Контрольная работа: RP/BBC English or British English as a standard language

“Dear Ma Maa,

Good Day

I hope that when these few lines reach you

they may find you in the best of health

Ma Maa I really don' know how to tell yu dis

'cause , I did meck a solemn promise

to teck care a likkle Jim and try

mi best fi look out fi 'im

Ma Maa a really did try mi best

but none de less

mi sorry fi tell yu sey

poor likkle Jim get aress'

it was de middle a de rush 'our

when everybody jus' a hustle an a bustle

fi go 'ome fi dem evenin' shower…”

I have noticed that where odd or unusual spelling has been used, this reflected a difference in pronunciation.

So, the following examples are:

1. BrEn these /ði:z/ corresponds to Black BrEn deze /dis/.

2. BrEn best /best/corresponds to Black BrEn bes' /bes/.

3. BrEn health /hælθ/ corresponds to Black BrEn helt' /helt/.

4. BrEn they /ðei/ corresponds to Black BrEn dem /dem/.

At the level of sounds, Creole has some characteristics which are associated with regional and working-class varieties of English, and some others which are found only in Caribbean Creole. Some of the most important differences:

1. The vowel of Black BrEn in the word cup is like the vowel of BrEN cop /kΛ p/

2. The vowel of Black BrEn in the word all is like the vowel of BrEn are/a:l/

3. The vowels of Rlack BrEn in the words day and home are diphthongs /dai/ and /hoυm/ unlike BrEn /dei/ and /heυm/.

4. The first consonant of thump in Black BrEn is pronounced /tΛmp/ unlike BrEn /θΛmp/ [13].

Chapter 5. Differences in pronunciation between British and American English

According to Edward Finegan, written forms of American and British English as found in newspapers and textbooks vary little in their essential features, with only occasional noticeable differences in comparable media (comparing American newspapers to British newspapers, for example). This kind of formal English, particularly written English, is often called 'standard English'. An unofficial standard for spoken American English has also developed, as a result of mass media and geographic and social mobility. It is typically referred to as 'standard spoken American English' (SSAE) or 'General American English' (GenAm or GAE), and broadly describes the English typically heard from network newscasters, commonly referred to as non-regional diction, although local newscasters tend toward more parochial forms of speech. Despite this unofficial standard, regional variations of American English have not only persisted but have actually intensified, according to linguist William Labov [14].

Crystal Claims that regional dialects in the United States typically reflect the elements of the language of the main immigrant groups in any particular region of the country, especially in terms of pronunciation and vernacular vocabulary. Scholars have mapped at least four major regional variations of spoken American English: Northern, Southern, Midland, and Western. The spoken forms of British English vary considerably, reflecting a long history of dialect development amid isolated populations. Dialects and accents vary not only between the countries in the United Kingdom, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, but also within these individual countries.British and American English are the reference norms for English as spoken, written, and taught in the rest of the world. For instance, the English-speaking members of the Commonwealth often closely follow British English forms while many new American English forms quickly become familiar outside of the United States. Although the dialects of English used in the former British Empire are often, to various extents, based on British English, most of the countries concerned have developed their own unique dialects, particularly with respect to pronunciation, idioms, and vocabulary; chief among them are Canadian English and Australian English, which rank third and fourth in number of native speakers.The English language was first introduced to the Americas by British colonization, beginning in the early 17th century. Similarly, the language spread to numerous other parts of the world as a result of British trade and colonization elsewhere and the spread of the former British Empire, which, by 1921, held sway over a population of about 470–570 million people: approximately a quarter of the world's population at that time[14].Over the past 400 years, the form of the language used in the Americas—especially in the United States—and that used in the British Isles have diverged in many ways, leading to the dialects now commonly referred to as American English and British English. Differences between the two include pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary (lexis), spelling, punctuation, idioms, formatting of dates and numbers, and so on, although the differences in written and most spoken grammar structure tend to be much more minor than those of other aspects of the language in terms of mutual intelligibility. A small number of words have completely different meanings between the two dialects or are even unknown or not used in one of the dialects. One particular contribution towards formalizing these differences came from Noah Webster, who wrote the first American dictionary (published 1828) with the intention of showing that people in the United States spoke a different dialect from Britain.This divergence between American English and British English once caused George Bernard Shaw to say that the United States and United Kingdom are "two countries divided by a common language"; a similar comment is ascribed to Winston Churchill. Likewise, Oscar Wilde wrote, "We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, the language" (The Canterville Ghost, 1888). Henry Sweet predicted in 1877 that within a century, American English, Australian English and British English would be mutually unintelligible. There are enough differences to cause occasional misunderstandings or at times embarrassment – for example, some words that are quite innocent in one dialect may be considered vulgar in the other.