Regional variation of pronunciation in the south-west of England (стр. 2 из 10)

In times of less frequent contact between populations, dialectal differences increase, in periods, of greater contact, they diminish. Mass literacy, schools, increased mobility of populations, and mass communications all contribute to this tendency.

Mass migrations may also contribute to the formation of a more or less uniform dialect over broad geographic areas. Either the resulting dialect is that of the original homeland of a particular migrating population or it is a dialect mixture formed by the levelling of differences among migrants from more than one homeland. The degree of dialectal differentiation depends to a great extent on the length of time a certain population has remained in a certain place.

5. Focal, relic, and transitional areas.

Dialectologists often distinguish between focal areas - which provide sources of numerous important innovations and usually coincide with centres of lively economic or cultural activity - and relic areas - places toward which such innovations are spreading but have not usually arrived. (Relic areas also have their own innovations, which, however, usually extend over a smaller geographical area.)

“Relic areas or relic phenomena are particularly common in out-of-the-way regional pockets or along the periphery of a particular language’s geographical territory.

The borders of regional dialects often contain transitional areas that share some features with one neighbour and some with the other. Such mixtures result from unequal diffusion of innovations from both sides. Similar unequal diffusion in mixed dialects in any region also may be a consequence of population mixture created by migrations”. (№9, p.420)

6. Received Pronunciation.

“The abbreviation RP (Received Pronunciation) denotes the speech of educated people living in London and the southeast of England and of other people elsewhere who speak in this way. If the qualifier ‘educated’ be assumed, RP is then a regional (geographical) dialect, as contrasted with London Cockney, which is a class (social) dialect. RP is not intrinsically superior to other varieties of English; it is itself only one particular regional dialect that has, through the accidents of history, achieved more extensive use than others. Although acquiring its unique status without the aid of any established authority, it may have been fostered by the public schools (Winchester, Eton, Harrow and so on) and the ancient universities (Oxford and Cambridge). Other varieties of English are well preserved in spite of the levelling influences of film, television, and radio”. (№8, p.365)

The ancestral form of RP was well-established over 400 years ago as the accent of the court and the upper classes. The English courtier George Puttenham writing in 1589 thought that the English of nothern men, whether they be noblemen or gentlemen… is not so courtly or so current as our Southern English is.

The present-day situation.

Today, with the breakdown of rigid divisions between social classes and the development of the mass media, RP is no longer the preserve of a social elite. It is most widely heard on the BBC; but there are also conservative and trend-setting forms.

Early BBC recordings show how much RP has altered over just a few decades, and they make the point that no accent is immune to change, not even “the best”. But the most important fact is that RP is no longer as widely used today as it was 50 years ago. Most educated people have developed an accent which is a mixture of RP and various regional characteristics - “modified RP”, some call it. In some cases, a former RP speaker has been influenced by regional norms; in other cases a former regional speaker has moved in the direction of RP.

7. Who first called it RP?

The British phonetician Daniel Jones was the first to codify the properties of RP. It was not a label he much liked, as he explains in “An Outline of English Phonetics” (1980):

“I do not consider it possible at the present time to regard any special type as “standard” or as intrinsically “better” than other types. Nevertheless, the type described in this book is certainly a useful one. It is based on my own (Southern) speech, and is, as far as I can ascertain, that generally used by those who have been educated at “preparatory” boarding schools and the “Public Schools”… The term “Received Pronunciation”… is often used to designate this type of pronunciation. This term is adopted here for want of a better”. (1960, 9^th edn, p.12)

The historical linguist H.C. Wyld also made much use of the term ‘received’ in “A Short History of English” (1914):

“It is proposed to use the term ‘Received Standard’ for that form which all would probably agree in considering the best that form which has the widest currency and is heard with practically no variation among speakers of the better class all over the country”. (1927, 3^rd edn, p.149)

The previous usage to which Jones refers can be traced back to the dialectologist A.J. Ellis, in “On Early English Pronunciation” (1869):

