So, I missed today's English lesson BUT I made some observations whilst on the trip to Southampton Uni.

Here is what I observed: 

There was a lecture taken by a woman who had moved from China to England and has lived here for 8 years.

I was paying particular attention to how she spoke.

WHICH WAS WEIRD - This is what studying English does to you! 

Anyway:   here's what I observed (finally getting to the point).

As English was her second language; she often omitted lexical parts of the sentence.

• When saying English words which are either pluralised or naturally spelt with an 's' - the 's' on the end was never pronounced
  
• She didn't include determiners - e.g. 'thinking outside box' instead of  'thinking outside of the box'
  
• Prepositions were omitted.
  
• She had emphasis on the second syllable of every word that she used.

Famous people with the Geordie Accent.

Alan Shearer.

Cheryl Cole

Ridley Scott

Rowan Atkinson

Sting.

What has had an influence upon the accent / dialect?

• The Newcastle 'Geordie' accent has been influenced by the invasion of the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century.
  
• The influence of the Anglo-Saxons is clear as poems from the 5th century translates more successfully in Geordie than into modern day English.
  http://www.englandsnortheast.co.uk/GeordieOrigins.html
  
  
• Distinctively Geordie and Northumbrian words are more than 80 % Angle in origin, compared to standard English, where the figure is less than 30 %. Modern English words by comparison are predominantly of Latin origin because modern English derives from the dialects of southern England which were continuously influenced by the Latin and Norman French favoured by the educated classes of Oxford, Cambridge and London. 
  
• Sometimes a Geordie may appear to be using words incorrectly , but this may not always be the case. For example a Geordie may say Aaal Larn yer (meaning I'll teach you) as in the Anglo Saxon Laeran which meant teach. Other Geordie words of Anglo Saxon origin include Axe (ask) from the Anglo-Saxon Acsian, Burn meaning stream, Hoppings meaning fayre and Gan which is the Geordie and Anglo saxon word meaning to go.
  
  
  
  

Vocabulary common with the Newcaste 'Geordie' accent.

• Aa, Aye, Ai - Yes.
• Aboot  - About.
• Ahent - Behind.
• A'reet - Hello / Alright?
• Pet - A some what endearing term, like 'love'. 
• Baccy - Tabacco.
• Banter - Chat / gossip.
• Buk - Book.
• Chud / Chuddy / Chut / Chutty - Chewing gum.
• Dinnar - Don't know.
• Divvie - Stupid person.
• Gob - Mouth.
• Hacky - Dirty.
• Hinny - A term of endearment 'honey'.
• Hoose - House.
• Ma / Mar / Mam - A variation of 'mum'.
• Nowt - Nothing / None.
• Whey aye - Yes.
• Toon - Town.
• Wo / Wa / Woh / Wot / Wat - What.
• Ye / Yuh - You.
• Yous - You lot / all of you. 

From looking at this list of common vocabulary used by people with the Geordie accent, I can see that most of their words are pronounced phonetically.

Characteristics of the Geordie accent.

(taken from wikipedia.)

• Geordie is non-rhotic, like most Anglo-English dialects. This means speakers do not pronounce /r/ unless it is followed by a vowel sound in that same phrase or prosodic unit. The rhotic sound (/r/) in Geordie is pronounced as [ɹ].

• here is some differentiation in pronunciation in the Geordie dialect based upon the speaker's sex. For example, English sound /aʊ/, pronounced generically in Geordie as [əʊ], may also have other, more specific pronunciations depending upon whether one is male or female. Males alone often pronounce the sound /aʊ/ as [uː], for example, the word house (/haʊs/) pronounced as [huːs]. Females, on the other hand, will often pronounce this sound as [eʉ], thus: [heʉs].

• appearing at the end of a word (such as in sugar) is pronounced as [a]

• specifically in words with the spelling "ea" (such as bread and deaf) may be pronounced as [iː].

•  specifically at the ends of words, with the spelling "ow" (such as in throw and follow) is pronounced as [a] in monosyllabic words and [ə] in polysyllabic words (thus, window as [ˈwɪndə])

Research on the Newcastle 'Geordie' accent.

