It is possible to analyse any stretch of language from a number of perspectives. The three most basic levels of linguistic ‘raw material’ are respectively accent, vocabulary and grammar. For the purposes of this project, our focus is clearly on the choice of words, but it is important to remember that the same piece of evidence can be subjected to various different kinds of analysis.

Accent
The analysis of accent is a technical matter which requires specific training in sound description and the use of a special script called the International Phonetic Alphabet. Phonetics is beyond the scope of this project but, if you are interested, you can find out more from the IPA’s website. If you are particularly interested in the Liverpudlian accent:

• listen to the Doyle family's reactions to 'Local Accents' - pop-up window (2.0MB) - Quicktime Player required)
• Transcript of Doyle family's reactions to 'Local Accents'

Both vocabulary and grammar, on the other hand, are reasonably accessible even to the amateur linguist.

Whatever level of language you are working at, it is important look out for any regular patterns of difference between speakers and, wherever possible, to compare your own data with the broader evidence available from dictionaries such as the Oxford English Dictionary or a language bank such as the Bank of English at the University of Birmingham.

Vocabulary and Grammar
Here are some of the things you might look out for in your own data:

1. Any regular differences in the way that different groups of people speak, such as:
   • younger and older people?
   • males and females?
   • different social classes?
   • different ethnic groups?
   Because the particular members of the Doyle family that we interviewed were drawn from the same social class and ethnic group, we were only able to consider differences of age and gender and, because the two sisters were both of a different generation from the two teenage boys, these two social variables happened to coincide. However, it was still possible to record systematic differences in their choice of vocabulary by listing the different words they used in two columns. Another common way of distinguishing between the linguistic behaviour of different speakers, or groups of speakers, is to highlight their different choices in different colours. Read more about analysing the linguistic behaviour of different groups.
2. Any shifts in the way that people use English and any other languages during the course of the recording (noting down how and perhaps trying to understand why), for example:
   • when they get excited?
   • when they are mimicking someone else?
   • when they are trying to impress someone or score a point?
   • when they are trying to include or exclude someone from the conversation?
   • when someone else joins the group?
   Read examples of shifts in style from the Doyle interview.
3. The origins of different words, including any that are obviously drawn from other languages. Learn the origins of some words used by the Doyle family.
4. Any times when people talk about language or their attitudes to different speakers. Read more on talking about language. You may also like to:
   • listen to the Doyle family 'Talking About Language' (launches a pop-up window - 888KB - Quicktime Player required)
   • Transcript of the Doyle family 'Talking About Language'

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Content last updated: 08/07/2005

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