“In the present day we may, however, recognize a received pronunciation all over the country… It may be especially considered as the educated pronunciation of the metropolis of the court, the pulpit, and the bar”. (p.23)

Even then, there were signs of the future, for he goes on to say:

“But in as much as all these localities and professions are recruited from the provinces, there will be a varied thread of provincial utterance running through the whole”.» (№8, p.365)

8. Social variation.

As for the accents, they refer to the varieties in pronunciation, which convey information about a person’s geographical origin. These varieties are partly explained by social mobility and new patterns of settlement. Distinct groups or social formation within the whole may be set off from each other in a variety of ways: by gender, by age, by class, by ethnic identity. Particular groups will tend to have characteristic ways of using the language-characteristic ways of pronouncing it, - for example - and these will help to mark off the boundaries of one group from another. They belong to different social groups and perform different social roles. A person might be identified as ‘a woman’, ‘a parent’, ‘a child’, ‘a doctor’, or in many other ways. Many people speak with an accent, which shows the influence of their place of work. Any of these identities can have consequences for the kind of language they use. Age, sex, and socio-economic class have been repeatedly shown to be of importance when it comes to explaining the way sounds, constructions, and vocabulary vary.

I think the best example to show it is the famous play “Pygmalion” by Bernard Shaw touched upon social classes, speech and social status of people using different types of accents and dialects. One of the ideas was that it is possible to tell from a person’s speech not only where he comes from but what class he belongs to. But no matter what class a person belongs to, he can easily change his pronunciation depending on what environment he finds himself in. The heroine Liza aired his views, saying: “When a child is brought to a foreign country, it picks up the language in a few weeks, and forgets its own. Well, I am a child in your country. I have forgotten my own language, and can speak nothing but yours.” (№13, p.64).

So some conclusions about the kinds of social phenomena that influence change through contact with other dialects can be made:

a) dialects differ from region through the isolation of groups of speakers;

b) dialects change through contact with other dialects;

c) the upper classes reinforce Standard English and RP through education.

9. Dialects of England: Traditional and Modern.

After the retirement of the Romans from the island the invading immigrants were the Jutes, Saxons, Danes and Angles. The Jutes seized Kent, The Isle of Wight and a part of the mainland; the Saxons had all those parts that have now the suffix ‘sex’, as Essex, Sussex, Middlesex, and Wessex; and the Angles took possession of that tract of the north that has the present terminations ‘land’, ‘shire’ and ‘folk’, as Suffolk, Yorkshire, Northumberland. These last afterwards gave the name to the whole island.

Dialects are not to be considered corruption of a language, but as varieties less favoured than the principal tongue of the country. Of the various dialects, it must be borne in mind that the northern countries retain many words now obsolete in current English: these words are of the genuine Teutonic stock. The pronunciation may seem rough and harsh, but is the same as that used by the forefathers; consequently it must not be considered barbarous. The other countries of England differ from the vernacular by a depraved pronunciation.

Awareness of regional variation in England is evident from the fourteenth century, seen in the observation of such writers as Higden/Trevisa or William Caxton and in the literary presentation of the characters in Chaucer’s “Reeve’s Tale” or the Wakefield “Second Shepherd’s Play”. Many of the writers on spelling and grammar in the 16^th and 17^th centuries made comments about regional variation, and some (such as Alexander Gil) were highly systematic in their observants, though the material is often obscured by a fog of personal prejudices.

The picture which emerges from the kind of dialect information obtained by the Survey of English Dialects relates historically to the dialect divisions recognized in Old and Middle English.

The classification of modern dialects presents serious difficulties as their boundaries are rather vague and the language standard more and more invades the spread area of the dialectal speech. One of the most serious attempts at such classification was made by A. Ellis. His classification more or less exactly reflects the dialectal map of modern Great Britain and it was taken as the basis by many dialectologists.

The map below displays thirteen traditional dialect areas (it excludes the western tip of Cornwall and most of Wales, which were not English speaking until the 18^th century). A major division is drawn between the North and everywhere else, broadly following the boundary between the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Northumbria and Mercia, and a Secondary division is found between much of the Midlands and areas further south. A hierarchal representation of the dialect relationship is shown below. (№8, p.324).

