What's happening in RP? - AMU Faculty of English
What's happening in RP? - AMU Faculty of English
What's happening in RP? - AMU Faculty of English
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Poznan 12 Oct. 2010<br />
What’s <strong>happen<strong>in</strong>g</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>RP</strong><br />
An empirical look at variation and change <strong>in</strong> Received Pronunciation<br />
Bente Rebecca Hannisdal<br />
University <strong>of</strong> Bergen<br />
Empirical data:<br />
30 hours <strong>of</strong> speech from 30 television newsreaders<br />
Phonological variables:<br />
1. CURE lower<strong>in</strong>g: /T/ → /N9/ sure, pure, tourist, etc.<br />
2. Smooth<strong>in</strong>g: /`H+`T/ → [`+`9] fire, power, etc.<br />
3. GOAT allophony: /T/ → [PT] before /k/ goal, shoulder, etc.<br />
4. R-sandhi: l<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g and <strong>in</strong>trusive /r/ far/r/ away, law/r/ and order<br />
5. T-voic<strong>in</strong>g: <strong>in</strong>tervocalic /s/ → [3] British, a lot <strong>of</strong>, etc.<br />
6. Yod coalescence: stressed /si+ci/ → /sR+cY/ tune, endure, etc.<br />
Results<br />
Table 1. The lexical distribution <strong>of</strong> /T/ and /N9/ <strong>in</strong> CURE<br />
word /T/ /N9/ word /T/ /N9/<br />
bureau 6 - sure 7 38<br />
cure 4 - assure 6 11<br />
dur<strong>in</strong>g 171 - assurance 2 1<br />
Europe 360 - ensure 6 11<br />
furious 10 - <strong>in</strong>surance 10 4<br />
jury 12 2 tour 20 31<br />
lure 2 - tour<strong>in</strong>g 1 2<br />
moor 1 3 tourism 12 3<br />
poor - 28 tourist 49 17<br />
purely 4 - tournament 8 28<br />
secure 18 1 Uruguay 1 -<br />
security 239 - your/you’re - 129
Distribution largely determ<strong>in</strong>ed by phonetic environment:<br />
• /T/ after C/j/ and before prevocalic /r/<br />
• /N9/ <strong>in</strong> other contexts<br />
Table 2. Smooth<strong>in</strong>g: total scores<br />
N %<br />
[`+`9] 621 46.4<br />
[`H+`T] 718 53.6<br />
Table 3. The use <strong>of</strong> GOAT allophony<br />
Categorical<br />
allophony<br />
Variable<br />
allophony<br />
No allophony<br />
Number <strong>of</strong> speakers 24 4 2<br />
Table 4. R-sandhi: total scores<br />
L<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g /r/<br />
Intrusive /r/<br />
N % N %<br />
/r/ 3612 59.8 182 32.6<br />
Ø 2433 40.2 376 67.4<br />
Variation ma<strong>in</strong>ly constra<strong>in</strong>ed by l<strong>in</strong>guistic factors.<br />
Sandhi /r/ significantly disfavoured<br />
• <strong>in</strong> pre-stress environments for !hours, Malaga !airport<br />
• before proper nouns Mister Annan, Jemaah Islamiyah<br />
• <strong>in</strong> the vic<strong>in</strong>ity <strong>of</strong> another /r/ terror attacks, area around
Clause boundary/tone group boundary did not prevent the <strong>in</strong>sertion <strong>of</strong> /r/:<br />
[1] What about there <strong>in</strong> S<strong>in</strong>gapore[r] Is there that feel<strong>in</strong>g…<br />
[2] Let’s get the latest news from Manila[r]. Our correspondent John McClane is there.<br />
[3] …if the rebels do withdraw[r], as Barnaby Phillips now reports.<br />
[4] We shouldn’t assume that this is someone from America[r], it could be somebody<br />
liv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the Philipp<strong>in</strong>es.<br />
[5] We’re just gett<strong>in</strong>g some news <strong>in</strong> from the Gulf headquarters <strong>in</strong> Doha[r]. A spokesman<br />
has said that…<br />
Table 5.1. T-voic<strong>in</strong>g: total scores<br />
N %<br />
[3] 1976 35.2<br />
[s] 3639 64.8<br />
Table 5.2. T-voic<strong>in</strong>g accord<strong>in</strong>g to word position<br />
Word-f<strong>in</strong>al<br />
Word-medial<br />
N % N %<br />
[3] 1344 66.9 632 17.5<br />
[t] 664 33.1 2975 82.5<br />
Table 6. Yod coalescence: total scores<br />
N %<br />
/sR+cY/ 286 46.4<br />
/si+ci/ 331 53.6
T-voic<strong>in</strong>g: mean scores for gender<br />
Males: 42,5<br />
Females: 26,6<br />
Smooth<strong>in</strong>g: mean scores for gender<br />
Males: 59,0<br />
Females: 33,6<br />
Males more prone to phonological reduction<br />
T-voic<strong>in</strong>g, yod coalescence and GOAT allophony represent new developments <strong>in</strong> <strong>RP</strong>.<br />
Inclusion <strong>of</strong> a feature <strong>in</strong> <strong>RP</strong> depends on how the accent is def<strong>in</strong>ed.<br />
Def<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>RP</strong>:<br />
- An abstract norm<br />
- The BBC accent<br />
- Prestige<br />
- Social criteria<br />
- Non-localisability<br />
A feature can be <strong>in</strong>cluded <strong>in</strong> <strong>RP</strong> if it is geographically widespread.<br />
<strong>RP</strong> does not <strong>in</strong>corporate all non-regional features, but excludes all regional features.<br />
T-voic<strong>in</strong>g, yod coalescence and GOAT allophony can be documented as supra-local.<br />
Non-localisability can serve as a criterion for delimit<strong>in</strong>g the <strong>RP</strong> accent.<br />
It allows for changes<br />
It is <strong>in</strong> l<strong>in</strong>e with the <strong>RP</strong> tradition<br />
It can be tested objectively
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