False Notations Of Linguistic Propriety
It is often presumed of prestigious forms of English language accent and dialect that their status is innate in that they are the correct forms or are more pleasant sounding. Upon investigation, however, the evidence suggests that prestige evaluations are entirely social.

What is the prestige form of one language area can easily be the stigmatised from of another, for example the post-vocalic r, heard as the r pronounced in such words as "car" and "floor" which is a prestige form in America but is associated with rustic or even comic stereotypes in England. Such associations are made as social groups rise and fall in status or power. The post-vocalic r in America is used by the aristocratic southern landowners, whereas the largely rural areas in England where this feature is common have little status.

That the standard dialect should come to seem "more correct" is an outcome of historical evolution that has placed it in ascendancy over other dialects. It is the dialect of socially privileged groups and of written documents, law, education and the media as all of these things continue to stem from the area of England south-east from the Midlands to London including Oxford and Cambridge, where the original centres of education, trade, law and publishing came to be based. Its preferred patterns of structure thus came to seem "naturally" right to those in less advantaged social groups. With one accent or dialect common amongst those privileged socially, also in common with uniform legal, administrative, educational and written forms, there appears to be one correct form.

A convergence of accents can be observed, with those commanding the greater status using the single high prestige form and more variation evident the lower down in social status a language group is. In the Correctness of language is the socially engendered reactions of approval and disapproval which are at stake for language users. No form actually "sounds better" or is more correct, for example the double negative often put down today was common in Shakespeare and is a normal construction in French. Non-speakers or beginners cannot tell little difference between accents in foreign languages, and are shown not to favour any prestige form in terms of sound.




Article written by chtchi