ÌÎÑÊÎÂÑÊÈÉ ÃÎÐÎÄÑÊÎÉ ÏÅÄÀÃÎÃÈ×ÅÑÊÈÉ ÓÍÈÂÅÐÑÈÒÅÒ
Ôàêóëüòåò èíîñòðàííûõ ÿçûêîâ
Àíãëèéñêîå îòäåëåíèå
Äèïëîìíàÿ ðàáîòà
ïî ôîíåòèêå àíãëèéñêîãî ÿçûêà
íà òåìó:
«REGIONAL VARIATION OF PRONUNCIATION IN THE SOUTH-WEST OF ENGLAND»
Ìîñêâà 2001
Plan:
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….3
Part I. The Specific Features of dialects
1. What is the “dialect”?……………………………………………………………4
2. Geographic dialects………………………………………………………………5
3. Dialectal change and diffusion…………………………………………………...5
4. Unifying influences on dialects…………………………………………………..8
5. Focal, relic, and transitional areas………………………………………………..9
6. Received Pronunciation………………………………………………………….9
7. Who first called it PR?………………………………………………………….10
8. Social Variation…………………………………………………………………11
9. Dialects of England: Traditional and Modern…………………………………..12
Part II. Background to the Cornish Language
1. Who are the Cornish?…………………………………………………………...15
2. What is a Celtic Language?…………………………………………………….15
3. How is Cornish Related to other Celtic Languages?…………………………...15
4. The Decline of Cornish…………………………………………………………15
5. The Rebirth of Cornish…………………………………………………………16
6. Standard Cornish………………………………………………………………..16
7. Who uses Cornish Today?……………………………………………………...16
8. Government Recognition for Cornish…………………………………………..16
Part III. Peculiarities of South-Western Dialects
Vocalisation…………………………………………………………………….18
1. Consonantism…………………………………………………………………...23
2. Grammar………………………………………………………………………..27
3.1 Nouns……………………………………………………………………….27
3.2 Gender………………………………………………………………………27
3.2.1 Gender making in Wessex-type English………………………………….27
3.3 Numerals……………………………………………………………………29
3.4 Adjectives…………………………………………………………………...29
.5 Pronouns…………………………………………………………………….30
3.5.1 Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns
in a Devonshire
dialect…………………………………………………31
3.6 Verbs……………………………………………………………………...39
3.7 Adverbs…………………………………………………………………...42
3.8 Transitivity and intransivity in the dialects
of South-West England…………………………………………………...44
4. Vocabulary………………………………………………………………..52
Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………...68
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………..69
Supplements…………………………………………………………………………..71
Introduction.
The modern English language is an international language nowadays. It
is also the first spoken language of such countries as Australia, New
Zealand, Canada, South Africa.
But in the very United Kingdom there are some varieties of it, called
dialects, and accents.
The purpose of the present research paper is to study the
characteristic features of the present day dialect of the South-Western
region in particular.
To achieve this purpose it is necessary to find answers to the
following questions:
- What is the “dialect”?
- Why and where is it spoken?
- How does it differ from the standard language?
Methods of this research paper included the analysis of works of the
famous linguists and phoneticians as Peter Trudgill and J.K. Chambers,
Paddock and Harris, J.A. Leuvensteijn and J.B. Berns, M.M. Makovsky and
D.A. Shakhbagova, and also the needed information from Britannica and the
encyclopedia by David Crystal and the speech of the native population of
Devonshire and Wiltshire.
Structurally the paper consists of three parts focused on the
information about “the dialect” in general and the ways it differs from the
standard language (its phonetic, grammar and other linguistic differences),
and the specific features of the South-West of England.
The status of the English language in the XXth century has undergone
certain changes. Modern English has become a domineering international
language of nowadays.
PART I. The Specific Features of dialects.
1. What is the “dialect”?
Dialect is a variety of a language. This very word comes from the
Ancient Greek dialectos “discourse, language, dialect”, which is derived
from dialegesthai “to discourse, talk”. A dialect may be distinguished from
other dialects of the same language by features of any part of the
linguistic structure - the phonology, morphology, or syntax.
“The label dialect, or dialectal, is attached to substandard speech,
language usage that deviates from the accepted norm. On the other hand the
standard language can be regarded as one of the dialects of a given
language. In a special historical sense, the term dialect applies to a
language considered as one of a group deriving from a common ancestor, e.g.
