Sources of variation

Age

Everybody knows that younger people speak differently from older people. This seems to be true in every society, and many people believe that younger people do this specially to annoy their parents and other people of the older generation, or to make it difficult for their parents to understand what they are saying to their friends. We can look at how younger people speak and guess at how the pronunciation of the language will develop in the future, but such predictions are of limited value: elderly professors can safely try to predict how pronunciation will change over the coming decades because they are not likely to be around to find themselves proved wrong. The speech of young people tends to show more elisions than that of older people. This seems to be true in all cultures, and is usually described by older speakers as "sloppy" or "careless". A sentence like the following: 'What's the point of going to school if there's no social life?' might be pronounced in a careful way as (in phonemic transcription)

wɒts  ðə  pɔɪnt əv gəʊɪŋ to sku:l ɪf  ðəz nəʊ səʊʃḷ laɪf, but a young speaker talking to a friend might (in the area of England where I live) say it in a way that might be transcribed phonetically as s .

 

There is an aspect of intonation that has often been quoted in relation to age differences: this is the use of rising intonation in making statements, a style of speaking that is sometimes called "upspeak" or "uptalk". Here is a little invented example:

I was in Marks and Spencer's. In the food section. They had this chocolate cake. I just had to buy some.

A typical adult pronunciation would be likely to use a sequence of falling tones, like this:

I was in 'Marks and Spencers | In the food section | They had this chocolate cake | I just 'had to buy some

But the "upspeak" version would sound like this:

I was in 'Marks and /Spencers | In the / food section | They had this /chocolate cake | I just 'had to buy some

(with a falling tone only on the last tone-unit). It is widely believed that this style of intonation arose from copying young actors in Australian and American soap operas. One thing that keeps it alive in young people's speech is that older people find it so intensely irritating. It is, I believe, a passing fashion that will not last long.

الاكثر قراءة في Phonetics and Phonology

Weak forms

The accentual function of intonation Functions of intonation

Assimilation

The attitudinal function of intonation

Diphthongs

The discourse function of intonation

The grammatical function of intonation

Fortis consonants

Strong and weak syllables

Rhythm

Functions of intonation

Two-syllable words

Elision

Varieties of English pronunciation The study of variety

Respiration and voicing

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

قسم الشؤون الطبية يقدم الخدمات الصحية والعلاجية لزائري مدينة سامراء

العتبة العباسية المقدسة تقدم خدماتها لزائري مرقد الإمامين العسكريين (عليهما السلام) في سامراء

المجمَع العلمي ووفد وزارة التربية يبحثان سبل التعاون المشترك

قسم الشؤون الفكرية يصدر العدد 192 من مجلة الرياحين للأطفال

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

كنز غذائي على طبقك.. ماذا تفعل السبانخ بجسمك؟

ما لا يتوقعه أحد.. "سر غذائي" في الجبن الدسم

لتحسين الهضم والنوم.. هذا أفضل وقت لتناول العشاء

10 طرق بسيطة وغير مألوفة لحرق المزيد من السعرات يوميا

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

سابقة بعالم الطيران.. طائرة تقرر الهبوط بنفسها بعد ظرف طارئ

"الإنفلونزا الخارقة" تكتسح دول العالم.. وتثير قلقا كبيرا

مرحلة ما قبل الأعراض.. دواء جديد يستهدف "شرارة" الزهايمر

إزالة ثاني أكسيد الكربون من الغلاف الجوي.. ما دور المحيطات والبحار؟

المزيد

مواضيع ذات صلة

Style

Social and class differences

Scottish

American

Geographical variation

Varieties of English pronunciation The study of variety

Functions of intonation Conclusions

The discourse function of intonation

The grammatical function of intonation

The accentual function of intonation Functions of intonation

Expressing attitudes

Paralinguistic