I sound so posh compared to you lot

93 Pages·2014·0.38 MB·English

‘I sound so posh compared to you lot’
P
HONOLOGICAL VARIATION AND CHANGE
S
IN THE URREY ACCENT
Christine Melve Ellingsæter
Master’s Thesis in English Linguistics
Department of Foreign Languages
University of Bergen
May 2014
Contents
Contents ii
Abstract v
Acknowledgements vi
ListofTables vii
ListofFigures viii
ListofAbbreviations ix
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Aimandscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 AccentsassociatedwithSurrey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 Researchquestionsandhypotheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.4 Thestructureofthethesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2 Theory 6
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.2 Sociolinguisticbackgroundandtheory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.2.1 Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2.2 Gender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2.3 Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.3 Surrey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.4 Previousstudies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.5 Dialectlevelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.6 EstuaryEnglish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.6.1 LinguisticfeaturesofEstuaryEnglish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3 Thevariables 19
3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.2 CURE-lowering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.3 L-vocalisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
ii
3.4 R-fronting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.5 Yod-Coalescence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.6 Upspeak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4 Methodology 25
4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.2 Sampling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.2.1 Findinginformants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.2.2 Classifyinginformants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.3 Quantitativesociolinguistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.4 DataCollection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.4.1 Thesociolinguisticinterview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.4.2 Readingstyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4.5 Socialvariables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4.6 Theauditoryanalysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
4.7 Tokenclassification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
4.7.1 CURE-lowering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.7.2 L-vocalisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.7.3 R-fronting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.7.4 Yod-coalescence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.7.5 Upspeak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
5 Results 39
5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5.2 CURE-lowering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
5.2.1 ResultsforCURE-lowering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
5.2.2 DiscussionoftheresultsforCURE-lowering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
5.3 L-vocalisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
5.3.1 ResultsforL-vocalisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
5.3.2 DiscussionofresultsforL-vocalisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
5.4 R-fronting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
5.4.1 ResultsforR-fronting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
5.4.2 DiscussionofresultsforR-fronting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
5.5 Yod-coalescence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
5.5.1 ResultsforYod-coalescence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
5.5.2 DiscussionofresultsforYod-coalescence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
5.6 Upspeak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
5.6.1 Resultsforupspeak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
5.6.2 Discussionofresultsforupspeak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
5.7 Dialectlevelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
iii
5.8 Otherobservations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
5.9 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
6 Conclusion 73
6.1 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
6.2 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
6.3 Furtherresearch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
6.4 Shortcomingsandlimitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
6.5 Contributionsmadebythisthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Bibliography 78
Appendix 83
iv
Abstract
Denneoppgaventarforsegspråkendringerisør-østEngland,nærmerebestemtSurrey. Opp-
gavenharfokusertpåfemfonologiskevariabler,hvoravfirevariablererpåsegmentaltnivåmens
denfemteerpåsuprasegmentaltnivå.
Til tross for at det finnes mange studier som omhandler språkendringeri sør-øst England,
finnes det få studier som har studert talemålet i Surrey nøye og systematisk fra et sosiolingvis-
tisk ståsted. Målet med denne oppgaven har derfor vært å undersøke talemålet i Surrey mer
systematisk for å kunne gi et bilde av talemålssituasjonen der. Oppgaven har sett på hvordan
språkendringene kan relateres til de sosiale variablene alder og kjønn. Dette ble gjort ved å in-
tervjue fire unge kvinner, fire unge menn, fire eldre kvinner, og fire eldre menn. I tillegg ble
informantene bedt om å lese en liste med setninger, og en tekst som inneholdt relevante ord for
de fonologiske variablene. Informantene er delt inn i to aldersgrupper; yngre informanter og
eldreinformanter.
Oppgaven har underøkt hvor talemålet i Surrey befinner seg mellom RP og Cockney. En
av hypotesene er at Surrey befinner seg mellom Near-RP og Estuary English. Den geografiske
plasseringen av Surrey tilsier at Estuary English vil være det gjeldende talemålet. Surrey er
imidlertid et velstående område, og det vil derfor ikke være urimelig at mange har et talemål i
retning av Near-RP. Oppgaven har derfor forsøkt å finne ut hvilket talemål som er gjeldende i
Surrey.
I tillegg til å kartlegge talemålssituasjonen i Surrey har oppgaven forsøkt å gi et inntrykk av
hvordanspråkendringeneiSurreykanrelaterestildialektnivelleringenisør-østEngland. Denge-
ografiske,såvelsomsosiale,plasseringenavSurreygjørSurreytiletidéeltområdefortaleakko-
modasjon og dialektnivellering. En stor del av innbyggerne i Surrey pendler til London, hvor de
møter flere forskjellige dialekter på daglig basis. Som en konsekvens av dette er det naturlig at
dialekter nivelleres. Surrey har rykte på seg for å være et ganske velstående område, og det kan
derfor antas at dialekten er noe mer konservativ enn i resten av England. Dette gjør det ekstra
interessantåundersøkeSurreysposisjoniforholdtildialektnivellering.
