Accent (linguistics)

Accents mark speakers as a member of a group by their pronunciation of the standard language. These groups may be geographical, socio-economic (social class), ethnic, or second language speakers.

Related Topics:
Pronunciation - Standard language - Geographical - Social class - Ethnic - Second language

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Accent should not be confused with dialect which is a variety of language differing in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. Dialects are usually spoken by a group united by geography or class.

Related Topics:
Dialect - Pronunciation - Vocabulary - Grammar

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In the UK, Received Pronunciation is established as the most prestigious accent, although only around three per cent of people actually speak it. It possesses cultural capital, connoting education, class and authority.

Related Topics:
Received Pronunciation - Cultural capital

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A foreign accent is marked by the phonology of other languages (or one other language) which the speaker of an acquired language unconsciously interprets as identical with the phonemes of the spoken language; i.e. the phonology of the spoken language seems modified by the phonology of another language, more familiar to the speaker.

Related Topics:
Phonology - Phoneme

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Accent also refers to the stress on a syllable. See stress (phonology).

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