Phonology

Phonology and Accents

Living in Bristol means that I have accommodated a Bristolian accent, which is perfectly normal, however whether I like the accent or not is something different... My mum tells me that my Bristolian accent isn't particularly strong and I am probably the least Bristolian out of my family, however I still feel a negative attitude towards my accent. I especially get conscious of my accent when I dismissively pronounce words without pronouncing all of the letters, for example 'butter' and 'water'. The glottal stop that I have adapted into my language makes me cringe and when I realise that I have said it out loud, I then correct myself and say the word properly. The idea that I want to pronounce my words "properly" is the standardization of the English Language, giving the idea that there is a right way to speak and pronounce words correctly, meaning that people who have different accents, pronouncing words differently are speaking "lazy" or "non- standard". This can lead to judgement, and prejudice as speakers of the English language in a harsher tone or a "lazier" accent can lead to assumptions. For example, the Essex or East London accent has a stereotype that their accent makes them seem dumb or illiterate. This could however be influenced from reality TV programme, The Only Way is Essex, or soap, Eastenders, however it has created a label to people who speak "common", such as Essex or East London.


The Mirror article, What is the UK's UGLIEST Accent? looks at how accents have now deemed to be attractive or unattractive, making speakers of these accents more aware and conscious that there are pressures to speak in a certain way; the attractive accents being the ones that are pronounced "properly" or more formally than common.

"Sorry, Brummies. The rest of the UK don't like you"

The Mirror have so- say found out that the majority of the UK find the Brummie accent unattractive

Another article, alternatively about the snobbery of accents and how there can be a negative view on having a POSH accent!

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/02/britain-accent-sound-foreign-snobs

Lexis and Origins

Lexis and origins of words; Language and Change


Anorak - 1920s: from Greenlandic anoraq . The British English informal sense dates from the 1980s
Barbeque - mid 17th century: from Spanish barbacoa, perhaps from Arawak barbacoa ‘wooden frame on posts’
Barrack - late 19th century: probably from Northern Irish dialect.
Blizzard - early 19th century (originally US, denoting a violent blow): of unknown origin
Bongo - 1920s: from Latin American Spanish bongó
Bonsai - 1950s: from Japanese, from bon ‘tray’ + sai ‘planting’
Boomerang - early 19th century: from Dharuk
Budgerigar - mid 19th century: of Aboriginal origin, perhaps an alteration of Kamilaroi gijirrigaa (also in related languages)
Bungalow - late 17th century: from Hindi baṅglā ‘belonging to Bengal’, from a type of cottage built for early European settlers in Bengal.

Chipmunk - mid 19th century: from Ojibwa.

Chutney - early 19th century: from Hindi caṭnī

Dinghy - early 19th century (denoting a rowing boat used on rivers in India): from Hindi ḍiṅgī

Dungarees - late 17th century (in sense 2): from Hindi duṅgrī 

Gnu - late 18th century: from Khoikhoi and San, perhaps imitative of the sound made by the animal when alarmed

Haiku - Japanese, contracted form of haikai no ku ‘light verse

Hamburger - late 19th century (originally US): from German, from Hamburg

Igloo - mid 19th century: from Inuit iglu ‘house’

Kangaroo - late 18th century: the name of a specific kind of kangaroo in an extinct Aboriginal language of North Queensland

Karaoke - 1970s: from Japanese, literally ‘empty orchestra’

Ketchup - late 17th century: perhaps from Chinese (Cantonese dialect) k'ē chap ‘tomato juice’

Llama - early 17th century: from Spanish, probably from Quechua

Mohair - late 16th century: from Arabic muḵayyar ‘cloth made of goat's hair’ (literally ‘choice, select’). The change in ending was due to association with hair

Potato - mid 16th century: from Spanish patata, variant of Taino batata ‘sweet potato’. The English word originally denoted the sweet potato and gained its current sense in the late 16th century

