Il Times: Gli accenti locali in Gran Bretagna sopravvivono “contro” l’omogeneizzazione della modernità

Scrive il Times di Londra che gli accenti delle parlate regionali in Gran Bretagna non stanno affatto sparendo perchè sembrano percepiti, secondo alcuni studiosi, come degli indici dell’identità contro gli “effetti omogeneizzanti effetti della modernità”.

Copiamo un pezzo del testo:

Britain’s regional accents are not only surviving but are tightening their grip, a series of academic studies has found.

Geordie, Scouse, Mancunian and Brummie inflections are becoming more distinct and dominant because they are one of the few remaining badges of identity against the homogenising effects of modernity.

Conventional wisdom was that accents would disappear and merge into a national way of speaking, albeit with some class and regional variations.

Now, however, experts are finding a far more subtle pattern. While big-city accents are surviving and even colonising surrounding areas, the nuances between districts within those cities are disappearing.
Related Links

Outside the cities, the hundreds of accents that once distinguished small towns and rural districts are gradually being subsumed into regional “super-accents”. (Grazie a Paul Tout per la segnalazione)