) buildings (.) wi:-
naces inside all the wav alonq it r looked like hell
I
SPEAKER 2 ];or' veuh yeah ]] r worr.eo there (., -

160 , n/tnsrenrruG Aclvanced Engl sh Language

 I when I left school
(') that was called then (') when
i n:r/ the /plgrs/ that's
iJ ftl" rngiitr, Steel /kr:Pare:fani =
t'li'"#"*o"r it on the risht hand
= it *r" iwon won/ ilTr:lì::J,f'
business (,) =.
we:/ ( ) oh so it was just /won/ brjsinesses (')
tttà'à *u' 7wr:n/ (') there was two
= no there was two t'l we used to
ran the t"rr r""gih /re:twe:/ (') from what
but /wuni "ììrre um
Yeah out to the other side of Sheffield (1) into
call the Wicker Arches right um
,É"n
in the building /trg:d/ there
/'rpÒ,ram/ 11
tbeIg i'1 I firsi/sta:trd/
ìì yeah

it' The context is informal

.r.:i;tlalk about Sheffield as they remember to
--dlr' and the interacti^oi^'"n"t" this - the speakers are'clearly'known
10 for dis-
1;;;iGportive uffì',-'-'utio" (see Chapter -
,irer and there is is
" analysis): mm' yeah-' Turn-taking
used il"''lu""ution
ri the terms 1 initiates
and takes longer turns, Speaker
...tthough speaker 2 ; i;i;";t
n.rv information where appropriate'
oàat
:?'s3g):L::.. - .r,r.1
ìiìo*"t' thai variations are most likely
:: 'r-i kno,'', =:.. . :n the pronunciation 'egional
some consonantal features are also
irom RR but in Yorkshire accents (l'9) and the
howses und /avi have
.:rstic. The droppin gof lhl in latszazl shopping (l'B) and /kamprn/
i a'Ee SPOaS ':': i''
of the -ingiift"ti"rr in
lrr.l lJopml
: a _r,. gona .+
-.ation "';ttt'-tt'
u"d typical of a Yorkshire accent'
,.

. l. i6) are common;;;;yare realised in a slightly dilI51en1' way - usu-

.vean :-'. of the RP pure -*"it (l'16)' /fa:ma/
/da:brJa7 Derbyshire
. are closer than i" np' f'-t wordsthelike
pure t'o*g1 Tori is articulated with the
^: , .rlt used ìc:= ' . 17) and /sta:trd/ stl;arted$'43)' Another distinctive feature
,. se:f Plels, i-l"r . :.aised, creating a harder and shorterofsound"
lnl tnthe phoneme inventory'
In
-:a iuqfela,'i -::: ,::ìire accent, upp"ut'*i'-t the absence
.<e/kuvad/coverecl(l'7)'/sumw",,'.1'o*"*here(lj'j)and/juq/young(l'15)'
'lail'Thefollowing ptt'" are also realised with rJ
=-3hs) (.) for litl = :: " .:iculated as the closer 'àwel'becomes the unstressed
...ue raised: l.,i i,-, *o,iJi't" le;"'l thtrty i'q);/a/ (l'34)' The
.. 1n lazl as (1. );nra /''l in words like /krìpare^J"nl.-Co!!o'otion
(l'25)'
sooty
, rr.',n on Shéffiei: = ' . end of words i' p'onott'-tted as i r/ in /sutr/
in distinctive ways. In some cases'
accents diphthongs or
".ti.;i;t;Rp the diphthong are less distinct
:
^shire
.- : iorre narrower '" à;;h;;J-sounds-of as a long pure vowel /gli
:::raìly ìt was a : -'.: a rìollophthong' fot l'-t'tnnt"' /er/ RP is reahsàd
(l 4)"lsgt'l safe (l't4)'
. --s like /tsrkan/ ,or"'"t'"àl'-tiig"'t
etou,,0'a)'-icrtl eight
is realised as l>:l in last"l
:':-Eh (.) every no!^' a-: -' railway(ll.35-7);d iiltJ/ tiade (l'szj;and/au/lnt"l know (l'33)'
=,, /mrrst/ ,no,t
(l'Ti ì^li'li '*'an(t'às)'
his pronunciations are
==^
': : cng the side of :-: ''::alier 2 no longer nu' u itoua Yorkshire accent' but realisation
the.close pure vowe.ls; and the
.-:eristic _ the narrow diphthongs; the stress patterns
prlnunciations are linked to
:
- cu,rldings (.) with '- . .:.s /rn/. other ^()' ;;;à";d (1'43)'
.: and /'roò'ram/ Rotherham
.shire accents: l*o'i"*l *hoi"'"'(l'19)
,.,:.Ked there (.) ur
legi0'a' dn0 so"a' : 161
- '...:.
Lan0Ja0e valra' o'l:
..
 Aithough both speakers will have had the same accent in the past, sgiat<er | !l
.o.rr.io,rsf altered. hi, pron,r.r"iation' He uses a modified RP and to,lit.:"SlI
realisation
accent is more difficuli to pinpoint. However, occasionally his {
sound falls between the two accents. This is an example of hypercorrection--l

n:x,m:"ru;l,I^'Jilif;,liilflJilLx:xl::ff
replaced by a form that does not exist in
RP. The RP
#T;»1#ffifl
would become /n{
/nrorr;/
ql
il
iir a Yorkshire accent: the half-close back vowel /u/ would be replaced by an

;T#i.:ift if :{1lli:"".nTr:;':::[:*;.]"#li:xii";"#*"",T:ll{
individual, the
\X/hile the transcript reflects the speech patterns of one {
ACCEIÙCI
nunciation features discussed here are characteristic of a YonKsnrnu
1 The phoneme /h/ is dropped in the initial position' t
2 The -inginflection is articulated as /rn/' . I
3 The pule vow"l /orl is articulated with the tongue raised latl, so that it is d{
than in RP.
- /n/ is absent from the phoneme inventory - it is articul"ttdl
T;.phoneme
ending in -y, -ey or -ee are pronounced with /r/'
'Words
beco{I
5
6 Diphthongs are oit"n-.ru.ro*er than in RP: /er/ becomes lgtl leul
l>'^l; larlbecomes /ael. t
Although each accent within the 'Northern' area will be different, many wiil {
here'
play thà kinds of pronunciation features highlighted
I
This next recording was made in an informal context - the participants
were qC
to one another and topics emerged spontaneously as the conversation developed' I{
ago,ts!
extract here focuses on a speaker who moved from the N4idlands four years
broad accent
lived in Birmingham up to that point. Although she does not " !*: {
most pronunciàtions are close to RB there is still evidence of a Birmingham
acc{
particularly in the realisation of vowels' l
of Mi'lla"q
Read throrrgh the transcript and try to identlfii characteristic features
accents. Try to suggest reasons why the speaker may have lost a strong
accent. 1

WBITTEN VERSION ",....

I queued from three in the morning for Bob Dylan and mother thought I was crazy.
:;
I ended up a few rows back. Mother said 'if it was Joan Baez I could understand S':
Baez. I was at the fron:
I queued from four o'clock the previous afternoon for Joan
--"

queue. for seventeen hours and I got her a ticket as well. But I met E:;
the Queued
back stage a':
Dylan. Fifth of May 1965. Yeh. Although I was a few rows back, I went
I held his jacket there while he did an encore'

SPOKEN VERSION
r t/kjaud/ from three in the morning for Bob Dylan and imuÒa/ thought lv''"
it was Joan Baez I co; :
lkranzailbut I ended up a few /r,rus/ back (.) /muòa/ said if
for Joan Ba-
/undastendi (.) so I /kjaud/ from four o'clock the previous /aftanaun/

162 , unsrrnruG Advanced Englìsh Language

 r was at the (.) i kjaud/ for /sevantain/ hours (') and I got her a
/frunt/ of the /kjau/
<ir/ as well (.) but I met Soà Oytàn 1.; tiftn ot /mer n:rntain
srxti-f:rvl (') yeh (')
jacket /Q:r/ while
. :rough I was a few /rrus/ back I went back /stardS/ and I held his
-: did an encore

