Accent and Dialect in 73 Questions with Adele

By: ALIA BATRISYA BINTI MOHAMAD AZHARI (210595)

Relation Between Accent & Dialects in 73 Questions with Adele

From the video above, Adele is a British singer who is being interviewed by an American host. Throughout the interview, we can hear the differences in British English and American English used by them. According to Yule (2017), English has a widespread variation in the way it is spoken in different countries such as Britain, America and Australia. In variation of English language, we are covering the topic Accent and Dialect. A study from Yule (2017) has stated that accent is aspects of pronunciation that identify where an individual speaker is from, regionally or socially while dialect describes features of grammar and vocabulary as well as aspects of pronunciation.

Adele's Background

Adele, by name of Adele Laurie Blue Adkins a British singer. She is from north London, Tottenham, and has graduated from BRIT School in the UK. Growing up in north London, she has perceived a distinctive cockney accent at times which allows her to communicate in Cockney on a daily basis. Cockney is a dialect of the English language that is traditionally spoken by Londoners from the working class. Cockney is also a term used to describe a Londoner. She does, however, use received pronunciation at times, particularly in broadcasting.

Accent & Dialect

The anonymous host is an American obviously because of how he speaks in a different accent than Adele. It can be seen how sometimes Adele has to shift her words used so the host can comprehend what she’s talking about easily. Why does she speak differently depending on the situation? Well, we’ll discover that out in social variation later.

To illustrate what we’re discussing about, take a look at the accent below:

Adele makes the [ɪə] sound by pronouncing the word 'here' rather than [i] sound. It's because the [ɪə] sound ends with the natural 'schwa' vowel sound, which may be heard in grunting noises and weak variants of 'the' and 'a.' Keep your tongue stationary in the center of your mouth, lips relaxed, and just grunt to make the neutral vowel sound. Also, it is one of the diphthongs in British English vowels. Adele also excludes the [r] sound when pronouncing the word ‘here’ as we can barely hear it. It is proven right as a study from Yule (2017), the final [r] sound is typically pronounced in American English and is often omitted in British English. It is intelligible why Adele speaks that way.

Now, let's take a look at the dialects:

Adele also has to shift her word usage or vocabulary when communicating with the host. These shifts prove that there are varieties of English language as in Standard American English and Standard British English as what is stated by Yule in his book The Study of Language (2017). She has to change her vocab in order to make their conversation go smoothly as the host is not familiar with British English. The different choice of words in different countries proves the study of Regional Variation in English Language.

Interesting Aspects of Accent and Dialects

By learning this topic, we can differentiate between two distinct English variations- British and American English. Apart from that, we acknowledge the synonym words as we can see from the word ‘sweet’ has a same meaning as ‘candy’ and ‘aubergine’ is the same as ‘eggplants’ and many more. The varieties of language spoken between two countries also make them special and unique also it can be seen as a recognition of a country. We can expand our limitations in learning new words from each variation.

Personal Opinion

Based on the example given, Having an accent and a dialect is not something to be ashamed of, it is something to be proud of. It can be seen as an identity of one’s origin. We can expand our limitations in learning new words from each variation. These variations should be preserved and maintained so the continuous generation can still use these variations of English language. It could be a language heritage which should be treated as a prior matter and protected.

Conclusion

The way a person pronounces things in their dialect is referred to as an accent. The different dialects of English are determined by the cultural context. Learning a dialect rather than the standard language necessitates a detailed insight into cultural nuances that native speakers are well aware of. Therefore, learning a dialect implies that you care! It's a fantastic opportunity to connect with new people while also expanding your own scope. It's crucial to remember that the exact number of dialects in both British and American English is impossible to estimate because the language fluctuates from person to person.

Although there are thousands of variations, Received Pronunciation is the accent associated with standard English in the United Kingdom. The 'Queen's English' is a term for Received Pronunciation. This is not the same as the spoken standard of the United States, Canada or Australia, a variety of the English as affected or pretentious (Hughes, Trudgill, & Watt, 2013). Similarly, while America has a standard accent, there are minor differences around the country.

References

Cunningham, J. M. (2022, January 19). Adele. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adele

Boinod, A. Jacot de (2020, March 24). Cockney. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cockney

Khan, A., & Alzobidy, S. A. M. (2018). Vowel Variation Between American English and British English. International Journal of English Linguistics, 9(1), 350. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v9n1p350

The British Library. (2019). Received Pronunciation. The British Library. https://doi.org/https://www.bl.uk/british-accents-and-dialects/articles/received-pronunciation

Why Are Accents Important? (2021, June 18). Retrieved from Rosetta Stone UK website: https://www.rosettastone.co.uk/magazine/why-are-accents-important/

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