Теоретическая фонетика английского языка (803492), страница 37
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All the factors are interdependent and interconnected.Summary157The classification ofphonetic styles is based on the purpose of communication, which is the most significant extralinguistic factor. Five phoneticstyles can be singled out according to the purpose of communication:1. Informational style;2. Academic (Scientific) style;3. Publicistic (Oratorial) style;4. Declamatory (Artistic) style;5.
Conversational (Familiar) style.Stylistic variations of sounds and intonation result from different combinations of extralinguistic factors. Stylistic modifications of sounds arecaused primarily by the degree of formality, while variations of intonationare basically determined by the aim of communication.In formal situations pronunciation tends to be careful and is characterized by articulatory precision. In informal situations speech is generallyfaster and less careful. In informal casual discourse (fast colloquial speech)the processes of simplification take place: assimilation, reduction, elision.Each of the five phonetic styles is used in a particular sphere of discourse and is characterized by a set of prosodic features, which in theircombination form the model of the phonetic style.Chapter VISOCIAL AND TERRITORIAL VARIETIESOF ENGLISH6.1.
Social Phonetics and Dialectology6.2. Spread of English6.3. English-based Pronunciation Standards ofEnglish6.3.1.6.3.2.6.3.3.6.3.4.6.3.5.6.3.6.6.3.7.British EnglishReceived pronunciationChanges in the standardRegional non-RP accents of EnglandWelsh EnglishScottish EnglishNorthern Ireland English6.4. American-based Pronunciation Standardsof English6.4.1.
General American6.1. Social Phonetics and DialectologyThis chapter is concerned with varieties of English in different countriesof the world and geographical areas of Britain and also their social functionin the society.It is a well-known fact that territorial Englishes are studied by dialectologists.Dialectology, as a science, is inseparably connected with sociolinguistics which deals with social variations caused by social differences and social needs; it studies the ways language interacts with the society. Sociolinguistics is a branch of linguistics which studies aspects of the language(phonetics, lexis, grammar) with reference to their social functions in thesociety.
So sociolinguistics explains the language phenomena in connectionwith factors outside the language itself in terms of large-scale social structure and in terms of how people use language in communication.6.1. Social Phonetics and Dialectology159Though in the past thirty years sociolinguistics has come of age and is afast expanding and increasingly popular subject it should be fair to mentionhere that language is indissolubly linked with the society; in it we can see afaithful reflection of the society in which people live.It is quite clear, of course, that such fields of science as linguistics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics are inseparably linked in the treatment ofvarious language structures. For example, the subject matter of ethnolinguistics gradually merges into that of anthropological linguistics, sociolinguistics, stylistics and social psychology.Some scholars consider functional stylistics to be a branch of sociolinguistics since it studies the distinctive linguistic characteristics of smaller socialgroupings (such as those due to occupational class, age and sex differences).In the case of English there exists a great diversity in the spoken realization of the language and particularly in terms of pronunciation.
The varieties of the language are conditioned by language communities ranging fromsmall groups to nations. Now speaking about the nations we refer to the nationa variants of the language. In their treatment we follow the conceptionof A. D. Shweitzer. According to him national language is a historical category evolving from conditions of economic and political concentrationwhich characterizes the formation of a nation. In other words national language is the language of a nation, the standard of its form, the language of anation's literature.It is common knowledge that language exists in two forms: written andspoken. Any manifestation of language by means of speech is the result of ahighly complicated series of events.
The literary spoken form has its national pronunciation standard. A ."standard" may be defined as "a sociallyaccepted variety of a language established by a codified norm of correctness" (Macaulay, 1977: 68).Today all the English-speaking nations have their own national variantsof pronunciation and each of them has peculiar features that distinguish itfrom other varieties of English.It is generally accepted that for the "English English" it is "ReceivedPronunciation" or RP; for "The American English" - "General Americanpronunciation"; for the Australian English - "Educated Australian".Standard national pronunciation is sometimes called an "orthoepic norm".Some phoneticians, however, prefer the term "literary pronunciation" .Though every national variant of English has considerable differences inpronunciation, lexis and grammar, they all have much in common which givesus ground to speak of one and the same language - the English language.160Chapter VI.
Social and Territorial VarietiesIt would not be true to say that national standards are fIxed and immuThey undergo constant changes due to various internal and externalPronunciation, above all, subjects to all kinds ofinnovations. Therefore the national variants of English differ primarily in sound, stress andintonation. It is well-known that there are countries with more than onenational language, the most common case being the existence oftwo national languages on the same territory. For this Canada will be an example,where two different languages English and French - form the repertoireof the community. In this case scholars speak about bilingualism in contrastto monolinguaIism typical of a country with one national language.
Herearises the problem of interference, that is "linguistic disturbance which results from two languages (or dialects), coming into contact in a specifIc sit(Crystal, 1977: 254).It may be well to state that every national variety of the language fallsinto territorial or regional dialects. Dialects are distinguished from eachother by differences in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary.
We mustmake clear that, when we refer to varieties in pronunciation only, we usethe word "accent". So local accents may have many features of pronunciation in common and consequently are grouped into territorial or areaaccents. In Britain, for example, Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire accents form the group of "Northern accent".
We must admit, however, thatin most textbooks on phonetics the word "dialect" is still used in referenceto the regional pronunciation peculiarities, though in the latest editionsboth in this country and abroad the difference in terms "dialects and accents" is generally accepted. As we see, those terms should be treated differently when related to different aspects of the language.
It is, however,true that there is a great deal of overlap between these terms. For certaingeographical, economic, political and cultural reasons one of the dialectsbecomes the standard language of the nation and its pronunciation or itsaccent - the received standard pronunciation. This was the case of Londondialect, which accent became the "RP" ("Received Pronunciation") ofBritain.It has been estimated that the standard pronunciation of a country isnot homogeneous. It changes in relation to other languages, and also togeographical, psychological, social and political influences. In England, forexample, we distinguish "conservative, general and advanced RP" (Gimson, 1981).As a result ofcertain social factors in the post-war period - the growing urbanization, spread of education and the impact of mass media,6.1.
Social Phonetics and Dialectology161Standard English is exerting an increasing powerful influence on the regional dialects of Great Britain. Recent surveys of British English dialects have revealed that the pressure of Standard English is so strong thatmany people are bilingual in a sense that they use an imitation of RPwith their teachers and lapse into their native local accent when speaking among themselves. In this occasion the term diglossia should be introduced to denote a state of linguistic duality in which the standardliterary form of a language and one of its regional dialects are used by thesame individual in different social situations.
This phenomenon shouldnot be mixed up with bilingualism that is the command of two differentlanguages. In the case of both diglossia and bilingualism the so-calledcode-switching takes place. In recent years the effect of these forms oflinguistic behaviour is studied by sociolinguists and psychologists.As was stated above, language, and especially its oral aspect varies withrespect to the social context in which it is used.
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