.
',,M ENTARY
.: are €Xarrples here where RP pure vowels sound closer:
the RP /r/ is realised
ro lilin /iitit/ ticket (1.5); the RP /ni becomes /u/ in /muÒa I mother (1' 1) and
(1.3)' Many
front (1.4), and the RP /orl become s lal in /eftanaun/ afternoon
-. sounds are wider than in RP: /u:/ becomes laal in lllaal qwewe (1'4) and )
.. .-aun/ (|.2); li,lbecomes /ail in /sevanlainl seventeen (|.4). A similar widening
TRE \CCE\-I . r in the diphthongs: /arl RP becomes lf>wl five
(l'5); laal RP becomes /rnos/
becomes lsland3l stage (l'6), lma.{l May (l'5) and lkranzail crazy
'.'2); lerlRP
- .nd /ea/ RP becomes l61tl there (l'6)' almost all
.:.e speaker is a professiànal, so despite the fact that she has lived
'e in Birmingham, her accent has been modified.
Her educational and occu-
ral backgroind means that most sounds are similar to those of RP; even
: Dronunciations are different, the accent is not broad'
, h transcript reflects the speech patterns of one individual, the pronun-
lle the
r BrnurNcxaM ACCENT:
features discussed here are characteristic of a
. -e phonemes /a/ and lul are both articulated
as /a/'
...-.phonemelnlisabsentfromthephonemeinventory-itiSinsteadarticu-
.,ed as /u/.
- ,me pure vowels become diphthongs: /ur/ becomes laul; and /irl becomes

,iarry diphthongs are wide (the movement between the two vowels is
greater
-
.:.].n in nf), 7erl becomes lacil; laulbecomes /nu/; and larl becomes ltl '
- ,:her vowels are also distinctive: /ri becomes /i/ and /ea/ becomes /1r/.
rroad Birmingham accent, you could also expect to find the following
.:nciations:
^ is usually absent
:,;g is realised as /rn/ and sometimes as /qgl
-. ' §sgen1ss /nua/.
-rqh each accent within the 'Midlands' area will be different, many will dis-
,.'r. lri,-rd, of pronunciation features highlighted here'

.:-lvlTY 4.3
lived in Norfolk all hls life
-.aker in the next transcript is an old man who has
. l,i, broad and there are quite marked differences between his pronunciations
his
of Rp. lhe phonemic tianscriptions pick out the words that lllustrate
, rse
::ost effectively.
:.. extract takes the form of a spontaneous orai narrative in which the speaker
. : walk with hls great-nieces wiren they were younger. The context is informal
 ,!ttr I
the topics and dicta:=' lltl

and the speaker is in the domlnant positlon - he chooses ii,itrr Lrll .

length of turns.
"Read the phc :
through the written version which follows and try to rewrite
nllifflriiilìlrl1tlrr]
transcriptions in SE. Then comment on:
4ilìnii ltr '

1 consonantal features that are §pica1 of this Eastern accent iu

z vowel variations that are tlpical of this Eastern accent' llfifili "l]rl

have such a broad acc="-

Finally, try to suggest some reasons why the speaker may
r,rlllliiri: "
WRITTEN VERSION
Well, one day my great-nieces they came over there with
their mother
":1 1I r ltulilt ,ì

theywantedmetoshowthemroundthevillage'Welltherewasn't*':,1]::!
."ilil[
them'lshowthemroundthechurch,roundthemissionroomandthevillaqeg|
,r,rt
andthenllsaid,'Well,we'llgoandhavealookroundthecrematorium'llE[ .,r i

j::fi ;,ì""::#:,::J:tri j:,%'-,"J:t'il

:lJ;:ff :".1'"1:T"'"':iilìfi .[: |ùl iil

Anyway, we they were lovely gardens' We enjoyed it and

they had little,
the middte one,
?ngg
she thoughl.t
lllll

go'ou"i the dykes with. But chartotte there, iI rI

I looked, she'd ju{
òleverer than the others. She tried jumping the dyke and when ,l
so I had b!
I

into it. course she come out of there with all her socks, her boots wet 1n!

hersocksoffandshehadtowalkhomelikethatandthenwhenwegothorr'e'rI
lhuntedSomemoresocksoutforherandshe,dgotthemonwhenherma=,t L,:
orlwouldn,thavebeenpopular.Anyway,everythingwentallrightandtneyiotr!
enjoyed theirselves' I
itl

'il[l
l

SPOKEN VERSION , it,

r wèll one ldanl my great /neasas/ they came over there with their /mqiÒa/. qI
/brs/ they wanted me to {u am/ round tfre vittage (.) well there /w::nt/ myct lf
village /gr35
am/ 0 | lju amlround the /tJnt1/ (.) round the /mr1an rum/ and the ttu

and lthen1 I (.) I said well we'll go and have a look round the /kreme l iitì

s got some really nice /grdans/ round lthéreJ (') so /:f/ we went (')
veari:/ old (.) I /spo/ o** *u, bout thé (.) /nioal was about U' ,',L?Jìffiq
bout /n:rn/ (.) anyway we thev were lovelv lwtdanslwe enÉved
ft"lnl"El
titte bridges to go ovàr the /d:rks/ with (.) but Ch6rlotte there the
(.) r1idqg5 rl

,,il""I1ffi-"T;Èf,
- :'Jffi "J"T?ilff ff :::r"'l;:i:#T;YJi'.""i3TliEtr
7Éks/ f,"r. nooì" wet so I ledl to /tark/ her /salks :f/ and
(.) she had to walk
la
ffi :* y
;;1,[il Nx
"J#; ffi ]lH i ]3 i i",x1 ;11i [,"i"JtrT:i ?I'fi |
;:-Hìl::rt i,ustrate distinctive features of a Norfolk,,r.*r:I
"""rts
::}fr :xiil:;::iil#f ):tr;::;*i;i"9fl ff ffil:::;ùi,;"0:ixF5l
and this can be seen in the ry{
position
u.".rrì, do not always elide the initial lhl,
'I ir"

ru;n":ru::ffiT##1[:j;::";Til:iT";:;"liv,!i,i;#.Hl
164 , unsrenluG Advanced English Language
 the phoneme l6l in
-:js /pDpela/ in a Norfolk accent. on several occasions
:,al position is elided: laltl that (1'12) and laml them
(l'2)'
-'. r.owels are more signilicantly different from RP' Many of the RP pure
. =is are realised longeisounds or as diphthongs: lolbecomes lt:l in lwttnll
"s (l.ir), nt becomes la;l inlmo:Òa/ mother (l. r); 1"/ becomes
1. 2) and l>t l off t

rv,rnt/ wowlcli't (l.l1); litlbecomes leal in /neasas/ nieces (1.1) and lgreanl
.3);and/e/becomeslealinlveari,^l(1.6).othervariationscanbeidentified
RP would use the phoneme lyl and.lraml room
(1.3)
church (1.3) where.Words
. RP would use /ul/. ending with -y are pronounced as li,.l in lvearlll
o).
)iphthongs are also modified: /er/ becomes /aIl in ldarl day
(1.1) and /tark/

11) and /arl becomes /:i/ in ldtikl dyke (l'9) and l:;rttl
allright (l'14)' Some
show (1.2) and
rngs are realised as monophthongs: /au/ becomes iul in l[ul
ho*" (1.12). Many oi the vowel sounds are made with the back of the
"rl*l
_ : raised or lowered rather than the centre or front used to articulate
them in

of
-1
?honological features like elision and reduction are also characteristic
dropped and words I

.i accents. Unstressed syllables at word boundaries are I

. :reed as in /intrt/ for into l, (1.10) and /w:rnt av/ for wouldn't have (l'13)'
. .i cao be seen in the merging of word boundaries like lst'^ral saw her (l'13)'
il

, :-- H,ords, unstressed syttiUtà are elided: /krema't:rram I crematorium (l'A)

dis-
" evral cleverer (1.9).The stress patterns within longer utterances are also
tend to be held (marked by double
e in Norfolk accents - stresseà syllables {
..rning on the transcript) while unstressed syllables are very
short: /gq:dans/
, .-. (1.5) and /nnÒa/ another (1.6).
..e speaker,s educational and occupational background have not taken him

.e tÉe isogloss boundaries for the Eastern accent

for any significant length of
who have dif-
.o his accent has not been modifled by contact with speakers
here therefore
: .:ronunciation systems. The words transcribed phonemically
of his accent. Some pronuncia-
.te both regionai and social characteristics
features of the speaker's accent'
' .'.re idosynciatic, illustrating personal
, r-rile the transcript reflects- the speech patterns of one individual, the pro-
rtion features discussed here are characteristic of a Nonror'x
AccENT:

. -.e phoneme /h/ is sometimes dropped

in the initial position'
- : e -ing inflection is realised as /an/'
-.'.e seÀi-vowel or approximant /j/ is lost
after consonants'
- ' ords ending with -y, -ey or -ee are pronounced with the phoneme /ill'
' ? 'u:l is sometimes realised as lal'
- - ìme pure vowels are longer than in RP: /o/ becomes /::/ and /'rl becomes

- ìrne pure vowels are realised as diphthon gs li"l and lel 6"tomg /eai '
- - rrre diphthongs are also modified: /er/ bècomes lanl; /arl becomes /:r/; and
-; becomes /o/.
-rgh each accent within the 'Eastern' area
will be different, many will display
, ,.tds of pronunciation features highlighted here'

Language var ati0n: regional and social

 llr
llllllLhi

llì

I llry

rffir#j;
,=fpgffi*mNH
accents.