The Newcastle 'Geordie' accent is an accent that is commonly spoken in the North East of England.

"In most aspects Geordie speech is a direct continuation and development of the language spoken by the Anglo-Saxon settlers of this region."

"This Anglo-Saxon influence on Geordie can be seen today, to the extent that poems by the Anglo-Saxon scholar the Venerable Bede translates more successfully into Geordie than into modern day English. Thus, in northern England, dominated by the kingdom of Northumbria, was found a distinct "Northumbrian" Old English dialect."

The Newcastle accent is generally spoken in:  

North Tyneside, Newcastle, South Tyneside and Gateshead.

- What is your view on language change? 

I think that language change is a necessity. It is needed to accommodate technological advances and new features that will come along with it - otherwise, there will be no terms to 'label' such new inventions. 

In addition, I think new variations of English are crucial in order for the younger generation to express their individuality, as everybody knows that, as years pass, generation gaps are widening due to language change although the language use by each generation generally defines their personality, either as an individual or a group of the same age.

The language used by the older generation for example, reflects their high morals and traditionalism - due to this, they often believe that the English language should remain pure; in contrast to this, the younger generation firmly believe that language change is good (which is also my opinion) because new words are needed in everyday life and will continue to be common in future years. 

- What do you think are the most important influences on language change? And why might this be the case?

The most important and significant influence on language change is the media. 

This is because everyone is affected by the media, it's universal... television, internet, radio, newspapers - they're everywhere, and people often consume them subconsciously, either when they're walking past or just glancing at something - as a result of this the media influences language incredibly, often using the latest 'terms' and 'cool colloquialisms' - which can also result in the older generation feeling isolated as they don't feel as if they're 'up to date'.

- Do you think some of the more recent additions to the language will survive? (e.g. peng, bare, butterz, mandem, bbm, cba, lol, i-phone, i-pad, smart phones, fraped ....etc). 

Personally, I think that a lot of these terms will die out in subsequent years as a lot of them are time specific to current products, i.e bbm. i-phone, i-pad. smart phones etc. 

The same case with words like peng, bare, butterz and mandem ; these words are just the latest adjectives to relate to the words - beautiful, loads, ugly and gang - which over years often develop new labels - I think that within the next year, these words will probably be replaced with similar words, but these current ones will no longer be in existence.

In relation to the acronyms cba & lol , I think that they will continue to be used in the future, as far as I'm concerned, they've been around for years, I mean, I remember using them when I was like, 12..  and I'm almost 18 now and they're still being used so they're obviously standing up well in the 'cool language' league. 

As for fraped, I'm unsure as to whether it'll survive, I mean,  I think Facebook will continue to be popular and the word 'fraped' obviously refers to when someone changes a friend's status without their permission - which will clearly continue to happen.. but the term may change,as it is only used by the younger generation anyway.. my parents (who actually have facebook accounts, may I add) are unaware of the term 'fraped'... maybe it'll survive, maybe not...

Words that are still in use from 2001 slang...

• Boyf.
• Busted.
• Fine.
• Bling.
• Bone.
• Bothered.
• Get with.
• Isit.
• Lame.
• Minger.
• Playa
• 'Rents.
• Wagwon.
• Muppet.

-Most of these slang words still have the same meaning, 10 years later...
although, playa has changed meaning from 'never selling out' to being 'promiscuous'

Where do these words come from?

POPULAR CULTURE.

• Magazines.
• Music.
• Television.
• Radio.
• Fashion.
• Celebrities.

How are they formed?

• Rents - is formed by clipping 'pa' to make an abbreviated word.
• Wagwon - is formed by reduplication - it originates from the black english variety.
• Isit - is formed by compounding two words - is and it to form a tag question.
• Boyf - is formed by clipping 'riend' to make an abbreviated word.
• Hottie - is formed by suffixation.

Latest Slang....

• Peng.
• BBM.
• Lowe.
• Uggs.
• You draining me.
• Ipad.
• Frape.
• LOL.
• CBA.
• Jeggings.
• Snood.
• Butters.
• Gassing.
• Moist.
• Mandem.
• Bare.
• Bun.
• N00b.
• Smart phones.
• Crusty.