Puma - late 18th century: via Spanish from Quechua

Pyjamas - early 19th century: from Urdu and Persian, from pāy ‘leg’ + jāma ‘clothing’

Safari - late 19th century: from Kiswahili, from Arabic safara ‘to travel’

Sauna - late 19th century: from Finnish

Shampoo - mid 18th century (in the sense ‘massage (as part of a Turkish bath process)’): from Hindicāṃpo! ‘press!’, imperative of cāṃpnā 

Sherbert - early 17th century: from Turkish şerbet, Persian šerbet, from Arabic šarba ‘drink’, fromšariba ‘to drink’. Compare with syrup

Ski - mid 18th century: from Norwegian, from Old Norse skíth ‘billet, snowshoe’

Skyscraper - American

Taboo - late 18th century: from Tongan tabu ‘set apart, forbidden’; introduced into English by Captain Cook

Tattoo - mid 17th century (originally as tap-too ) from Dutch taptoe!, literally ‘close the tap (of the cask)!’

Tea - mid 17th century: probably via Malay from Chinese (Min dialect) te ; related to Mandarinchá . Compare with char

Toboggan - early 19th century: from Canadian French tabaganne, from Micmac topaĝan ‘sled’

Tortilla - Spanish, diminutive of torta ‘cake’

Totem - mid 18th century: from Ojibwa nindoodem ‘my totem’

Trek - mid 19th century: from South African Dutch trek (noun), trekken (verb) ‘pull, travel’

Tycoon - mid 19th century: from Japanese taikun ‘great lord’

Yeti - 1930s: from Tibetan yeh-teh ‘little manlike animal’

Semantic Change

Old definitions: 
Lean: thin, emaciated

Novice: a member of a religious order who has not taken vows yet
Revolutionary: someone who favours overthrowing the government
Lewd: not having an official position in the church.

Modern definitions:

Lean: especially healthily so; having no superfluous fat.

Novice: a person new to and inexperienced in a job or situation.
Revolutionary: involving or causing a complete or dramatic change.
Lewd: crude and offensive in a sexual way.

The word "Lean" originated from the borrowing of the German lexis, hlinian; related to Dutch leunen and Germanlehnen, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin inclinare and Greek klinein. This semantic change of this word has shifted the definition, meaning that the use of the word within conversations and lexis use has fluctuated over the years.

"Novice" originated as Middle English: from Old French, from late Latin novicius, from novus ‘new’. The new definition makes more logical sense as it relates the original word's meaning; this semantic change is not as strong.

"Revolutionary" used to be referred with a political definition, however the change in semantics has generalised and has weakened the word to describe a situation as opposed to describing a person.

The definition of the word "Lewd" has shifted; the comparison of the old definition has completely changed semantically. The modern definition of the Old English word has changed to an euphemism to talk about a less pleasant subject through an informal, jokey manner.

Analysis of Menus

Menu A has a very distinctive difference to Menu B when it comes to the use of grammar, lexis and graphology. Firstly, menu A's language is an informal register, aimed towards local visitors from the area that the care is set in. This is apparent due to the use of colloquial language, 'bacon barm'. This is a significant feature of the menu as even I didn't know what a 'bacon barn' is, meaning that I cannot understand the language that must be used in the area that the cafe is set. The use of slang and accommodation also demonstrates the informality of this menu. The menu includes words such as 'hot-pot', where the preposition has been taken out to make the menu seem more friendly and punchy to the reader.

Menu B is however a very different style of menu, as the menu is clearly for an expensive dinner menu. The interesting use of grammar in menu B conveys the more formal register as opposed to text A, 'masked in a pink peppercorn sauce...'. The use of adjectives to describe the cuisine is put into complex sentences to appeal to the audience and to tempt them. The language techniques such as alliteration, 'peeled prawns' to enhance the purpose of the menu- to persuade.

