Yousif Rassam

Analysis Piece

The whole subject is about John Honeys views towards accents in England, and his views on those accents different to RP (Received Pronunciation). Therefore its main purpose is to inform the reader of these opinions but then to also sway them and convince them that these views he beholds are the correct views. The piece is probably best suited to a more sophisticated audience, that are intrigued by language and its different opinions. Finally it would probably be found as a separate article in a book or textbook, as it may be too long to suit a newspaper article. One view that John Honey coveys through the article is the opinion that accents nowadays are becoming more and more useless and out-dated. Honey uses the noun phrase historic artefacts as a way of objectifying accents as a whole, to make them something that can be obtained and discarded like any other object, so that he can then go on to explain that they are an object of the past. Almost to a point where this object may not have a use anymore, however he does call them artefacts, things of beauty that should be preserved and admired but not used. He then uses the abstract noun modernisation to highlight the fact that throughout the process of modernization of the world there is just no space for accents. He puts forward the idea that by moving forward and advancing in time, we must destroy some of our past, and in this case it is accents that must make way. This is linked by something else he says the , , price we pay which puts across the same idea that there is a price for the modernisation of the world, and things must be foregone. Finally he sums up his belief that accents are a thing of the past though the use of the noun phrase former richness this makes it very clear that he no longer believes accents should exist because he uses an adjective to describe something from the past, not the present, therefore highlighting directly how in the past accents are. This noun phrase also puts forward the idea that accents are becoming more standardised so therefore they are losing some of their former glory and great features, in a way he is leading it to the idea that we have lost a sense of diversity, so why would accents need to exist in this type of environment, they would then only cause problems such as discrimination.

Another view that John Honey tries to get across is that he does in fact really enjoy accents and finds them a thing of beauty, much against what he states should happen to them in current standings though. He uses the adjective phrase richly diverse to explain how he appreciates the different accents from past and present, and that they have formed a richly diverse society for where they have been around so therefore meaning that he have allowed us to have some sort of origin from a country and belongingness as a result of having different accents, something he appreciates and is fascinated by. This point is

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furthered by the use of the noun phrase sentimentalists like me as it shows how accents are associated to memories for John Honey as he himself is a renowned linguist, and so this is poses as another reason why he does want to keep accents and not have them disappear, because he feels a large part of his life, in the form of language study, while have dissipated. Another point he draws upon is made through the use of the noun phrase exotic fertility rites this allows him to make the comparison between the opposing views on accents and demonstrate how key accents are in day to day life. Also putting forward the focus as to how fascinating accents are to linguists, giving them something to strive to understand and study, every last intricacy of it.

Furthermore, he puts forward the fact that he has posed a fair and two-sided argument in his article, therefore striving for equal point of view and no bias. Firstly he uses the abstract nouns benefits and loss as these are commonly used in conjunction with each other in the form of a two sided argument. Also it highlights the fact that he is aware of the contradicting ideas and pros and cons of the argument at hand. Furthermore he uses the prepositional phrase from one point of view again in a way to show his fairness as he gives his or other opinions from either side of the argument, this directly links with the above example because again the two are often used together when addressing a point of view in an argument, therefore the way he has gone about showing his fairness and two sidedness is exemplary of any other typical argument. Lastly he Honey uses the subordinate clause what reconciles me to the gradual and eventual passing of accent varieties in Britain this once again shows a different point of view to mix up the argument and include different ideas, because this view goes directly against what he had said earlier about the loss of diversity, as this quote represents his idea that there may actually be some benefits as a result of losing accent diversity, This links in with the next point of view put forward.

Directly linking in with Honeys idea that there may be benefits to a loss of accent diversity, his last point of view conveys the different advantages of there being no accents. He uses the infinitive verbs discriminate and belittle as example of the sorts of things that occur as a result of the existence of accents in modern day society, these are problems that should not be taken lightly as they pose a threat to the development of society as a whole, and peg back advancement in national relations. He could have used many other verbs to illustrate what occurs as a result of accents but the use of belittle conveys the idea that it is used as a form of snobbery from the upper classes of society on the lower classes, some form of social inequality. A feature of the past thought to have been left behind as society developed, clearly not though. He then includes the noun phrase a much more open and genuine democratic society this meaning that a system without accents would be fairer as there would be no link to discrimination, if accents dissipated, linking in an example of America, and how they all only have one main accent and so supposedly eradicate accent

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discrimination, leading them to have a more just democratic society, in which everyone is taken as seriously, creating equality.

What is interesting is that John Honeys views on accents are dialects are in fact supported by other findings. An example of this is linked to his overwhelming belief that accent discrimination is a fatal flaw of the use of accents in modern day society, this is further backed up and given evidence to through the use of the Matched Guise Experiments, these were a series of experiments carried out by several linguists to discover peoples attitudes to different accents. Out of the three main experiments listed, research done by Howard Giles, Wallace Lambert and Powesland showed that, in several incidents RP was considered to be of higher intelligence then Birmingham accent although both were made to say the same exact things, this also led to an understanding that the tested people would believe that those with this Birmingham accent were much more likely to be criminal then those with RP. This result shows how extreme and worrying accent discrimination has evolved to, highlighting why John Honey believes society would benefit from this being forgotten and for no accents to exist.

In conclusion, the overriding view of accents in the piece made by John Honey represented accents and dialects to be a reason for social discrimination more so then the fact they behold great beauty and a sense of belonging to the people. In his very opinionated though two sided argument he does weigh up the argument that accents are beneficial but through further research, the argument against holds a much higher power in Honeys point of view.