Neologism

An invention of a new word - Which isn't formed as a result of a phonological process (combining elements of existing words) but, is a completely new invented word, sprung from nowhere.

The media influences language change a lot...

• The media has universal appeal - through newspapers, films, tv programmes etc.
• Excessive consumption of media texts is common.
• The media has been seen to provoke certain attitudes and opinions towards language.
• What is popular / what isn't ? 
• The media could alter intonation  - for example - Australian programmes, i.e, Neighbours have influenced the intonation of English people who often raise their intonation at the end of the sentence (like the Australians) even if it's not a question.
• This example shows that language is easy changed and altered through the media.

I'm definately suprised at how much the English language has changed since the 5th century, it's unbelieveable that the extracts we listened to at the beginning of today's lesson were even the same language !

I think that next year will be really interesting but also really challenging because I don't really enjoy 'history and remembering dates!'

:)

Exploring Dictionaries.

What  was the earliest book which listed English words? Why was it considered necessary?

• 1582 - Richard Mulcaster's 'Elementarie' - as an attempt to make the English language and culture more respected and accessible.

What was the first alphabetical English-only dictionary? How many words were included?

• 1604 - Robert Cawdery's 'Table alphabeticall' - approximately 3000 words.

What was different about Samuel Johnson's dictionary and why is it considered so influential?

• 1755 - listed 40,000 words - his style influenced future dictionaries, the history of words were looked up to show change over time (etymology) - used a lot of BIG words that people didn't understand, so it was critisized.

Whey and when was the Oxford English dictionary started? What was different about its compilers?

• The idea of the oxford dictionary originated in 1850s.
• Eventually made in 1879.
• The plan was to create a vast and comprehensive collection of English words from the early middle english period (1150) onwards.
• They examined the history of every word to show how meaning had changed over time.

What are the advantages of the OED online? Using the OED entry provided, explain the semantic shift of the word 'gay' over time, including recent derogatory usage.

Created in 2000.

Advantages :

• Ease and simplicity.
• Updated.
• Search for words, quotations, history- easily.

Gay -
used to mean:

• Joy, poetry, prancing horses, dog tails, prostitution, bright colours and today, homosexuality.
• Gay is socially innapppropriate in a colloquial context.

Language change

Language is in a permenant state of flux.

-Language is affected by:

• Historical events. - war / invasion - flux of new words.
• Geographical issues - Immigration - introduction of new variations of the native language.
• Social factors - friends / social life.
• Politics - political correctness - being told to 'label' things in certain terms.
• Education - subjects taught / language used / the amount of people who are educated.
• Technology - technological advances, names for new products / features etc.
• Fashion - blending - eg, Jeggings.
• Slang - colloquial language - Chav.

Origins of English.

• Old English - 400 - 1150.
• Middle English - 1150 - 1450.
• Early Modern English - 1450 -1700
• Contempary (Late Modern English) - 1700 - present.

Middle English.

12th Century- The resurgence of English.

• Renewed interest in Latin, Greek and Arabic.
• Oxford and Cambridge universities founded.
• English national identity emerges.
• Prominance of French declines.
• English takes prominance.
• Parliament opens in 1962 - English, French dominates law and Latin dominates church and education.

Words from this era: (semantic fields of fashion, food and drink, learning and art) - jewel, biscuit,diamond, vinegar, geometry, medicine and romance.

1476 - The printing press.

• Books and education.
• Publication of books - invention of printing.
• Latin and Scottish words emerge into the English language.
• Development of pronounciation.
• Standard English form is recognised.
• Spelling becomes more standardised.
• Grammatical change slows down.

Words include: Conspiracy, contempt, genius, lunatic, popular, solar and testimony.

The printing press had a huge impact on the change of language - mainly because of the publication of books and education of people - during this period, language really excelled and became the complex and beautiful language it is today :)

1500 -1650 - The Renaissance and influence of Shakespeare.