Top Tips on How to Start a Narrative

Have you ever just stared at a blank page, biting your nails and rolling your eyes impatiently, waiting for ideas to come to you when trying to start a narrative? Me too. Instead of staring at my computer screen, achieving nothing productive, instead, I searched online some tips on how to start a narrative to try and provoke some ideas for my own narrative. I managed to successfully write my narrative with a continuous flow of ideas, so here some of my top tips to getting started!

Make sure you have created a full profile about your character- You can't write a narrative without knowing your characters inside out; their name, age, personality, likes, dislikes, their reactions and mannerisms etc. You will find knowing these tiny intricate details about your character will help build the narrative when describing scenes, whether it's in first person, second person or third person.

Decide and plan the basic frame of your narrative- Decide whether you're writing your narrative from a first, second or third person perspective, as well as what tense you want the story to be in. This is very important as it could determine where you start your story- that something has already happened and the reader is in the middle of it, then flashing back to the past to finally get to the present of the situation you are in now? Or a story of past events?

Think ahead- You don't need to know the exact details of your story, just the basic frame of it, and make up the finer details on the way. Keep a notebook next to your computer, so that when you are writing, if any ideas or description quotes spring to your mind, make sure you write them down so you can later on refer to them- trust me, this helped me a lot!

Set yourself in the scene- To help write your narrative, perhaps write about something you do often or you can relate to. For example, my character in my story was sat on a bus, and I get the bus regularly. By knowing what the character feels like and what situation they are in, it enabled me to be able to describe the intricate details that people are familiar with, but don't necessarily notice until you point it out.

Don't rush-  If you are frustrated about not knowing where to go with your narrative, don't get too annoyed. Try and think of some ideas, but don't force ideas and panic- it's okay, writer's block is common, so don't fret too much! Just keep a notebook next to you at all times, even just in your bag in the house, or even on your bedside table, so that if you ever you experience something or think of an idea you could use, jot it down in your notebook- of you don't you probably will forget it, or forget the fine details about it at least. A lot of writers use their dreams or inspirations from their dreams to write a novel, so keep a notebook handy.

Don't rely on dialogue too much to start off your narrative- While starting a narrative with dialogue is a strong start, don't rely on it too much- it is so common, you don't want to fall into the trap of copying everyone else. Try to find a more original start to your story, you can do this by deciding depending on what your story will be about. Don't be afraid to try something new or daring.

I hope that a few of my tips help, good luck and enjoy writing!

Child Language Acquisition

Looking at the transcript between Sophie at the age of 2 years and 4 months, and the transcript where she is at 3 years and 5 months, it is clear that the first transcript of her at a younger age is at the telegraphic stage. This is evident by the use of incorrect possessive pronouns that she uses, "me want that", as well as the use of contextual language, missing out the language that joins the sentence together. There is also a use of accommodation as well as colloquial slang, "bissy", which could cause some confusion if you are not aware of the context. Similarly to this, Sophie seems to be in the two word stage, "read that", meaning that actions or context is also needed. This links with theorist Basil Bernstein's view on language, that children acquire the restricted code, meaning that they use the basic language that further means that you need to be aware of the context to fully understand what they are talking about, whereas elaborated code possibly develops later on, where the listener does not need to know the context of the subject that is being spoken about, as the use of full sentences gives the full meaning.

However looking at the transcript where Sophie is a year and 1 month older, there are some clear developments and changes, moving her into the post-telegraphic stage, such as the use of inversions, "is it dark outside". This proposes a question and she understands the use of the term. She proves that she is confident with the use of inversions again, "can I borrow your corder", with the additional use of an auxiliary in "can", and colloquial language/slang, "corder", that is not entirely clear about the context still, but the reader can still assume that perhaps she meant a recorder, however will never be entirely sure. There are uses of concrete nouns, "piano", "shoes", as well as abstract nouns, "colour", "ring up", "tomorrow", which is clear that she understands the concepts of concrete and abstract nouns, unlike the telegraphic stage where children tend to get confused with concrete and abstract nouns.