,t

illlluttrp

lll '' i.:

rrerand we was.L"'ì'iliàn*"*': g:lXt", àpo.'"o

[il;l to join the Air Force the-
:lilli;ilililiiJ'o,, *re- -'il'
:- :
# )t]llllllll

I
i:J?i:'ffi,tr:i:",[ìiffinJ:']:
H". O'r Force for five years'
I see a bit of the
"'
ln$i!!11

t,ve oot a lovely history I mean' l'd go bac' --*rtx'

{lmfiill

nturt u. Absolutely superb'

'i'in"
*"nt to Singapore ""0 , *lnì," pr*-"' nr'.,'ir'"n after my five years' I co-: :u"tifit r rlll ,

tomorrow if I could
t'nà'""i"u"iv a copper for twelve ' -ryrn'
+ars'

it or """
not' ià'""J irt" p;i"" Force and I was I con :
and believe all right' but where
'
and um as I say, ""i"JIo
t"*e of it' You know' it's people-There is more of a 9:
rur

'
in London, there is the gel' - = j-rÉ
"tn'ntetween::pp".l:-1nd
joined, they were ,wing io do away with
you know. Down here. *n"n r

puttins them in cars ro;"il; "*,v l':Ii,?;:if ,:fi"tH['Tffi:::. :5

*[-n;:,r miì"::.L:xI[*T"':,i"?*';
;" emprovme-.
roim or
@

but nothing constructive'

done silly iobs in between'

SPOKEN VERSION O er I "' :

-'sr
O that's the East Tdrndi
]

I l was /baun/ ln /bau/ 0 /ja,nau/ (')

{r4.1!an/ ìittt lob (') l /wen/ to /sku:u' t ' ae
;y/ trat *"
in the màrket ut u À*''
f (')
'v and /fotbau/ a-: -;§r
l"u,n"'k'u'u/t'l luàrtttnl to
llu

iillssn /lork/ uno tnli*uJÉ'""'tl

- cr-
i.ili, n"u/ (') I tried ioin the arm ' ' -:rsx'
was it (.) and the
L-u',.
"r',l,"rrnul *re /weuJ/ Regiment ai:
"0"""0""
s I was (ixteen t.l *o"liìJn in" li."rU.unà'"l1oin"o 1'1 rì"t
there for a /br/ and then "{t'lrt
,sn1 imrl up to l1J
""'iònt"*touryluìl 'p to lreland (') we was t*: "1§r
r /wen/
to the /gaoft t'l i'"ii";;"i"; " ""o (')'l'h?: in lrelar: a.lo
ìrllll$f'

' lrerànd (') that *" ooo'fi*tir er?/ :,',t" got a ''r il ril!
rl

Resiment to so into tirén ('),cor I've =

*" loin irre /ea faus/ 'u=- =
that turned ,.,ni,')],?l'ir'i'rpp,i"o.,o a bit /ava/ world (') l
rJ rstri:/ l /av/ (') '"
f""
i,'lsi'il'it"e (.)l mean() l,d go bac^:gq
Singapore,no r l*Ir,ito
'n'J'"iìlt'ii"t
nia,x, tluo,orui"rv,superb fotv jIsT' ì ::'-mxr
(]i àr''r.t t'l tr'"n after /mr
/tamora/ it r couro
riueil;;ìj /lavli:/ On"" for twelve ':i
tre potcllì""/ "Àà l was /kopa/
a lll

ù'ìt"o
la'^tl andbelieve
and um as
"' "àii
say, '';Ii";"o #;l;l ir5;jl,.:j"lfilyJìl,Iffl: l,"il1,i ]]LL

,' to do /awar/ 11i-

/trorin/
11!*

the /phi:ptl/ (.) l ca" :

+'
[i':13::#L)i]ffi'""i':;ll;;'1,":4;;:;*;'"
to get trlJm )l*",1 from
ìll

/d3elln/ u"o lp.J,I"".),.n "u,,

Advanced Li.lg:i9:
té6 *otrt,rNc !l9ll:l
'
'-1: lark (.) l/auwars/ still /lork/ to be /gnds/ on (.) lstill /l:rk/ to see /phi:pu/ and
'=,.to/phi:pr:/(.) solcome lallinlaJfltfaal (.) andsincethenl'vebeen/troun/
'' . nd some form of employment (.) l've done silly iobs in between but /nffrrlk/
- - srructive

,.,[.1 ENTARY
-(lnsonant variations are distinctive. The phoneme /h/ in the initial position
,:l on almost all occasions: /rstri:/ history (1.10), /av/ have (1.10), lgkl hack
- ..rd /qnds/ hands (1.18). The realisation of the -ing inflection as /rn/ is also
r: /boksrn/ boxing (1.3), /dselrnl gelling (1.17) and /putin/ putting (l'17)'
. :,runciation of the suffix at the end of nothingis also typical of a Cockney
nr,frqk/ (1.20). Glottal stops can be seen in lan?l eight (l.B) and la:?l out
.-.d the lack of distinction between /0/ and /f/ is illustrated in /nnfrqk/ (1' 20)'
- ...,r' aspiration of
/p/ associated wlth Cockney accents occurs in the words
. oeople (1. 15). There are also many examples of the ways in which Cockney
' - i f ronounc e
lll in different positions within a word. It is realised as a vowel:
'.r)\\'€1
- /sku:u/ school (1.2), /auwesl always (1.18) and ldsaal gel (1.16);
': : col-rsooanl - lweaJl Welsh (1.5); and when it occurs in a syllable on its
.errbu/ terrible (1.4). After lt'^l tn the final position, however, /l/ is elided:
:ootball (1.3), /au/ all (1.3) and /eurprt/ all right (l.Ia)'
' . -. many other regional accents, Cockney accents pronounce -!, -e! and -ee
.

.-.d of words as litl: lsixtitl sixty (1.8) and la-fli'^l eighty (1.79). Other vowels,
:. af€ rnof€ distinctive. The pure vowel§ of RP are significantly different:
. .,ised as /g/ in /gnds/ hands (1.18) and lekl hack (1.17); lnl is realised as i a/
: lot,ely (1.9), /landanl London (1.1) and lgaatl GuA0.7). Some pure vowels
' -..lated as diphthongs lelas /er/ in /ernd/ end (1.1); l;r.l as /au/ in /baun/
- ,faus/ Force (1.10) and lfaatl fought (1.7), and i::/ in the final position as
' .ni four (1.19).
;hthongs also change their sounds - they tend to be wider than in RP. In
i. rccents, /er/ becomes l7-tl in lawanl away (1.16); laal becomes laal in
' ;, (1.l), lnaol know (1.6) and /smauk/ Smoke (1.5); latl becomes loil in
. 1.12) and /trorrn/ trying (1.19); and /aul becomes latl in lall out (1.13)'
-
=: distinctive vowel sounds here occur
in ljtsl years (1. 13) for RP /jres/ and
9 i for RP /ofl,
- - . other variations occur in the pronunciation patterns illustrated
by this
..ese can often be linked to features of informal spoken language. The
*-.1t of unstressed vowels with a schwa is common: lb7.ral barrow (1.2),
, .; (1.10), /tamora/ tomorrow (1.12) and /kopa/ copper (1.13). Equally, the
rnal consonants is typical of conversation: lÙl bit (1.7) and lwenl went
.:Ìtbrmal speech, /Ò/ is sometimes elided when it appears in the initial
iml them (1.77). Vowels are often shortened in grammatical function
: : ffiI/ me (1.12) and lial you (1' 1)' Finally, word boundaries are sometimes

