Accents or dialect? What's causing the confusion?


The UK holds numerous different accents, even though to many of us English is our first and only language, we still fail to fully understand one another. The characteristics of each accent range dramatically, with each of them distinctive and totally different to another. This is almost unbelievable taking into consideration the size of the UK, and the number of different accents. Each city holds its own opportunities for; jobs, families, universities, housing etc. This is causing people to move across the country, mixing accents and causing confusion. Everyone has experienced the awkward interaction with those of a different accent to their own. There is almost bizarrely a language barrier, they may as well be speaking in a ‘foreign’ language because only very little is being understood.
The rate at which technology is developing, has also allowed a mix in accents. Technology is becoming more and more important in our everyday lives as we pretty much rely on it nowadays for school , at home and at work, its everywhere. There is little anyone can do to stop the spread of different accents, it’s inevitable. Accents are spreading like never before.
Another thing to take into consideration is the use of language, which may have been  developed in the area that they came from. So it may not necessarily the way in which they are sounding when they speak, it may be what they are saying and the point they are trying to make. An example of this may be, someone from Bristol asking another from Scotland “where you too, my lover?” Anyone from Bristol or located near there, would understand that this is just a variation of the question “where are you”. Due to the lack of understanding of the dialect (the way people from a certain area speak), the ‘language barrier’ has been formed. It would work both ways, each accents has their own features and are totally different to another.
So why are there so many accents and dialect? Why are they so different? Accents developed from hundreds of years of small isolated communities. People were born, lived and died in the same village without travelling more than 10 miles. So lots of local words and different pronunciations began to develop.  This is very different to today, where we have more active transport and also access to the internet where we are expose to not only nation but international accents on a daily basis.

How are we received, when somebody who lives in a completely different part of the country hears an accent they are not familiar with?  What do they think of us? Received Pronunciation is spoken by 3% of the population in England, but yet if we were to match this accent to a particular group of people. I personally would picture the Queen or the cast of made in Chelsea in designer clothes and sipping champagne. Each accent has their own stereotypes and characteristics in terms of sound and dialect. According to Urszula Clark a linguist, “we are what we speak”. Does this mean that perception that people from Bristol are all farmers? Should we begin to start using more RP, to sound more sophisticated and more intellectual? What do you think?

 

Comments

  1. Anonymous13 January 2016 at 00:46

    I like how you have got multiple ideas that all link together, which makes your piece flow. To improve, you could maybe put in some of the studies on this area of language.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ciara's blog13 January 2016 at 02:22

    This article is really informative and I like the part discussing the affect of technology on accents. To improve you could include more of the theories we have been looking at.

    ReplyDelete
  3. FinWilson15 January 2016 at 03:04

    Well written and structured. An engaging read, even for the casual reader who may not have any prior knowledge of the topic. To improve consider adding any theories in order to add a sense of authenticity to your points.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Unknown22 January 2016 at 07:10

    it is a well written and lively article. it is well structured. try adding some knowledge of theories.

    ReplyDelete

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