My Investigation Coursework plan

For my investigation for English Language A2 Coursework, I will be looking at Language and Gender and the power within the language that is used within the gender roles.

My Hypothesis

My hypothesis is: An investigation in the difference between the language of adverts to women and adverts to men (in products- focused on ‘bathroom’ products). In my investigation, I will try to find out the different types of power in the language that tries to sell the products differently to each gender of audience. I am interested in the different types of persuasion and adjectives that will be used to describe the product and the lexis of how the product and the company describes and makes the audience feel.

Data – What (& how much) have you selected already?

So far I have collected 674 words worth of transcribed data. The transcriptions are of television commercials that are for specific cosmetics or ‘bathroom’ products. I have tried to make it fair by trying to collect transcriptions of commercials that are aimed towards men/women to sell their shower gel, perfume or deodorant product. I have also collected some data that only a certain sex can be targets towards due to the product, such as make up for women and aftershave for men.

Methodology – What Processes are you using to make sure that your data is comparable and reliable? (A good way of thinking about this is to make notes about the types of data you are ignoring)-

When transcribing my data from various YouTube videos, I am making sure that they are all real and official by only choosing advertisements that I have already seen on TV or that I am familiar with. I am also using television commercials that are recent within the past couple of years, mostly all 2014 adverts. By doing this and not looking at adverts that were made in for example, 2002, means that my data will be reliable and up to date, as the language of advertising and language and gender could have changed/probably has changed since the end of 20^th century/beginning of the 21^st century. By collecting data of the same subject, promoting the same product but changing the variable of the target audience, means that I can make my investigation comparable. By comparing the language of a shower gel advert for women and a shower gel advert for men means that I can compare and contrast the two types of language used within the adverts, depending on who the target audience is.

Aims, Interests & Hypothesis – What do you consider to be interesting and important about the types of language you are investigating? What are you aiming/ expecting to find?

I consider language and gender and the power within the language and gender very interesting, especially how that it is all highlighted and will be studied in this specific hypothesis.  I am expecting to find a difference in the language between the adverts for women and the adverts for men. For example, the women’s advertisements will include Fairclough’s theory, synthetic personalisation (e.g. L’Oreal “You’re worth it”), whereas the male targeted advertisements will be encouraging how to be a man, or that ‘real’ men use their products. I will also look at Brown and Levinson’s versus theory, for example Feelings vs. Advice.

Theories / Linguistic Concepts – In what ways might your investigation relate to ideas that are significant to language study? Answer in detail.

My investigation might relate to the ideas that are significant to language study, such as the power of language to manipulate/influence us (Fairclough and others), due to the synthetic personalisation. It might also include the significance of language and gender. The fact that women need to be targeted with a different type of language compared to men’s language could be related to Brown and Levinson’s theory. Men tend to not need to be told that they look beautiful, good or happy today. The uses of adjectives are different depending on what gender the advert is aimed towards.

Analysis – Identify at least 3 linguistic frameworks that you expect to provide you with interesting observations. Make this as specific by naming linguistic features (at least 5) that you expect to find. Explain why these features should be significant.

Frameworks that I expect to provide me with interesting observations when looking into this investigation will be:

-          Semantics and lexis- I will look at the lexical field and the difference between the two different target audiences. I will expect to find a more feminine lexis that is self-fulfilling and sugar coated for women, and a strong, hard-working, masculine lexis which may include lexis related to manual work to make men seem strong.

-          Pragmatics – will look at how the context and subtext will imply meaning, and how there are different meanings intended depending on who the advert is talking to/aimed at.

-          Grammar - I will look at the type of language that has been used within the adverts to the specific men and women audience, and how the sentences are structured to give full effect and meaning.

These features should be significant as they will show how the difference in language are adapted and used to be applied for the specific target audience. It will highlight how the type of language and lexis that is used will be the main seller of the product, and how the use of language and persuasion/power will have the effect over the audience.