Change in accents and dialects

Change in British accents and dialects

The United Kingdom consists of a number of dialects shaped by thousands of years of history and change in generation which had influence the language we speak nowadays. English language which is spoken in Britain is divided into different dialects such as Received Pronunciation, Cockney and Midlands English. Received pronunciation is what foreigners may classify as a standard British accent due to the stereotypes of it being posh. In the past, the received pronunciation was only used by people of a higher status, who wanted to emerge and show the power that they have. Margaret Thatcher transformed from a Lincolnshire accent to sounding like the Duchess of Devonshire, to present her power which she had as the prime minister. This also pertains to other famous people such as David Beckham who has changed his cockney dialect into received pronunciation. The reason for this action could have been influenced by the status of his popularity and importance which has increased over the years. The example of David Beckham shows that nowadays people do change their accent to the received pronunciation whenever they want to sound 'posh' or show others that they come from a higher social class.
Possibly the second most famous British accent is cockney which originates in the East End of London. This accent has a number of features which characterises it and makes it recognisable for people living in other parts of England. One of those features is Th-Fronting: The th in words like think or this is pronounced with a more forward consonant depending on the word: thing becomes “fing,” this becomes “dis,” and mother becomes “muhvah.” The cockney dialect also has its own slang- a type of slang in which words are replaced by other words or phrases they rhyme with, for instance apple and pears- stairs. According to one of the BBC articles and a research which found that a new form of accent is replacing the traditional Cockney in some parts of East End. "The majority of young people of school age are of Bangladeshi origin and this has had tremendous impact on the dialect spoken in the area," said Sue Fox, a research fellow at Queen Mary College, University of London. Accents are influenced by the society, as the society changes the accents change too. Midlands English can be divided into East Midlands and West Midlands, however the most famous of these dialects is Brummie which is Birmingham English. The main feature of Midlands English is
a variety of unusual vocabulary where some East Midlands dialects still feature a variant of the word “thou!”. The dialect changes over the years, as there are new words being introduced however some traditional words and phrases are still in use such as Ay up mi duck- hello there.

Why do dialects change?

Many factors influence different dialects and change the way they are. The main factor is age, because as we grow up we adapt our dialect to suit our age. The difference between generations is an evidence of language change. New words are being created and particular dialects are starting to be recognised by them. Young people play a massive role in dialect development and change, as they share those dialects with others, allowing people to learn something new and perhaps make it their idiolect. People moving all around the country or even abroad, they spread their dialect. However some may also try to fit in by changing their dialect in order to make it more similar to the one used in the particular area/country.

Bibliography:
http://dialectblog.com/british-accents/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22183566
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4171644.stm