You say tomato...

Here's an interesting article that ties in nicely with some of the work we've been doing recently on regional variation on the A2 course. In it the writer, Richard Morrison, discusses the 'state' of regional accents and dialects in modern Britain. It is a widely-held (if not necessarily always empirically based) view that 'accents and dialects are dying out', but Morrison seeks to debunk this perspective. He observes that "the British are reasserting their regional distinctions, at least in the one area over which ordinary folk have total control — the way we speak". Morrison continues:

Academics at Lancaster University have found that, rather than disappearing or merging, British dialects and accents are stronger than ever. Indeed, it seems that the great urban argots — Geordie, Scouse, Glaswegian, Brummie and the like — are actually extending their reach into the surrounding towns and countryside, as more and more people assert with their mode of speech their pride in belonging to a particular region.

The writer goes on to observe:

What’s really important is that, despite all the predictions made half a century ago, regional accents clearly haven’t been steamrollered into oblivion by mass communication and social mobility. Yes, all of us listen to the same TV and radio presenters, and many of us live hundreds of miles from where we learnt to speak our mother tongue. Yet we appear not merely to be clinging to the distinctive figures of speech and vowel sounds of our native soil, but actively nurturing them.

We're about to start looking at a phenomenon known as dialect levelling, and related theories that suggest that varieties associated with particular regions are becoming less distinct and are instead adopting non-standard forms that are shared by speakers across the country. The spread of so-called 'Estuary English' over the last couple of decades is often cited as evidence of this phenomenon, whereby speakers from areas as far north as Hull have been recorded using non-standard linguistic features not associated with the traditional varieties of their area but with varieties linked to the South-East of England. Whilst on one level Morrison's observations would appear to run counter to this, he does comment that "[t]he academics say that there are fewer and fewer differences between the way that people speak in neighbouring villages or urban districts. These micro-distinctions are being subsumed into regional “super-dialects”...". So to some extent this is like a localised version of dialect levelling. This gives us another angle to consider when looking at the issue of change in regional varieties, and should encourage us not to make blanket assumptions about the extent or nature of dialect levelling, but instead to consider each regioan and their related varieties on their own merits.

Accentuate the positive (or negative...)

With regional variation featuring as a significant element of the ENA5 Language Variation and Change paper and a possible focus of the ENA6 Language Debates paper, two articles on attitudes towards regional accents and dialects have made a timely appearance in the news media this week.

In the first article an MP from Wearside in the North-East of England argues that negative attitudes towards her accent once lost her a job. This might surprise you, given what we've been saying about the increased popularity of the varieties of the North-East over the past few years, and the article does indeed go on to acknowledge this, pointing out that the negative attitudes which this MP experienced actually occurred 20 years ago. It's a good example of how the fortunes of a regional variety can change in a relatively short period of time.

A separate article in this week's Guardian discusses the use of regional accents in advertising campaigns, observing that not everyone likes to hear their own accents used on TV:

The research clearly shows that the accent used in radio and TV advertising can
have an impact on how the ad is received," said Brian Jenkins, the head of radio
at the COI. "Regional accents can make a difference but not necessarily a
positive one. There was quite a negative reaction from people in Birmingham and
Bristol to their own accents," he said.
Jenkins added respondents in both
cities were "very proud" of the way they spoke, but seem to have been affected
by "other people's perceptions of their accent".

It's well worth reading the full article as it will give you some excellent ammunition when it comes to your exam.

Beryl bashes Scouse brogue

Author Beryl Bainbridge has once again courted controversy by criticising the accent and dialect of Liverpool, as reported in today's Guardian. Bainbridge got herself into a spot of bother over this one about ten years ago when she claimed that her success as a novelist is partly down to the fact that she took elocution lessons to help her get rid of her Scouse accent. Yes, that's right, she's criticising a variety that she herself once used!!

But it's not just Beryl Bainbridge who's been attacking the Liverpudlian variety this week. This article in The Sun considers once again (for this is something that seems to occupy newspaper writers on a regular basis) those linguistic varieties considered to be the 'best' and 'worst' in Britain, and Liverpudlian doesn't fare well. As also reported here, it is frequently the case that people feel the need to change their accent and/or dialect when in a high-stakes situation such as a job interview.

Geordie accent and dialect

This post relates to the assignment that I have given to my A2 English Language class today. You will find some useful texts for the assignment here, here, here, here, here and here.

Derbyshire dialect deliberations

Ay, surrey, owart?

Thanks to Conor for sending me the link to this article, which contains some very interesting information and links relating to the dialects of Derbyshire. This is useful stuff for your ENA5 Language Variation paper, for which you'll need to be armed with a stock of features from non-standard linguistic varieties.

Beckham's accent gets the boot

The language quest of hotel chain Travelodge continues apace this week, as they publish the results of their survey into both the favourite and most loathed accents of British English. In keeping with many such investigations in the past, the accents of areas such as London, Birmingham, Wales (huge generalisation, but don't shoot the messenger) and Liverpool come off the worst, with varieties associated with the north-east and Scotland coming out on top.

