EIC453 by NUR HUSNINA ABDUL HAMID

History of British English Received Pronunciation

2022-05-09 16:45:37 UTC

According to Nordquist (2019),

also known as BBC English, the Queen's English, & posh accent
It first appeared as an upper-class accent at the end of the 18th century and quickly became the voice of the public schools, the civil service, and the British Empire.
The term Received Pronunciation was introduced by Alexander Ellis
Before the 1950s- standard practice for university student
- usually used on stage, for public speaking, and by the well-educated
In the 1950s- The BBC utilized RP as a broadcast standard and referred to it as BBC English.
Since the 1970s- The BBC classification has been discarded and has gradually become more tolerant of regional influences throughout the United Kingdom.
In the 21st century- Only around 3% of the United Kingdom population spoke RP.

According to Benjamin (2017),

This accent is only found in about 2% to 3% of the UK population.
Until the 20th century, this accent was associated with money and power, but after World War II, society in the United Kingdom altered.
Since the NHS was established, people in the UK began to work in numerous types of jobs as they had a Labor Government.

History of Canadian English

2022-05-09 16:46:32 UTC

Canadian English come into reality due to critical historical events:

English was first spoken in the 17th century near the Atlantic coast, Newfoundland, & Hudson Bay. Transfer of Nova Scotia under the Treaty of Utrecht established permanent English-speaking settlements, which then followed by a wave of migrants from New England. Subsequently, the treaty of Paris (1763) stopped the Seven Years’ War between Britain & France, which opened large parts of eastern Canada to English-speaker colonies.

The American Revolution of 1775-1783 sparked the huge wave of migration of English speaking United Empire loyalists to Canada, particularly from the mid-Atlantic & New England region. Such immigration trend followed into the 19th century, boosting the population of Ontario & Southern Quebec with nearly 100,000 ex-Americans.

Napoleonic Wars, overpopulation, the Industrial Revolution in Britain fostered even more groups of immigrants such as Irish, British, & Scottish to settle in Canada around the 19th century. Montreal, Canada’s epicentre of industrial development became the hub for these newcomers, attracting more & more people by the 1850s.

Completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885 attracted more people to settle in Western Canada for its abundant resources. Despite many migrants hailing from various parts of the Western world, immigrants of Canadian origin dominated in terms of prestige & numbers. Influential people in administration were mostly from Ontario, which made the Ontario English the main modal in spite of diverse origins.

These & other events shaped the pattern of Canadian English-speaking colonies, which then gave birth to the quirky variety of English that we know today.

Video 2

2022-05-09 16:48:36 UTC

Learn English with Bob the Canadian

2022-05-09 17:12:21 UTC

Source: Bob (2017)

Name: Bob
lives in Niagara in Ontario, Canada
Status: Married with with 5 childrens.
Achievement: 1.07 million subscribers on YouTube.

English With Lucy

2022-05-09 17:22:46 UTC

Source: Bella Simkins (2016)

Name: Lucy Bella Simkins
Origin: Bedfordshire
Lives in: Cambridgeshire
Status: Married
Achievement: 7.89 million subscribers on YouTube

IPA Comparison Between British RP & CanE Chosen Sentences

2022-05-11 16:33:00 UTC

Here are some of the sentences taken from videos for variation analyses purpose:

The tot was taut.
CanE: /ðə tɑːt wəz tɑːt/
BRP: /ðə tɒt wɒz tɔːt/
It's wetter in Toronto.
CanE: /ɪts ˈwet̬ɚ ɪn ˈtrɑːnəʊ/
BRP: /ɪts ˈwetə(r) ɪn təˈrɒntəʊ/
How's the house?
CanE: /həʊz ðə həʊs/
BRP: /haʊz ðə haʊs/
Fire station.
CanE: /ˈfaɪ.ɚ ˈsteɪʃən/
BRP: /ˈfaɪ.ə ˈsteɪʃən/

2021477292 — 2022-05-16 07:58:22 UTC

Name: Nur Husnina Binti Abdul Hamid
Student ID: 2021477292
Class: LG243 2B

REFERENCES:

2021477292 — 2022-05-16 08:08:06 UTC

British RP speaker's information:
Bella Simkins, L. [English with Lucy ]. (2016, January 7). English with Lucy [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/c/EnglishwithLucy

Canadian speaker's information:
B. [Learn English with Bob the Canadian]. (2017, January 4). Learn English with Bob the Canadian [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/c/LearnEnglishwithBobtheCanadian/about

