Variety: Regional and Social Dialects Pertemuan 6

2. Variety: Regional and Social DialectsPertemuan 6 Matakuliah : G0362/Sociolingustics Tahun : 2007

3. Learning Outcomes Pada akhir pertemuan ini, diharapkan mahasiswa akan mampu : • Mengenal berbagai varietas bahasa Inggris • Membedakan antara aksen, dialek dan bahasa

4. Outline Materi • Regional variations: International and Intra-national variations • Dialects: Regional and Social • Accents • Standard English

5. When someone speaks, in general, reveals : • Gender • Where he/she comes from • Social status (e.g. education, rank) • Age

6. Regional Variation • In different regions of a country, there can be some variations in the language used. These variations can be in the pronunciation, the vocabulary, or even grammar. But, it is very apparent that the language is the same language. e.g. the Scotts speak English distinctively different from speakers in England.

7. International Varieties • Some well-known varieties: • American English • British English • Singapore English • New Zealand English • Australian English • South African • Indian English

8. American vs. British English • Difference in Pronunciation • E.g. [gra:s] vs. [græs] • Difference in vocabulary • E.g. boot vs. trunk • Difference in grammar • Have you got …? vs. Do you have ? Can you find more?

9. Australian English • Australian English is unique in both pronunciation and vocabulary. • The following is some examples in its vocabulary • A bloke = a guy • Sheila(s) = girl(s) • Deli = delicatessen (a corner shop selling daily needs like milk, bread, newspaper, etc.)

10. Other Features of AuE • High rising terminal (although this is not uniquely Australian, but it is very apparent in Australian and NZ speakers) • Long vowels : Sydney  ‘Seedneey’ • Aboriginal English (see http://www.une.edu.au/langnet/aboriginal.htm)

11. New Zealand English • Beside its vocabulary which is largely derived from Maori language for place names, animal names, Maori ritual terms, etc., NZE is different from other varieties. • Their front vowels (/e/, /i:/, /I/, /u/,/ae/) are very short and fronted. That is why “check in” sounds like ”chicken” and ‘pen’ and ‘pin’ sound the same.

12. Intra-national and Intra-continental • Intra-national  within the same country • Example: Yorkshire, Lancashire, in England. • Intra continental  within the same continent • E.g. in the United States of America, the Southerners are easily identified from the Northeners.

13. Dialects There are two kinds of dialects: • Regional • Social Regional Dialects are distinguishable from their pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar Accents are differed by pronunciation alone (Can you notice some differences in the Javanese used by people from different areas of Java?)

14. Social Accents In England, many centuries ago, royalties can be recognised by their regional dialects. However in the early 20th century, regional accents were spoken by the upper class (educated people, mostly in private schools where they learned to speak RP) RP = Received Pronunciation, is the variety used by the Queen, and popularized by the BBC.

15. Social and Regional accent variation (from Trudgill 1983) RP Many regional varieties at the bottom of the class People in the highest social class speak the same variety: RP Social variation Regional variation

16. Social Dialects • However the picture has slightly changed • In this diagram, the peak is truncated, that means the variation is used by more people—the educated upper class. This variation is called Standard English Social variation Regional variation

17. Standard English • Do you have a match? • Have you a match? The above sentences would be accepted by the English native speakers of the upper class as standard English (RP). In this case, the highest social class allow a variation within the member of their class. (hence, the truncated triangle)

18. Conclusion • There are different varieties of English: • By regions: International and Intra-national • Dialects: regional and social