Relatively few people in England now speak a dialect of the kind represented above. Although some forms will still be encountered in real life, they are more often found in literary representations of dialect speech and in dialect humour books. The disappearance of such pronunciations, and their associated lexicon and grammar, is sometimes described as “English dialects dying out”. The reality is that they are more than compensated for by the growth of a range of comparatively new dialect forms, chiefly associated with the urban areas of the country. If the distinguishing features of these dialects are used as the basis of classification, a very different-looking dialect map emerges with 16 major divisions.

Part II. Background of the Cornish language.

The southwestern areas of England include Devonshire, Somersetshire, Cornwall, Wiltshire and Dosertshire. But first of all I’d like to draw your attention to the Cornish language as it doesn’t exist now.

The History of Cornish.

1. Who are the Cornish?

The Cornish are a Celtic people, in ancient times the Westernmost kingdom of the Dumnonii, the people who inhabited all of Cornwall, Devon and West Somerset.

The Cornish are probably the same people who have lived in Cornwall since the introduction of farming around 3000 B.C.. The start of farming in Cornwall may also indicate the start of what some scholars now term ‘proto Indo-European’, from whence the Celtic languages along with the Italic and other related groups of languages began evolving.

2. What is a Celtic Language?

Around 2000 B.C., the group of languages now called Celtic languages started to split away from the other members of the Indo-European group of languages. By 1200 B.C. Celtic civilisation, a heroic culture with its own laws and religion is first known. It is from this period that the first king lists and legends are believed to come.

3. How is Cornish Related to other Celtic Languages?

Between 1500 B.C. and the first encounters with the Romans (around 350 B.C.), the Celtic languages are believed to split into two distinct groups, the ‘p’ and ‘q’ Celtic branches. Cornish, Welsh and Breton (to which Cornish is most closely related) are the three remaining ‘p’ Celtic languages. Irish, Scots Gaelic and Manx being the ‘q’ Celtic tongues.

4. The Decline of Cornish.

Cornish developed pretty much naturally into a modern European language until the 17^th century, after which it came under pressure by the encroachment of English. Factors involved in its decline included the introduction of the English prayer book, the rapid introduction of English as a language of commerce and most particularly the negative stigma associated with what was considered by Cornish people themselves as the language of the poor.

5. The Rebirth of Cornish.

Cornish died out as a native language in the late 19^th century, with the last Cornish speaker believed to have lived in Penwith. By this time however, Cornish was being revived by Henry Jenner, planting the seeds for the current state of the language and it is supposed that the last native speaker was the fishwoman Dolly Pentreath.

6. Standard Cornish.

Standard Cornish was developed from Jenner’s work by a team under the leadership of Morton Nance, culminating in the first full set of grammars, dictionaries and periodicals. Standard Cornish (Unified) is again being developed through UCR (Unified Cornish Revised), and incorporates most features of Cornish, including allowing for Eastern and Western forms of pronunciation and colloquial and literary forms of Cornish.

7. Who uses Cornish Today?

Today Cornish typically appeals to all age groups and to those either who have an empathy with Cornwall, who have Cornish roots or perhaps have moved to Cornwall from elsewhere. One of the great successes of Cornish today is ifs wide appeal. After a break in native speakers for nearly one hundred years, Cornwall now has many children who now have Cornish as a native language along side English, and many more who are fluent in the language.

8. Government Recognition for Cornish.

Cornish is the only modern Celtic language that receives no significant support from government, despite the growing numbers learning Cornish, and the immense good will towards it from ordinary Cornish people and from elsewhere.

This contrasts strongly with the favourable stand taken by the Manx government towards Manx for example, as evidenced by Manx primary school places being made generally available.

Recently, the UK government scrapped the Cornish GCSE. Lack of Cornish language facilities and support is no longer just a language issue, but is rapidly becoming a civil rights and political issue too. Despite the growing support of councillors in Cornwall, some key individuals in County Hall continue to make clear their hostility to the language.

e.g. of the Cornish language:

“Pyw yw an Gernowyon?

