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Accent

English originated from Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to England by Germanic settlers from northwest Germany and the Netherlands. Old English was influenced by two invasions - Scandinavians in the 8th-9th centuries and Normans in the 11th century who spoke Old Norman. This caused English to become a "borrowing" language with a large vocabulary from Romance and Germanic languages. The form of English spoken in London became the standard variety in Britain. Standardization was influenced by dictionaries but English continues to evolve organically with borrowed words and new terms. Accent neutralization aims to help non-native English speakers from countries like India adapt their accents to be more easily understood by North American customers for outsour

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52 views

Accent

English originated from Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to England by Germanic settlers from northwest Germany and the Netherlands. Old English was influenced by two invasions - Scandinavians in the 8th-9th centuries and Normans in the 11th century who spoke Old Norman. This caused English to become a "borrowing" language with a large vocabulary from Romance and Germanic languages. The form of English spoken in London became the standard variety in Britain. Standardization was influenced by dictionaries but English continues to evolve organically with borrowed words and new terms. Accent neutralization aims to help non-native English speakers from countries like India adapt their accents to be more easily understood by North American customers for outsour

Uploaded by

irfan_chand_mian
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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HISTORY

English is a West Germanic language that


originated from the Anglo-
Frisian dialects brought to England
by Germanic settlers from various parts of what
is now northwest Germany and the
northern Netherlands. Initially, Old English was
a diverse group of dialects, reflecting the varied
origins of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of
England. One of these dialects, Late West
Saxon, eventually came to dominate. The
originalOld English language was then
influenced by two waves of invasion; the first
was by language speakers of the Scandinavian
branch of the Germanic family; they conquered
and colonised parts of Britain in the 8th and 9th
centuries. The second was the Normans in the
11th century, who spoke Old Norman and
ultimately developed an English variety of this
called Anglo-Norman. These two invasions
caused English to become "mixed" to some
degree (though it was never a truly mixed
language in the strictest sense of the word;
mixed languages arise from the cohabitation of
speakers of different languages, who develop a
hybrid tongue for basic communication).
Cohabitation with the Scandinavians resulted in
a significant grammatical simplification and
lexical enrichment of the Anglo-Frisian core of
English; the later Norman occupation led to the
grafting onto that Germanic core of a more
elaborate layer of words from the Romance
branch of the European languages. This
Norman influence entered English largely
through the courts and government. Thus,
English developed into a"borrowing"
language of great flexibility and with a
huge vocabulary.

Standardisation

As with English around the world, the English


language as used in the United Kingdom and
the Republic of Ireland is governed by
convention rather than formal code: there is no
equivalent body to the Académie française or
the Real Academia Española, and the
authoritative dictionaries (for example, Oxford
English Dictionary, Longman Dictionary of
Contemporary English, Chambers
Dictionary, Collins Dictionary) record usage
rather than prescribe it. In addition, vocabulary
and usage change with time; words are freely
borrowed from other languages and other
strains of English, and neologisms are frequent.
For historical reasons dating back to the rise
of London in the 9th century, the form of
language spoken in London and the East
Midlandsbecame standard English within the
Court, and ultimately became the basis for
generally accepted use in the law, government,
literature and education within Britain. Largely,
modern British spelling was standardised in Samuel
Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language (1755),
although previous writers had also played a significant role
in this and much has changed since 1755. Scotland, which
underwent parliamentary union with England only in 1707
(and devolved in 1998), still has a few independent
aspects of standardisation, especially within its
autonomous legal system.
============================================
As the global marketplace expands a new branch of English
learning related to ESL has become very intriguing. This field is
often called Accent Neutralization or Accent Reduction. The
main purpose of accent neutralization / reduction is to help
proficient English speakers speak with a more North American
or British accent. The main cause of this trend towards accent
neutralization / reduction is the demand created by outsourcing.

Outsourcing is generally defined as the transfer of components


or large segments of an organization's internal infrastructure,
staff, processes or applications to an external resource. The trend
is towards outsourcing to countries where this work can be done
at lower cost to the company. One of the most popular countries
for outsourcing is India due to its wealth of highly educated
English speakers. Accent neutralization / accent reduction comes
into play when these workers speak to North Americans who
have difficulties understanding their accents. Of course, the
English spoken is excellent. The problem that arises is that many
customers have difficulties understanding accents other than
their own, hence accent neutralization or reduction becomes
important for customer satisfaction.

