LING102: Dialect Levelling and the North-South Divide

North-South divide

Differences between the 'North' and 'South' of England that can be Linguistic, Cultural, Social, Perceptual, Geographical, Economic, and Political.

Emergence of the North-South divide

In 886 King Alfred of Wessex agreed a truce with the invading Danes, dividing England into the Anglo-Saxon Southern kingdom and the Danelaw.

Early stereotypes of Northern dialects

Sharp, slitting, frotting and unshaped language.

North-South divide duration

A divide in England that has been around for over 1200 years, with the location changing over time.

Methods to locate N/S divide

Linguistic data, folk linguistic perceptions, socioeconomic & quality of life data, and historical boundaries.

Linguistic North-South divide

The point where we pass the northern limits (in broad local accents) of the FOOT-STRUT split and of BATH broadening.

Perceptual dialectology

The field that tries to understand how language is perceived by non-linguists.

North-South divide summary

The North-South divide is linguistic, but also highly perceptual and psychological and is reinforced by stereotypes.

Geographical diffusion

The process by which features spread out from a populous and economically and culturally dominant centre.

Speech accommodation

Speakers modify their accents by converging towards each others speech and adopting linguistic features with a wider geographical currency.

Levelling

The reduction or attrition of marked variants.

Divergence

Emphasising the differences between each other during a conversation.

Regional dialect levelling

Geographical evidence for the rapid spread of the ‘new’ feature, or whether it is gradually establishing itself simultaneously throughout a given area.

Dialect levelling linguistic features

TH-fronting, /t/ glottaling, /l/ vocalisation, Labiodental /r/.

Why dialect levelling happens

A much higher degree of contact between people speaking various dialects due to commuting, relocation, mobility, and travel.

Pan-regional varieties

The spread of features from the southeast to the rest of the UK, within smaller regions.

Resistance to levelling

Not all dialects have adopted the widespread phonetic changes described earlier and some are actually changing in the other direction and become more distinct!

Multicultural youth varieties

Development of new varieties in large urban centres that are also beginning to spread to other large multiethnic cities