Introdungcing English language part 23 pot

q Read the word list that appears below out loud to yourself whilst looking in a mirror to monitor the shape and positioning of your mouth, lips and tongue.. mouth happy strut palm near

PERFORMING ACCENTS

Accent keywords

A word list refers to a collection of specially selected lexical items that are used as a

toolkit by phoneticians to test for variation in individuals’ pronunciation They are commonly given to speakers in the constructed context of a data collection interview, where individuals will be asked to read a word list out loud whilst being audio-recorded (see B12)

The word list technique was developed by the highly influential phonetician John Wells in the early 1980s Word lists have been used by a number of sociophoneticians,

including Paul Foulkes and Gerry Docherty for their volume Urban Voices, an

exam-ination of accent variation in urban areas of the British Isles just before the turn of the twenty-first century The extract which appears in D1 as our Extension unit on phonetics and phonology is taken from this collection Foulkes and Docherty’s word list is given below to test for the articulation of vowel sounds

As we highlighted in A1, the best way to learn about phonetics is to articulate the speech sounds for yourself

q Read the word list that appears below out loud to yourself whilst looking in a mirror to monitor the shape and positioning of your mouth, lips and tongue

each individual word

q Distribute the word list to a small group of friends or classmates and, if possible,

record them reading this out loud (first refer to B12 for a consideration on ethics

in relation to recording language data) Ideally you should give the list to a group

of people who are from different geographical locations

q Listen for any examples that are different from your own and other students’ pro-nunciations Try to account for any recognisable differences in vowel sounds by drawing upon the knowledge you have gained in A1 and B1

q The list of IPA vowel symbols given in B1 is accompanied by an individual word

to illustrate its sound You should now line up each of one of these keywords with the most appropriate symbol in the B1 vowel list When you have finished you should have examples of two different words to represent each vowel symbol kit

cloth goose north dress nurse price force trap fleece choice cure lot

C1

Activity 1.1 J

mouth

happy

strut

palm

near

letter

foot

thought

square

horses

bath

goat

start

comma

Foulkes and Docherty (1999: 7)

Performing accent in poetry

In the following two poems, the authors have used a technique known as eye dialect in

order to represent phonetic variation As only a very small proportion of members of

society are trained to understand and write in phonetic notation, it is common practice

for deviant spelling and punctuation marks to be used to represent different accent

features in literary texts as well as other text types, such as advertisements

Through the technique of eye dialect, the first poem, written by an anonymous

author, represents accent variation of a regional English variety from an area of the

British West Midlands, commonly known as the ‘Black Country’, so named for its

polluted, blackened skies from heavy industry which dominated the area during the

Industrial Revolution Folklore has it that the poem below would often be orally

‘per-formed’ by local drinkers in organised entertainment evenings at public houses within

the Black Country area The second poem is a famous Scottish verse by Robert Burns

entitled Ode to a Haggis As with the anonymous Black Country poet, Burns also uses

the technique of eye dialect to represent features of Scottish English pronunciation

q Read both of the poems out loud either on your own or in a small group

difficult to understand? Why do you think this is the case? Attempt to find the

meanings of any words that you cannot understand To give some

contextual-isation, for the Black Country poem, its title, ‘The Nit Nurse’ refers to nurses who

travel around primary schools (elementary level) in the UK and inspect children’s

hair for head lice, also called ‘nits’ ‘Sulio’ (line 4, stanza 3) was the name of

medi-cation (a lotion) given to treat an infestation of head lice (For contextualisation

of the Burns’ poem, see the commentary provided by Smith 1996)

q You should then attempt to pinpoint the specific Black Country and Scottish accent

features that the poets are drawing attention to by drawing upon the knowledge

of phonetics and phonology which you have gained from A1 and B1

q Record these features using phonetic notation from the IPA given in B1

Activity 1.2

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q Finally, translate both of these poems into Standard written English and then read them out again in your own accent What is gained/lost by engaging in this re-writing process? Note how the apostrophes are used to suggest that particular sounds are ‘missing’ from a standard version

The Nit Nuss

It was fower o’clock an’ time ter goo ’um

But we just sot theer lookin’ glum.