What's particularly interesting about these results is the celebrities that are chosen as examples of each variety. London accents are representated by controversial figures such as Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen, and although David Beckham might not be controversial in the strictest sense of the word, he certainly does divide opinion. Wales gets Charlotte Church (generally considered to be rather irritating), Liverpool gets Colleen Rooney (WAG famous for... well, being a WAG), and Birmingham gets Ozzy Osbourne (unique, but not necessarily in a good way). By contrast, Newcastle gets Cheryl Cole as its figurehead (considered to be quite attractive by lots of people), Bolton gets comedian Peter Kay (current media favourite) and Scotland gets Edith Bowman (popular with 'the yoof', I believe).

All of this supports the observations of linguist Howard Giles, who is famous for (among other things) his discussions of the motivations for language attitudes. One of the points he makes is that people's attitudes towards a particular accent are frequently motivated not by the aesthetic qualities of the actual sounds (although this can be significant), but by the things (people, places etc.) with which the accent is associated.

The results of the Travelodge survey are also reported in slightly different ways here, here and here.

...And yet more on dialect

Following on from the previous post on various regional dialects, the Lancastrian and Cornish varieties now get their turn in the spotlight. The Travelodge hotel chain has commissioned a study into the extent to which people understand various accents and dialects of British English. You can see reports on the results of their research into the Lancastrian dialects here (complete with a link to the short dialect guide that came out of it) and the findings of their Cornish dialect investigation here.

Dialect, dialect, dialect...

The subject of regional accents and dialects is rarely absent from the pages of national and local newspapers for very long, and in the last week or so there have been a number of interesting articles in various publications.

This article from the Northumberland Gazette looks at the work of the Northumbrian Language Society, whose efforts to keep the local dialect alive will this week include an event which sees the recital of a selection of poems written in the Northumbrian dialect. Further south in Hull, meanwhile, a hotel has begun to issue its guests with a tongue-in-cheek guide to the local dialect, as reported here. It's a pretty comprehensive list, which takes an affectionate look at the local regional variety - although there are a few people from the area who are less than pleased with what they consider to be bit of a mickey-take (although the hotel management denies it was ever meant to be seen in this way).

Elsewhere in Yorkshire, one of last week's editions of the Huddersfield Daily Examiner issued a plea to bring back the Yorkshire dialect - an article which, in turn, prompted some negative responses a few days later because of its use of what some people considered to be regional forms that were not from Yorkshire but from across the border in Lancashire.

And finally, no blog post (at least, no blog post from this writer) would be complete without something on the dialects of the West Midlands, which is why this video report gets a mention. Them bostin' Brummies have got in on the Facebook act, setting up a group called 'Faycebook' (the extra 'y' being an attempt to replicate the West Midlands vowel pronunication) to celebrate all things Brummie.

Some accents just Palin comparison to others

Tee hee hee, see what I did there? A headline truly worthy of the hallowed pages of the "Sun Writer's Pun-Writer" handbook. For this post is indeed all about accents (accents such as that of Sarah Palin, candidate for the US Vice-Presidency) and how some accents (Sarah Palin's, for example) are seen to be less prestigious and/or desirable than others - in fact, some accents pale in comparison to others (Palin comparison... geddit?). Ahh-herrmmm... anyway...*

One article from the American press chooses to headline specific negative perceptions of Sarah Palin's accent ("What an accent! Mush!") as a summary of the writer's generally less than positive views about her as a politician. This highlights the fact that people tend to see accent and dialect as an important characteristic when it comes to making judgements about other people, and another article from the American press picks up on this. Like the first article, this one starts by focusing on Sarah Palin's accent ("Really? That's an Alaskan accent?") but moves on to a more detailed discussion of the significance of attitudes towards language varieties, drawing on the views and observations of a number of expert linguists. Whilst this article focuses exclusively on American accents (and is therefore technically outside of our remit for Unit 5 'Contemporary Language Variation in the British Isles'), many of the issues that are raised about accents of American English are of equal significance for British English varieties. Among the points raised is the observation that, contrary to earlier predictions that regional accents would 'die out', people are actually holding on to their distinctive linguistic varieties as a means of marking their identity.

On the other hand, the article reports, there are some people who see a distinctive regional accent as an obstacle to progression in socio-economic terms, and it is perhaps these people that are adopting a more standard language variety that is not marked for any particular region. The writer picks on "rural Maine" as the undesirable antithesis to the "city", and there's an important point to bear in mind here: attitudes towards regional accents and dialects are not always based on their linguistic characteristics, but often on society's percpetions of the region with which the variety is associated.

Nowhere is this more true than in Britain, where you can pretty much guarantee that any opinion poll asking which is Britain's coolest/most prestigious/sexiest accent will show one variety coming bottom of the heap: the Birmingham accent and dialect. The results of a recent CoolBrands survey identified 'Brummie' as the least cool accent of British English, with Received Pronunciation seen as the coolest (don't ask me why, I don't make up the rules!), closely followed by Scotts and Geordie. You can read the full story here and here. Like users of any regional variety, though, many Brummies are proud of their accent and dialect, even if they are aware of the negative light in which it casts them in many people's eyes.

The road sign pictured left actually appeared at roadworks in Dudley in the West Midlands a few years ago (I'm offering a prize for the first correct translation posted in the 'comments' section of this post), and gives a clear indication of the sense of solidarity that can come with the use of a regional variety. As a proud ex-pat Brummie myself, I'm always pleased to see this kind of thing. Imagine my delight last year, then, when I found out about national Talk Like a Brummie day. And how much more delighted do you think I was when I found out that said event is to be repeated on 19th July 2009?!! Yowm gunna loov it, aah kid.


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*I'll get my coat...