Sunday, 8 November 2015

Accent and Dialect

Language can change often and can change to do with society, educational background, generations of families and where about you live in the world. 

An accent becomes a dialect when the differences between it and other speakers of the same language begin to include differences in vocabulary and/or grammar. As long as the differences are principally in pronunciation it is an accent, not a dialect

Dialect is a specific variety of English that differs from other varieties in three specific ways: lexis (vocabulary), grammar (structure) and phonology (pronunciation or accent). English dialects may be different from each other, but all speakers within the English-speaking world can still generally understand them.

Accent refers only to differences in the sound patterns of a specific dialect.  Many of us make assumptions based on the way people speak — judging certain dialects or accents as too posh, harsh, aggressive, unfriendly, ‘unintelligent’ or ‘common’.

I decided to choose three accents from around the world which I could analyse. I chose American English, British and Australian English.

Firstly as I am from Essex I decided this would be a good place to start. from analysing the people around me, I have noticed that mainly females, speak with more of a drag on words. For example, a popular word from the Essex dialect is 'Babe' This word in other regions of London would be said quicker, whereas in Essex, this is said to more like 'Baabbee'. Showing that the word is said slower and longer. Males also talk with this accent but isn't as noticeable. The Essex language has became more popular since the show the only way Is Essex where everyone on the show has the over the top accent, meaning it pays off on its viewers showing how the language has changed through the society. Many people find this accent annoying and think it is fake and put on. This is because it has only became more obvious over the past 2 years.

The second accent I analysed was the American accent. This accent is more stronger than the British accent. They also drag out most of their words. Through analysing the dialect is It also proven that American speakers will say somethings differently to British English language through spelling. For example the word 'Mum' in English is spelt with a U whereas in American they spell mum with an O as it fits their accent. From listening to an audio clip of a female American speaker, I have noticed that they also speak fast and say words in a different way, with the emphasis of the letter 'Z' and 'E'. Although, America has many different areas of accent in the country meaning there are multiple accents and dialects within. From research it is also clear that an American accent from Brooklyn New York City, is a lot stronger than an American accent from California. This is to do with tones and inheriting the accent but also from social class.

The third English accent I analysed was the Australian accent. From research, the Australian accent is most similar to English language (Dialect and accent) in comparison to American. From listening to an audio clip of an Austrian speaker, I have identified the accent from Perth Australia it be of a softer tone, When saying words such as 'oil' or 'Orleans', The emphasis is on the O. The way the Australian accent is pronounced is very similar to the English pronunciation but in some cases to words are said different like in English we pronounce the word 'Water' as w-o-r-t-e-r and in Australian the same word is pronounced as w-o-l-e-r.

Overall all three accents are very similar and are the most common accents for the English language.  It is also seen as stereotypical for the American accent to be featured in most films and children's programmes where as the British accent is usually used to convey money, wealth and a posh society. The Australian accent is usually conveyed in films to do with the water, surfers or its city showing that all three accents are significant in the world of 2015. I also think this is to do with the dialect as although the countries have different dialect for some words and sayings, they're so common and used worldwide that they just become another word to say something else rather than another language having other words for the same thing.


1 comment:

  1. Great research. Now consider the difference between these regional dialects and Standard English. Also, consider people's opinions to different accents.

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