L_2

National language and its variants

1. Social Phonetics and Dialectology

2. Spread of English

3. English-based pronunciation standard:

• Received Pronunciation (RP)

• Estuary English (EE)

• Cockney

4. American-based pronunciation standard

5. Accents of English outside UK and USA:

• Australian En

• Canadian En

• New Zealand En

• South Africa En

Sociolinguistics – a branch of linguistics which studies aspects of the language (phonetics, grammar, lexis) with reference to their functions in the society.

National language – a historical category evolving from conditions of economic and political concentration which characterizes the formation of nation. NL – the language of a nation, the standard of its form, the language of a nation`s literature.

National pronunciation standard

• A standard – “a socially accepted variety of a language established by a codified norm of correctness” [Macaulay]

National variants of pronunciation

• For “En-En” – “Received Pronunciation” (RP)

• For “The American English” – “General American pronunciation” (GA)

• For “The Australian English” – “Educated Australian” (GAus)

• Bilingualism – two different languages form the repertoire of the community

• Monolingualism – typical of a country with one national language

• Dialect – differences in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary

• Accent – varieties only in pronunciation

For the certain geographical, economic, political and cultural reasons one of the dialects becomes the standard language of the nation and its pronunciation or accent – the received standard pronunciation.

• Diglossia denotes a state of linguistic duality in which the standard literary form of a language and one of its regional dialects are used by the same individual in different social situations.

• Social dialects – “varieties spoken by a socially limited number of people” [Shakhbagova].

• Languages are “characterized by two plans of socially conditioned variability”:

• Stratificational – linked with societal structure

• Situational – linked with the social context of language use

• Idiolect – individual; speech of members of the same language community.

Intraidiolectal phonetic variations

• Variations in the pronunciation of the one and the same native speaker of a language

• Spontaneous, accidental, unintentional, unconditioned, non-functional, non-distinctive linguistically;

• Intentional and conditioned by what are known as different styles of speech or pronunciation.

Interidiolectal phonetic variations

• Variations in the pronunciation of one and the same phoneme, word or sentence in the same phonetic context and the same style of speech by different speakers of the language.

• Diaphone – a sound used by one group of speakers together with other sounds which replace it consistently in the pronunciation of other speakers;

• Idiophone – a speech sound pronounced in one idiolect in place of a different sound pronounced in other idiolects in the same phonetic context as allophones of the same phoneme.

Spread of English

• The inner circle: the USA, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand;

• The outer circle or extended circle: Singapore, India, Malawi, and over other 60 territories;

• The expanding circle: China, Japan, Israel, Greece, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, etc.

Varieties of English pronunciation

• English-based pronunciation standard: British English (En EN, Welsh En, Scottish En, Northern Ireland En); Irish En, Australian En, New Zealand En, South Africa En;

• American-based pronunciation standard: American En, Canadian En.

Non-RP accents of England

1. Southern accents:

• Southern accents (Greater London, Cockney, Surrey, Kent, Essex, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire);

• East Anglia accents (Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfrodshire, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire);

• South-West accents (Gioucestershire, Avon, Somerset, Wiltshire).

2. Northern and Midland accents:

• Northern accents (Northumberland, Durham, Cleveland);

• Yorkshire accents

• North-West accents (Lancashire, Cheshire)

• West Midland (Birmingham, Wolverhampton).

