In linguistics, an accent is a manner of pronunciation of a language. Linguistics is the scientific study of Language, encompassing a number of sub-fields Accents can be confused with dialects which are varieties of language differing in vocabulary and syntax as well as pronunciation. A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος dialektos) is a variety of a Language that is characteristic of a particular group of The vocabulary of a person is defined either as the set of all Words that are understood by that person or the set of all words likely to be used by that person when constructing In Linguistics, syntax (from Ancient Greek grc συν- syn-, "together" and grc τάξις táxis, "arrangement" is the Dialects are usually spoken by a group united by geography or social status.
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Phonology
Development
Children are able to take on accents at a fast rate; children of traveling families, for example, can change their accents within a short period of time. Sound change includes any processes of Language change that affect pronunciation ( phonetic change) or sound system structures ( Phonological change This generally remains true until a person's early twenties,[1] after which, a person's accent seems to become more entrenched.
All the same, accents are not fixed even in adulthood. An acoustic analysis by Jonathan Harrington of Queen Elizabeth II's Royal Christmas Messages revealed that the speech patterns of even so conservative a figure as a monarch can continue to change over her lifetime. For the ship see RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Context States headed by Elizabeth II The Royal Christmas Message (currently coined The Queen's Speech) is broadcast by Queen Elizabeth II to the Commonwealth at Christmas. [2]
History
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As human beings spread out into isolated communities, stresses and peculiarities develop. Sociolinguistics is the study of the effect of any and all aspects of Society, including cultural norms expectations and context on the way Language is used Generative linguistics is a school of thought within Linguistics that makes use of the concept of a Generative grammar. In Linguistics and Cognitive science, cognitive linguistics (CL refers to the school of linguistics that understands language creation learning and usage Computational linguistics is an Interdisciplinary field dealing with the statistical and/or rule-based modeling of Natural language from a computational Descriptive linguistics is the work of analyzing and describing how Language is spoken (or how it was spoken in the past by a group of people in a speech community Pragmatics is the study of the ability of Natural language speakers to communicate more than that which is explicitly stated This article discusses currently unsolved problems in Linguistics. See also History of grammar Linguistics as a study endeavors to describe and explain the human faculty of Language. Historical linguistics (also called diachronic linguistics) is the study of language change A linguist in the academic sense is a person who studies Linguistics. Over time these can develop into identifiable accents. In North America, the interaction of people from many ethnic backgrounds contributed to the formation of the different varieties of North American accents. It is difficult to measure or predict how long it takes an accent to formulate. Accents in the USA, Canada and Australia, for example, developed from the combinations of different accents and languages in various societies, and the effect of this on the various pronunciations of the British settlers, yet North American accents remain more distant, either as a result of time or of external or "foreign" linguistic interaction, such as the Italian accent. [3] It has been theorized that the accents of certain groups in the USA today resemble the English spoken by the settlers in the 17th and 18th centuries more than it does the English spoken by most British today.
