RP English Vowel and Consonant Changes in Brummies’ Colloquial English.

Abstract

This research work aims to investigate a sociolinguistic phenomenon related to consonant and vowel changes in Brummie accent as compared to the ones in RP English based on a comparative descriptive study. Hence, during the process of this research qualitative methods of investigation are used including a tape recording and an extract of a TV show series; in addition to a questionnaire administered to 16 students of Master II of linguistics from the English section of Ibn Khaldoun University. This is to gather some information about their attitudes towards the aforementioned changes. The results reveal the existence of great alterations in the articulation of vowel and consonant sounds in the compared accents, which lead to a deviation from the norms that govern RP accent. The outcomes of the audio and video recordings, as well as the gathered data from students’ attitudes point out to negative effects that hinder a correct perception of English and makes mutual intelligibility difficult.