Regional Variation

Explain the term Regional variation and provide examples to illustrate.

Definition of RV
-physical barriers and grographical boundaries like mountains and land bring about variation in language

1) regional variation exists in the same language in different countries

For eg : British English vs American English
-all varieties of English stem from either British English or American English
-systemic differences btw the 2 varities of English
a) pronunciation
AE - use of postvocalic /r/ - /ka:r/
BE - do not use postvocalic /r/ -/ka:/

b) spelling
BE : doughnut, clour
AE : donut, color

c) vocab
BE : nappy, tube
AE : diapers, subway

2) regional variation in different varieties of the same language in one country

For eg: England
- modern dialects are divided btw the use of the north and the south, then sub divided again.
-distinguish feature of dialect boundary : the pronunication of [cup] differs between region in terms of /kVp/ and /ku:p/
-differences in regional pronunciation are represented by isogloss which divides the boundary and determines how northern and southern pronounce [cup]

3)Regional variation where regional features of the language spreads to other parts of the country.

Foe eg; British english ( another variety of Estuary English)
-features of London speech moves to other countries due to social factors. there is a movement up socially for the originally Cockney speakers but a downward shift of the middle class speakers who wish to speak normally rather than sounding like the upper class