1. Possible reasons that trigger changes??
WHY ACCENTS DIFFER??
Possible reasons that trigger changes??

2. REASONS TRIGGERING ACCENT CHANGES
ACCENTS CHANGES BCS LANGUAGES CHANGE
The language developments in certain areas and among different social groups are NOT the same
WHY INNOVATIONS IN PRONUNCIATION OCCUR??

3. Why innovations in pronunciation??
Explanations:
1. Principle of least effort =post-hoc explanation-changes=decay, corruption
New pronunciation patterns: result of laziness
E.g., /t/→[ɾ]/ ‘V-V ‘atom’, ‘writer’ BUT it does NOT explain why one tendency in pronunc occurred and not the other (e.g why only /t/ undergoes tapping and not /p/ or /k/)

4. Why innovations in pronunciation occur??
2. some segment types are more natural than others –early learning, found more frequently, etc
Eg., the natural position for vowels: front, non-low:unrouded, back, non-low:rounded
E.g., /l/ vocalization ‘middle’ : [mɪdɬ] =[mɪdo]
E.g., ‘mince’: /mɪns/ =[mɪnts] (t epenthesis)bcs of making the transition from /n/to /s/ more natural NOT a simplification bcs one more segmnet appears

5. The criterion of naturalness in pronunciation
E.g., assimilations, ‘th fronting’: persistent infantilism: first children introduced this, then, adults followed: /f/, /v/ instead of /ɵ/ and /ᵭ/
/f/, /v/: easier, natural sounds , more frequently occurring across Ls BUT ease of articulation stops at some point: necessity of
intelligibility bcs simplification, ease , natural articulation leads to confusion

6. How reliable are ease of articulation, naturalness?
Some accents, social groups do NOT proceed to some changes
Conservatism: natural human tendency to preserve confusion , misunderstanding
Sound changes may happen to preserve distinctiveness eg., /oʊ/ instead of /o:/ ‘coat’
Bcs it increases perceptibility btwn ‘coat’ vs ‘caught’ /kout/→/kəʊt/ vs /kɔ:t/

7. Splits and mergers One sound/phoneme→splits in two
E.g., /i:/ ↗ [i:] ‘bead’
↘ [ɪə] ‘beard’
Merger: /ɔə/+/ɔ:/→/ɔ:/ ‘wore’ /wɔə/vs ‘war’/wɔ:/
Splits and mergers contribute to the alteration of phonemic systems splits:increase phonemic inventory, mergers: shorten the phoneme system

8. REGULARIZATION
A natural tendency among languages to remove, minimize irregularities
Eg., current British trend: use a final [ʔ] instead of /k, p, t/ =simplification
E.g., Scottish E: simplification of /u:/-/ʊ/ into /u/ FOOT , GOOSE
LOAN WRDS: conform to E rules /gəˈra:ʒ/ →/ˈgᴂrɪdʒ/ BUT do all wrds undergo regularization??

9. Regularization: lexically restricted
Some wrds resist regularization
E.g., ‘genre’ [ʒậR]
We are not able to explain all sound changes
E.g., /gz/→//ks/ ‘exist’

10. WHY INNOVATIONS SPREAD?
EITHER : CATCH ON OR DIE
IF THEY CATCH ON, THEY MAY SPREAD from vicinity, longer area
When is an innovation going to spread?/which innovations spread??

11. Which innovations spread/why?
Only if they are imitated
Why is going to be imitated?
If it is felt ‘catchy’, admirable
When is it going to be imitated?
If speakers set a fashion
Who are fashion setters??
Usually urban /metropolis, upper-middle class (past )

12. Which classes/areas trigger innovation?/
Working class/countryside: used to be more conservative speech
E.g., /r/ retension in West Midlands BUT
<More recently: Some changes take place from below: middle-low/working class
E.g., /h /dropping low/working class men Londoners enjoy: covered prestige
Overt prestige: upper-middle women

13. Social groups, geographical areas that trigger innovations
Groups originally imitated: lose their exclusiveness and then have to move to other changes e. g,., /ou/→/əʊ/ by smart upper-middle class Br speakers
Then upper-middle class fashion setters: /eʊ/
For social reasons upper-middle class stopped having overt prestige
Covered prestige appeared from the middle-working class

14. The influence of spelling/orthography
Spelling pronunciation: when pronunciation simulates spelling: some letters/sounds are pronounced bcs they appear in spelling:
E.g., /swɔ:d/ ‘sword’ in the 19th c
/mikrəʊ/ instead of /maɪkrəʊ/ ‘micro-…’
NES form spelling rules in pronunciation from reading
Eg., ‘vehicle’ /h/ started being pronounced

15. PRONUNCIATION SPELLING
WHEN pronunciation influences spelling
E.g/. Pronounciation , fridge, telly, uvular, analadgy (by Gen Am speakers)

16. EXTERNAL INFLUENCES
When a new L is used, the old L still exerts some influence = substratum, interference
E.g., Scottish E, Irish: /l/ clear l as a remnant of Gaelic accents still appearing in RP
CAN ONE’S ACCENT BE ALTERED?
WHEN? HOW??

17. ALTERING ONE’S ACCENT
Above puberty: we may alter our accent temporarily or more permanently bcs of social class or geogr. Region
HOW EASY TO ALTER OUR ACCENT??

18. DIFFICULTIES TO ALTER ONE’S ACCENT
Due to physiological difficulties, age, L1 interference even very motivated speakers CANNOT alter their accent
It requires NEW ADAPTATION RULES
If the alteration is overgeneralised: hypercorrection : leads to wrong decisions in pronunciation
Eg., North E /ʊ/↗ /ʌ/ /ʊ/ does not operate put, good, cut, dull,
But attention to cushion, put not */kʌʃn/ ,* /pʌt/
The difficulty is bcs: hypercorrection is lexically determined.