Pobel Geltek yw an bobel a Gernow . Yn osow hendasek, an wtas Gorfewenna yn Wtas Dumnonii, neb a dregas yn Kernow, Dewnans ha Gwtas an Haf.

Y hyltyr bos del An Gernowyon a wrug trega yn Kernow hedro an dallath gonys tyr adro 3000 K.C.. An dallath gonys tyr yn Kernow a vo dallath an os ‘proto Yndo-Europek’, dres an tavajow Keltek ha tavajow Ytaiek dallath dhe dhysplegya.”

Part III. Peculiarities of South-Western Dialects.

1. Vocalisation.

Devonshire	Somersetshire	Wiltshire
“a” after “w”
is realized as [a:]: wasp [wa:sp] watch [wa:t∫] want [wa:nt] wander [wa:nd ]	is realized as [æ]: warm [wærm] warn [wærn] wart [wært]
“asp”, “ass”, “ast”, “a” → [æ]: grass [græs], glass [glæs], fast [fæst]
“al + a consonant”
“l” is realized as [a:] or [ :]: talk [ta:k] walk [wa:k] chalk [t∫a:k] balk [ba:k]
a + l, a + ll
in the open syllable “a” → [æ]: crane [kræn] frame [fræm] lame [læm] make [mæk] name [næm]	in the open syllable “a” → [æ]: crane [kræn] frame [fræm] lame [læm] make [mæk] name [næm]
The first sound is vowel
acre [jakr] ale [jal] acorn [’jak∂rn] hare [hja:r] ache [jek] acorn [jek∂rn] behave [bı’hjev]
“e” in the closed syllables → “a”
Nothern	Western
egg [ag], fetch [fat∫], step [stap], wretch [rat∫], stretch [strat∫]
“e” in the closed syllables → [eı]
Eastern	Southern
egg [eıg], stretch [streıt∫]
“e” in the closed syllables → [e:]
South-Western	Western	Middle/Eastern
Leg [le:g], bed [be:d], hedge [he:dz]
if “e” follows “w” → [ :]
Western
well [w :l] twelve [tw :lv] wench [w :nt∫]
“i” in the closed syllable
North-Western	Western
→ [e]: big [beg] bid [bed] flitch [fletch] sit [set] spit [spet]	→ [ ]: bill [b l] little [’l tl] children [’t∫ ldr n] cliff [kl f] hill [h l] drift [dr ft] shrimp [∫r mp] fit [f t] ship [∫ p] pig [p g] fish [f ∫]
“ight” → [e]
North-Western	Western
flight, right
if a nasal consonant follows “i”
→ [e]: sing [seŋ] cling [kleŋ]	→ [e]: sing [seŋ] cling [kleŋ]
“i” before “nd”
North-Western
→ [e]: bind [ben] blind [blen] find [ven] grind [gren]
“i” before “ld”
Eastern
→ [i:]: mild [mi:ld] wild [wi:ld] child [t∫ıld]
“i” in the open syllable
South-Western	Southern
→ [eı]: fly [fleı] lie [leı] thigh [θeı]	→ [eı]: bide [beıd] wide [weıd] time [teım]
Eastern
→ [ ı]: fly [fl ı] lie [l ı]
“o” in the closed syllable followed by a consonant
South-Western		Eastern
→ [a:]: dog [da:g] cross [kra:s]	→ [ ]: cot [k t] bottom [b tm] dog [d g] cross [kr s]
Western
→ [a:]: dog [da:g] cross [kra:s]
“o” + a nasal consonant
North-Western	Western	Western
→ [æ]: among [∂’mæŋ] long [læŋ] wrong [ræŋ]	→ [æ]: among [∂’mæŋ] long [læŋ] wrong [ræŋ]	among [∂’mæŋ] long [læŋ] wrong [ræŋ]
“ol” + a consonant
Western	Western
→ [u∂]: gold [gv∂ld] old [u∂ld]	→ [u∂]: gold [gv∂ld] old [u∂ld]
“o” in the open syllable and “oa”
Western
→ [ ]: bone [b n] broad [br d] rope [r p] load [l d]
“oi”
	→ [aı]: choice [t∫aıs] join [dzaın] moil [maıl] point [paınt] spoil [spaıl] voice [vaıs]