RP

• Conservative RP – the older generation, certain professions or social groups

• General RP – pronunciation adopted by the BBC

• Advanced RP – young people of exclusive social groups – mostly of the upper classes

Types of standard En pronunciation

• Conservative RP (Adoptive RP)

• General RP (Mainstream RP)

• Advanced RP (U-RP)

• Near-RP southern

A.Gimson and A. Cruttenden:

General RP

Refined RP

Regional RP

Changes in Vowel Quality

1. According to the stability of articulation:

• [i:], [u:] – the organs of speech slightly change their articulation by the very end of pronunciation, becoming more fronted;

• Some diphthongs – shorter (pure vowels);

• [ei] – slight glide: [tə`dei], [sei];

• [ɔə], [Uə] = [ɔ:], e.g. pore, poor;

• Final [Iə] – [^], e.g. dear [diə] – [di^];

2. According to the horizontal and vertical movements of the tongue:

• The nuclei of [ai], [aU] – more back;

• [] replaced by [a], e.g. [hæv] – [hav], [ænd] – [and];

• The nucleus of [u] varies from [ou] to [Ʒu], e.g. Conservative RP – [sou], Advanced RP – [sƷu];

• Back-advanced vowels [^], [u] are fronted in the advanced RP: but [b^t] – [bət], good [gud] – [gəd].

Combinative changes

• Yod dropping (changes in [j+u:, l+u:]) suit, student, super – [sju:t] or [su:t], [`stju:dnt] or [`stu:dənt], [`sju:pə] or [`su:pə];

• Fluctuation after [l], e.g. word – initially lute [lu:t], illusion [i`lju:zn];

• [ɔ:] to [o] before [f, s, θ], e.g. [ɔ:] – loss [lɔ:s] – [o]-[los].

Changes in length

• Lengthening of [i] in big, his, is;

• [u] in good;

• [^] in come;

• [i] lengthened in the final syllable, e.g. very, many: [`very:], [`meni:];

• [e,æ ] lengthened in yes, bed, men, said, sad, bad, bag.

Changes in Consonant Quality

1. Voicing and devoicing:

• Initial lenis [b, d, g] – partially devoiced;

• Final lenis [b, d, g] – voiceless;

• [t] in the intervocalic position is voiced, e.g. better [`betə] – [`bedə], letter [`letə] – [`ledə].

• Loss of [h] – in rapid speech initial [h] is lost in form words, e.g. [hi wonts hƷ tə k^m] – [I: wonts Ʒ tə k^m];

• Initial “hw” – why, when , which with an initial weak breath –like sound [hw];

• Loss of final [ƞ] – [in] for the [iƞ], e.g. sittin`, lookin`;

• Spread of “dark” []-[] instead of [1] as in believe;

• L vocalization – milk [`miok], middle [`middo], myself [mai`seof], tables [`teiboz].

• Glottal stop – [?] appears only in:

1. As a realization of syllable-final [t] before a following consonant as in batman [`bætmən] – [`bæ?mn] or not quite [`nɔt `kwait] – [`nɔ?`kwait];

2. In certain consonant clusters as in box, simply [bɔ?ks], [`sI?mpli], where it is known as “glottal reinforcements”;

• Glottaling – finally before vowels, e.g. pick it up [pik I? ^p], Let`s start! [le?s sta:?];

• Palatalized final [k`], e.g. week,, quick [wi:k`], [kwik`].

• Linking and intrusive [r] – all En accents are divided into “rhotic” or “r-full” and “non-rhotic” or “r-less”, e.g. It is a far away country, in idea of, China and;

• Elision, reduction and assimilation, e.g. tutor [`t∫U:tə], second year [`sekəndƷIə], perhaps you [`pəhæp∫u:], gives you [`givƷu:], traditional spelling: C`m on, baby, Sorry `bout that.

Combinative changes

• [tj, dj, sj] – [t∫, dƷ, ∫] e.g. actual [æktjUəl] – [`aekt∫Uəl], graduate [`grædjuəit] – [`grædƷueit], issue [`isju:] – [`i∫u:];

• Yod coalescence: in casual RP, involving the clitic you or your, e.g. [`wɔt∫u`wɔnt] what you want, [put∫ɔ:] put your;

• Within a word, involving an unstressed vowel. E.g. actual and gradual;

• Within a stressed syllable, e.g. tune, duke;

• In near-RP the first syllable of Tuesday like choose and the last syllable of reduce like.