2021477292 — 2022-05-16 08:36:44 UTC

1. Speaker's Profile

Learn English With Bob the Canadian
English With Lucy

2. Background of English Language

History of British English Received Pronunciation
History of Canadian English

3. Videos & Samples

Video 1
Video 2
IPA Comparison Between British RP & CanE Chosen Sentences

4. Canadian English Analyses

Phonemic Variation (Vowel)
Lexical Variation (Vocabulary)
Syntactic Variation

5. British Received Pronunciation Analyses

Phonemic Variation (Vowel)
Lexical Variation (Spelling)

6. Conclusion

7. Written Reflection

Video 1

2021887454 — 2022-05-16 10:58:45 UTC

2021887454 — 2022-05-16 11:15:14 UTC

Name: Alif Daniel
Student ID: 2021887454
Class: LG243 2B

REFERENCES:

2021477292 — 2022-05-16 12:10:03 UTC

British RP's History:
Nordquist, R. (2019, July 28). The Definition and Examples of Received Pronunciation. ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/received-pronunciation-rp-1692026#:%7E:text=%22The%20prestige%20British%20accent%20known%20as%20%27received%20pronunciation%27,reverse%3B%20I%20%27urt%20my%20harm%2C%22%20explained%20David%20Crystal

B. [Benjamin’s English · Learn English with engVid]. (2017, October 14). The RP English Accent – What is it, how does it sound, and who uses it? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcIX-U5w5Ws

Canadian's History:
Boberg, C. (2019, March 31). Canadian English. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadian-english

Phonemic Variation (Vowel)

2021887454 — 2022-05-16 12:23:52 UTC

Canadian English differs a lot from English in its original homeland in terms of phonology.

The /r/ sound before consonant or after no sounds followed are widely pronounced. For instance, Bob pronounced the word fire station as /ˈfaɪ.ɚ ˈsteɪʃən/ as opposed to Lucy’s one, /ˈfaɪ.ə ˈsteɪʃən/.
Another feature of Canadian English is the cot-caught merger, a sound change where both and are homophones. For example, Bob would treat tot & taut as same-sounding words, /tɑːt/.
More notable trait found in Canadian English speech is Canadian Raising. Usually, the two diphthongs, /aɪ/ or /aʊ/ after voiceless consonants are shortened, which results these vowel to be produced rather higher in the mouth, with the letter almost sound like schwa. For instance, Bob’s rendition of the word house would be /həʊs

References

2021887454 — 2022-05-16 19:02:18 UTC

Gold, E., & McAlpine, J. (2010). Canadian English: A Linguistic Reader. Canadian English: A Linguistic Reader. https://www.queensu.ca/strathy/apps/OP6v2.pdf

Boberg, C. (2019, March 31). Canadian English. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadian-english

Martin, K. (2018, August 23). Canadian eh. Yale Grammatical Diversity Project: English in North America. https://ygdp.yale.edu/phenomena/canadian-eh

Lexical Variation (Vocabulary)

2021887454 — 2022-05-16 19:06:23 UTC

Zed (26th letter of English Alphabet)
Runners/running shoes (sneakers)
Looney (one Dollar) & Tooney (two Dollar)
Firehall (fire station)
Click or Klick (Kilometre)
Stag & Doe/Jack & Jill (referring to bachelor & bachelorette Party)
Freezies (ice pop)
Homo milk (whole milk)
Parkade (multi-storey car park).
Hydro (electricity)

Syntactic Variation

2021887454 — 2022-05-16 20:03:35 UTC

Although the iconic Canadian question tag eh only occurs at the very end of a sentence, it has various functions syntactically speaking. Its usage is limited to informal speech, but it is widely used regardless of age, race, gender, & social status. The Canadian eh may be added when:

Forming both yes-no question & wh-questions
Question Polarity
With imperatives
Narrative eh
Confirming that a statement is true

In the first video, Bob demonstrated the use of eh as in making statement about the weather. The following example would be: it's getting windy out here, eh?

REFERENCES:

2021477292 — 2022-05-16 23:19:28 UTC

Phonemic Variations:
Robinson, J. (2019, April 24). British Library. The British Library. https://www.bl.uk/british-accents-and-dialects/articles/received-pronunciation

Hudson, J. (2021). American vs British Pronunciation. Pronunciation Studio. https://pronunciationstudio.com/american-vs-british-pronunciation/

Prosodic Variations:
Howard, A. (2016, May 26). Intonation Patterns in English. English Pronunciation Roadmap. https://englishpronunciationroadmap.com/intonation-patterns-in-english/

Lexical Variations:
Oxford International Education Group. (2021). The differences in British and American spelling. Oxford International English Schools. https://www.oxfordinternationalenglish.com/differences-in-british-and-american-spelling/

Phonemic Variation (Vowel)

2021477292 — 2022-05-17 06:08:47 UTC

According to Robinson (2019),

A typical RP accent has between 20 and 22 vowel sounds
2 types of RP:
- Conservative RP refers to older RP speakers' pronunciations.
- Contemporary RP refers to common younger RP speakers' pronunciations.

