Dialect - The words you use, depending on geographic location
_________________________________________________________________________________
Regional accents are losing the battle to standard English
https://inews.co.uk/essentials/news/uk/regional-accents-losing-battle-standard-english/
This article states the ever decreasing diversity of accents and dialect specific words. There is an especially interesting heat map of the UK, comparing pronunciations of certain words, such as use of the letter 'r' in 'arm'. The conclusion is the English language is becoming more standardised - bad news for regional accents.
How London accents have killed off local dialects across England
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/05/26/revealed-how-london-accents-have-killed-off-local-dialects-acros/
This article goes into further detail about how the heat map was produced, and other heat maps, such as whether 'scone' rhymes with 'gone'. Which is very interesting.
Regional Dialects are dying out - it's enough to get you blarting
https://www.theguardian.com/science/shortcuts/2016/may/30/regional-dialects-dying-out-app-cambridge-university
This article translates several words which have lost their use across the UK, specific regional dialects that have died out.
I'm a professor with a working class accent - get over it
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/im-professor-working-class-accent-get-over-it#
This article talks about assumptions made of those with certain accents, how certain careers are associated with certain accents. Peter Larcombe wrote about his experience with a working class accent and how people display shock when he reveals he is a professor of mathematics.
I've got an northern accent but I'm not working class
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/23/northern-accent-working-class-middle-class-northerner-barm-cake-john-lewis
There is a wide assumption that being northern automatically makes you working class. This article goes into detail on the assumptions made around people from 'oop' north. It is possible for A; doctor, architect, and dentist to eat barm cake.
The 'sexist' words your children are no longer allowed to use at school
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11939909/sexist-words-school-playground-report.html
Training younger generations to not use sexist words such as 'Don't be a sissy... Be a man' has been targeted. Some schools are taking this as seriously as tackling racism, which seems excessive, to me. But that could just be because I'm not on the receiving end of this sexism.
Film industry guilty of sexism towards men?
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/may/31/kit-harington-film-industry-guilty-sexism-towards-men-game-of-thrones
Speaking of the receiving end of sexism, I didn't think men received much grief when it came to their gender. As some argue, Harrington is subject to the feeling of being 'objectified' which isn't exclusive to one gender. The article states that Kit Harrington was chosen by film by his good looks rather than something lesser.
Pink v Blue, are children born with gender preferences?
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/reality-check-with-polly-curtis/2011/dec/13/women-children
This article talks about media and marketing, and suggests they have an influence on children's toy choices. The store Hamleys was targeted for this, for having dedicated sections for blue boys and pink girls. A study I remember reading stated that when offered both toy trucks and dolls, male chimpanzees chose to 'play' with the trucks and try and figure out how it worked, while younger females chose Dolls and took them up trees, probably for safety.
Uniliver vows to drop sexist stereotypes from its ads
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jun/22/unilever-sexist-stereotypes-ads-sunsilk-dove-lynx
This article talks about the sexism in advertising and marketing, specifically targeting Unilever. In advertising women are shown to have domestic jobs and are working towards their beach body, while men are authoritative and more amusing. Unilever vows to drop these sexist stereotypes and show more intelligent women in their adverts.
Is immigration killing our Queen's English?
- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3812071/Will-regional-accents-die-Experts-predict-technology-cause-voices-change-50-years.html
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/09/28/th-sound-to-vanish-from-english-language-by-2066-because-of-mult/
- https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/sep/29/its-the-end-of-the-frog-and-toad-for-regional-slang-says-report
Agghhhh, dis be terrifying news, we dropping du 'th' from every word! Apparently, due to this article, in the next 50 years, regional accents will be all but around. I somehow find this hard to believe.
The geordie accent is on it's way out
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/geordie-accent-way-out-say-11952972
The brummie accent could be dead soon
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/brummie-accent-could-dead-2066-11953140
Everything is looking bad, or is it? I'm sure conspiracy theorists shouting "The accents are aligning" and suspecting some ancient life to reveal itself. Which could be good.
