Orthoepic norm of the language

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 3422.

English is an international language (science, medicine, computing). Any language exists in numerous varieties of pronunciation and English is not an exception. The variety of the language can serve both small groups and large nations. Today all English-speaking countries have their national varieties of pronunciations. All of them have their peculiarities. Thus we speak about British English, American English, Australian English. But within Great Britain the pronunciation of every locality has its own specific features that distinguish it from the pronunciation of other localities. They are called Local dialects. There are also social dialects reflecting class distinction, various education and up brining not mentioning individual differences. But at the same time they are all varieties of one and the same language and they have much in common. Though it is believed that dialect speakers are, as a rule, less educated, we should remember that dialects enrich the language, make it more lively and fresh and stimulate its development. At present the number of local dialects is reduced to a fewer regional types. These are all dialects used in a certain region. They are grouped under one name - a given regional type of pronunciation. British phoneticians distinguish 3 main regional types of pronunciation: southern, northern, Scottish regional types. One of the pronunciation types becomes the national standard pronunciation = ON (It's called the orthoepic norm). It's accepted by native speakers as the proper way of thinking and is considered to be literary pronunciation. The ON comprises the variants of pronouncing vocabulary units and prosodic patterns which reflect the main tendency (of pronunciation) that exist in this language. It is used by most educated people. Phoneticians claim that there are 3 main conditions necessary for the variety of pronunciation to be occupied as the orthoepic norm: wide currency (usage); social acceptability; agreement with the main phonetic tendencies. The ON does not remain unchanged. It is recorded in pronunciation dictionaries. Some new pronunciations may be included in the norm. Some others may become old-fashioned. That means that in the entry of the pronunciation dictionary we can find different variants of pronouncing one and the same word. Usually the first variant is the well-established pronunciation. It is followed by less frequent, secondary variants. We can also find there dialectal variants, stylistic variants, and American pronunciation of all the words. The pronouncing dictionaries have to be revised from time to time. The ON involved prosodic phenomena as well. The intonation of the speaker may be acceptable and unacceptable because there is a generally agreed norm of loudness, tempo and certain pitch pattern and cultured speakers do not deviate from them. ON is not constant. It's influenced by social, territorial, stylistic factors and American influence.