English dialects”. (¹9, p.389)
It is often considered difficult to decide whether two linguistic
varieties are dialects of the same language or two separate but closely
related languages; this is especially true of dialects of primitive
societies.
Normally, dialects of the same language are considered to be mutually
intelligible while different languages are not. Intelligibility between
dialects is, however, almost never absolutely complete; on the other hand,
speakers of closely related languages can still communicate to a certain
extent when each uses his own mother tongue. Thus, the criterion of
intelligibility is quite relative. In more developed societies, the
distinction between dialects and related languages is easier to make
because of the existence of standard languages and, in some cases, national
consciousness.
There is the term ‘vernacular’ among the synonyms for dialect; it
refers to the common, everyday speech of the ordinary people of a region.
The word accent has numerous meanings; in addition to denoting the
pronunciation of a person or a group of people (“a foreign accent”, “a
British accent”, “a Southern accent”). In contrast to accent, the term
dialect is used to refer not only to the sounds of language but also to its
grammar and vocabulary.
2. Geographic dialects.
The most widespread type of dialectal differentiation is geographic.
As a rule, the speech of one locality differs from that of any other place.
Differences between neighbouring local dialects are usually small, but, in
travelling farther in the same direction, differences accumulate.
“Every dialectal feature has its own boundary line, called an isogloss
(or sometimes heterogloss). Isoglosses of various linguistic phenomena
rarely coincide completely, and by crossing and interweaving they
constitute intricate patterns on dialect maps. Frequently, however, several
isoglosses are grouped approximately together into a bundle of isoglosses.
This grouping is caused either by geographic obstacles that arrest the
diffusion of a number of innovations along the same line or by historical
circumstances, such as political borders of long standing, or by migrations
that have brought into contact two populations whose dialects were
developed in noncontiguous areas”. (¹9, p.396)
Geographic dialects include local ones or regional ones. Regional
dialects do have some internal variation, but the differences within a
regional dialect are supposedly smaller than differences between two
regional dialects of the same rank.
“In a number of areas (“linguistic landscapes”) where the dialectal
differentiation is essentially even, it is hardly justified to speak of
regional dialects. This uniformity has led many linguists to deny the
meaningfulness of such a notion altogether; very frequently, however,
bundles of isoglosses - or even a single isogloss of major importance -
permit the division, of a territory into regional dialects. The public is
often aware of such divisions, usually associating them with names of
geographic regions or provinces, or with some feature of pronunciation.
Especially clear-cut cases of division are those in which geographic
isolation has played the principal role”. (¹9, p.397)
3. Dialectal change and diffusion.
The basic cause of dialectal differentiation is linguistic change.
Every living language constantly changes in its various elements. Because
languages are extremely complex systems of signs, it is almost
inconceivable that linguistic evolution could affect the same elements and
even transform them in the same way in all regions where one language is
spoken and for all speakers in the same region. At first glance,
differences caused by linguistic change seem to be slight, but they
inevitably accumulate with time (e.g. compare Chaucer’s English with modern
English). Related languages usually begin as dialects of the same language.
“When a change (an innovation) appears among only one section of the
speakers of a language, this automatically creates a dialectal difference.
Sometimes an innovation in dialect A contrasts with the unchanged usage
(archaism) in dialect B. Sometimes a separate innovation occurs in each of
the two dialects. Of course, different innovations will appear in different
dialects, so that, in comparison with its contemporaries, no one dialect as
a whole can be considered archaic in any absolute sense. A dialect may be
characterized as relatively archaic, because it shows fewer innovations
than the others; or it may be archaic in one feature only”. (¹9, p.415)
After the appearance of a dialectal feature, interaction between
speakers who have adopted this feature and those who have not leads to the
expansion of its area or even to its disappearance. In a single social
milieu (generally the inhabitants of the same locality, generation and
social class), the chance of the complete adoption or rejection of a new
dialectal feature is very great; the intense contact and consciousness of
membership within the social group fosters such uniformity. When several
age groups or social strata live within the same locality and especially
when people speaking the same language live in separate communities
dialectal differences are easily maintained.
