31 October 2018

“Accentuating my a’s”:  Vowel lengthening to /æ:/ in Manx English

Andrew Booth

Stigmatised features of speech on island communities are often cited as examples to discuss accent levelling, in addition, the research into geographical diffusion on islands demonstrates the extent of spread that certain features reach. However, there is also certain resistance and barriers islanders can put up. The Isle of Man (IoM) is a fascinating case as not only is there an island dialect, but it also has influences from Gaelic and is surrounded by very distinct varieties of English. The researcher recording Manx English (MxE) in the Survey of English Dialects (SED) stated that “[i]t seems likely that north-west Midland, (especially Liverpool) phonology and RP phonology will vie with one another for dominance in the pronunciation of English in Man during the next fifty years” (Barry: 1984).

This talk will focus on one traditional variable discussed in previous research on the island. In the southeast of England, the split between TRAP and BATH vowels is usually distinguished between the short /a/ and long /ɑː/, the northern variety of English, often does not distinguish in length between the BATH and TRAP words and can often be realised with a /a ~ æ/ phoneme. MxE would ordinarily follow a northern English pattern, however traditional MxE can include a lengthened /æ:/ vowel (somewhere between southern and northern pronunciation). The SED recorded some instances of vowel lengthening in MxE; however, the prediction was that the future of MxE would lose its traditional features. Glare Vannin (Recording Mann), was a more recent and wide scale dialect study, the research was led by Hamer who noted that “young adults and children now rarely show vowel lengthening” (2007:173). I will be presenting these views with relation to my current findings.

Now, over 50 years on from the SED and around 20 years from the collection for Glare Vannin, the use of vowel lengthening in /æ:/ does not seem to be declining. I will present my findings, showing the changing use of this feature through different generations. The context in which lengthening is used may have changed but the prestige and the link to this feature as a signifier of the MxE accent may still be significant.