According to Hudson (2021),

In British RP, the back rounded open sound /ɒ/ is commonly used for certain words. The speaker in the video pronounces 'tot' as in /tɒt/.
- Other examples:
  - want - /wɒnt/
  - watch - /wɒtʃ/

The British thinking emphasizes more on the sound /əː/ in their common words. For instance, the speaker in the video pronounces was as in /wəz/ and Toronto as in /təˈrɒntəʊ/
- Other examples:
  - butter - /ˈbʌtə/

Lexical Variation (Spelling)

2021477292 — 2022-05-17 07:22:44 UTC

According to Oxford International Education Group (2021),

British English retains the spelling of terms borrowed from other languages, primarily French and German.

Samuel Johnson established the spelling of British English phrases in one of the world's most renowned dictionaries, 'A Dictionary of the English Language' which was released in 1755.

British English words usually end with 'our' instead of 'or'
- Colour (BrRP) - Color (US)
- Labour (BrRP) - Labor (US)
- Behaviour (BrRP) - Behavior (US)

British English words usually end with 'ise' instead of 'ize'
- Recognise (BrRP) - Recognize (US)
- Apologise (BrRP) - Apologize (US)
- Organise (BrRP) - Organize (US)

British English words usually end with 'yse' instead of 'yze'
- breathalyse (BrRP) - breathalyze (US)
- paralyse (BrRP) - paralyze (US)
- Hydrolyse (BrRP) - Hydrolyze (US)

In British spelling, the letter 'L' is doubled in verbs that finish in a vowel plus 'L.'
- travel (BrRP) - travel (US)
- travelled (BrRP) - traveled (US)
- travelling (BrRP) - traveling (US)
- traveller (BrRP) - traveler (US)

Nouns in British English usually end with 'ence' instead of 'ense'
- defence (BrRP) - defense (US)
- licence (BrRP) - license (US)
- offence (BrRP) - offense (US)

Nouns in British English usually end with 'ogue' instead of 'og'
- analogue (BrRP) - analog (US)
- catalogue (BrRP) - catalog (US)
- monologue (BrRP) - monolog (US)

Conclusion

2021887454 — 2022-05-17 08:09:03 UTC

Canadian English & British Received Pronunciation might look the same in the first glance given the similarities in spellings. To a certain degree, it might sound the same to the untrained ears when being compared to General American English. Nevertheless, Canadian English is unique in its own right in terms of history, phonology, & vocabulary. The British Received Pronunciation accent arguably still retains its perceived prestige despite more attention being given to other regional dialects in the media. One might use this accent sparingly when intending to appear more neutral in speech. In our English project, we have demonstrated in the post on the distinctive characteristics & aspects of the respective English variety, namely Canadian English & British Received Pronunciation. We have touched on phonemic variation (vowel), prosodic variation (intonation), spelling, & vocabulary. We hoped that the comparison project would help the readers to identify what aspects do the aforementioned English varieties possess.

Alif Daniel

2021887454 — 2022-05-17 11:31:23 UTC

Prosodic Variation (Intonation)

2021477292 — 2022-05-17 12:05:11 UTC

According to Howard (2016), intonation in language can be divided into two, namely syllable-timed tone & stress-timed tone.

A syllable-timed language means that the time one takes to say anything is determined by the amount of syllables in that phrase or sentence, of which all of it would be spoken in equal length.
A stress-timed language on the other hand means that the time one takes to say anything is determined by the amount of stressed syllables or stressed words, which due to the fact that words in-between are not spoken in equal emphasis.

Based on the criteria above, British RP accent can be identified as a stress-timed language. In the second video, the phrase it's wetter in Toronto contains the stress on the word wetter in the second syllable & the noun Toronto in the middle syllable. Stress on such words make the listeners focus on the tone, which is important to determine the conveyed message. Stress on wetter mostly focuses on the weather condition of Toronto.

Written Reflection_Nur Husnina

2021477292 — 2022-05-17 12:50:23 UTC