A useful person:
Dan Clayton keeps his blog updated on everything going on in the land of the Exam Board, his blog is linked here: http://englishlangsfx.blogspot.co.uk/
Using filters, you can find all that as required of his over 1000 blog posts.
E.g. Sociolect - which is divided into...
Regional accents:
http://englishlangsfx.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/dialect
Class & social groups:
http://englishlangsfx.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/social%20groups
Gender:
http://englishlangsfx.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/gender%20and%20language
Some Importance ahead - Occupational Jargon
People use occupational jargon to confuse and enthuse those around them, that seems to be the main reason for most cases, it also allows for a metaphorical 'wink' to be passed along to the reader who gets it. Occupational Jargon can be found in:
Media:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2012/04/journalese
This article talks of a strange English dialect, known as journalese. It refers to the jargon and concision of media headlines and posts, especially tabloid articles are unreadable to those who may not have English as their first language. The best example is one that is used, can you run by "Perch 'Twitter Abuse' Probe" and understand it first time.
Politics:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/nov/30/politicians-bad-language-jargon
Not fit for purpose? The jargon-laden language of politics.
Political speakers may use their jargon-laden language in order to not only status-wise, but literally put themselves above others, using 'elevated lexis' or just some nonsense-collaberation of words which makes no sense even to those who wrote it. It is still a questionable act.
Doctoring:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3159813.stm
Doctor slang is a dying art.
Doctoring is a profession already filled with acronyms, abbreviations, and technical terms, it can be difficult to detract jargon from the rest of it. However recent developements in silly language have lead to increased use of terms only doctors can understand, and even then, some have difficulty.
Business:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-14653080
'Solutionising' business jargon
Business certainly has a lot of dreams and ideas it needs to note down, and includes a variety of language measures to do this in the most creative way possible. It really is a no brainer, providing you do blue sky thinking - (just some examples). Business seems like a career of terror, and it can be understandable for euphemisms to danger, such as downsizing - which could be due to and lead to some serious consequences. I believe this spiralled out of control into all the jargon we hear today.
Inter-"What's for dinner?" -ruption
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/may/18/why-do-people-interrupt-it-depends-on-whom-youre-talking-to
"hat wr perceive as an interruption varies systematically across different speakers and speech acts"
Stanford's Kathrine Hiltine, a doctoral candidate in linguistics argues that interruptions aren't all that meets the ye. Certain speakers see interruptions differently to others. What can be percieved as entuasiastic adjacency pairs can be heresy in others ears. A careful study of 5,000 (Are you listenting, Lakoff?) revealed two groups, high and low frequency speakers. High intensity speakers find silence dull, and see talking over eachother as a means of engagement.
Controversially, men percieve women who interrupt as rude, less friendly and less intelligent than men who interrupt. Judith Baxter and women in the boardroom would follow through with this.
Every study defines an interruption differently (Zimmerman and West)
When men talk over eachother in order to disagree, it is seen as interruption, when men talk over eachother in order to agree with eachother, it is seen as overlap. Cooperation compared to competition (Deborah Tannen)
The British Accent has been voted "The Sexiest in the world"
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/nov/28/is-prince-harrys-engagement-proof-that-a-british-accent-still-rules-the-dating-world
What did you take away from the royal wedding?
Pouf and you're offensive
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/26/the-words-we-use-matter-just-ask-a-teenager
Suzanne Moore goes through how rapidly language is changing, and how quickly political correctness is following suit. She argues that from sexual politics to actual politics, language is changing quickly and is dividing not only by generation, but also education, and it can be easy to trip up.
"One remark about what my daughter is wearing and I am informed I am the worst feminist of all time"
An ode to the F-word
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/15/toughen-up-senior-snowflakes-swearing-at-work-is-good-for-us
Re-Writing history
https://www.vox.com/conversations/2018/5/22/17377766/asperger-nazi-rename-syndrome
This is a transcript of a conversation about renaming medical conditions. You may have heard of the recent aims to tear down confederate flags, and to rename Colston Hall. But now the changes go further and argue to redefine what people would otherwise use as everyday language. Medical conditions such as Asperger's syndrome are being targeted for the recent renaming scheme as Dr. Hans Asperger was a Nazi sympathiser and supposedly identified children as disabled so they could e ruled out, and euthanised (though Hans, who died in 1980, argued against these claims in the years post-war).