“u” in the closed syllable
Southern
→ [e]: but [bet] dust [dest]
“ou” / ”ow”
Easter
→ [av]: low [lav] owe [au]
“oo”
North-Western	Western	Middle/Eastern
→ [ı]: good [gıd] hood [hıd] foot [fıt] blood [blıd] stood [stıd] bloom [blım] broom [brım] moon [mın] loom [lım]	→ [ö]: book [bök] cook [kök] crook [krök] look [lök] took [tök] good [göd] foot [föt] stood [stöd]	→ [ ]: book [b k] brook [br k] crook [kr k] look [l k] took [t k] good [g d] foot [f t] soot [s t] flood [fl d]
Eastern
→ [ ]: book [b k] brook [br k] crook [kr k]
“i” in the open syllable
South-western	Southern
→ [eı]: fly [fleı] lie [leı] thigh [θeı]	→ [eı]: bide [beıd] wide [weıd] time [teım]
Eastern
→ [ ı]: fly [fl ı] lie [l ı]
“o” in the closed syllable followed by a consonant
South-western	Eastern
→ [a:]: dog [da:g] cross [kra:s]	→ [ ]: cot [k t] bottom [b tm] dog [d g] cross [kr s]
Western
→ [a:]: dog [da:g] cross [kra:s]
Devonshire	Somersetshire	Wiltshire
“o” + a nasal consonant
North-western	Western	Western
→ [æ]: among [∂’mæŋ], long [læŋ], wrong [wræŋ]
“ol” + a consonant
Western	Western
→ [u∂l]: gold [gv∂ld], old [u∂ld]
“oa”
Western
→ [ ]: bone [b n] broad [br d] rope [r p] load [l d]
“oi”
→ [aı]: choice [t∫aıs] join [dzaın] moil [maıl] point [paınt] spoil [spaıl] voice [vaıs]
“u” in the closed syllable
Southern
→ [e]: but [bet] dust [dest]
“ou”/“ow”
Easter
→ [av]: low [lav] owe [au]
“oo”
North-Western	Western	Middle/Eastern
→ [ı]: good [gıd] hood [hıd] foot [fıt] blood [blıd] stood [stıd] bloom [blım] broom [brım] moon [mın] loom [lım] root [rıt] spoon [spın]	→ [ö]: book [bök] cook [kök] crook [krök] look [lök] took [tök] good [göd] foot [föt] stood [stöd]	→ [ ]: book [b k] brook [br k] crook [kr k] look [l k] took [t k] good [g d] foot [f t] soot [s t] flood [fl d]
Eastern
→ [ ]: book [b k] brook [br k] crook [kr k] look [l k]
“er”, “ir”, “ur”
Southern
→ [a:]: learn [la:n] earth [a:θ] bird [ba:d] birch [ba:t∫] merchant [’ma:t∫∂nt] herb [ha:b] work [wa:k]
“or”
→ [a:]: fork [fa:k], horse [ha:s], horn [ha:n], short [∫a:t],
Morning [’ma:nıŋ], word [wa:d]
“ew”
Eastern		Northern
→ [ü:]: dew [dü:] few [fü:]	→ [jav]: dew [djau] few [fjau] new [njau]
2. Consonantism
[w] in the beginning of the word or before “h”
old [w l] oak [w k] hot [w t] home [w m] orchard [wurt∫∂t] hole [hwul] hope [hwup] open [’wupen]	[w] is not pronounced: week [ouk] swick [su:k]
“w” before “r”
is not pronounced	Western	is not pronounced
→ [vr]: wreck, wren, wrench, wrap, write, wrong e.g. Ye vratch, ye’ve vrutten that a’vrang. (= You wretch, you’ve written that all wrong.)
“wh” at the beginning of a word is [w], [u:], [u∂]
in the middle of a word [w] is pronounced
boy [bwo], moist [mw ıst], toad [twud], cool [kwul], country [’kwıntrı]
“f”, “th”, “s”, “sh” are voiced