Some find this trend distasteful. However, reading the


fascinating book entitled "The World is Flat" by Thomas L.
Friedman, I came across the following passage that describes the
general attitude towards accent modification:

... before you disparage it, you have to taste just how hungry
these kids are to escape the lower end of the middle class and
move up. If a little accent modification is the price they have to
pay to jump a rung of the ladder, then so be it - they say.
As more and more tasks are outsourced, the more important
"standard" North American English becomes to the young
employees excitedly taking advantage of the new opportunities
modern telecommunications and broadband access provide.

Common Techniques and Goals

Here are some of the common focus areas for accent neutralization or accent reduction classes:

 Changing speech patterns


 Voice production
 Intonation and rhythm
 Taking on a new North American "Personality" - I think is a great way to distance oneself from the more distasteful
implications of accent reduction

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 It is likely that some of the sounds that are common in English are not used in your native
language. The most common ones are 'r' as in 'right', 'l' as in 'light' and the 'th' sound as in
'thing'. The 'th' sound, where your tongue is between your teeth is uncommon in other
languages.
 The other sounds that you will most likely find difficult are the 'moving vowel' sounds or
"diphthongs".
 Pronouncing Dipthongs


 These images will help you understand the shapes your mouth should make.

 Here are some examples of diphiongs:


hi  price  eye  by 
 The vowel sound in these words changes as you say them, it starts off as 'a' and becomes 'e'
Here is a picture showing the starting and finishing mouth positions: 
 Notice that your mouth position changes considerably when saying this vowel. You start off
with your mouth open and your tongue at the bottom of your mouth, and go to having your
mouth closed with your tongue at the top of your mouth.
 It is very common for students learning English to have difficulty making both sounds. Many
students pronounce just one one of these sounds, either the starting 'a' sound or the finishing
'I' sound. To speak well and be understood, you need to make both sounds.

This is the sound in words like


'boat'  'goat'  and 'coat' 
Your tongue needs to start off near the middle of your mouth, with your mouth open. Then your
tongue needs to move back and up slightly at the same time as you close your lips. Your lips also
need to be 'rounded' slightly.

Here is a technique you can use to feel the difference in different mouth shapes:

1. Start by putting your finger on your lips like you are saying 'shhhhh' and telling someone to
be quiet. (Perhaps you don't make this gesture in your culture, or it is rude to do so. Actually, it can
be a little rude in European cultures also, so you need to use it with care. You're most likely to see it
among audiences at live shows, at the movie theatre, or in the library if someone is rudely talking.)
2. Hold your finger still - don't move it when your lips move. Now make an 'ee' sound. You
should feel your lips come back to be flat against your teeth. Your finger should now not be touching
your lips.
3. Now make an 'au' sound sticking your lips out. You should feel your finger be pushed out,
away from your mouth. This is what 'rounding' your lips means.
4. Now say the word 'goat' with your finger touching your lips, and check that your lips become
rounded at the end of the vowel sound.
5. Well done! You are probably making the vowel sound correctly now.
Pronouncing The "th" Sound In English.

As you know, the 'th' sound can also be difficult. 

Can you see how your tongue needs to between your teeth so that someone watching you can actually
see the tip of it? Many people find this strange to do, but if you do not "poke your tongue out" a little
in this way, you will not pronounce the sound correctly.

The 'th' sound is quite common in English and found wherever the letters 'th' are found together. Here
are two common examples for you:
Mouth  Thumb 

Usually, It's Better To Order "Rice" Than "Lice". The Difference Between The "r" And "l"
Sounds.

Your tongue curls up around the edges, and you blow air through the middle of your tongue. The top part of your tongue
does not touch the top of your mouth. Your lips should be slightly rounded.
The top of your tongue should touch the top of your mouth. Your lips should not be rounded.

The R and L Tongue Positions

These images illustrate the difficulty in distinguishing the two tongue positions; however there are
important differences. 

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