Welsh English intonation and social identity
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.29500Keywords:
sociophonetics, Welsh English (WE), intonation, social identity, pitch patternsAbstract
This paper is a sociophonetic study concerned with state-of-the-art description of Welsh English (WE) pitch patterns which may serve as WE regional and social markers. WE pitch patterns in authentic spontaneous conversations are correlated with social factors of regional and cultural background (North Wales, South Wales, Cardiff), generation of speakers (young, middle-aged, old), gender (men, women) and social class (middle, working). The data are compared to Received Pronunciation (RP) tone nomenclature (Crystal, 1969) in search of systemic (i.e. concerned with the total repertoire of tones in each variety), distributional and realisational differences. Within the identical tone systems a considerable difference in the distribution of certain WE pitch configurations is interpreted as the impact of the Welsh language. The data are further specified to the dominant pattern frequency in each region, age, gender and social class. Special reference is made to the acoustic structure of rise-falls in North Wales, which is a new subject of research.References
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Calabrese, L. and Coadou, M. (2004) Aspects of the rhythm and intonation of Welsh English. Tribune des Langues Vivantes 36: 139–147. Retrieved 20 June 2015 from: http://w3.pac.univ-tlse.fr/pdf/CalabreseCoadou
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Cruttenden, A. (1997) Intonation (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cruttenden, A. (2007) Intonational diglossia: A case study of Glasgow. Journal of the International Phonetic Association 37(3): 257–274. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/s0025100307002915.
Crystal, D. (1969) Prosodic systems and intonation in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Mees, I. M. and Collins, B. (1999) Cardiff: A real-time study of glottalization. In P. Foulkes and G. Docherty (eds) Urban voices: Accent studies in the British Isles 185–202. London: Arnold.
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Of?ce for National Statistics (2013) Statistical bulletin: 2011 Census: Quick Statistics for Wales, March, 2011. Retrieved on 18 July 2015 from: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-and-quick-statistics-for-electoral-divisions-and-output-areas-in-wales/stb-quick-statistics-for-wales–march-2011.html?translation-component=tcm%3A77-297699&calling-id=77-6749-4&currLang=English&format=print
Pierrehumbert, J. (2001) Exemplar dynamics: Word frequency, lenition, and contrast. In J. Bybee and P. Hopper (eds) Frequency and the emergence of linguistic structure 137–157. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Quaino, S. (2014) Pitch alignment in Welsh English: The case of rising tones in Ceredigion. Dialectologia 13: 27–48.
Rhys, M. (1984) Intonation and discourse. In M. J. Ball and G. E. Jones (eds) Welsh phonology: Selected readings 125–155. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
Shevchenko, T. I. (1999) The sociocultural value of F0 variation in British and American English. ICPhS-99 1609–1612.
Sounds Familiar Corpus (1999) British Library. Retrieved on 5 November 2012 from: http://www.bl.uk.learning/langlit/sounds/.
Tench, P. (1990) The pronunciation of English in Abercrave. In N. Coupland and A. R. Thomas (eds) English in Wales: Diversity, con?ict, and change 130–141. Clevedon and Philadelphia: Multilingual Matters.
Thomas, A. R. (1984) Welsh English. In P. Trudgill (ed.) Language in the British Isles 152–170. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1075/veaw.g4.11tho.
Thomas, E. R. (2011) Sociophonetics: An introduction. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-28561-4.
Trubetzkoy, N. S. (1931) Phonologie et geographie linguistique. Travaux du Cercle Linguistique de Prague 4: 228–34.
Trudgill, P. (1978) Introduction: sociolinguistics and sociolinguistics. In P. Trudgill (ed.) Sociolinguistic patterns in British speech 1–18. London: Edward Arnold.
Tschuprow, A. A. (1939) Principles of the mathematical theory of correlation. Translated by M. Kantorowitsch. London: William Hodge & Co.
Walters, J. R. (2001) English in Wales and a ‘Welsh Valleys Accent’. World Englishes 20(3): 285–304. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-971X.00216.