On the taycher’s werds we ’ung in ’orrer

The nit nuss comes termorrer.

Ar run ’um fast yo’ bet Ar did

Ter raych the toothcum afowa aer kid.

When ’e atter wait ’e was nearly in fits

‘Urry up yo; Ar’ve got nits!’

‘Ar short’ Ar said ‘Ar was ’ere fust

Thuz summat in mar yed an’ it ay just dust.

But Ar’ll tell yer worr Ar’ll dew wi yo’

Ar’ll lend yer me bottle o’ Sulio’.

Ten ter nine the follerin’ mornin’

A sight confirmed the taycher’s warnin’.

Cuss raernd the corner fer all ’er was wuth

Pedalled the dreaded skewl nit nuss.

’Er bike ’ad a chainguard an’ lights Ar recall

an’ brakes that werked an’ mudguards an’ all.

An’ on the frunt a little wire basket

In which ’er kept ’er nit catchin’ kit.

They called aer names we all lined up

Between ’er bowsums aer yeds ’er’d cup.

Threw yer ’air ’er’d flick the cum

An’ that was it; yo’ was done.

Aer kid day ’e ’alf loff an’ gloat

When the nit nuss sent me ’um wi a note.

Ar felt ser bad Ar wanted ter cry

Ar’d ’ad a note an’ day know why.

Then aer kid gid me some advice

As ter wheer Ar’d catched this yedful o’ lice.

’E’d ’ung abaert till Ar was in bed

Then secretly ’e’d toothcummed ’is yed.

Ar’d picked ’em up an’ Ar day know wheer

Then aer kid loffed said wi a jeer:

‘Thuz summat as yo’ve just gorrer know

Ar catched all mine an’ gid ’em yo’.’

Anon (www.pant.co.uk/potluck/humour/nitnuss.htm)

Ode to a Haggis

Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,

Great chieftain o’the pudding-race!

Aboon them a’yet tak your place,

Painch, tripe, or thairm:

Weel are ye wordy o’a grace

As lang’s my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,

Your hurdies like a distant hill,

Your pin was help to mend a mill

In time o’ need,

While thro’ your pores the dews distil

Like amber bead.

His knife see rustic Labour dight,

An’ cut you up wi’ ready sleight,

Trenching your gushing entrails bright,

Like ony ditch;

And then, O what a glorious sight,

Warm-reekin’, rich!

Then, horn for horn, they stretch an’ strive:

Deil tak the hindmost! on they drive,

Till a’ their weel-swall’d kytes belyve

Are bent like drums;

Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,

Bethankit! hums.

Is there that owre his French ragout

Or olio that wad staw a sow,

Or fricassee wad make her spew

Wi’ perfect sconner,

Looks down wi’ sneering, scornfu’ view

On sic a dinner?

Poor devil! see him owre his trash,

As feckles as wither’d rash,

His spindle shank, a guid whip-lash;

His nieve a nit;

Thro’ blody flood or field to dash,

O how unfit!

But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,

The trembling earth resounds his tread.

Clap in his walie nieve a blade,

He’ll mak it whissle;

An’ legs an’ arms, an’ hands will sned,

Like taps o’ trissle.

Ye Pow’rs, wha mak mankind your care, And dish them out their bill o’ fare, Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware That jaups in luggies;

But, if ye wish her gratefu’ prayer Gie her a haggis!

