Dr Laila Abdel Aal Alghalban
Have you ever judged people as trustworthy, intelligent, approachable, lazy, unprofessional, less intelligent, less professional, etc., based on their accents? And are you (un)happy with the rank of your accent on the accent hierarchy in your society? If yes, never mind; you are not alone. All of us feel the same in one way or another; it only takes you 30 milliseconds of hearing someone to judge them. No wonder almost 80 per cent of employers do not hire accented candidates in the UK, and mocking someone’s accent is still prevalent and socially acceptable, studies suggest. This is exactly accent perception. This is exactly accent bias.
The British Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s northern accent is new to the ears of many people worldwide. Received Pronunciation (RP), the prestigious accent spoken by less than 10 per cent of the entire population, has long wielded a considerable overt prestige to many speakers nationally and globally, being the accent of British politics, arts, education and media, and the doorway to political and social validation. However, RP is not immune from mocking, the same as other regional accents. In the recent years, the allure of RP has been waning due to the influx of immigrants and social media; it is butting heads with the rising, and potentially new standard accent: General English (GB), as well as other regional and social accents, including Multicultural London English (MLE). Such a changing linguistic landscape has made it easier for Burnham to maintain his northern accent mixed with few standard features, as a PM. Many people argue that Burnham is part of the establishment, citing his long political career, previous bids for Labour leadership, and his adoption of similar policies as his predecessor.
Accent as capital
Accents are essential tools for shaping and reflecting social structures and power; they mark the identity of places and communities. Copying a ‘favorable’ accent helps aspiring speakers climb the social ladder, enter prestigious positions, and gain socioeconomic privileges. In the UK, politicians intentionally lose their local accents to RP to fit politically. This has long been the standard language ideology: RP is “correct”, while other accents are not. MP Joe Blatt admits that she was forced to change her accent to fit in the Westminster’s circles. Psychologically, we have a hard time processing speech forms our ears are not accustomed to; it does not match our mental models of speech (cognitive dissonance). We are wired to love and feel secure when listening to people speaking like us. Burnham’s northern accent represents one of his most effective resources to steer towards his political goals, and carve a persona that appeals to most people at odds with the established political system in London. He does not ditch his linguistic roots, as they represent the sociolinguistic capital, personal brand or credit he heavily draws on in painting him as an authentic, down to earth politician.
An example of covert prestige
Sociolinguistically, there are two kinds of social prestige accents hold: overt and covert. When people put on standard languages, dialects, and accents, or at least pepper their conversations with a lot of standard speech features, they seek the overt prestige, these dialects and accents grant their speakers, including power, education, and greater job opportunities, all of which allow them join the elites, spare the legally unpunishable accent discrimination, and hence gain the socioeconomic and political opportunities.
Humans instinctively love prestige and status. In Britain, the standard, educated, southern RP holds overt prestige. Nonstandard English speakers feel they are abandoned by the government; this is why they voted for NO 10 North, as Burnham promised to run the nation’s affairs from NO 10 Manchester. Burnham’s northern accent grants him covert prestige, where people speaking nonstandard accents take pride in their local dialects and personal credentials, no matter the prejudice and discrimination they are subjected. Andy Burnham’s regional voice proffers him the covert prestige needed to build strong ties with his local community in Manchester and voters elsewhere, as he sets a counter example to the “Westminster club”. It also enhances in-group solidarity and social pride for people from underrepresented backgrounds, and prompts the ingrained perception of “this person is one of us”.
Some features of northern English
Spoken largely by the working classes in areas home to heavy industry, northern English, which is an umbrella term for many sub-dialects and accents, exhibits certain unique pronunciation features, including:
The front vowel a instead of a: rhyming past with hat, a pre-18th century relic.
– Words like put and should rhyme with but and flood
– Glottal stop as in unfortunate’ly
– Rhoticity: pronouncing/r/ in all positions
– Monophthongisation replacing diphthongs with pure vowels as in home / ho:m/
– Shortening the happy vowel in words like happy and sunny pronounced happeh
The underdog effect
Studies show that as we grow older, we become more inclined to support the underdogs out of empathy and solidarity; we respect and like the underdogs’ persistence and struggle for rendering their weaknesses into successes; their stories inspire us to believe in our potential and think bigger. This is technically termed “The underdog effect.” We go through this when watching sports events, for instance; we support an underdog team against a favourite one until the former wins and then turn our support to the new underdogs, the latter team. Andy Burnham’s “disadvantaged” accent has framed him as an approachable politician challenging the powerful, deep-rooted Westminster traditions, and garnered much support from those who perceive themselves as underdogs, linguistically, socioeconomically and culturally. Voters align themselves with his political agenda and aspirations; his victory is an opportunity for them to get their voice heard, culture respected, and long neglect ended; his rise to power is seen as defiance to the elites that mock and look down on non-southerners. They don’t need to sound Posh. Burnham speaks competently, suggesting that all accents, dialects, or languages are equal and that accent bias is social and regional, rather than linguistic and cultural. His northern accent does not hold his successful career.
Parliamentary discussions
Burnham’s northern accent has sparked heated Media and parliamentary discussions on the need for respecting regional dialects and taking seriously their speakers. Discussions indicate that regional dialect stigma should come to an end to enhance democracy and political equality. In this connection, Equalities Minister praised the project for championing the idea that “the English language belongs to everyone who speaks it in all its rich, diverse and regional variations.”
Accentism Project
In that debate, Westminster embraced Professor Rob Drummond’s “Accentism Project” that endorsed further tolerance for regional accents. Drummond points out that “The Accentism Project is a research-led initiative dedicated to challenging accent-based prejudice and discrimination. We provide training, workshops and consultancy for organisations seeking to better understand accent bias and its impact in the workplace and education.” Pressures on people speaking regional dialects and accents should vanish, as they represent the covert prestige and sociopolitical asset, rather than a stigma.
Finally, one’s dialect should not constitute a hurdle blocking routes to success and career progression, or a trigger for discrimination and social injustice. All accents are equal; stigmatising voices has nothing to do with linguistic criteria; it is social ones. Celebrate linguistic diversity; it is a human treasure.
By Dr Laila Abdel Aal Alghalban
Professor of Linguistics
Faculty of Arts
Kafr el-Sheikh University
Email: [email protected]
