Accent (linguistics)
In
linguistics, an
accent is a
pronunciation characteristic of a particular group of people relative to another group. In some cases, the term is also used to describe the
stress on a syllable. However, only the former meaning is discussed in this article; for the latter, see
Stress (phonology).
When a
standard language and pronunciation are defined by a group, an accent may be any pronunciation that deviates from that standard. However, accent is a relative concept, and it is meaningful only with respect to a specified pronunciation reference. For example, people from
New York City may speak with an accent in the perception of people from
Los Angeles, but people from Los Angeles may also speak with an accent in the perception of New Yorkers. Americans hear British people speaking with an accent and vice versa.
Groups sharing an identifiable accent may be defined by any of a wide variety of common traits. An accent may be associated with the region in which its speakers reside (a
geographical accent), the
socio-economic status of its speakers, their
ethnicity, their
caste or
social class, their
first language (when the language in which the accent is heard is not their native language), and so on.
Accent should not be confused with
dialect (q.v.), which is a variety of language differing in
vocabulary and
grammar as well as
pronunciation. Dialects are usually spoken by a group united by geography or class.
In some societies, a “standard” accent is defined that carries particular prestige in that society; it may or may not be an accent that is widely spoken within the society, and sometimes its prestige derives solely from its association with a specific real or theoretical group within the society. In the
United Kingdom, for example, the so-called
Received Pronunciation of
English is established as the most prestigious accent, although only about three percent of people within the UK actually speak with that accent. Often the standard accent is simply the most widely spoken accent in a group—that is, the one that is least likely to be perceived as “different.” An example is
General American English, an accent (defined somewhat less rigidly than RP) that is spoken to a greater or lesser extent by many native speakers of English in the world, particularly those in
North America.
Foreign Accents
A
foreign accent is one that marks someone as a non-native speaker of a language. It arises when the
phonology of one language, typically the person's native language, influences his pronunciation of a second language. This usually occurs when the second language is acquired after the age of 12.
The perception of a foreign accent by native speakers may carry with it positive or negative connotations. When the connotations are negative, non-native speakers with a foreign accent may endeavor to suppress and eliminate it. However, foreign accents are notoriously difficult to eliminate without very extensive training, and there is much individual variation in the ability to eliminate a foreign accent. Many speakers choose to live with their foreign accents as long as these are not heavy enough to interfere with communication (that is, as long as their accents leave the
phonemes of a language clearly distinguishable to native speakers).
*
Foreign accent syndrome*
Non-native pronunciations of English*
Regional accents of English speakers*
Variety (linguistics)*
Accent reduction*
Native and non-native accents of English*
Bragg, M. (2003)
The Adventure of English; 500AD to 2000; The Biography of a Language. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
*Milroy, J. and Milroy, L. (1991)
Authority in Language: Investigating Language Prescription & Standardisation. (2nd Ed.) London: Routledge.
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