. rhe transcript reflects the speech patterns of one individual, the pro-
: leatures discussed here are characteristic of a CocxNsv ACCENT:

Language varia'ti0n: reg onal ancl soclal , 167

 1 The phoneme /h/ is often elided.
2 The -ing inflection is realised as ltnl , while words ending with the sufflx -/i:.
are pronounced /iqk/.
3 Glottal stops are common.
4 The distinction between /0/ and /f/ is often lost. (A similar process occurs h
16l and lvl.)
5 The phoneme /Ò/ in the initial position is elided or may be pronounced as :
6 The phoneme /p/ is heavily aspirated in the initial position.
7 The phoneme /l/ is replaced in a distinctive way: in the final position, att.'
vowel, before a consonant in the same syllable or in a discrete syllable, .-
realised as a vowel, /u/; when /l/ follows lt'^/, it is elided.
8 Words ending in -y, -ey, -ee tend to be realised with /i:/.
9 Some pure vowels sound slightly different to RP: /e/ becomes lgl; lel beco::
lerl; lrtl becomes /e/.
10 Some diphthongs are wider: /eIl becomes l6;tl; le<:lbecomes leal; larl becor-
lotl; I aal becomes /arl.
11 W.hen /:r/ is in the final position, it is realised as lual; in a non-final positio:-
becomes /au/.
Although the Cockney accent is distinctive and other Southern accents difle:
many ways, some of the pronunciation features highlighted here are found in o::
'Southern' accents.

ACTIVITY 4.5
Read the following oral narrative about a 1ocal gardenlng competition whlch i. :'

just outside Cardiff. The speaker has lived in the area hls life and his a,,-
al1
although not broad, displays many of the accent features associated with South ,'..
The transcription is broad and marks only the pronunciations that differ slgniÉ::-:
from RP.
Having read the transcription, rewrite the words transcribed phonemically
"
a:- -
to assess the ways in whlch they differ from RP Then comment on:
1 the distinctive consonantal features of this Welsh accent
2 the dlstinctive vowel sounds of this Welsh accent.

WRITI E\ VERS,O\
Who started the garden competition? l'm not sure. lt may have been requeste: I
the Taffs Well Horticultural Society, l'm not sure, and then run by the Taff Ely Co--
broken up into various areas: Taffs Well, Nantgarw, Ty Rhiw. The judges. ln tota :
say there's about ten judges who er try to er judge an area that they don't a:--
ally come from. Me and er myself and Dave judge Taffs Well because we're '':-
Gwaelod-y-Gar1h, you see and er various people from Taffs well will .iudge Nanl;:-r
and so forth and you're judging gardens against hanging baskets. lt's a difficu: :"t
that. I always maintain that particularly if you've got a corner plot, nicely set, ):- "r
way in front of something that's got a small frontage or even no frontage. Sc :- r
the wording of the actual schedule regarding garden or sort of hanging baskets : -
know, must be really a separate thing. We have had trouble with this' lt's a er e' - :
difficult to define um and put down in words erm. For a judge to iudge a garden ',', ":"
you go along and see a so-called garden is very limited to the fact that it's iust e- : -,:'

iSA *orrrr,*G Advanced Enqlish Language

'
 "'-:savementwithnogardenatallwithafewcontainersandhangingandclimb-put a lot of effort in
_ , :rts which is rearty rinfair
to that to them people who have
: ' :-3 very limited at the end of the day'
l'm not I Jawal( ) it /ms ev/ been /rakwstrd/
,,t;,TÀ!à"t0,", c6mpetition ()
(') t m noi tsuwat ( ) 3l'd.ih"l 2Y.n
bv the Taff
, r-e Taffs Well i hltrkati'at/'societv Nantsàl/ o Tv Rhiw
- (.) /br::kan/ /""';o1'e"1'1ti t'j rutr" wért O
il;i"
-:uncil
.:-:iudges(.) ln/ortajitlà-uuvir'"'"'tuno't,ìé)couldbeabout'hÉntudges(1)
t1"v io"ntl actually come fr6m
(') me and
-: ltr4l.to er luoge'a;i|il; you
=r raff' 'n*
y9]l P.:",i'* we're from Gwaelod-v-Garth
'nyself and (.) Dave i'Ogà will judge(.) Nantgarw'and/s:l/forth
..= 2) ander/vgarras/p"opt"fromTaffs,Well
se! (')
if youve lot a corner p!a! O /nalsliri
:.vdls maintain tnu""ii lputt'[ulir/ (1) or even /nl:/ fr6ntage
.3. way in front ot lsnm'grnithat,s got u.ràtr"trontug,
_ ol of O /angtn
.:
that the /w?:drn/ lleÉu:U (') /rega:drn ga:dan/ :o1 trouble
"i,n"-""*r", a sepaÉ-te thiig (2) we have /ad/
,.rts/ (.) you /n:r/ (') Àust oe lri"ittl 1') (')
[ut down /w?:dzl erm
'- rs/ (.) lrsl a erer (') /rs/ difficult t 9"1ii?- t'i'À *o along
in
yo'u lgt'l and see a /s::/ called
. . .udge to iudge (') a/gaidan/ (') and when.lt'slustir out (')sn the /pevmant/ with
. :an/ (.) i, u"rv Ii.it"'o*(r)"; in" tu"* ttrat unà'i-ngtn/ and climbing |/plantsil (')
. Eardan/ at all 0 with a few containers effort in but are
' : ^ is /rirlir/ ,ntui' to'ir'uì lj to tttem people 0 who've put a /lora/

: '.'E NTARY
..tlrediscoursetakesplaceinarelaxedenvironment,manyofthefeatures in the
are p."s"r-rt. The liaison thatoccurs
._:cl rvith informal conversation
word linkage
..e pronunciutio"?*oìds at
bounduty poi'''t'' This kind of 'Welsh
of a
' :'.trr-L to -u'], uttJ'-tt;;; àoe' t'ot itiuJt'x" a characteristic (1.8) and the elided
Siir.riiarly, tn. trrl this (t.l;i";d latl that
"rià"il07-i.,
common to many accents'
, lr's (1.8) are
I
'=rconsonantalfeaturescan'ho*"'"t'bedescribedastypically'Vflelsh'
:ped lhl, for instance' is common: in"t
t'o" (1'1)' /ad/ had (l'12) and
' ìtangingff'el' TL;'peaker does '-'ot,"tia" /h/ consistently - it of the
is usually

.:ed when irrl'-' ''-"t'""ed position"l: qto"""ciation (l'8)

' ".t 'ing,, " "ttit' /rn/: /s'rm.r nl sokething
(1' 10)' Tangr n'l hanging
in front of /ur/ is
(l'11)' The lilphoneme that iP realises
"o,t'*iJ-tity
;Cnl wortlirzg
ca:trkuli:/ P articularlY (l'9)' from RP come in the
' 'ould u" "*p"téa;;i-l; ;;" significant variations
-..:\\-ord.sendingwith-yarepronoun..au,fi,,l:lrillt,^lreally(|.77)and/n?rsli:/
with the tongue raised so
9). Many of the RP pure vowel' -" otodttted lgatdanl gar'
'-: sourd i, .to'""'' io'i b""o-"' latl in /sta:trdi started '\l'l)'
regarcling (l'11); /e/ in /rakwstrd/
- .ba:skrts/ a^,i'i' tl'S) and /rega:drn/ to
ì*lro'] *o'di tr'rei' ri''" tot'! nl'/o:/'is
shortened
..; (1.1);
"ra
l,'ii" p'o"oùc"d as /a/ words like
in
''ords like /plants/ plants(l'16) and /'V't'
' = ,'ali Horticultwral
(l'2)'

