LL-L "Documentation" 2004.12.23 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 23.DEC.2004 (01) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: Gary Taylor <gary_taylor_98 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Documentation

Hi Uilleam, Ron and all

For my Masters degree I did a study of the change in
accent of a village in Northeast Hampshire in England.
For this I interviewed both elderly villagers and a
group of under 30 year olds. I found the easiest to
interview were the more elderly. The interviews were
all fairly short, but asking the older interviewees
about jobs they'd done in the village ellicited long
monologues. The most difficult to interview were the
teenagers who tended to answer questions directly
without giving any more information than was
absolutely necessary. The majority of older people are
often quite happy to talk about their lives, I could
probably easily have had hour long interviews with
them, but due to time pressures this was not possible.

I do think it's important to record these accents,
although I also feel that accents aren't disappearing,
just changing - it's the dialects that are
disappearing and becoming more like the standard
language. The difference between American and British
accents, for example, is continuously diverging,
however the words and phrases used are becoming more
similar. H-dropping, r-vocalisation, t-glottalisation
etc. are all features which are becoming more
widespread in British varieties, although they are not
(or only marginally) present in American varieties.
However, there are big vowel shifts going on in North
American cities, and r-vocalisation is gradually
disappearing in America, which is not occurring in
Britain. Common changes in Britain and America include
intervocalic t and d-flapping (which is established in
America and becoming more common in Britain) and
l-vocalisation which tends to be a large town feature
- but I'm digressing.

Anyway, have fun with the recording, I doubt it will
be too difficult to get him talking.

Gary

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