British English Dialects and pronunciation What different accents

British English Dialects and pronunciation

• What different accents in English do you know? • Which one is your favourite? • Which accent do you mostly use?

British English • British English, or UK English (Br. E, BE), is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere • Formal written English is quite uniform throughout the UK, but the spoken word vary considerably more than in most other areas of the world where English is spoken. • What do you think about when you hear “British English”? • Clip from Fawlty Towers • http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=yfl 6 Lu 3 x. QW 0

A History of the English language • A West Germanic language • Originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to England by Germanic settlers from what is today northern Germany. • The original Old English language was then influenced by two waves of invasion; •

o The Vikings from Scandinavia conquered and colonised parts of Britain in the 8 th and 9 th centuries (words like window, flounder etc. ) o The second was the Normans in the 11 th century, from where English has its French roots (words like art, collage, competition, force, machine, police).

• Which accent has developed most – American English or British English? • Answer – British English!

Pronuciation of British English • Final ”r” is not pronounced in words such as ”father”. While the r was dropped in British English in the 17 th century Americans still have it. • The pronunciation of ”a” in fast, past etc is /a: / (long sound) where Americans pronounce it "short A" /æ/. This was changed in souther England at the end of the eighteenth century.

The Intrusive R • The “intrusive r” (in such sequences as "the idea-r-of it"). This phenomenon first appeared in English sometime after the year 1700. • The intrusive R affects any word that ends in the non-high vowels /ə/, /ɪə/, /ɑː/, or /ɔː/; when such a word is closely followed by another word beginning in a vowel sound, an [r] is inserted between them, even when no final /r/ was historically present. • For example, the phrase tuna oil would be pronounced [ˈtjuːnər ɔɪl]. The [r] is inserted to prevent two consecutive vowel sounds. Example: the Beatles singing: "I saw-r-a film today, oh boy" in the song "A Day in the Life"

Try saying the following words in British English: • Water, paper, register, father, number, customer • Fast, past, mast, cast, nasty, last • The idea-r-of it, law-r-and order, I saw-r-a film today

British Dialects • English – Southern English dialects, Midlands English dialects and Northern English dialects • Welsh English • Scottish English - many words originally borrowed from Old Norse and a few borrowed from Gaelic Clip that shows different British dialects • http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=KRm. Fbnz. WD_Q

Different types of dialects • Received Pronunciation (RP). § used as a model for teaching English to foreign learners § More of a class dialect than a local dialect. Used by the educated middle classes and upper classes § Also known as BBC English or the Queen’s English. § Clip of David Cameron (1. 05 -2. 00) http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Fw_MI 3 u. Cz 5 Y § Hugh Grant in “Love Actually” (0 -2. 25) http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=GF-

Class dialects Upper class dialect http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=T 70 -HTl. KRXo (Monty Pyton) Lower class dialect http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=HLo. VF 7 vc. Bt. Y

Cockney • Both geographical and linguistic associations. • Geographically - working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End. • Linguistically, it refers to the form of English spoken by this group. http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=WBQx. U 8 K 1 u. Jw • How To Do A Cockney Accent http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Lnj. GNJ 5 JL 8 w&NR=1

The Undertaker’s Sketch • Watch the clip. Think about pronunciation. • http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=v. WWg 5 sh. NWR 4 • Read the text in pairs to practise your British accent • http: //orangecow. org/pythonet/sketches/undertak. htm

Project – English Accents • In groups of three or four you are going to study a certain English accent. Find out and present: • An introduction about the history of English in that part, the development of the accent, it’s area of use, different dialects within the accent (e. g. the New York dialect in the American accent), differences in pronunciation compared to British English and other interesting information you can find. Also show clips that shows different varieties of your accent. • Do a Power Point presentation with your findings. Length of presentation: about 10 -20 minutes including your clips. At the end of your presentation you should give your classmates a pronunciation exercise with your accent (e. g. reading a dialogue) • Dead line for sending in the power point and to hold the presentation: 21 Nov.

Sources • Britannica • Wikipedia • Other encyklopedias

This theme will address the following goals for the English C course: • Pupils should: • understand different types of clear authentic speech in a variety of contexts • be able to provide information orally in a structured way • be able in different contexts to introduce and actively participate in oral communication of varying types, and be able to use English flexibly and purposefully, in both formal and informal contexts