投稿類別：英文寫作
篇名：
Where Are You From? -The Magic of Accent and Dialect
作者：
繆又曦。市立中山女高。高一 118 班
滑凱茵。市立中山女高。高一 118 班
指導老師：
林巧婷老師
Where Are You From? -The Magic of Accent and Dialect
Ⅰ.Introduction
People who come from different states in the U.S. have different pronunciation,
they speak the same language in a variety of ways and they have developed their own
unique wording and even grammar and semantic, too.
1-1.Purpose of the Study
In Taiwan, English is the second most important language children have to learn
at school since it is a widely spoken language. As years goes by, the learning of
English has become more and more important, this is why both of us have received
bilingual education since we were in kindergarten.
Having attended classes taught by many foreign teachers over the years, we
believe that there must be some sort of relationship between an individual’s cultural
background and his/her accent. Even though those foreign teachers all come from the
U.S., their tone, stress level and diction all vary greatly.
Initially, we thought that people from the same country should speak with the
same style, or, at least, with the style alike. We were then incited to demystify the
phenomena of accent. After some rigorous research, we surprisingly found some
subtlety between accent and dialect in certain states of the U.S. More specifically, the
northern accent is different from the southern one. Therefore, we started to think if
this phenomenon is connected to the history of the U.S.
1-2.Method of the Study
The methodology we used for our case study is based on the secondary research.
We consulted many sources, from researches done in the past that were published in
different publications, relevant readings from the books, to online materials such as
online journals and videos from the Youtube. We crossed examined all the information
we got from those sources, analyzed our findings and came to our conclusion using all
the information we had available.
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Where Are You From? -The Magic of Accent and Dialect
Ⅱ.Thesis
2-1.Definition
2-1-1.What is an accent?
An accent means that people who come from different geographic locations
have their own unique ways of pronouncing the language.
As mankind inhabit in more and more rural and isolated geographical regions
throughout the world, different stress levels and phenomenon, whether it’s caused
naturally or socially, would develop. Those changes would very likely affect the
accent of each individual and as times goes by different accents go through a stage of
evolution. In a sociolinguistic term, an accent is a way of pronunciation specifically
tied to an individual, geographic region or nation. Different accents can be identified
through where the speakers live, which culture back ground they come from, and their
status in society, ethnicity or other potential factors.
Accents also differ in quality. Different accents have different quality based on
each individual’s voice, pronunciation of vowels and consonants, stress points and
prosodic words. Although other variables such as semantics, vocabulary, grammar and
other characteristics of a language also vary concurrently with the accent, the word
'accent' mainly refers to the difference in pronunciation.
2-1-2. Examples of different accent:
Do You Think Those Sound the Same?
1.
“cot “ and “ caught”?
“don” and “dawn”?
In North America, there is no obvious difference, so we can only distinguish by
lip rounding.
In Britain, the difference between them is the length, “caught” is pronounced
two times longer than “cot”.
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Where Are You From? -The Magic of Accent and Dialect
In Australia, ”caught” is pronounced like “cort”.
2.
Pin and pen?
People who live in North America may think that they are different, they may
think that pen sounds like pan, but people who live in Southern America may think
“pin” and “pen” sounds the same
However, the accents in different areas are not the same, and we infer that it is
associated with their cultural background and history.
2-1-3.Can I Change my Accent?
All of us have accent. It’s associated with each individual’s geographical origin
or social origin. However, most of us can change our accent.
Firstly, we can listen to the people who speak with the accent you want to learn,
then, try to imitate the way how they speak and also their pronunciation. We often see
many actors/actress, comedians and other celebrities imitate different accents on TV,
and even though the technique requires a certain degree of practice, this proves that a
person’s accent can be changed.
Secondly, by living in a different country or environment, our accent can also
be influenced by others as times goes by, and ultimately transforms into another
accent.
Finally, remember to practice it more, you can also learn it by whichever way
that is most interesting to you such as listening to the radio, watching movies and so
on.
2-1-4.What is a dialect?
While an accent is the way that a particular person or groups of people sound,
the word "dialect" encompasses the broader set of linguistic differences. A dialect
describes both a person’s accent and the grammatical features of the way that person
talks.
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Where Are You From? -The Magic of Accent and Dialect
A dialect can be seen as a language used by people who reside in a specific area,
people who have certain class ranks or by certain groups of people. Dialect is mainly
affected by the vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar used by particular groups of
individuals and distinguishes speakers amongst each other. Dialect is a very common
tool in terms of characterization or stereotyping, because it often gives away a
person’s geographic and social backgrounds.
It is fair to say that there may be hundreds or even thousands of different
dialects within a certain language. It is usually assumed that those who speak the same
language should be able to communicate with other speakers easily even if they share
different dialects. Yet sometimes communication might still prove difficult even if
speakers have the same mother language. Such cases are generally rare, because most
of the time they would still be able to communicate at least to some extent. For
example, English is the language spoken by the most countries around the world, but
when spoken with different dialects, language barriers may still arise.
