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3.1. Regional and social dialects - Coggle Diagram
3.1. Regional and social dialects
3.1.1. Regional variation
3.1.1.1. International varieties
vocabulary differences
grammatical differences
regional accent differences
a matter of the frequencies with which particular features occur
3.1.1.2. Intra-national or intra- continental variation
Intra -Dialect differences within a country since the distinguishing forms involve grammatical usages and lexical items as well as pronunciation.
Regional variation takes time to develop.
EX: British and American English provide much more evidence of regional variation than New Zealand or Australian English.
EX: The Linguistic Atlas Projects provide a rich source of information on the features of pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary which distinguish different American dialects
Isogloss: Boundary which distinguishes an area on a map where a certain linguistic feature is found from areas in which it is absent.
Intra- national or intra- continental variation
3.1.1.3. Cross continental variation: dialect chains
Dialect continuums or chains
Moving from one village to another, there are only small changes in speech features from location to location. Inhabitants of adjacent villages can usually understand each other. Over large distances, however, speech differences are so great that inhabitants at either end of the chain may not be able to understand each other.
They illustrate very clearly the arbitrariness of the distinction between “language” and “dialect”.
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Accents are distinguished from each other by pronunciation alone. Different dialects are generally distinguishable by their pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.
Regional dialects involve features of pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar which differ according to the geographical area the speakers come from.
Social dialects are distinguished by features of pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar according to the social group of the speakers. Social group is usually evaluated on the basis of a range of features, such as education, occupation, residential area and income level.
A language - as a collection of dialects that are usually linguistically similar, used by different social groups who choose to say that they are speakers of one language which functions to unite and represent them to other groups.
3.1.2. Social variation
3.1.2.1. Received Pronunciation: a social accent
Received Pronunciation – the social accent of the best educated and most prestigious members of English society.
derives from the accent which was “received” at the royal court, and it is sometimes identified with “the Queen’s English”
the Queen’s speech has kept pace with changes in RP, albeit a few steps behind.
promoted by the BBC (British Broadcasting Company) for decades.
conceals a speaker’s regional origins.
most linguistic variation will be found at the lowest socioeconomic level where regional differences abound.
Further up - the amount of observable variation reduces till one reaches the pinnacle of RP – an accent used by less than 5% of the British population.
less variation from the lower- middle- class and middle- class people
More accurate diagram might have a somewhat flatter top, suggesting accents other than RP can be heard amongst those who belong to the highest social class
RP now tends to be perceived by many people as somewhat affected (or real posh!).
Negative reaction to RP - among young Londoners, many of whom use an accent popularly labeled “Estuary English”
Process of leveling - involves the reduction of dialect and/ or accent variation
Cockney, another variety which delineates both a regional and a social group
3.1.3. Social dialects
3.1.3.1. Standard English
Standard English is more accommodating than RP and allows for some variation within its boundaries.
-------limited amount of grammatical variation is acceptable
-------spoken with many different accents
Study the relationship between social and regional variations in relation to socioeconomic levels
non- standard
associated with the speech of less prestigious social groups
inevitably acquires negative connotations
nothing linguistically inferior use the term “vernacular”
Vernacular
learned at home and used in informal contexts
lack public or overt prestige
are generally valued by their users as means of expressing solidarity and affective meaning
3.1.3.2. Caste dialects
People can be grouped together on the basis of similar social and economic factors. - use different social dialects.
Indonesia and India – clear-cut social divisions
caste systems determined by birth, and strict social rules
Corresponding speech differences - A person’s dialect is an indication of their social background.
3.1.3.3. Social class dialects
Social class
differences between people which are associated with relative social prestige, wealth and education.
differences between people which are associated with relative social prestige, wealth and education.
3.1.3.3.1. Vocabulary
Consistent relationship between social class and language patterns.
Vocabulary – obvious differences in many ways - the least illuminating from a sociolinguistic point of view, though they clearly capture the public imagination.
the U terms spread beyond the boundaries of the U group-> new terms are introduced to maintain the distinction.
Vocabulary clues are superficial and conceal the complexity and relative fluidity of social class membership
The barriers are NOT insurmountable. People can move up and down the social ladder.
3.1.3.3.2. Pronunciation
Groups - distinguished by the frequency with which they use particular features, rather than by their use of completely different forms.
regional differences but the overall pattern remains the same.
a great deal of individual variation
Pronouncing–in as /ɪn/ instead of /ɪŋ/.
the variable (r) - two possible variants of (r).
[r]
absent [0]
part of the standard prestige dialect
---- pronouncing (r) as [r] is part of the standard prestige dialect – in the Boston and New York, Ireland and Scotland
----- The higher a person’s social group, the more [r] they pronounce – in England
Particular linguistic forms which people regard as prestigious or stigmatized are in general totally arbitrary.
the precise values of the standard forms are entirely determined by the speech of the most prestigious social group.
Labov developed a method which involved giving a score to different pronunciations according to how close they were to the prestige pronunciation or standard in the community.
Analyze recordings of their speech using a spectrograph and some specialized computer software.
The frequency with which [l] is deleted distinguishes the French of two social groups
differ between the social classes
differs according to the grammatical status of the word in which it occurs.
Similar patterns can be found in any speech community where there is social stratification
Same relationship is found between speech and social class.
----- The higher social groups use more of the standard forms
----- the lowest groups use the fewest standard forms
3.1.3.3.3. Grammatical patterns
Clear pattern to the relationship between the grammatical speech forms and the social groups who use them.
------The higher social groups use more of the standard grammatical form and fewer instances of the vernacular or non- standard form.
“sharp stratification”: a sharp distinction between social classes with regard to the use of standard vs. vernacular grammatical structures
On average - that children from lower class families used more vernacular verb forms than children from middle- class families.
Multiple negation use: more frequent in lower-class speech
3.1.3.3.4. A note about methodology
Sociolinguistic interviews -- difficulties: time consuming and expensive
Rapid and anonymous surveys -- limitations: uncertainty regarding social backgrounds!
“cell”
---- box in a diagram which indicates the target numbers for each group in a sample.
---- a minimum of five people in each box or cell in the diagram to represent each group