English Accents and Dialects (1996) Ch 1

Hughes, A & P. Trudgill

 Variation in English
 Description & analysis of variation: to
understand different groups of NS of English
 comprehension: need of wider exposure
 production: model limited to one variety
 Variation: conditioned by social & regional
factors (non-linguistic)
 Dialect: varieties distinguished from each other by
differences in grammar & vocabulary
 Accent: varieties of pronunciation
 Variation in pronunciation
 RP (Received Pronunciation):
➢spoken by a small minority of the British
population
➢ associated to status, education and wealth
➢ not associated with a region

 Chosen as a model when teaching British Eng.:

➢ Most widely understood accent (radio & TV =
BBC English)
➢ Most thoroughly described British accent

➢ Prestige: associated with upper social classes

 Variation in pronunciation
Language change
 Some variation due to language changes through time
e.g. changes in RP, reflected in the speech of different
generations
➢ Triphthongs or diphthongs tend to become
monophthongs: ‘tyre’ /taI@/  /ta@/  /tA:/
Unconditioned variation
 Some differences in pronunciation within RP
→ a matter of preference
➢ e.g. /%i:k@"nQmIk, %ek@"nQmIk/ → alternative
pronunciations
 Variation in pronunciation
Stylistic variation
 Conditioned by perception of the situation
 Judgement of formality depends on different
factors:
➢relative status of the interactants
➢knowledge of each other
➢topic and purpose of conversation
➢place in which interaction develops
➢speaker’s personality
 Variation in pronunciation
Stylistic variation
 Very formal situations:
 slow, careful articulations, full value of sounds,
fewer omissions
 Very informal situations:
 quick, less careful speech, greater use of
weakening, assimilation, elision
 Learners need to be exposed to this kind of variation
 Styles of pronunciation are a matter of
appropriateness, not of correctness
 Variation in pronunciation
Regional variation
 Language variation is a continuum:
➢change of pronunciation is gradual

 Regional accents:
➢labels for a group of local accents with
pronunciation features not shared by other
areas:
➢ Northern/ Southern English, Irish, Welsh,
Scottish, etc.
 Relationship between accent and
social class
RP
social
variation Regional RPs

Broadest regional
regional var. accent

The higher a person is on the social scale, the less

regionally marked his accent will be
 Variation in pronunciation
Modified regional accents
 Some regional accents more prestigious than
others → felt to require less modification
 Non-RP accents now heard on the BBC
 Still some speakers feel need to modify their
accent in the direction of RP (indiv. variation)
➢/h/- dropping → /{t/(hat)→ insertion of /h/
➢/V, U/ - /"kVSn/ → cushion (hypercorrection)
Dialectal variation: grammar & lexis
 Standard British English:
➢dialect of educated people throughout the
British Isles
➢ used in writing, education, the media
 Different from RP:
➢not restricted to a particular social class
➢most users of SBE have regional accents
➢some limited regional variation (SEE, SSE, SIE)
Dialectal variation: Language change
 Grammatical forms and structure:
➢ very slow change

➢ e.g. use of present perfect with past time

reference: ‘he’s played for us last season’
 Lexical change: more rapid
➢ new lexical items introduced

➢ established lexical items change meaning

 Dialectal variation: Style
 Choice of grammar and vocabulary will vary
with situation:
➢Informal situation: hesitations, false starts,
changes in structure, omission of words,
invented words
 Learner needs to be exposed to this kind of
variation
 a matter of appropriateness, not correctness
 Dialectal variation: Region
 Different dialects vary in grammar and lexis:
➢Grammar:
➢ East Anglia: lack of –s morpheme in 3rd p.
singular Simple Present tense
➢Lexis:
➢Standard English and Southern
dialects: clothes horse
➢Northern dialects: maiden
Relationship between dialect and
social class
 The higher a person’s position on the social
scale, the less their speech is regionally
marked
 Length of stay at school is related to social
class:
➢ the longer children stay at school and the
more successful they are, the less regionally
marked their grammar and lexis will be
Correctness vs Approapriateness
Three types of things often seen as ‘incorrect’
which have to do with ‘appropriateness’:
 New elements introduced to the language
→ language change
 Features of informal speech
→ stylistic variation
 Features of regional speech
→ regional variation