“The element of mutual contact plays a large role in the maintenance
of speech patterns; that is why differences between geographically distant
dialects are normally greater than those between dialects of neighbouring
settlements. This also explains why bundles of isoglosses so often form
along major natural barriers - impassable mountain ranges, deserts,
uninhabited marshes or forests, or wide rivers - or along political
borders. Similarly, racial or religious differences contribute to
linguistic differentiation because contact between members of one faith or
race and those of another within the same area is very often much more
superficial and less frequent than contact between members of the same
racial or religious group. An especially powerful influence is the
relatively infrequent occurrence of intemarriages, thus preventing
dialectal mixture at the point where it is most effective; namely, in the
mother tongue learned by the child at home”. (¹9, p.417)
The fact that speech, in particular, can give such a clear answer to
the question “Where are you from?” exercises a peculiar fascination, and
the terms dialect and accent are a normal part of everyday vocabulary. We
can notice regional differences in the way people talk, laugh at dialect
jokes, enjoy dialect literature and folklore and appreciate the point of
dialect parodies.
At the same time - and this is the paradox of dialect study - we can
easily make critical judgements about ways of speaking which we perceive as
alien. These attitudes are usually subconscious.
The study of regional linguistic variation is very important. The more
we know about regional variation and change in the use of English, the more
we will come to appreciate the individuality of each of the varieties which
we call dialects, and the less we are likely to adopt demeaning stereotypes
about people from other parts of the country.
As for the United Kingdom until 1700 the small population was sparsely
distributed and largely rural and agricultural, much as it had been in
medieval times. From the mid-18th century, scientific and technological
innovations created the first modern industrial state, while, at the same
time, agriculture was undergoing technical and tenurial changes and
revolutionary improvements in transport made easier the movement of
materials and people. As a result, by the first decade of the 19th century,
a previously mainly rural population had been largely replaced by a nation
made up of industrial workers and town dwellers.
The rural exodus was a long process. The breakdown of communal farming
started before the 14th century; and subsequently enclosures advanced
steadily, especially after 1740, until a century later open fields had
virtually disappeared from the landscape. Many of the landless agricultural
labourers so displaced were attracted to the better opportunities for
employment and the higher wage levels existing in the growing industries;
their movements, together with those of the surplus population produced by
the contemporary rapid rise in the birth rate, resulted in a high volume of
internal migration that took the form of a movement toward the towns.
Industry, as well as the urban centres that inevitably grew up around
it, was increasingly located near the coalfields, while the railway
network, which grew rapidly after 1830, enhanced the commercial importance
of many towns. The migration of people especially young people, from the
country to industrialized towns took place at an unprecedented rate in the
early railway age, and such movements were relatively confined
geographically.
Soon after World War I, new interregional migrations flow commenced
when the formerly booming 19th-century industrial and mining districts lost
much of their economic momentum. Declining or stagnating heavy industry in
Clydeside, northeastern England, South Wales, and parts of Lancashire and
Yorkshire swelled the ranks of the unemployed, and the consequent outward
migration became the drift to the relatively more prosperous Midlands and
southern England. This movement of people continued until it was arrested
by the relatively full employment conditions that obtained soon after the
outbreak of World War II.
In the 1950-s, opportunities for employment in the United Kingdom
improved with government sponsored diversification of industry, and this
did much to reduce the magnitude of the prewar drift to the south. The
decline of certain northern industries - coal mining shipbuilding, and
cotton textiles in particular - had nevertheless reached a critical level
by the late 1960s, and the emergence of new growth points in the West
Midlands and southwestern England made the drift to the south a continuing
feature of British economic life. Subsequently, the area of most rapid
growth shifted to East Anglia, the South West, and the East Midlands. This
particular spatial emphasis resulted from the deliberately planned movement
of people to the New Towns in order to relieve the congestion around
London.
4. Unifying influences on dialects.
Communication lines such as roads (if they are at least several
centuries old), river valleys, or seacoasts often have a unifying
influence. Also important urban centres often form the hub of a circular
region in which the same dialect is spoken. In such areas the prestige
dialect of the city has obviously expanded. As a general rule, those
dialects, or at least certain dialectal features, with greater social
prestige tend to replace those that are valued lower on the social scale.
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
Ñòðàíèöû: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8