Теоретическая фонетика английского языка (803492), страница 38
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The social differentiationof language is closely connected with the social differentiation of society.Nevertheless, linguistic facts cannot be attributed directly to class structure. According to A. D. Shweitzer "the impact of social factors on language is not confined to linguistic reflexes of class structure and should beexamined with due regard for the meditating role of all class-derived elements social groups, strata, occupational, cultural and other groups including primary units (small groups)" (A.
D. Shweitzer, 1983).Western sociolinguists, such as A. D. Grimshaw, J. Z. Fisher,H. Bernstein, M. Gregory, S. Carroll, A. Hughes, P. Trudgill and others,are oriented towards small groups, viewing them as "microcosms" of theentire society.Every language community, ranging from a small group to a nationhas its own social dialect, and consequently, its own social accent.British sociolinguists divide the society into the following classes:upper class, upper middle class, middle middle class, lower middleupper working class, middle working class, lower working class.The validity of this classifIcation is being debated in sociolinguistics.The problem of social stratification and of group theory has only recently been tackled by the science of sociology.
The serious study of social dialects must be proceeded, or at least accompanied by significantadvances in sociology and especially in the more precise definition ofthe notions, such as class, nation, nationality, society, language community, occupation, social group, social setting, occupational group, andso on.---,162Chapter VI. Social and Territorial Varieties of EnglishIt is well worth to understand that classes are split into different majorand minor social groups (professional, educational, cultural, age, sex and soon). Correspondingly every social community has its own social dialect andsocial accent. D. A.
Shakhbagova defines social dialects as "varieties spokenby a socially limited number ofpeople" (Shakhbagova, 1982).So in the light of social criteria languages are "characterized by twoplans of socially conditioned variability - stratificational, linked with societal structure, and situational, linked with the social context of languageuse" (A. D. Shweitzer, 1983: 6).Having had our main terms straightened we may speak now of the "language situation" in terms of the horizontal and vertical differentiations ofthe language, the first in accordance with the spheres of social activity, thesecond - with its situational variability.It is evident that the language means are chosen consciously or subconsciously by a speaker according to his perception of the situation, in whichhe finds himself. Hence situational varieties ofthe language are called functional dialects or functional styles and situational pronunciation varieties situational accents or phonostyles.It has also to be remembered that the language ofits users varies according to their individualities, range of intelligibility, cultural habits, genderand age differences.
Individual speech of members of the same languagecommunity is known as idiolect.Now in conclusion it would be a perfectly natural thing to say that language in serving personal and social needs becomes part ofthe ceaseless fluxofhuman life and activity. Human communication cannot be comprehended without recognizing mutual dependence of language and context. Themystery of language lies, if nowhere, in its endless ability to adapt both tothe strategies of the individual and to the needs of the community, servingeach without imprisoning either. This is what makes sociolinguistics as ascience so important. In this book, though, we shall focus our attention onterritorial modifications of English pronunciation viewing them as an object of sociolinguistic study.1636.3.
English-based Pronunciation Standards of Englishspeaking English as a mother tongue are Americans. Compared with itonly 55 million speak English in Britain, therefore statistically you aremuch more likely to encounter American accents and dialects than British ones.Figure 15Vclrieties of English PronunciationIVarieties of English---------English -basedpronunciation standards --{ British English)( English English-------IAmerican-basedpronunciation standardsHAmerican English )----{ Canadian English )( Welsh English( Scottish English( Northern Ireland English--{ Irish English-{ Australian EnglishIi))New Zealand English --{ South Mrica English ) 6.3. English-based pronunciation standards of English6.3.1.
British English6.2. Spread of EnglishThe famous linguist D. Crystal estimates that roughly more than 400million people speak English as a mother tongue around the world and ofthose 400 million 226 of them live in the USA, thus 2 out of 3 peopleAs was mentioned before, BEPS (British English Pronunciation Standards and Accents) comprise English English, Welsh English, Scottish English and Northern Ireland English (the corresponding abbreviations are EE,WE, ScE. , NIE).164Chapter VI.
Social and Territorial Varieties of EnglishTable 15British English AccentsEnglish English,----=SouthernScottish English._Northernf-.···-----··~I---------WelshEnglish-----EducatedScottishEnglish.. -.RegionalvarietiesNorthernIrelandEnglishI. Southern1. Northern1--------- -------1------ ----2.
EastAnglia 2. Yorkshire3. South West3. North-\\est-----4. \\est Midlands--------'------------------this chapter we are going to look in greater detail at the ReceivedPronunciation (RP) and regional non-RP accents of England. Roughlyspeaking the non- RP accents of England may be grouped like this:I. Southern accents:1) Southern accents (Greater London, Cockney, Surray, Kent, Essex,Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire);2) East Anglia accents (Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire,Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire);3) South-West accents (G10ucestershire, Avon, Somerset, WIltshire).2.
Northern and Midland accents: 1) Northern accents (Northumberland, Durham); 2) Yorkshire accents; 3) North-West accents (Lancashire, Cheshire); 4) West Mjdland (Birmingham, Wolverhampton). 6.3.2. Received PronunciationIt has long been believed that RP is a social marker, a prestige accent ofan Englishman. In the nineteenth century "received" was understood in thesense of "accepted in the best society". The speech of the aristocracy andthe court phonetically was that of the London area. Then it lost its localcharacteristics and was finally associated with ruling class accent, often referred to as "King's English". It was also the accent taught and spoken atpublic schools.
WIth the spread of education cultured people not belongingto the upper classes were eager to modify their accent in the direction ofsocial standards.1656.3. English-based Pronunciation Standards of EnglishWe can say that RP is a genuinely region less accent within Britain: youcannot say which area of Britain the speakers of RP come from, which is notthe case for any other type of British accents.It is fair to mention, however, that only 3-5% ofthe population of England speak RP.
According to British phoneticians (Ch. Barber, 1964;A. Gimson, 1981; A. Hughes and P. Trudgill, 1980) RP is not homogeneous.A. Gimson suggests that it is convenient to distinguish three main typeswithin it: "the conservative RP forms, used by the older generation, and,traditionally, by certain professions or social groups; the general RP forms,most commonly in use and typified by the pronunciation adopted by theBBC, and the advanced RP forms, mainly used by young people of exclusive social groups - mostly ofthe upper classes, but also for prestige value incertain professional circles" (Gimson, 1981: 88).In the last edition of ''An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English"by A.
C. Gimson, revised by Alan Cruttenden (2001) a new classification ofRP types is given:General RPRefined RPRegional RPBy "Regional RP" they mean standard pronunCiation norm in particugeographical regions which are commonly close to the national RP butreflect regional peCUliarities.Many native speakers, especially teachers of English, college and university professors (particularly in the South and South-East of England)have accents closely resembling RP. P. Trudgill and J.
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