Language varìation: regi0nal

ancl s0ci1l : 169
 Diphthongs are usuany either narrow or are rearised ,,
-orophrtJ
i:i;l:lli;,';l;lJtxff,l';"l,iyr),T.yr,:;;T;":ii:l j1*#,,,É

sfffix-,s,*f,.1g;*$#5fi,H1iffi tltflr l

n",3;#i**::':,f;:"","",:T:ff iJl;#:i:"Jffi ::rT;ilff J::l j:g rìllll|lfl

illliln I

ilrl
rìnl

ffi ,l'H,:,ff ffi :"i:u?f, :i"x#i"H;:t?:::fl ,x'*,xll"Àx*:"8 LMI"*I

in this transcript, the plosives ldl, lbl and lglare aspirated ," lll il

while /p/, /t/ and rkr are aspirated in aI positio ns

,n! i"iiirr
----'*'J,roE
pop).
rphàph/
[]l

"""H,l""'à:,ffi
1 The phoneme
T[:*".T;:1Ji;Jff :;Ii::H[';:*;:*:l*;Hl ìI

/h/ is dropped.
2 The -ing inflection is realised as lnl.
3 The semi-vowel or approxim ant ljl is dropped before lu:l; insome \{.o:
replaced by lrul.
4 \Mords ending in -y, -ey and -ee are realised with
litl .
5 The phoneme lnl is pronounced as /a/.
6 The phonemes /a/ and ra'^r are distinguished by length
rather than heis.
is less open than in RR and is realised as ' Llllllll. L
/a:/. r

7 The phonemes /:l/ and lel are closer than in lìp. iilll0nLi lllll' liil llil

8 Many diphthongs like I etl, 1 e 1 and I arl are narrow (marked :,(ìLl llrl

others are realised as monopthongs: /au/ becomes . on the trans

lttl and,/erl become- 'rLlll

9 some diphthongs are broadened so that the two sounds

of the Rp err;
quite distinct laal becomes /uwe/ and /ra/ become s
lqal.
Although the Cardiff accent is quite different both from the .wales il

south .,

and from North \Males accents, some of the pronunciation iìrllll

features highl:
here will be found in other Welsh accents. lllllrr

LX

ùummary j
,,t.,,
Although the guidelines in this section cover the distinctive llll
accent fèatu:,
particular accents, many speakers will not exhibit all the
characteristics. \j.
assessing why a speal«er does not conform to expected
accentual patterns lll

uists have to consider the following possibilities:

1 speakers may have lost a broad accent by moving away from the area in rr:-r§ l

they grew up
2 the speakers' educational experience may have made their
accent more lik. ir$
(modified RP)
3 the context in which the- speech is taking prace may be formar
and spean.*x
may be consciously or subconsciously their
-oàifyir",g speech (convergence

170 ,. MASTER|NG Advanced English Language


i.sed as monoPhtho: ;'
,.: l. I )), leal in /vea':'
'. 1' and /narsli:/ rl:- .
,. -ll're RP diphthong ,'-
,: . i ), /tt:tal/ totaL r:- -
ll , and lgttl go tl'=
:J.. jns oI diPhthone' '
r-,
::rr.e (1.1).
: -.ì'r be seen in the t. -'
^ in utistressed Posiir"
rrhich utterances .. :
' i:h
, .\Ithough not illustra:' -
i , ..ìLers may belong à a social group that is characterised
:, irr the initial
y: ,-,11 \ .
i ,ne individual, the P:"
.a
CTR»TPP ACCENT:
rr -r , in some words .:
:t: rather than height; :"
:r'..:ked - on the transcliP:
:: and /er/ becomes /e '
i1--unds of the RP glide a:.
: .i
,n the South Wales
rr:iorl features highlighte :
sI::lctive accent features
I ::'.r- characteristics. V'he-
ld accentual Patterns, ling'
3i,, -,.r irom the area in whic"
:r. their accent more like R.
:::','be formal and
':. ' .peech (convergence'
'il
I
,. speakers, occupations may have required them to move
into a new regional
..socialcontext,andtheymaythereforebeadoptingthespeechbehaviour
::ociated with their new speech community
features'
and listening to the media may have modified strong accentual
:,.-r'eL
..cent is very broad, linguists need to consider the following possibilities:
.:i.ìIiers may have lived in one particular area for a long time with little con-
.-i rvith other speech communities
. :;akerS may be old and their accents may retain features that are
not as com-
,n among the younger people of the speech community
.- :Àliers muy be purposefuily adopting broad accentual features either to
gio,.p ot to consciously alienate other
-:r-rtify themselvei *ìth u particular
:.ìl(ers who do not speak in the same way (divergence)
by a broad accent
-
Posit
:lav have chosen to leave education early'
.':studyofaccentsisverycomplex..Wholebookshavebeenwrittenon
:.Lalaccentsandlinguistsspendyearsresearchingsingleareas'Thesum-
. here deal only with very balic dlfferences between the main accents of the
. -. iiingd.om, acting as an introduction to characteristic
features of regional
.
:rciation.
I 3 Dialect
dlr,-roud*isjs-ol-?r.a$yiL:-t9li'fdsgl*LtH++lE§-+t$§
"'
Iffiu".tn" air"r",rt ai qtls@[v tr r§giglld!}'
ar"cts oT-e"eiifr
-
*ai
; ffi,t, ao ehe-ssible
@
;;
which
lmme-riffr&-ò'fdiffiè'fit iegiori§1"ffi"ifi6"ì§oglosses establish boundaries
linguistic fea-
va1le" ' mp together non-standard-dialect forms with similar distinctive
*r. tnluitrbly, th91-e- ar"e*i9mq-gi5$t - qltttgr'rgh tgl.tel4ald-l-ex1§-lellds
_trtgu{"ai1;peg'{ci"g"rq;"'-q':E&+ggr{31--Tni.f *Hlg31e;11nihr
loss=b_egndaries. ìÉ
neeiìnat variation can be seen in the dialectat ai&*g$- b-ejWSeJt{gg
t:
aiflm"" r " ; ut u."rt- frdÀitan& rA friatects aieffgffiog$gg15g the
A;r"L*rr*uf melgaiff-rgqt-f, ,!gits'islés§èommon-Urbanareas'on
r orher hand, are far more likely to contain ;m6i;l; "rf;§ire" ,"ople mo"e
*d -h;;;ry for employment, they introduce new dialects intoThethebroad-
local
nerh community. Eqgllv, ug5, .rn atrett t!S. !f'9gf-di4eÉJqd'
t non-standard dialec[ i"ffir members of a communiry
e,
#6d ,'. "*poiàa iòi ilideE;ise qf làts.uqs3&Iry:iglig§Iry:)1al{ard
non-standard dialects of
Gi:T*, ur" tn"."rore less li-kely-to spea[iÉeEroad
sPeaker' ffis.r;àp;rents.Insteaat@$f yli"trtq,glggfl"i"iqJhS
irection of Standard English.
Language varlation: regional and sociaì .:
171
-r-
Some ling,uists__belieye that non-standard dialects are dying out. This ma., :. ìrilllliltlttmtlmmnrr

the case with some of the older rural forms of English, but many new form.
English are appearing to replace them. This is particularly true of urban ar..
The linguistic diversity of cities provides the right conditions for the elqg{g!ryj_
qsly.'_dqlgqt_s-, clearly illustrating that language is always in flux and that chan.. ,
§rÈryrÉ-ÉE+
inevitable.
As urban centres grow and as educational and occupational opportur:.",
increase the possibility of social mobility, non-standard dialects can be define: 1ililIiffitttililttt]tfll

a social rather lhan a regional basis. The use o[ parlicular words àr;àilafrfrI-.
social groups or classes. For inst: - ,
i?irètilaJòà" U. ti"t .a"airectly to specific ll s'

rllli L'
ipeople with broad accents are more likely to use the third person singylgrp.19;5
itense inflection in all parts of the verb: I goes and we goes; while people with r:-. :
:11 illi ll

ified accerlts are more likely to use a staidard agreement of subject and verb:

,and we go. This kind of differentiation in use is clearly linked to e{_g9a!!oq1,_-

I

{ occupational bacl<ground - th-e lqnger-peqp]e-ltay in flormal education, the : ìllrl