In many cases, the accents of non-English settlers from Great Britain and Ireland affected the accents of the different colonies quite differently. Irish, Scottish and Welsh immigrants had accents which greatly affected the vowel pronunciation of certain areas of Australia and Canada. [3]
Social factors
When a group defines a standard pronunciation, speakers who deviate from it are often said to "speak with an accent". A standard language (also standard dialect, standardized dialect, or standardised dialect) is a particular variety of a Language that People from the United States would "speak with an accent" from the point of view of an Australian, but people from Australia may also "speak with an accent" from the point of view of an American. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The concept of a person having "no accent" is meaningless, although a variety used in formal settings, such as BBC English, is sometimes informally designated as "accentless". Received Pronunciation ( RP) is a form of Pronunciation of the English language (specifically British English) which has long been perceived as
Groups sharing an identifiable accent may be defined by any of a wide variety of common traits. An accent may be associated with the region in which its speakers reside (a geographical accent), the socio-economic status of its speakers, their ethnicity, their caste or social class, their first language (when the language in which the accent is heard is not their native language), and so on. Geography (from Greek γεωγραφία - geografia) is the study of the Earth and its lands features inhabitants and phenomena In Sociology or Anthropology, social status is the honor or prestige attached to one's position in Society (one's Social position) Castes are Hereditary systems of occupation, Endogamy, social culture, Social class, and Political power. Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions (or stratification) between individuals or groups in Societies or Cultures. A first language (also mother tongue, native language, arterial language, or L1) is the language a human being learns from birth
Prestige
Traditionally certain accents carry more prestige in a society than other accents. This is often due to their association with the elite part of society. For example in the United Kingdom, Received Pronunciation of the English language is associated with the traditional upper class. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Received Pronunciation ( RP) is a form of Pronunciation of the English language (specifically British English) which has long been perceived as
Legal Implications
Kentucky's highest court in the case of Clifford vs. Commonwealth held that a white police officer, who had not seen the black defendant allegedly involved in a drug transaction, could, nevertheless, identify him as a participant by saying that a voice on an audiotape "sounded black. " The police officer based this "identification" on the fact that the defendant was the only African American man in the room at the time of the transaction and that an audio-tape — contained the voice of a man the officer said “sounded black” selling crack cocaine to a white informant planted by the police. [4]
Cultural factors
Acting and accents
In Hollywood, a common sign of great acting is the ability of an actor to imitate a foreign accent. In Hollywood, a common sign of great acting is the ability of an actor to imitate a Foreign accent. Actors usually perfect this through exposure, which allows the brain to appreciate the subtle nuances that make the accent unique.
Criticism of perceived correct accents can include being considered inaccurate by speakers and aficionados of this accent. The perception or sensitivity of others to accents means that generalizations are passed off as acceptable, such as Brad Pitt's Jamaican accent in Meet Joe Black. William Bradley "Brad" Pitt Pitt received a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination for his role in the 1995 film Twelve Monkeys Meet Joe Black is a 1998 Remake of the 1934 film Death Takes a Holiday, originally having been remade in 1971 under the same name as the
See also
- Foreign accent syndrome
- Non-native pronunciations of English
- Regional accents of English
- Variety (linguistics)
- Accent reduction
- Language change
- Human voice
Notes
- ^ Accent changing. Foreign accent syndrome is a rare Medical condition that usually occurs as a rare side effect of severe Brain injury such as a Stroke or a head injury The speech of non-native English speakers may exhibit pronunciation characteristics that result from such speakers imperfectly learning the pronunciation of English either by transferring The regional accents of English speakers show great variation across the areas where English is spoken as a first language Accent reduction, also known as accent modification is a systematic approach used to learn or adopt a new accent Language change is the manner in which the phonetic, morphological, semantic, syntactic, and other features of a language are modified over time Ask a Linguist. Retrieved on 2008-05-12. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1191 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre.
- ^ Harrington, Jonathan (2006). "An Acoustic Analysis of `Happy Tensing' in the Queen's Christmas Broadcasts". Journal of Phonetics 34: 439–57.
- ^ a b Australian Accents. Ask a Linguist. Retrieved on 2008-05-12. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1191 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre.
- ^ Race, Racism and the Law. Courtroom: Court sanctioned Racial Stereotyping, 18 Harvard BlackLetter Law Journal 185-210, 185-188 (Spring, 2002)(179 Footnotes). Retrieved on 2008-05-12. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1191 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre.
References
- Bragg, Melvyn (2003). Melvyn Baron Bragg, FRSL, FRTS (born 6 October 1939) is a British author and broadcaster The Adventure of English, 500AD to 2000: The Biography of a Language. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-82991-5.
- Milroy, James; and Lesley Milroy (2005). Authority in Language: Investigating Standard English, 3nd ed. , London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-17413-9.
- Wells, J C. 1982. Accents of English. (3 volumes). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Wells's home pages also have a lot of information about phonetics and accents. ]
External links
- Sounds Familiar? — Listen to regional accents and dialects of the UK on the British Library's 'Sounds Familiar' website
- The Speech Accent Archive (Native and non-native accent recordings of English)
- Wells Accents and Spelling
- I don't have an accent! by Karen Stollznow
- FAQ about Accents