Even though language proficiency improves over time naturally, this term paper will try to analyze whether an individual’s Indian English (IndE) will approximate towards the British English Standard due to increased language contact in an international context, especially with regard to the change of pronunciation towards RP. As the person of interest, actress Aishwarya Rai Bacchan, is a native Indian woman who became famous very quickly all over the world, it might be possible to observe a certain development in her language due to the sudden increased contact with English. Due to India’s postcolonial status, the British English variety seems to serve as a model for learners of English in this country, so that this seems to be the right variety to base the analysis on.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Analysis of Aishwarya Rai's use of English with regard to a possible development towards Received Pronunciation
1. Introduction of actress Aishwarya Rai Bacchan
2. Use of Indian English in India
3. Characteristic features of Indian English (vs. Standard English)
4. Setting and register of the interviews
5. Methodology
6. Discussion of results
6.1. Analysis of the interviews
6.2. Comparison with A-rated features in the eWave Atlas
III. Conclusion
IV. References
V. Sources
VI. Statement of Plagiarism
VII. Appendix
1. First Interview
2. Second Interview
3. List of A-rated features in Indian English in eWave atlas
Objectives and Research Scope
This paper investigates whether the Indian English (IndE) spoken by actress Aishwarya Rai Bacchan exhibits an approximation toward British Received Pronunciation (RP) due to increased international language contact. The study explores the hypothesis that her career-driven exposure to diverse English-speaking environments has influenced her linguistic patterns, specifically in pronunciation and syntax, over an eighteen-year period.
- Analysis of linguistic development in a non-native speaker through longitudinal interview comparison.
- Examination of phonological shifts including rhoticity and vowel pronunciation.
- Comparison of individual speech patterns against A-rated features of Indian English defined by the eWave Atlas.
- Evaluation of sociolinguistic factors such as professional register and westernization trends.
Excerpt from the Book
6.1. Analysis of the interviews
In the first interview, the monophtongization of certain diphtongs is very striking, for example [e] instead of /eɪ/ in “age” (7:20, 7:34), “names” (8:12), “play” (12:06), “face” (12:55) and [ɔ] instead of /ou / as in “(world) over“ (9:18, 19:22, 9:38), “role” (12:07), “rose” (12:51). Regarding vowels, it is noteworthy that she pronounces “men“ like “man“ with an [æ] instead of an /e/ one time at 12:15.
The liquid /r/ is thrilled at the beginning of “really“ (6:58, 7:28, 7:30), or “Theresa“ (7:06), but it is realized as an approximant /r/ in many other contexts like “really“ (7:00), “restrict” (10:02, 10:04) or “from” (9:20). Postvocalic /r/ is dropped sometimes and equals the non-rhotic BrE equivalent of pronunciation, e.g. “work“ at 7:36. Also, “girls“(9:14, 9:20) is pronounced in a non-rhotic way like [gɜːls]. The same goes for “person“ at 13:26 and 13:37.
The interdental fricatives [θ] and [ð] are almost non-existent and articulated as the alveolar stop [t], for example in “thought”, [t ɔt] at 10:54, “thankfully” (13:21) and “thanking” (13:22), as the fricative [f] as in “think” (10:55, 11:05) and as the voiced stop [d] as in “another” at 11:57.
The plosives [p], [t], [k] are articulated in a prominent way like in “title“ (11:23), especially when they are located at the end position of a word with a vowel at the beginning of the following word. Examples for this are “like“(8:38), “quite“ (9:43), “appreciate“ (9:44), “think about it“ (11:13-11:14), “it at the same time“ (12:49-12:50).
Summary of Chapters
I. Introduction: Presents the research question regarding the approximation of Indian English toward British RP through the case study of Aishwarya Rai.
II. Analysis of Aishwarya Rai's use of English with regard to a possible development towards Received Pronunciation: Provides background on the subject, the status of Indian English, and defines the methodological framework for the study.
1. Introduction of actress Aishwarya Rai Bacchan: Outlines the biography and background of Aishwarya Rai to contextualize her linguistic development.
2. Use of Indian English in India: Discusses the sociolinguistic status of English in postcolonial India and the speech community dynamics.
3. Characteristic features of Indian English (vs. Standard English): Details the phonological and grammatical hallmarks of Indian English that serve as a baseline for the analysis.
4. Setting and register of the interviews: Describes the two interviews selected for the study, focusing on their format, context, and time difference.
5. Methodology: Explains the corpus creation process and the analytical approach involving the eWave Atlas comparison.
6. Discussion of results: Examines the findings from the interview transcripts and compares them against the theoretical indicators.
6.1. Analysis of the interviews: Details the phonetic and stylistic changes observed in the actress's speech over eighteen years.
6.2. Comparison with A-rated features in the eWave Atlas: Analyzes the subject's adherence to or deviation from pervasive Indian English grammatical features.
III. Conclusion: Summarizes the findings and confirms the trend toward linguistic sophistication and RP approximation.
Keywords
Indian English, Received Pronunciation, Aishwarya Rai, language contact, eWave Atlas, phonology, linguistics, sociolinguistics, postcolonial English, speech analysis, language change, articulatory refinement, English as a Second Language, RP approximation, discourse markers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research paper?
The paper examines if an individual's Indian English (IndE) shifts toward British Received Pronunciation (RP) as a result of sustained international language contact over time.
Which central topics are discussed in the work?
Key topics include the sociolinguistic status of English in India, phonological features of Indian English, the impact of international professional careers on language, and grammatical norms compared against the eWave Atlas.
What is the primary objective of this study?
The primary goal is to analyze and document the specific linguistic changes in the speech of actress Aishwarya Rai Bacchan, comparing two interviews from 1994 and 2012.
Which scientific methods are applied?
The researcher created a corpus from two interviews and performed a comparative analysis using phonetic evaluation and the grammatical feature ratings provided by the eWave Atlas.
What does the main body of the work cover?
It covers the biographical background, the theoretical framework of Indian English, the specific methodology, and a detailed discussion of phonetic and syntactic results.
How can the work be characterized by keywords?
The work is defined by terms such as Indian English, Received Pronunciation, language contact, phonology, and sociolinguistic variation.
How does Aishwarya Rai's pronunciation shift over the studied period?
The study finds a noticeable refinement in pronunciation, characterized by a decrease in monophtongization, a shift toward non-rhoticity, and more standard realization of interdental fricatives.
What conclusion does the author reach regarding language change?
The author concludes that while the analysis is limited by the small corpus size, there is a clear trend toward sophistication and approximation to the British English standard in the subject's speech.
Did the subject maintain any features of her native variety?
Yes, even after extensive international contact, certain features such as specific discourse markers and the use of 'very' as a qualifier remained consistent with general Indian English patterns.
What role does the eWave Atlas play in this analysis?
The eWave Atlas acts as a comparative research tool that provides a list of A-rated linguistic features, allowing the author to determine if Aishwarya Rai's speech aligns with the general population in India.
- Quote paper
- Olga Schäfer (Author), 2014, Approximation of Indian English towards British RP due to increased language contact, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/283221