\ likelv thev are to use Standard Enslish.

elhgf +gLg+:landard di ale ct s are mo :! go.pm on_-ly .gp q o ci ate d yith
. +sll llllLL

Leqgqqgè, Àon-stanclaid irsage of words and grammatical structures can alsol

I

ffifr w*iffi TnT6?m dI w f if ì n g'm ò sTffi@ rrffi lffi 1191111'1111,0'1

than a non-standard dialect becaùse it is the language form used and taugttl
- dialect features becau-l
Lillì
education. Informal writine mav contain non-standard
, i s th e r ri tt*ìrriffiffiJ .io r"ly ìp pro*i * ut", tn" *;l;O-*rà-NòìÈ@ ,ullt

ul
also cnòoìii tò u'rite in non-standard English in order to create '11

J n:::r:r, A illl

. t It is imDortant to remember that Standard Enslish is one of the manv dialeil

,l foI-r g{!1g!§h. ìrlllìillL
,A.s the dominant
tEe pr;G;1-o-rm is
I
illliLx

Lòiiéarvaiiafion i I 'ffiltrttttlllr
ril
W"ithin different geographical regions, words often develop that are uniqu. - llll r

certain community. These may be incomprehensible to people from another :: *

'
although when heard in context other English speakers will probably be a: .
work out an approximate meaning:
nobby smart, brilliant, really good cutch cuddle (South'Wales di. . -
rrrfllfiiflflllll]lnr ""
loke path leading up to a house dyke ditch (Norfolk di:,, -r

Some words,llke borrow/lend and teach/learn, are used non-standardly in ::

,(
than one dialect. Because non-standard dialects are predominantly spoken. . . llll, "

quial words and collocations are common: and all, like I said, and that, and ; . ,' {t
llLLr ,,

rtLllrl
thing, cos.
It is useful to distinguish between non-standard dialect words and . ,:
mal conversational words and phrases: the latter tend to be used across isr: ",i

boundaries, while the former can usually be quite clearly linked to a parr.:- - ''iill

region. :ll

172 : unsrratruG Advanced Eng ish Language

 Eaidvàiiatiòn :

ffir-#frihTmnqhil;T*xf
"i:':'r"'ffi

lx

H§ A few regional dialects in

EardilectivesinsEendin-en(gold.en,silken,wood.enandolden)-theseare
fh tni òf ,l,ra.* Jf .rr" irn".ito,"t''
remain of some adiectives: pd'pern'
archaic inflections on
E l-\\'est, howl;;;ill;t" uy adding the suffixes
& ùe comparatii,. u*d superrative "."'i;;;;iliti"ran adiective' In manv non-
morelmostbefore
3at * ra1"tti'":il;;:4

t-
H:?:!;ii!;:,:;r:#;';3,;;;;;;'iÀ"1'lu"""s'v:'[hem'renercer
Il ,..-rlrd
non-stanoi diarects, the adverb -/y inflection is
r"ruu"
not used' This
ìr'," tu*" form - they can'
how-
means

IE=grl*be ao,rrrg.;h"iuy
-mI ""*uirf
atr"ir position and function
D slt "a*".Ur'irà'"ai".,i*' EUNCTT.N

SE]
, ,,. b.rs the bus drove s/ow [s/owly

t on',t
in many of the regional
o, place tend to vary
from the standard forms cases'
awav labouL sE)' tn some
(ttt up rcwn \to t'i)i':t''i)'''g'of .nite
a
described as
u"t'lon' ure now often
- rr rdespread that the ;;;-;t';d"td Sil' ln Northetn
-F: of of the"iii *'Ot''; I itgot t't'' {rom
\ve gor theatre' tn the South-
goilg''itt
is used lor SE ro - it' "-l'"'r'"' ''t''"
''lT
'i'
tn" infinitive form often
''. preposition fo *nttn
"tt"i'""t"'-'L'Uii" do l'' ln some areas'
the ro is
- for"."-;;' 'iù"*i n'*7or
to
- -,. /br to the
a few phrases'in which
l. -ì :

:.r example , t"ll *:;';;i"à" ";; and the idea

-:r *cture is still usei i;ft];;t
;; "'1i"'^"
fle'Joì m" to wnàerstand

aqd 50-'al ; 173

Ld.qL,aqP vd"'|d,,0l re0iora'
,,,,,.,,,,',,''
 ;{:;:'#"::f:'.'?,"r!#"ii*ffi B:hisconstructionoccursmoreexte{
Gonjunctionr
t!rut

In Northern dialects while is used for sE until (I'm going while

I lrÈ

dinnerdrdl IIIII

'
without is used for SE unless (1tou can't go without yoi tidy up). lllr

I
rronouns I
Pronominal forms vary significantly in non-standard dialects. subiect lllll ttril

persondl pronouns are often interchangeable, particularly in the dialect ""dtr hil'
- 'ìllillltmir

;#i,JT'k.yiil!;*;!:!;::::":":"'^r"1:";:jfjjr[:'tr;JtrH.l LfiUlllfll

when there is no emphasis; the subject pronoun is used in the obiéct siell !r lllll L

;il',,i,',Hffi1ì:,#,n:;\;,*),'!:'eT;;:Jil::T:ii,:,"il:T,ffi| trllilF"

ulilililu

i";iux:I:T,i;TL|
llfiillu il
d"*fffl;i',11:]":tr,'1il,:;^T::'ff 'ff ,*f rrllllilrttttru .. ,:"
usage occurs in colloquial standard English in some collocations like give]g!,il iilhl

";!"-r;":#::!'?l:1T$,y,1:";*r:#';:::f,y;i,;;:,;x:;,:::rt flllt tr

also common except in the North L

ì

,".#"liJ,"T;'n:il:::T:;::,:x13":,:t*lil?;:'oor-setves'[""'*il
llllllllllllllilil

object pronoun§ Possessive determiners Reflexi$e pronouns fr.

me my mysell
you your yourself
yourselves
him his himsell
her her herself !

it its ifself l

US our ourselves lli l

them therr fhemselves

sE itself is not consistent and many dialects use non-standard forms that
ra1!
",^:#x,'I::i::n.::;":;:;i:;i;::;,;;"on'[hepossessivea*"{
Relative pronouns are frequently non-standard in regional dialects. wh-

{f
'n'"ff;*:Kf:":,!:X:::"v:*"(,::f::i::,(";!;"x:if

;ryr*;",;'tri*#q
"!"i:^,'T;:::*l
nmlutt$ilsi

illlttturttti'r'n

llllllil
nfiffilllllll L

,ìmlrilrlÌ[
i,,ir,,

,
,
 irffI?S non-standard
nlore extensl\-trr
complicated part of a'language system' ":d"]" present tense
' .re the most fo'-'' ln the
iìii*J'i r'"* th"
' thev u'" r'"quJII' 'ì;;eu'd dialects to drop tend
ai'r""''llti|#],;ìn; n"tt"'"ì;i;;'ìu".'n North' south-§(/est
n"J'*ionit'" *iii'ii^t""s
:t e,ional of the
:i. rlirnertirrrc :: : -..d person
'i"g'iu;-;
.',rres,howe'"''t:1i;ì;;;i;h"'t"rl";;;;hroughout'Iwatks'vouwatks'
ru&s and theY walks' - this is
can be used to refer
to events in the past
The simple present tense
Subject and obie;-' round and'r1#hs'rhev iust
i the dialects o- --:
a LÌs.1qe seems :- :ì"
I
ffifi"
rrn
* *;ffiil:;'" y"yy:y
leave _ r,",, nor"r"r-";il;,
i; do, '::*
so
n" rooks
he Eàl6on as though it's allfine'
and can be used to make
--nc sLlbiect site '' - is not common' although it
rtbiect Ei[g r' ::
- b §orm of the present tense
d;il;' tte present historic can be
:h: rry more exciting' ";H;;;;Ji"'l and the third
--*'
p\-rsitiolls often '
mised by the -' i"il;;;;; i t"
ryJ;;à '"'o"à
Persons
. t: \lle in the o: -- '.
iney tnnt<s hard' and
decides uf,;
'..'irst Person P.-''
Hffi*#, " ,rorr-.tandard in dialects'
rt'"
Many
";T iffi:,1'':il;;'" il;;;dise fhe fuit"'"'
:--.c,i: gllr€
.,r:',. like
it trs. '
give trs t' '
ffi"tfuii*H t""'"' fo' instance'
'"'
i" ;;;"g"t"a with was or were
for
ù n bein the past
':',c1 Person Proni ---
', ,:ilrr and theit ': -'' ffi;rd;;;:,,:ll'#J,#T*"".#;*:L'f trit*i:il:?ìlilJ;'}:
àrt""o'" onlv one rorm:
ff i1*Y,ffilill;;;iàiut"'t'

