4 ms·

Can I ask what British dialect is associated with lower class? I was not aware there were class-indicating dialects besides AAVE to be honest. To me, anything B

by Aachen 3y ago

Can I ask what British dialect is associated with lower class? I was not aware there were class-indicating dialects besides AAVE to be honest. To me, anything British sounds higher class if anything Makes me wonder if we have them in Dutch as well. I guess simply sounding like a foreigner, or making mistakes about word gender or such, will make you stand out as not knowing the language properly (even if you do and merely haven't got the pronunciation down), but I wouldn't know of anyone who grew up speaking Dutch in a native way who subsequently sounds lower class. The Belgian Flemish and southern Limburgians sound funny to most people, but it's not a lower class, just a region-of-origin indicator

jgwil2 3y ago
Not OP but in Southeastern England obviously Cockney, Estuary English, or Multicultural London English are considered lower prestige dialects whereas RP is high prestige. Other regions may have a prestige version of the local dialect that incorporates some RP features while retaining some local features, but broadly speaking, regional speech patterns have lower prestige because they tend to be more prominent among people with less education.
jdietrich 3y ago
Any strong regional accent is coded as working class. The upper class speak Received Pronunciation, which is broadly viewed as a "standard" accent and was once the only accent allowed on the BBC. The middle class will avoid using dialect and significantly soften their accent, shifting towards RP. There has been a long-standing debate about whether aspirational members of the working class should moderate their accents in order to advance professionally, but the reality is that most feel obliged to do so. Accent bias is still recognised as a major barrier to social mobility. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Accents-and-social-mobility.pdf https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Accen...
mewpmewp2 3y ago
Using the word "innit" is something that to me would imply lower/rebel class. Mind you, I only know it mostly from TV Shows/Movies.

by Aachen 3y ago

jgwil2 3y ago

Not OP but in Southeastern England obviously Cockney, Estuary English, or Multicultural London English are considered lower prestige dialects whereas RP is high prestige. Other regions may have a prestige version of the local dialect that incorporates some RP features while retaining some local features, but broadly speaking, regional speech patterns have lower prestige because they tend to be more prominent among people with less education.

jdietrich 3y ago

Any strong regional accent is coded as working class. The upper class speak Received Pronunciation, which is broadly viewed as a "standard" accent and was once the only accent allowed on the BBC. The middle class will avoid using dialect and significantly soften their accent, shifting towards RP. There has been a long-standing debate about whether aspirational members of the working class should moderate their accents in order to advance professionally, but the reality is that most feel obliged to do so. Accent bias is still recognised as a major barrier to social mobility. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Accents-and-social-mobility.pdf https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Accen...

mewpmewp2 3y ago

Using the word "innit" is something that to me would imply lower/rebel class. Mind you, I only know it mostly from TV Shows/Movies.