Debate: Accent origins

> I'm doing an A level in English Language and i was
> just wondering where do accents come from and why do
> we have them? and if we didn't have them what would
> we loose. Do we have anything to gain if state
> schools taught children to speak in RP or a modified
> version of it?

How did your A Levels go?

Firstly, we need to distinguish between ACCENT & DIALECT.
ACCENT: How the words sound
DIALECT: How the words are placed within a sentence. Dialect refers to the grammar of an accent therefore they are not the same thing.

Accents are established over years by people from different areas conversing with each other. An example is the Liverpool 'Scouse' accent. The people of Liverpool originally spoke with a Lancashire accent however the influx of Irish to the area gradually changed the original Lancashire intonation to that of what it is today.

Proof of this can be seen in any town/city. The town I live in is bordered by Liverpool & Warrington. On the side closest to the border of Liverpool, our 'Woolyback' accent has a nasal quality to it & several Liverpool features. In fact, if we travel anywhere out of the local area, we are often mistaken for Scousers. The other half of Widnes closest to Warrington has more of a Lancashire accent similar to that of Wigan or Bolton.

It is true that accents are passed down through family however our biggest influence is from our peers, especially as a teenager.

The origin of English is argued however the main theory is that it originated from the Vikings way back when in 500AD when they invaded the British Isles. English, in fact, became extinct when the Romans invaded and the country spoke Latin apart from the 'peasants' in the villages. After the Italians left, we got our language back & it wasn't until 1800's that we borrowed the French & Latin words that are prevalent in our language today.

> I'm doing an A level in English Language and i was
> just wondering where do accents come from and why do
> we have them? and if we didn't have them what would
> we loose. Do we have anything to gain if state
> schools taught children to speak in RP or a modified
> version of it?

For an A Level English student, I'm sure you know how to spell the word "lose" in the above post. BTW, which one is correct? "Payed" or "paid"?

The British Library have a few accents and dialects on record:

http://www.collectbritain.co.uk/collections/dialects/

The introduction is quite interesting to read.

Where do they come from? Well, they develop through time, usually unconsciously although people can consciously change accents (one of my sisters on the phone for one).

When you learn to speak, you mimic the sounds you hear - random individual variations can be picked up, or lost (I like to think of it a little like gene selection and development in evolution).

Isolation from other groups is the key to developing changes - whether that is social isolation or physical.

Teaching PR would be a disaster - although don't mistake the difference between accent and dialect - the case for Standard English in schools is strong.

I work with people learning English as a foreign language a lot and understandability is a lot less connected to accent than people think.

Surprised to see that you have no replies.

As for whether we need them - Yes and yes again.
To ethnically cleanse them would remove the last vestiges of original British culturee that have survived the industrial revolution.

As to what creates them...

I don't know if you saw the final episode of the Three Men In A Boat on BBC2 last week...

With Dara O'Brien, Griff Rhys Jones and Rory McGrath.

At one point they got into a sort of accent contest, and Jones was challenged to do his Irish accent in front of Dara O Brien.

It wasn't very good. I couldn't help noticing that when attempting an Irish accent, Jones applied a sort of fixed grin to his face.

I checked O'Brien's face when he was talking and sure enough, whether he was amused or not, his mouth was in the shape of a grin, but his eyebrows were in the 'suspicious' position. Jones' eyebrows were in the normal English 'highbrow' position. So he got the accent wrong. Accents are much easier to imitate if you adopt the correct facial expression.

Now if you were an Irish tenant farmer two hundred years ago, your grandparents the first of your family to speak any english, you would generally be speaking english only to someone in authority over you. Someone with the power to make your life a misery.
What is the appropriate or likely expression for someone in that tricky position?

A smile is almost compulsory, but a suspicious or oppressed scowl almost inevitable.

I suggest trying an Irish accent with an open, aristocratic face - it's not easy.

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Anyway. Just one more trick.

A scouse accent is easier if you try to 'swallow' your tongue, or at least keep it at rest most of the time at the back of your palate.

This all sounds crazy, but it works.