LINGUIST List 14.776

Mon Mar 17 2003

Diss: Socioling: Atkinson "Patterns of..."

Editor for this issue: Anita Yahui Huang <anitalinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. John.Atkinson, Socioling: Atkinson "Patterns of social, age and gender..."

Institution: University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Program: Department of Speech
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2002

Author: John Atkinson 

Dissertation Title: 
Patterns of social, age and gender issues of conversational H-dropping
in a north-east borderland: A pilot study


Linguistic Field: Sociolinguistics

Dissertation Director 1: Gerry Docherty

Dissertation Abstract: 

The current trend within accents of English concerning H-dropping has
been found to be spreading throughout England within the wealth of
urban dialectology studies over the past twenty-five years. However,
such studies have found conclusively, that one area of England is not
prone to such an aberration: the north-east. The Survey of English
dialects however, highlighted a variable state of h-initial retention
of Durham and the h-lessness of North Yorkshire culminate in an
interesting dilemma for speakers of Darlington English. The results
found in this study show such a variable use of initial H in the
conversational speech of Darlington English speakers and we postulate
that such variability may be indicative of a change in
process. Indeed, a change in progress which "goes against" the
regional linguistic trends of the "North-East".