In my opinion, these claims are ridiculous. An entire medical condition doesn't need to be renamed because the person who named it did a perceivably wrong thing. Hans did a great thing, revealing Asperger's syndrome, something which is different to being a Nazi, something which is different to sending children to their death (even if this turns out to be true) and it is that aspect of Hans life, as a medical professional, which should be remembered with that name. And to those who say "his name does not deserve to be remembered", you're even worse than the Nazis.
Business:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-14653080
'Solutionising' business jargon
Business certainly has a lot of dreams and ideas it needs to note down, and includes a variety of language measures to do this in the most creative way possible. It really is a no brainer, providing you do blue sky thinking - (just some examples). Business seems like a career of terror, and it can be understandable for euphemisms to danger, such as downsizing - which could be due to and lead to some serious consequences. I believe this spiralled out of control into all the jargon we hear today.
Inter-"What's for dinner?" -ruption
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/may/18/why-do-people-interrupt-it-depends-on-whom-youre-talking-to
"hat wr perceive as an interruption varies systematically across different speakers and speech acts"
Stanford's Kathrine Hiltine, a doctoral candidate in linguistics argues that interruptions aren't all that meets the ye. Certain speakers see interruptions differently to others. What can be percieved as entuasiastic adjacency pairs can be heresy in others ears. A careful study of 5,000 (Are you listenting, Lakoff?) revealed two groups, high and low frequency speakers. High intensity speakers find silence dull, and see talking over eachother as a means of engagement.
Controversially, men percieve women who interrupt as rude, less friendly and less intelligent than men who interrupt. Judith Baxter and women in the boardroom would follow through with this.
Every study defines an interruption differently (Zimmerman and West)
When men talk over eachother in order to disagree, it is seen as interruption, when men talk over eachother in order to agree with eachother, it is seen as overlap. Cooperation compared to competition (Deborah Tannen)
The British Accent has been voted "The Sexiest in the world"
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/nov/28/is-prince-harrys-engagement-proof-that-a-british-accent-still-rules-the-dating-world
What did you take away from the royal wedding?
Pouf and you're offensive
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/26/the-words-we-use-matter-just-ask-a-teenager
Suzanne Moore goes through how rapidly language is changing, and how quickly political correctness is following suit. She argues that from sexual politics to actual politics, language is changing quickly and is dividing not only by generation, but also education, and it can be easy to trip up.
"One remark about what my daughter is wearing and I am informed I am the worst feminist of all time"
An ode to the F-word
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/15/toughen-up-senior-snowflakes-swearing-at-work-is-good-for-us
Re-Writing history
https://www.vox.com/conversations/2018/5/22/17377766/asperger-nazi-rename-syndrome
This is a transcript of a conversation about renaming medical conditions. You may have heard of the recent aims to tear down confederate flags, and to rename Colston Hall. But now the changes go further and argue to redefine what people would otherwise use as everyday language. Medical conditions such as Asperger's syndrome are being targeted for the recent renaming scheme as Dr. Hans Asperger was a Nazi sympathiser and supposedly identified children as disabled so they could e ruled out, and euthanised (though Hans, who died in 1980, argued against these claims in the years post-war).
In my opinion, these claims are ridiculous. An entire medical condition doesn't need to be renamed because the person who named it did a perceivably wrong thing. Hans did a great thing, revealing Asperger's syndrome, something which is different to being a Nazi, something which is different to sending children to their death (even if this turns out to be true) and it is that aspect of Hans life, as a medical professional, which should be remembered with that name. And to those who say "his name does not deserve to be remembered", you're even worse than the Nazis.