Walters, J. R. (2006) The Phonology of Rhondda Valleys English (Condensed version of a PhD thesis). University of Glamorgan. Retrieved on 2 July 2015 from: http://reswin1.isd.glam.ac.uk/rhondda_valleys_english/
Wells, J. C. (1982) Accents of English. Volume I. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511611759.
Wells, J. C. (2006) English intonation: An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
White, L. and Mattys, S. L. (2007) Rhythmic typology and variation in ?rst and second languages. In P. Prieto, J. Mascaro and M.-J. Sole (eds) Segmental and prosodic issues in Romance phonology 237–257. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.282.16whi.
Williams, B. (1985) Pitch and duration in Welsh stress perception: The implications for intonation. Journal of Phonetics 13: 381–406.
Ball, M. J. (1989) The transcription of suprasegmentals in Welsh. Journal of the International Phonetic Association 19(2): 89–96. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025100300003893.
Ball, M. J. and Williams, B. (2001) Welsh phonetics. New York: Edwin Mellen Press.
Boersma, P. and Weenik, D. (2012) Praat: doing phonetics by computer [Computer program], Version 5.3.04. Retrieved on 25 September 2012 from: http:// www.praat.org/
Brown, G., Currie, K. and Kentworthy, J. (1980) Questions of intonation. London: Croom-Helm.
Bybee, J. (2010). Language, usage and cognition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511750526.
Calabrese, L. and Coadou, M. (2004) Aspects of the rhythm and intonation of Welsh English. Tribune des Langues Vivantes 36: 139–147. Retrieved 20 June 2015 from: http://w3.pac.univ-tlse.fr/pdf/CalabreseCoadou
Collins, B. and Mees, I. M. (1990) The phonetics of Cardiff English. In N. Coupland and A. R. Thomas (eds) English in Wales: Diversity, con?ict, and change 87–103. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Collins, B. and Mees, I. M. (2003) Practical phonetics and phonology: A resource book for students. London: Routledge.
Connolly, J. (1990) Port Talbot English. In N. Coupland and A. R. Thomas (eds) English in Wales: Diversity, con?ict, and change 121–129. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Coupland, N. (1988) Dialect in use: Sociolinguistic variation in Cardiff English. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
Cruttenden, A. (1994) Rises in English. In J. Windsor Lewis (ed.) Studies in English and General Phonetics: Essays in Honour of Professor J. D. O’Connor 155–173. London: Routledge. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139166973.
Cruttenden, A. (1997) Intonation (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cruttenden, A. (2007) Intonational diglossia: A case study of Glasgow. Journal of the International Phonetic Association 37(3): 257–274. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/s0025100307002915.
Crystal, D. (1969) Prosodic systems and intonation in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Foulkes, P. and Docherty, G. (2006) The social life of phonetics and phonology. Journal of Phonetics 34(4): 409–438. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2005.08.002.
Foulkes, P., Scobbie, J. M. and Watt, D. (2013) Sociophonetics. In W. S. Hardcastle, J. Laver and F. E. Gibbon (eds) The Handbook of Phonetic Sciences (2nd ed.) 703–754. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Grabe, E., Kochanski, G. and Coleman, J. (2005) The intonation of native accent varieties in the British Isles: Potential for miscommunication? In K. Dziubalska-Kolaczyk and J. Przedlacka (eds) English pronunciation models: A changing scene 311–337. Bern: Peter Lang.
Grabe, E., Post, B. and Nolan, F. (2001) The IViE Corpus. English Intonation in the British Isles. Phonetics Laboratory, University of Oxford. Retrieved on 2 November 2012 from: http://www.phon.ox.ac.uk/?les/apps/IViE/download2.php.
Jones, L. (1997) Voices. Seven documentaries for comprehension and discussion. Video. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
King, R. D. (2009) First steps: Wales and Ireland. In B. B. Kachru, Y. Kachru and C. L. Nelson (eds) The Handbook of World Englishes 30–40. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Knowles, G. (1978) The nature of phonological variables in Scouse. In P. Trudgill (ed.) Sociolinguistic patterns in British speech 80–90. London: Edward Arnold.
Labov, W. (2001) Principles of linguistic change. Volume 2: Social factors. Oxford: Blackwell.