Robert Burns (1786) Phonetician Gerry Knowles (1987) points out that by studying phonetics and phonology much can be learnt about the aesthetics of sound in poetry (and see B11 for a detailed

analytical example) Knowledge of phonetics and phonology enables us to examine sound

parallelism Parallelism refers to when two or more linguistic features occur alongside

each other for stylistic effect In specific relation to sound parallelism, this involves

phone-mic patterns that are at least syllable size: bigger than a phoneme but smaller than a word,

and usually inclusive of a vowel Rhyme is the most prominent example of sound parallelism, where two syllables have the same closing syllable sequence (but a different

opening sequence) Alliteration, similarity between consonant sounds, and assonance,

similarity between vowel sounds, are also key examples of sound parallelism

Both of the above poems display syllable rhyme

q Attempt to characterise the rhyme using the phonetic symbols outlined in B1

q Analyse both poems for any evidence of alliteration and assonance

q Consider how the accent features that are represented affect the sound parallelism

in both poems Would all lines in the poems rhyme if they were not written in eye dialect?

Disastrous sound-effects

Another Scottish poet, William McGonagall, helps to illustrate another key point made

by Knowles (1987) Knowles argues that in order for sound parallelism to be effec-tive and for a poem to be posieffec-tively evaluated, the parallelism must be seen to have arisen accidentally Rhyme that appears to be forced runs the risk of being subject to

negative evaluation Knowles cites one example of McGonagall’s work, The Sprig of

Moss, as an example which suffers from an inappropriate, forced rhyme Knowles argues

that this work is a pretty feeble attempt at poetry, though he emphasises that there is nothing inherently wrong with the rhyming of the phonemic syllables – the rhyme works fine The issue instead is related to the linkage between the sound and the meaning

To consider these points further and to make your own mind up about William McGonagall’s poetry, an example of another of his works, a ‘disaster’ poem written after a Scottish train crash in 1879, is given below

phonetic features of the rhyme by reading the poem out loud

to read the poem in a Scottish accent for the rhyme to work?

q Now consider its overall effectiveness as a piece of poetry Is it susceptible to Knowles’ criticism of inappropriate, forced rhyme? Do you think that these verses are successful examples of poetry? Why/why not?

Activity 1.3 J

The Tay Bridge Disaster

Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv’ry Tay!

Alas! I am very sorry to say

That ninety lives have been taken away

On the last Sabbath day of 1879,

Which will be remember’d for a very long time.

’Twas about seven o’clock at night,

And the wind it blew with all its might,

And the rain came pouring down,

And the dark clouds seem’d to frown,

And the Demon of the air seem’d to say –

‘I’ll blow down the Bridge of Tay.’

[ .]

It must have been an awful sight,

To witness in the dusky moonlight,

While the Storm Fiend did laugh, and angry did bray,

Along the Railway Bridge of the Silv’ry Tay,

Oh! ill-fated Bridge of the Silv’ry Tay,

I must now conclude my lay

By telling the world fearlessly without the least dismay,

That your central girders would not have given way,

At least many sensible men do say,

Had they been supported on each side with buttresses,

At least many sensible men confesses,

For the stronger we our houses do build,

The less chance we have of being killed.

William McGonagall (1879)

The bostin monster

Coming back to the Black Country in England, another attempt at representing some

of the phonetic features of the Black Country accent can be seen in the following extract

from a graphic novel It has been produced by a local group of artists who have named

themselves the ‘Bostin Group’ ‘Bostin’ is a regional lexical variant that is used by speakers

of the Black Country dialect to indicate that something is ‘great’, or ‘brilliant’ (see C9

for further discussion of ‘bostin’ and other examples of regional dialect at the levels

of lexis and grammar)

You will need some background information in order to contextualise the

graphic novel extract The characters that you can see in the initial frame have

found themselves trapped under a castle This turns out to be the castle located in

Dudley, one of the main towns in the Black Country The use of eye dialect commences

from the third frame, when a peculiar monster with a strange accent and dialect

appears

Attempt to translate the monster’s speech through the text producer’s use of eye

dialect Add this to the list of Black Country accent features that you have from your

analysis of the above poem

Activity 1.4

J