The sociolinguistics of language variation:the dialect of the city of Birmingham

Abstract

[Abstract] Language variation can be considered a representation of not only the linguistic reality of a community, but the development of socio-economic changes within a given society. These processes implement profound changes in communities and give people common features with which they can identify themselves. In essence, language variation determines a significant part of communities’ sense of belonging to their specific geographical area, and the variety people use is, therefore, associated with it. This essay uses a range of academic sources which help in the definition of the concept of language variation and the types of divergence present in language use by speakers, from dialectal variation, dictated by the geographical area, to the social variation. Also, this project analyses the history of the diverse range of theories that have developed since their introduction to the field of sociolinguistics, from Labov’s theory of Attention to Speech, passing through Giles and Powesland’s Speech Accommodation and Bell’s Audience Design to the most modern iterations of studies on this area of research, such as the Speaker Design model by S. McConnell-Ginet and P. Eckert. However, these theories leave unanswered questions which will also be addressed, and reinforce the reasons why developments in sociolinguistic behaviours are still being made to this day. Further, speech communities help to enhance individuals’ feeling of belonging to their environment, including the linguistic and physical reality of a certain area of the United Kingdom. Moreover, these speech communities not only emphasise the linguistic behaviour of their population, but also the additional social factors which determine their creation or establishment, such as the moral and personal objectives of individuals within that particular context. The objective lying behind these concepts serves to explain the context in which the dialect of the city of Birmingham developed, which serves here as an example of these developments in the matter. This project will point out the morphological and lexical features present in the accent of this area, as well as the phonological ones, and how they relate to the projection of identities within the context of Birmingham, and the social meanings which these characteristics contain. Also, the essay will address society’s mindset towards this dialect and the consideration it has across the country. In fact, the case study which this essay will explore will help the reader understand how important the accent is to that part of the United Kingdom’s society in which it is present. In essence, the usage of academic sources is the main methodology used to create this project in order to provide proven backing to the contents to be discussed, as well as the determination of the objectives set for the essay. Finally, the conclusions will summarise the theories and ideas contained in the contents of the essay, as well as give an overview of the social consideration towards the case study, the Birmingham accent.