2-1-5.What can dialect tell us?
Thousands of years ago, people used dialects to discern their classes, the area
they lived, it was the symbolism of their wealth and authority.
Standard language:
In the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, British English was regarded as
the standard language. It was developed by England’s upper class society, they
thought that it represented their great education and morality.
In fact, this extremity is not unusual, because complication of comprehension
and production involves tons of variability in competence and performance of
interlocutor’s language proficiency beyond the scope of discussion for this document.
2-2.The comparison between standard language and Dialect
Standard language is a language with its lexical, syntactic, and morphologic
rules fixed regardless of the geographical or sociocultural difference. On the other
hand, Dialect varies with the user, location, and culture. Standard language is usually
taught at school or to all language learners, while dialect can be inherited among
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Where Are You From? -The Magic of Accent and Dialect
certain group of people to characterize their sociocultural identity. The specific
vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation used by certain group of people are
characteristics of dialect.
Ⅲ.Discussion
When it comes to accent and dialect, the United States of America is such an
intriguing country to discuss. With its vast territory, the ways people pronounce and
the phrases they use can vary from region to region. To understand a language,
including its accent/dialect and vocabulary, we should first understand the factors that
influence it, and the most significant factor, I and my partner think, is history.
Below are several distinctive accents/dialects listed coupled with their history
traced in the U.S. in order to clarify the connection between “accent/dialect” of a
region and its “history”.
Boston English:
Boston accent is often considered one of the most distinctive accents in the U.S.
Firstly, speakers in Boston accent drop the letter “r” unless it’s followed by a
vowel. For example, the word “car” sounds more like “cah” in Boston accent, and this
characteristic is called “non rhoticity”, which does not appear in the general American
English.
Secondly, when it is a “short a” sound, speakers in Boston accent often
pronounce it as [aː] rather than [æ]. For example, the word “calf” sounds more like
“cahf” while most of the speakers of other American accent pronounce it like “caf”.
This is called “broad a”.
Based on the “non rhoticity” and “broad a” regularity, we suggest Boston
English shares a close connection with British English. So we have a look at Boston’s
history.
Massachusetts is a part of New England, a region in the U.S. that is strongly
influenced by Britain. New England was once a colony of Britain. Even though it was
the first one to declare the American Revolution, its economy was still connected
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Where Are You From? -The Magic of Accent and Dialect
tightly with Britain. For example, the textile industry in the 1800s showed a tight
relationship between New England region and Britain. So it is fair to say that Boston
is greatly influenced by Britain, which probably explains the evolution of its
accent/dialect.
New York English:
New York English is also highly idiosyncratic among all the English languages
used in America for its unique sound system and terms, and it shares some similarities
with other accent/dialect in America, such as the “Philadelphia English” and “New
Jersey English”. Actually, we are highly interested and motivated in this special
phenomenon.
Firstly, in terms of the distinctive words, we found the noun “stoop”, in regions
like New York and New Jersey, it refers to a small raised platform that is approached
by steps. So we tried to search for the origin of this word. It turned out that this word
originated from the Dutch by 1670-1680. To see if it’s a historic influence, we traced
back to past day’s America.
Back in the colonial period of America, after British captain Henry Hudson had
conducted an investigation on North America, the Dutch found the region, which is
present day’s New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and other nearby states, and
claimed the territory as theirs. This was one of the colonial provinces in America
called “New Netherland” in the 17th century.
With the objective evidences of origin, Dutch, and the identical date as well as
region, we strongly believe that this word is a proof of connection between
“accent/dialect” and “history”.
Louisiana English:
Louisiana English is the most representative example of “history” influencing
“accent/dialect”. It was a territory settled by the French from late 17th century to 1803,
the year of Louisiana Purchase. And there are truly many terms and sound system
inherited from French. For example, native Louisiana speakers might say “Allon”
while most of the other Native American say “Let’s go”. And this usage is derived
from French “Allons-y” which has the same meaning.
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Where Are You From? -The Magic of Accent and Dialect
Ⅳ.Conclusion
By tracing the historical background behind several unique American
accents/dialects, we understand that history deeply affects the accent/dialect. The
word diction, pronunciation, and the way people greet each other all have something
to do with their historical background. In fact, we can see that the language is related
to not only its history, but itself is a product of history. Here, history refers to a wide
range of aspects, including the tradition, spirit, and culture of our ancestors.
Ⅴ.Reference
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任德山(2012)。圖說美國史。人類智庫數位科技股份有限公司。台灣：人類
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2.
Mencken.H.L.(1936,repr.1977).The American Language: An Inquiry into the
Development of English in the United States (4th ed,). New York: Knopf.
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