Varieties of English An Introduction to the Study of Language

This new edition of the best selling, topic-based introduction to spoken and written English, is now fully revised and expanded with over 50% more material. This practical volume provides a wide range of written texts and transcriptions of speech for comm

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Studies in English Language series A Course Book in English Grammar- Dennis Freeborn From Old English to Standard English- Dennis Freeborn English Language Project Work- Christine McDonald Analysing Talk- David Langford

VARIETIES OF ENGLISH AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF LANGUAGE

Second Edition Dennis Freeborn with Peter French and David Langford

!50th YEAR

M

MACMILLAN

© Dennis Freeborn 1986

© Dennis Freeborn, Peter French, David Langford 1993

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WlP 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First edition 1986 Reprinted 1986 (with corrections), 1987,1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 Second edition 1993 Published by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world ISBN 978-0-333-58917-5

ISBN 978-1-349-22723-5 (eBook)

DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-22723-5

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Contents

Contents of the cassette tape Symbols

ix X

Acknowledgements

xi

Introduction to the second edition

xii

1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5

Variety, change, and the idea of correct English Good English A Letter to the Editor An Acceptability Test This is the six o'clock news- belt up! Is there a language trap?

1 1 3 9 18 19

2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6

Dialects and Standard English -the past How the English language was brought to Britain Britain before the English came The Vikings The Norman Conquest The establishment of Standard English How to analyse an historical text 2.6.1 Old English 2.6.2 Middle English 2.6.3 Early Modern English and Modern English

22 22 23 25 26 28 29 29 30 31

3 3.1 3.2 3.3

Dialects and Standard English -the present Standard English -a dialect Present-day dialectal forms Creole English 3.3.1 The Mango Tree 3.3.2 The Red Bird 3.3.3 Coming to England Pidgin English

39 39 40 51 52 54 55 56

3.4

v

Contents

4 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 5 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5

6 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4

7 7.1 7.2

7.3

vi

Regional accents anct Received Pronunciation The difference between accent and dialect Accent Boundaries of regional variation A framework for accent study 4.4.1 How to make a phonetic transcription Practical exercises in broad phonetic transcription A practical exercise in describing a regional accent Social evaluation of accents Accents and social variables

59 59 61 63 66 67 69 70 73 75

Spoken English and written English 76 Speech and writing as media for language 76 Making a transcription 77 Dialogue 1: making a model village 78 5.3.1