A linguistics expert explains how different accents develop and what factors influenced the phenomenon in the UK. Where we come from matters. Our origins form an important part of a distinctive personality, which can become a group identity when we share these origins.
More often than not, our use of language, especially our dialect, is an expression of that distinctiveness. In addition to distinctive words and grammatical patterns, which may not follow the rules of Standard English , people have accents — many English language ones available to listen to here — related to their pronunciation when they speak which can articulate their identity.
Dialects and accents developed historically when groups of language users lived in relative isolation, without regular contact with other people using the same language. This was more pronounced in the past due to the lack of fast transport and mass media. People tended to hear only the language used in their own location, and when their language use changed as language by its nature always evolves their dialect and accent adopted a particular character, leading to national, regional and local variation.
Invasion and migration also helped to influence dialect development at a regional level. Just take the Midlands, for example. The East Midlands were ruled by the Danes in the ninth century.
The Danes, however, did not rule the West Midlands, where the Saxons continued to hold sway, and words of Danish origin are largely absent from that region. Dialects and accents are not restricted to UK English, of course. In the US, Australia and New Zealand, where English has been spoken for a much shorter period of time than in the UK, you would expect less variation as English has been spoken there for a shorter period of time.
But even there, dialects and accents occur and the linguistic influence of settlers who came from certain parts of the UK such as Scotland or Lancashire helped to determine local varieties. A similar phenomenon appears in the UK. During the s, Corby in Northamptonshire received a big influx of Scottish steelworkers. Other factors influence language use, too. Fascinatingly, though, dialects and accents will continue to evolve, and in areas sandwiched by more dominant localities — such as Swanage and Lymm, situated between Liverpool and Manchester — you will find what is called a dialect continuum.
There will be places that reflect more of a Liverpudlian sound and others that lean more towards Mancunian. Nevertheless, there are no boundaries, and accents and dialects will continue to merge into and out of each other gradually, over both space and time. When we're meeting someone for the first time, we generally want to make a positive lasting impression. We may want to look and smell our best to present ourselves in the most positive way. But have you ever pondered whether you're also being judged once you open your mouth?
Your subconscious does, which is why our diction and timbre may change when we go to a job interview or meet our partners' parents. What you have to remember is that all of this is completely socially constructed. No accent is better or worse from a linguistic point of view.
Over time, society has given accents and dialects their relative prestige and this has developed into a self-fulfilling ideology. Sign In Create Account. We were once shown round the Sydney Opera House by a guide whose accent, though Australian, was not the same as that of my family, who are from New South Wales.
When we got home we asked about this; and having heard our imitation of the guide's accent, my cousins answered in unison "She's from Adelaide". For instance, those in the bottom of the South Island roll their "R's" in a caledonian style. Austin Fisher, Auckland New Zealand I'd think there's at least as many accents, proportional to population size, in North America as in Britain, but each covers a much wider area, so is less immediately noticeable. The differences are as marked, as well.
For example, there's no generic 'Southern' accent, as many non-Americans seem to think. That would be akin to calling the accents of, say, Liverpool and Manchester 'generic northern English', obviously a ridiculous proposition. As for the largest cities, accent varies across e. New York City as widely as across London. Some are just as hard on the unaccustomed ear as the broadest English accents. Try a conversation in South Boston after living in the midwest I'm told the same is true for Spanish and French speakers in North America.
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