ffiffiffii":F-:
,r -:.1i'e.s to ettne: '

rire pronouns
*f ;:i-;* iPa"t Pa'iciPie;
il
seif E" "*" :-^
tn***"''*l
selves
f
Èl
'Iff[";il:*#:;i*
;eli
tf
ft=*i":?Hl,'H:"*dTL1:iiIJÀiiJlff
rselves

l:rd lorms that actu''

ffi*u
-
:ssessive determiner

,r'r;l dialects. \Xher'' :

ffi
l:r-r things, non-stancil:
:
l-.r-t rtran and non-
hur:..' -
I litte in is big'
,,i",.: now considered
i:r:.dlrd: where SE u'='
.:.s[]nce, them horses ';"'
r.,'rì:trative Yon is adc.:'-
rh.rngs that are more cl:.
, '- ) c'-r.
lect to dialect. The negative verb ain't, however, is very common. It can be usedf{
the negative of the first person singular and plural and the third person singfll llllillllL'

of the verb to be, and as the negative of the auxiliary to have: I ain't happy ftl hf flIllfl

am not; he ain't buying a shirt for SE is nofi you ain't got an apple for SE havt f lnfiilI]llilill

Another common dialect feature can be seen in the use of never to refer to a {
occasion, where SE would :use did.n't: she never came last night. Othet variril
im
are more closely linked to specifi.c regions - for example, amn't is the Mid{ rfi
dialect for am not. lhe use of no or nae instead of not to construct the negatiw I ,t[*l
distinctive feature of Scottish dialects: he's no coming. I ffinr

r. 'lllllill

,
The following non-standard grammatical features are illustrated in
tl]lLflÌ

!
tn*::"-,o:,";,,",.,;:,,^:,:,;;,o,ff rr
',lllllll/

illl lilt

,,r,,0,ro,*n"r(Acti'*v8.uLJ lllflr

; ::f4tr".;,. ; ;;;;.;,,,, i,,r,",i",;.,

them people (Activity 8.5:1.17) for SEthose
.;, ;,, ì0, .,'sE,h",t , r, lll illl

iillIlllÌ

I
3 non-standard agreement of subject and verb: there was (Activity 8.t L{
*'i:""i::#^#?J*".*'JJ il:ì;!)i':"ìk!(f.,*,*8
(Activity8.4:1.10) forSEsaw.
3:
'
10) for sE *aI
llrrllll

mllillfi
àt,iff :lroiiliT:il""iffi:',1à"f,"i#::T",'"t:H"T['[H,",lt'"Tl

I
llf,illlllllrrr

. _:l:-::----:::::::::::
f,{lllttttttt

"":::"
iiillilrd

lllllilllilrirr

::,#::I
illlllilu

""r#: ff, ;:;::"-:- :"'.*". *ilil ilr

5ffi iil:Ji':l:"ff":"Ji,:L[J"x".iffi [,'"Iffi

":il".:il?iiffi ìt","j;"jil illlllllllllllll

done the plans here (.) we looked out the window and thought do this do tEf !lll[fiil]

' [i:N.'ì,.:r,fl""' *:1 I jljTj"'iJll;i,:'ff1 [ì,#"T :["iÌ §,."] I *ff

-:
there but (.) the rest of it's all unbelievable (.) I mean I didn't put no founda: :
I
fll
lltulr

flllllllìli

l0llll]1lilll

under them stones because it's so solid (.) I just put sand down and put ottrt[
to.'l
Lll!tilll

(') and it's just staved there (') it's been done what ,,ilJllll

,r i:L:;,i:"* itJ§m !f,firlllltIi

176 : MASTERING Advanced Engl sh Language

:r.rtt. lt can be used
:- '
.MENTARY
1ìli:ff
'h};';'il;
i:"I",ffiT;iT',ffi::1,ffi
fix"#it'l:'ffi
. '..r1r'd Person slngì ''- ffi
' I ain't haPPY lor nlifred. --**.@
for SE hdre '
;LStle Pa§t partitiple
(sE)
Slll; : Pasttense (SE)
i:1" cl'to refer to a mniumt"r,e done
, lrl. Other variatt' did
built
,ì,,,'r is the Midla:- built
'
. :t.tl uct the
negatir e ' .==rl+if,:"ÌÈa-ÉH_l- .rli.i.:,.r.1fi';.'e§ffi.'::=,'=iÉ,,r,,-,r':r': " "'''""'
t

J
second
tt"""ìt'';?;ilt t3 two' 1n the
ùefustandthirdexamples,thespeakerusestheirregularPaStParticipleform
1il""";#;"it;ti'''g
rÉrc simple past tense'
.-: tples of non-stan'-- ffi il:;;,,1:::::,[;IIi]14*"#f
howevr
f; .'l;:,illli,*ru';.,Y""!":{"
.rrrse the gramma- rfu tr,r'o forms,
*d*" /t/ with avoiced /dlrd grammar canbe seen in:
Other typical non-stanoaru :':',';:;-:,; no found.ations ll.7)

.'.ie illustrated in
'-' :

'Hfr f:#:af,àt',Hplliiff ;::::x""":':::

'X#",;:,ff,:Jt;fi:t:;;;;ait"*"-'1*,!,:,!)",rolwithanadverb:tookedout
,',,,i,' (ActivitY 8'1: 1'17 t phr
:
r àe replacement ot the prepositional
. . ì:1.14)for SEthemsel'' . *e window $'4)'
.',}-.ì..rr.<itiihli'.ÈeSLì\.erliiììe.'c,.ititis
, ' (AciivitY
B'I: l' 38' :
its changes ove
ITl ---:- .+,,rlrr .,f the English language.shows
- , ì 10) for SL came" [ '' Ég:l':-':ì:Hl,;:t-"""g",,t*-"':::1;"i#;l*im:;'::'t:l-,,*-i
-. r,ccur frequentlY
in m;:'
-
on varl-
.,::.1-:Èd bY focusing
,- .-.r,iLl1s and verbs'

: ri[V an)' non stant'

ffire
I' **;:,'^..^
now rar more r,,:";1,T.[il: fl:T,1,ffi ::i:1H:[,^
+hat the traditional regionat ":::lìl:,:;i^.i *itt the language
i
\

H,:;l
H;ers
ì;ffi ;,,,i, J "' g1"1
",'.X*:ltJl,
dt']ìi'".," ;:T?,T,ì ;;
i;. "ì, [ " "'t' 1
but as the \

Iffi;t,-*" difierent accents

() Y': - ":d each other,
-':^ :-'1 fiftv-eìght Pound
-^-.-.1' the t" -- "ì""g;ae
six foot to
about
-=- -:i, ious lt back and
(r '': fu, wnu I