• Developments in medicine, science and arts.
• Religious and political upheaval.
• First publication of an English (translated) bible in 1611.
• First of shakespeare's plays published in 1623.
• New words were created by suffixation.

Words like: Baron, chancellor, sovereign, traitor, charity, immorality, virgin, adultery, blame, convict, soldier, appetite and surgeon.

Language Repertoire.

What have I learnt today? 14/06/2011.

What have you learnt today?

Regional accents and dialects

• Definition of accent - differences in sound patterns of a specific dialect.
• Definition of dialect - specific variety of english, defined by lexis, grammar and phonology.
• Received pronounciation - standard english - typically queen's speech.
• Shockingly, Only 2% of the UK population speak Received Pronunciation, and this percentage is diminishing, yearly. 
• The three types of received pronounciation -

Conservative RP = used by older speakers.
Mainstream RP = neutral.
Contempary RP = Typical of younger RP speakers.

Early origins of english.

• The English language has been influenced by a number of invasions over time.

• 5th Century - The anglo saxon invasions.

-449 AD, the angles, saxons and jutwa began to arrive in the UK.
-Native Britons moved to Cornwall, Wales and Cumbria.
-Cornish, Welsh and Cubric languages develop.
-Anglo-Saxon prefered to use their mother tongue.
-4 major dialects - West Saxon, Northumbria,kentish and mercian.
-Christian missionaries begin to arrive in 597, bring Latin vocabulary.
-Words from this era include - candle, cucumber, cheese, elephant, street and wine.

• 8th century - The viking invasions.

-Raded Britain in787 until 11th century.
-More than 1500 place names have originated by Scandinavia e.g. Yorkshire , Lincolnshire.
-English pronouns originated from this era.
-examples of words - awkward, band, bull, steak and want.

• 1066- The norman conquest.

-1066 - battle of hastings.
-french had prominence.
-latin and french had a huge influence.
-words like - administration, miracle and councilm liberty, confess, army and battle.

Personal response to the Birmingham accent.

Following your research into people's attitudes and perceptions of the Birmingham accent, write a paragraph which summarises your main findings and include a personal response to this.

Consider:

-Were these ideas new to you?
Yeah, definately. I wasn't aware that people judged the Birmingham accent so severly. I think their opinions are really harsh.

- Were you aware of your own attitudes towards the accent?
Not really, I don't really judge people, especially towards their accents, I don't think the way someone talks defines them as a person, you shouldn't be judged just because you talk in a particular way - it doesn't change the way you are or how well you'll do in life.

- Do you think that having a Birmingham accent puts people at a disadvantage?
I guess so, if majority of people share the opinion that the Birmingham accent is dirty and undesireable - especially from an employment point of view because they're less likely to get jobs if the employers judge them solely upon their accents.

- Do you think accents matter? Why/why not?
Personally, no. I don't think that accents matter because they don't really affect the way you live your life, i mean you could be judged because of the way you speak but, when it comes down to it, accents are just a small part of who you are and it change how well you'll do in life.

Research on the Birmingham accent.

Key finding one - http://www.almostwitty.com/242/weird/the-birmingham-accent-is-beautiful - Birmingham university carried out research on their own accent - maybe biased opinion?

"The Birmingham accent is beautiful?!"  "Researchers – naturally from Birmingham – have apparently concluded that foreign people find the Birmingham accent “”lilting and melodious”.

-The blogger then goes on to say that he / she hates the birmingham accent and doesn't agree with the research carried out. They say that it sounds 'stupid and dumb'

This shows the varying opinions on the Birmingham accent.

Key finding two - http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/yourvoice/accents.shtml  - (Last updated March 2007)

"Edinburgh is regularly judged to have one of the most 'pleasant' accents in Britain, while Birmingham and London tend to come near the bottom of the list."

The Birmingham accent is one of the least desirable accents in Britain.

"American listeners, who do not recognise a Birmingham accent when they hear one, who know nothing about Birmingham and who probably don't even know where it is, do not find the Birmingham accent unpleasant at all"

This shows that opinions on particular accents are often a regional preconception as people from overseas don't share the same opinion.