Resultatene viser at talemålet i Surrey utvikler seg på lik linje med andre dialekter i sør-
øst England, bortsett fra utviklingen av R-fronting hvor resultatene viser at R-fronting strengt
tatt ikke kan sies å ha spredd seg til Surrey. Et av hovedfunnene i oppgaven er utviklingen av
Yod-coalescence, hvor resultatene for Yod-coalescence er så høye at endringen kan sies å snart
være fullført. Språkendringene ser imidlertid ut til å gå noe langsommere i Surrey enn i resten
av sør-øst England. En av grunnene til dette kan være at Surrey er et velstående område, og at
innbyggerenefølersegpressettilåståimotstigmatisertespråktrekk.
v
Acknowledgements
Iamextremelygratefultomyamazinghusband,JohnInge,forbeingmyprivatetechsupport,
24/7. Thank you for always helping me (even learning how to use LaTex just to help me),
encouragingmeandbelievinginme. Youarethebest!
Secondly, I want to thank my aunt, Karen, and uncle, Tian, who made the very difficult
processoffindinginformantsmucheasier. Ireallycannotthankyouenough!
I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Bente Hannisdal. I could
not have asked for a better supervisor! Your knowledge of the field is admirable, and your help
andfeedbackhasbeenimmenselyinvaluable. Thankyoufortheencouragement,andforshowing
interestinmyproject. Itisgreatlyappreciated.
vi
List of Tables
Table4.1 Olderinformants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Table4.2 Youngerinformants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Table5.1 CURE-lowering: Numbersandgroupscores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Table5.2 L-vocalisation: Numbersandgroupscores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Table5.3 R-fronting: Numbersandgroupscores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Table5.4 Yod-coalescence: Numbersandgroupscores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Table5.5 Upspeak: Numbersandgroupscores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
vii
List of Figures
Figure5.1 CURE-lowering[O:],byage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Figure5.2 CURE-lowering[O:],individualresults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Figure5.3 CURE-lowering[O:],bygender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Figure5.4 CURE-monophthongisation[U:],byage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Figure5.5 CURE-monophthongisation[U:],individualresults . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Figure5.6 CURE-monophthongisation[U:],bygender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Figure5.7 L-vocalisation[U],byage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Figure5.8 L-vocalisation[U],individualresults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Figure5.9 L-vocalisation[U],bygender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Figure5.10 R-fronting[V],byage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Figure5.11 R-fronting[V],individualresults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Figure5.12 R-fronting[V],bygender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Figure5.13 Yod-coalescence,coalescedandnon-coalescedvariants,byage . . . . . 58
Figure5.14 Yod-coalescence,coalescedvariants,individualresults . . . . . . . . . . 59
Figure5.15 Yod-coalescence,coalescedvariants,bygender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Figure5.16 Upspeak,byage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Figure5.17 Upspeak,individualresults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Figure5.18 Upspeak,bygender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
viii
List of Abbreviations
Generalabbreviations
RP ReceivedPronunciation
UK UnitedKingdom
SED SurveyofEnglishDialects
NSD NorwegianSocialScienceDataServices
GVA GrossValueAdded
GDHI GrossDisposableHouseholdIncome
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Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 Aim and scope
Thepresentstudyisasociolinguisticstudyexaminingaccentvariationandchangeinthecounty
of Surrey, focusing on phonology. The aim of the thesis is threefold. As there exist few studies
focusing on the Surrey accent, the first aim is to fill this empirical gap and provide some insight
intotheaccentspokeninSurrey.ThesecondaimistoseewheretheSurreyaccentcanbeplaced
on the continuum between RP and Cockney. The third aim of the thesis is to see whether the
changesintheSurreyaccentcorrespondtothepatternsoftheongoingprocessofdialectlevelling
insoutheasternEngland.
There has to my knowledge not been conducted any empirical research focusing systemati-
cally on the Surrey accent during the last decades, though some researchers have included a few
informants from Surrey in their studies (cf. Torgersen 1997, Przedlacka 2001). They did, how-
ever,notfocusfullyontheSurreyaccent.Orton(1962)includedSurreyinhisSurveyofEnglish
Dialects, henceforth SED. The SED was, however, written more than 50 years ago and as every
accent and language changes through time, an updated study is long overdue. Additionally, the
SED provides information only from a purely phonological point of view. My aim is therefore
to provide a sociolinguistic study with a considerably higher number of informants from Sur-
rey than found in previous studies. Furthermore, the project aims to fill the empirical gap by
systematicallytakingacloserlookattheaccentspokeninSurrey.
Accents traditionally associated with Surrey are Near-RP and Estuary English (see further
1.2 for a description of Near-RP, and 2.6 for a discussion of Estuary English). Since the accent
spoken in Surrey does not have a name, such as Cockney in London or Scouse in Liverpool, it
will be referred to as the Surrey accent throughout the present thesis. Furthermore, as there do
not really exist any studies that have examined the Surrey accent in detail the last fifty years,
the present study aims to see whether the Surrey accent is more similar to Near-RP or Estuary
English. The two accents mentioned above are both typically associated with the middle-class,
and as Surrey has a reputation as a rather affluent and posh area, the study has aimed to include
lower-middleclassinformants(seefurther4.5).
1