Northern English has become the focus of intensive research in the past decade or so, following on a series of dedicated conferences. The present book brings together leading-edge contributions on various aspects of language use, variation and change in the North of England. The volume covers the history of English in this area as well as providing incisive studies of both the varieties of English spoken in cities and in larger parts of the area. In addition, the collection contains a number of interface studies, e.g. concerned with the borders of the North of England, both to Scotland and the South of England or dealing with second-language varieties of Northern English or with additional issues, such as enregisterment. All these contributions help to draw a comprehensive picture of this key area of the English-speaking world and point the way forward for future research.

This book examines how urban adolescents attending a non-mainstream learning centre in the UK use language and other semiotic practices to enact identities in their day-to-day lives. Combining variationist sociolinguistics and ethnographically-informed interactional sociolinguistics, this detailed and highly reflexive account provides rich descriptions and discussions of the linguistic processes at work in a previously underexplored research environment. In doing so, it reveals fresh insights into the changes taking place in urban British English, and into the difficulties of undertaking ethnographic, sociolinguistic research in a challenging context using a combination of methods and approaches. This interdisciplinary work will appeal to students and scholars from across the fields of sociolinguistics, ethnography, and education; as well as providing a valuable resource for teachers and trainees.

In British society, we celebrate diversity and champion equality across many areas, such as race and religion. However, where do British accents stand? Do notions such as 'common' or 'posh' still exist regarding certain accents, to the extent that people are deemed fit, or not, for certain professions, despite their qualifications? Accent and Teacher Identity in Britain explores these questions and Alex Baratta's research shows that those with accents regional to the North and Midlands are most likely to be told by mentors and senior staff to essentially sound less regional, whereas those from the Home Counties are less likely to be given instructions to change their accent at all. Baratta investigates the notion of linguistic power, in terms of which accents appear to be favoured within the context of teacher training and from the perspective of teachers who feel they lack power in the construction of their linguistic teacher identity. He also questions modifying one's accent to meet someone else's standard for what is 'linguistically appropriate', in terms of how such a modified accent impact on personal identity. Is accent modification regarded by the individual neutrally or is it seen as 'selling out'?

Uniquely organized in terms of theoretical approaches, this is an advanced textbook on the study of English historical linguistics.

This timely volume constitutes the first book-length account of implicit as well as explicit language attitudes. It details the findings of a large-scale study, incorporating cutting-edge implicit and self-report instruments adapted from social psychology, investigating the evaluations of over 300 English nationals of the status and social attractiveness of Northern English and Southern English speech in England. The book is unique in its examination of implicit-explicit attitude divergence, across a range of social factors, to identify the direction of language attitude change in progress and the particular social groups leading attitude change. The volume provides a comprehensive understanding of language-based prejudice in England and the study paves the way for researchers to employ newly developed implicit and explicit measures to investigate language attitudes and language attitude change in a range of contexts. This book is invaluable for researchers in sociolinguistics and applied linguists interested in theoretical and methodological aspects of linguistic prejudice and language variation and change. It is also essential reading for social psychologists with an interest in attitudes, attitude change and prejudice.

This book is the first full-scale scientific study of East Anglian English. The author is a native East Anglian sociolinguist and dialectologist who has devoted decades to the study of the speechways of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex. He examines their relationships to other varieties of English in Britain, as well as their contributions to the formation of American English and Southern Hemisphere Englishes.

This groundbreaking collection showcases Jenny Cheshire’s influential work in bringing greater attention to quantitative analysis of socio-grammatical variation and builds upon her contributions with new lines of inquiry pushing sociolinguistic research forward. Featuring contributions from leading experts in the field, the volume is structured in six parts with a particular focus on syntactic, morpho-syntactic, and discourse-pragmatic variation and change, each section turning a lens on a different aspect of socio-grammatical variation. The first sections of the volume focus on the role of structure, its relevance for sociolinguistic production and perception and the impact of social structure on formal structure. Two sections look at the interface of variationist research with other aspects of linguistic research, including generative syntax and discourse-pragmatic features. The final sections consider the importance of integrating broader external factors in socio-grammatical variation, exploring the impact of interactional pressures in the sociolinguistic environment and the role of multi-ethnic contact varieties. Taken together, this volume demonstrates the critical role of socio-grammatical variation in our understanding of language change as a holistic process.

This book looks at how historical linguists accommodate the written records used for evidence. The limitations of the written record restrict our view of the past and the conclusions that we can draw about its language. However, the same limitations force us to be aware of the particularities of language. This collection blends the philological with the linguistic, combining questions of the particular with generalizations about language change.

"This book focuses on some features shared by 'Old' and 'New' varieties of English. 'Old' refers here to varieties of English spoken in Britain only, i.e. English English (EngE) and/or British English (BrE). They represent the longest-established varieties of English and are part of the hardcore of the L1 or the 'Inner Circle' of Englishes. 'New' varieties, in this context, are ones that have arisen in colonial or postcolonial contexts (the 'Outer Circle') and also comprise historically L2 varieties, such as Irish English, that have evolved as a result of language shift. This chapter examines three syntactic features that show similar developments in both New and Old varieties: the use of some modal auxiliaries, especially WILL/SHALL, some 'extended' uses of the progressive, and finally, combinations of these two, especially WILL/SHALL + be V-ing. All three display convergent developments that suggest a leading role for the New Englishes rather than the Old varieties"--

Geordie Stylizations is a short-focused research work which builds on the renovated interest on the nexus between accent-identity-prestige-prejudice, offering an analysis of celebrities' use of the Geordie variety in a series of public performances as a reflection instrument for scholars, but also for neophyte readers with an interest in Sociolinguistics, Pragmatics, Celebrity Studies, Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Sociology and Gender Studies. Of interest are the individual instances of Geordieness performed on specific occasions, i.e. the ways in which people construct their unique and constantly evolving language repertoires sometimes appropriating some, other times distancing themselves from, linguistic traits that would characterize them as members of specific communities in other people's perceptions. The material investigated is provided by the artistic world: engaging with the arts and culture, and in particular with music, is not just a solitary event, but also a participatory one which many people feel is worthwhile sharing through ordinary conversation and interaction via social networks every day.