Friday [’vræ:dı], friends [vrınz], fleas [vle:z], and in the these words: foe, father, fair, fear, find, fish, foal, full, follow, filth, fist, fire, fond, fault, feast, force, forge, fool. [θ]: thought [ð :t], thick [ðık], thigh [ðaı], and in the words: from, freeze, fresh, free, friend, frost, frog, froth, flesh, fly flock, flood, fleece, fling, flower, fail.
“t” at the beginning of the word before a vowel
Nothern
→ [t∫]: team [t∫em], tune [t∫un], Tuesday [’t∫uzde] East D “t” in the middle of the word is voiced: bottle [’b dl], kettle [’kedl], little [’lıdl], nettle [’nedl], bottom [’b dm], matter [’med∂], cattle [’k dl], kittens [kıdnz]
“t” in the middle of the word is voiced
Western
bottle [’b dl], kettle [’kedl], little [’lıdl], nettle [’nedl], bottom [’b dm], matter [’med∂], cattle [’k dl], kittens [kıdnz]
The consonant [t] in (the French borrowings) hasn’t become [t∫] as it is in RP:
picture [’pıkt∂r], nature [’net∂r], feature [’fı∂t∂r]
the middle [t] sometimes disappears in the positions before “m…l”, “n…l”, “m…r”
Western
brimstone [’brımsn] empty [’empı] The same happens to the middle [b]: chamber > chimmer, embers > emmers, brambles > brimmels
between “l” and “r”; “r” and “l”; “n” and “r” a parasitic [d] has developed
parlour [’pa:ld∂r], tailor [’taıld∂r], smaller [’sm :ld∂r], curls [’ka:dlz], hurl [’a:dl], marl [’ma:dl], quarrel [’kw :dl], world [’wa:dl], corner [’ka:nd∂r]
Western
a parasitic [d] appeared after [l, n, r]: feel [fi:ld] school [sku:ld] idle [aıdld] mile [maıdl] born [ba∂nd] soul [s :ld] soon [zu:nd] gown [gaund] swoon [zaund] wine [waınd] miller [’mıl∂d] scholar [’sk l∂d]
the middle [d] in the word “needle” comes after [l]: [ni:ld]
Eastern
In the word “disturb” [b] is pronounced as [v] - [dis, t∂:v]
the first [θ] is pronounced as [ð]
thank [ðæŋk] and in other words: thatch, thaw, thigh, thin, thing, think, third, thistle, thong, thought, thousand, thumb, thunder, Thursday
Sometimes [θ] is pronounced as [t] at the end of the word: lath [lat]
Western
In some words [s] at the beginning of the word is pronounced as [∫]: suet [∫uıt]. The same happens when [s] is in the middle of the word: first [fer∫t] breast [brı∫t] next [nı∫t]
North-West W: [s] is sometimes pronounced as [z]: sure [zu∂r]
“sh”, “sk” at the end of the word
Western
→ [s]: cask [k s] flask [fl s] leash [li:s] tusk [tus] Sometimes instead of [k] [t∫] is heard: back [b t∫] wark [wa:t∫]
sometimes the initial letter or a syllable is apsent
Western	Eastern
believe, deliver, desire, directly, disturb, eleven, enough, except, occasion, inquest, epidemic
the initial “cl”
→ [tl]: clad [tlad], clap, clay, claw, clean, cleave, clergy, clerk, clew, cliff, climb, cling, clip, cloak, close, clot, cloth, cloud, clout
“gl” in the beginning of the word
→ [dl]: glad, glass, glisten, gloom, glove, glow
[l] in the middle of the word isn’t pronounced
Western	Eastern
Already shoulder [’∫a:d∂r]
the Middle/Eastern
[l] is often → [ ]: bill [bı’ ] tool [tu’ ] nibble [nı’b ] milk [mı’ k] silk [sı’ k]

3. Grammar.