Transcript The University of Sheffield: PowerPoint template

Standard English
Aims
• To think about Standard English as a
variety of language
• To find out where Standard English came
from
• To think about the appropriateness of
different varieties of language
20/07/2015 © The University of Sheffield / Department of Marketing and Communications
What we’ll achieve by the end of
today’s class
• You’ll know about the background of
Standard English
• You’ll have thought about how we use
different varieties of English
20/07/2015 © The University of Sheffield / Department of Marketing and Communications
What we already know about
Standard English
• When we hear a standard accent, we think
about education and ‘official’ contexts
rather than location
• So we tend to think about Standard English
speakers as ‘intelligent’ and nonstandard
speakers as ‘friendly’ (but not, necessarily
intelligent!)
20/07/2015 © The University of Sheffield / Department of Marketing and Communications
What we already know about
Standard English
• Most people think Standard English is
better than other varieties
• It is certainly useful
• Widespread communication
• Efficiency
• Ability to communicate appropriately in official
settings
20/07/2015 © The University of Sheffield / Department of Marketing and Communications
Where did Standard English come
from?
In the 15th Century,
there were 4 main
types of written English
(see handout)
Type
3
Which one do
you think
developed into
Standard
English?
Type
4
20/07/2015 © The University of Sheffield / Department of Marketing and Communications
Type
1
Type
2
Type 4 and Standard English
20/07/2015 © The University of Sheffield / Department of Marketing and Communications
How did Type 4 become Standard
English?
• Type 4 = the ‘Chancery Standard’
• It was used in documentation produced by the
Chancery and the Exchequer
• Used by Caxton for
his printing press
(1476)
20/07/2015 © The University of Sheffield / Department of Marketing and Communications
What else happened?
• 16th Century = first grammar of English appears
• By 18th Century:
• many grammars seeking to ‘fix’ written English (words
and grammar)
= on-going standardisation of English
• many ‘pronouncing dictionaries’ seeking to ‘fix’ certain
pronunciations (sounds) as more appropriate
= beginnings of RP (standardisation of accent – although the
term RP is first used in 19th Century)
20/07/2015 © The University of Sheffield / Department of Marketing and Communications
Prescriptive comments
Onset of prescriptivism: ‘correct’ vs ‘depraved’
language
“Poets of our time
[have] cleansed our
language from
barbarisme and made
the vulgar sort here in
London… to aspire to
a richer puritie of
speech…” (Thomas
Nashe, 1592)
“[Londoners] as they are
models of pronunciation to
the distant provinces, ought
to be the more scrupulously
correct … [Cockney]
though not half as
erroneous as that of … any
of the provinces, is, to a
person of correct taste, a
thousand times more
offensive and disgusting”
(John Walker 1791)
20/07/2015 © The University of Sheffield / Department of Marketing and Communications
Something worth remembering
• The variety that developed into Standard
English started out life as a dialect like any
other
• It was selected because of its prestigious
associations (not necessarily because it was
inherently ‘better’)
20/07/2015 © The University of Sheffield / Department of Marketing and Communications
The appropriateness of dialects
• When we study dialects, we view them all
as equally interesting and valid
• Standard English has some very important
functions but so do nonstandard Englishes
• Can you think of occasions when it would be
strange to speak with a Standard English
dialect?
20/07/2015 © The University of Sheffield / Department of Marketing and Communications
How do language attitudes affect the
study of dialects
• People make judgements about language that
aren’t always reliable or fair
• The criteria that people use to judge dialects
change from person to person
• We want to be fair and consistent
• This means that we have had to develop
methods which allow us to study language
objectively
20/07/2015 © The University of Sheffield / Department of Marketing and Communications
100
Years
Of
Excellence.