Ladd, D. (1996) Intonation phonology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Low, E. L., Grabe, E. and Nolan, F. (2000) Quantitative characterization of speech rhythm: syllable-timing in Singapore English. Language and Speech 43(4): 377–401. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/00238309000430040301.
Marshall, J. (2004) Language change and sociolinguistics. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230504134.
McClure, J. D. (1980) Western Scottish intonation: A preliminary study. In L. R. Waugh and C. H. van Schooneveld (eds) The melody of language: Intonation and prosody 201–221. Baltimore, MD: University Park Press.
Mees, I. M. and Collins, B. (1999) Cardiff: A real-time study of glottalization. In P. Foulkes and G. Docherty (eds) Urban voices: Accent studies in the British Isles 185–202. London: Arnold.
Milroy, L. (1980) Language and social networks. Oxford: Blackwell.
Of?ce for National Statistics (2013) Statistical bulletin: 2011 Census: Quick Statistics for Wales, March, 2011. Retrieved on 18 July 2015 from: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-and-quick-statistics-for-electoral-divisions-and-output-areas-in-wales/stb-quick-statistics-for-wales–march-2011.html?translation-component=tcm%3A77-297699&calling-id=77-6749-4&currLang=English&format=print
Pierrehumbert, J. (2001) Exemplar dynamics: Word frequency, lenition, and contrast. In J. Bybee and P. Hopper (eds) Frequency and the emergence of linguistic structure 137–157. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Quaino, S. (2014) Pitch alignment in Welsh English: The case of rising tones in Ceredigion. Dialectologia 13: 27–48.
Rhys, M. (1984) Intonation and discourse. In M. J. Ball and G. E. Jones (eds) Welsh phonology: Selected readings 125–155. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
Shevchenko, T. I. (1999) The sociocultural value of F0 variation in British and American English. ICPhS-99 1609–1612.
Sounds Familiar Corpus (1999) British Library. Retrieved on 5 November 2012 from: http://www.bl.uk.learning/langlit/sounds/.
Tench, P. (1990) The pronunciation of English in Abercrave. In N. Coupland and A. R. Thomas (eds) English in Wales: Diversity, con?ict, and change 130–141. Clevedon and Philadelphia: Multilingual Matters.
Thomas, A. R. (1984) Welsh English. In P. Trudgill (ed.) Language in the British Isles 152–170. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1075/veaw.g4.11tho.
Thomas, E. R. (2011) Sociophonetics: An introduction. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-28561-4.
Trubetzkoy, N. S. (1931) Phonologie et geographie linguistique. Travaux du Cercle Linguistique de Prague 4: 228–34.
Trudgill, P. (1978) Introduction: sociolinguistics and sociolinguistics. In P. Trudgill (ed.) Sociolinguistic patterns in British speech 1–18. London: Edward Arnold.
Tschuprow, A. A. (1939) Principles of the mathematical theory of correlation. Translated by M. Kantorowitsch. London: William Hodge & Co.
Walters, J. R. (2001) English in Wales and a ‘Welsh Valleys Accent’. World Englishes 20(3): 285–304. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-971X.00216.
Walters, J. R. (2006) The Phonology of Rhondda Valleys English (Condensed version of a PhD thesis). University of Glamorgan. Retrieved on 2 July 2015 from: http://reswin1.isd.glam.ac.uk/rhondda_valleys_english/
Wells, J. C. (1982) Accents of English. Volume I. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511611759.
Wells, J. C. (2006) English intonation: An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
White, L. and Mattys, S. L. (2007) Rhythmic typology and variation in ?rst and second languages. In P. Prieto, J. Mascaro and M.-J. Sole (eds) Segmental and prosodic issues in Romance phonology 237–257. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.282.16whi.
Williams, B. (1985) Pitch and duration in Welsh stress perception: The implications for intonation. Journal of Phonetics 13: 381–406.
Published
2017-08-14
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Shevchenko, T., Buraya, E., Fedotova, M., & Sadovnikova, N. (2017). Welsh English intonation and social identity. Sociolinguistic Studies, 11(1), 153-174. https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.29500