'
-' Oo tfris do that
() i : - G :- PeoPle
-.^^^A
acceilP dr^Y-
'-=^ .,"uont Ee
'-] ."],'i,. er (.) it holds ba:'-
-.', .-.,rt tÀn of{oundations
I
it
a foot of earlh
do"'-
@
rue-moIe 5,11l:':
,;ì o* no ^^_l^ -l
- . = - -, al*n and Put other
- '-.;;;;;one what rour or r '=
thir;-' rÉ'&ctsr9e!?vÌÌ
-;
=-
me-tig.:
,
E=-."i"difiàlect
a0d soc a' 177
va'latl0n: eqi0nal
--
I 2n0uaqe
1. ..: . "
 form of Englidr
their language. choosing a social rather than-a
ers
t'nelffi

r@
tl
or adapted forms of Englil[qlinguistically
i4

I iffi:. end aiateffiq

diarects .r, u" J
' @'II-tfg]SPn :^_^,*:^^ of^r orrpnr< acceltté-qna
the Nuil
ul'o------tulhd
1 the emerge-L1§e.oLEggA&$g",
{,;ffi*;h;t"
,,,1i14
ml'1."J::I51:H*
::: i' :1; ;;;;;;, ;rc,zuet r'pUge n'n 4J ojltlB§" rqg
fH,5
r.ut ,,"' 6f Ét"àrv English in the sp
'iffl;;;;;"tàJ
'[Pri*" Minister of the Labou' got'"'n*"nì ''gi' ]'oo. It u as first "ttoq
'hilìé";i'È'
in irr"* and in North 6"nt' hrrt be{
l,
ll\ tÌ..oeakers on the banks of the Thames Th"
has now.sp'"J -uth further 'À"ìà'
k{l,ltrn" influence of the media it {
'
i.characteristlc teature 's can be
identifred:
Gatwick
> lll tnthe medial position is elided: /gawrk/
lbrudl buL"'t
r as in the Southern accent, /l/ is often pronounced lal:
as
l/p/and/k/soundsintheflnalpositionareelided:lpolpopandlstr-.;..n
cheers '-':;
r it has a distinctive vocabulary with many-1-mericaf§ms:
guesstimate , rtottr nol,';[!El
.r, -^^-
"'fi*" c;"*'l
although -+-*.rr
,, t'";;;;;{eselibed
'i*iiÀt
Èì;'u,"
'É::ffi:::"",' "*i+l*H;i
ror-rh6mediat no:{
/ does not replace !Ul; ' .q
Estuary English i'-n ' ^' --i*'nr
rather than a regional dialect' mi,rrot 'i:':

t i;ffi *mm:ilTJl'{:i''::tii[i:'sr]iti#i:f,
'ntiut
o@-34rv-+-.+#sd-qb#::l!#=1*-epr:;
e"t' ilitv'rfia. F*
#'p;;11s-1,t*,nìÀ-*r'o1'.^:ll''.:Y:5
H;alli'"iffi,0"ffi
"ii',, :'
cailed a CLnsllE-q:_D_f.il+cr becau-r
il:;:ì1il;;;;""r- "i ",
seems to be so wide'
''A1thoughsomeIinguistsdonotbelievethatEw
anìmportant &veiòfment in the histarrt
a.s
"d:H:fi#ì;;;"'sence
É n gr sh r an gu a ge rh
:; ià .h:ì ii ii?:1
i3ll* Htr#" "*H
i
";i :: : u.o,r'-'d Londor: - - ';
mìddli, qlais",
il"*:L,Xf", il""i'J"o aialg.r! fq1th9
i^nà- UU;+;,iiip òf s,iùliòi
n En gland quite dr amaticallv'

dialects
8.5 What to look for in British accents and
The following checklist can be used
to t1"?,ttfl
I*.::::::::i:.","".1:]:.
entaccentsanddialects'Youwillnotfindallofthefeaturesineverytrans:r;' -
poinLs made are general so discus'!
the list can be used as a guide' The cc'1-': i
ro take account of the specific
cific examples will ,."a io be adaptàd

a. iorm of English' sPear'
ì.dentitY rather th::
.r:rc.r1
:: lLrrquisticallY imPorta:
.. :re making choices cc:'
r:' llì the accents and d'''
rc. dralecLs can be seen
\rtr- LoNPoN \'oICE '
t' -
. . . 'GnFriinalities
'-:r.tlìer afield' The foiiou.r:
,,- r:/bludlbuilct
. - ,,rpr lnd /stri slicli
' -.,,itr,nat cheers' fi6:i"''
'-.-.- botir non-standard
.. ìttll es i15'5oqi31qd rr i"'
-'
, : ,, the medial Position
a-
:
-. :..ele'ct, mirroring the s' :
.. : i. g'ed by |oun$ PCt t-ts'
r..:-.' Ihe middle classes
ac- :
:. .'.ì.e r,rPrvardlY mobile
close: l
:. :-. otier to move
" rit'.ìc1 of RP which is see:-. -
s5 Dl.\LEqT because
its aP: ' "
-:.: '. l-ngl!!h is a-new Phen' -"
l.
, '..l',.,.ni in the histor)oI
. ., ,r.,ilge could rePlacq B-'--
,...- Lro.,.r-td London' chani
.- - -lì1r..
I dialects
di:''
:', -r-lilÌres in examPles of
: -;
: ,; -,l'.if e s in every transcript
of :.":
l:: .Èl1eri].l so discussion :-''
: -.,-.-- ,,1 the specific context
to
of the commu.nication' Remember that you need
'r':lnts and the purPose
. what they tell you about
'-: effect of t#fl*ut"'you
tl-Le
identifi'
""pfoting
contexts'
' :-.o,-rui, social and geographical
to asl('
:
:,'llowing are helpiul questions
1d"; sÌer
:t is the mode?
-
' : liten or sPoken?
'.'t is the manner?
participants?
' ::lal o. i'-'to'-ii'elationship between
' unequal participants?
-rall1' equal or
' --'-iliar or unfamiliar participants?
..: is the field?
the participants?
: ì:i:: :::[i:f;.::;and educationar background or
' -.ed to the region?
fro.m RP?
: :ilv of the consonants differentposition?
' -,'pecl phoneme /h/ in the initial
:r'.rnciation of the Phoneme l.ql?
t'lrot" the pure vowel /ur/?
" -'-rlation tht";i;;;*"
"fi r/?
l1l
' .:-r'ocalic
c-.' - -ll stoPs?
' - ..::ctive realisation of the phoneme lll?'
- .: :.lted consonants?
' :!ìrlants replaced with other phonemes?
, -.r of the vowels different
from RP?
:'i ;ind -ee realised as li"l ot lil?
- - .".d /or/ d'istributed as in RP?
' - t' utd /u/ t""d in the phoneme inventory?
' , i'ou'els closer than in RP? ' in RP?
' ' -:ror-rgs narrower or wider than a particular region'i
' ' -ctive f"";;; ;;"ciated with speaker has an accent?
the
: iollsona[t and vowel variants suggest
-':rl, social or Personal?
-
-'. or modified?
I
-. .,-rt of convergence or divergence?
"uid"r-tce
:r.e ar1, examples of hypercorrection?
a particular region?
-:':€ words that are unique to
3.n1l
". of the words archaic?
an individual view of the
world rather
" ri.ords idiosyncratit' t"n"tti'-tg
region or social group? ., . --.^^^ i-
:-.' rr-ifluenced by a particular
' ::€ dl1il examples of colloquiai *o'd' and phrases that cross isogloss
' . ,: Les?
and s0ci1t 179
Language variation: regi0nal '
 Grammar
than the verbs non-standard?
^ Are any open-class words other
1 number or with ar ar-
.^ì""" pr,ìrals with .ro -s inflection after a cardinal
.L

SummarY
a speaker's social' regiona
Accents and dialects reveal something about
p""t"""f faentity. They may be consciously or subcon-scl:^TY:"1f$-
'*,*" il **,-É;a,n- eg%*FJgsf iE'"-qqlt@BÈfl
I -ttt-s
encounter. I 'I
k"." need to make linguistlc chofcqs 'about the-'m-o-gt Qp-propllar5 lt{

Eng1ishforeachspeech"ncorintei.lftheyhavòawiderepertoirethe..
moreabletomovebetweenstand'ardand'non-standardaccentsanddial':.'
VariationsfromthenormsofSEandRPshouldnotautomaticalivb......-:
way of speakins -
'bad' or 'incorrect'. Accents and dialects are not a lazy
vatrtrLrcr in their own right with distinctive
rules and.stru.ctutl
varieties Yt':t: ano' q
-. :- ;;ffi
-- .'f
il ,.,""it"-i"g9jps"9L tqup'-t1+rry--e1! !be-i{--livesIffi
-- À@ *--'**-.-*=* ^ "*r-,n.*Or-ùa -1
illll

of accents and dialects or t&Jagga'rlq*tsrevr"5

.,rt"v i s_iqÀ.
hear-iwidà?ange rho -. .

thatmostspeechcommunitiesshowevidenceofdialectcontact-the:...-
differences between non->-':- ";
this is dialeìt levelling, and a reduction in the
and. standard forms of English'

180 , MASTERING Advanced English Language