Language Variation: Focus on Uses

Example 4 It’s time for our [i.e., your] lunch now isn’t it Mary. We [i.e., you] better wash our [i.e., your] hands. Most people use language differently to the very young and the very old. Example 6 (a) Last week the British Prime Minister Mr David Cameron met the Australian Premier Ms Julia Gillard in Canberra . . . Their next meeting will not be for several months. (b) Las’ week British Prime Minister David Cameron met Australian Premier Julia Gillard in Canberra . . . Their nex’ meeding won’t be for sev’ral months. These utterances illustrate a number of linguistic features which distinguish the pronunciations of newsreaders on different radio stations. In (b) there is simplification of consonant clusters, so [la:st] becomes [la:s] and [nekst] becomes [neks]. The pronunciation of [t] between vowels is voiced so it sounds like a [d]. Hence meeting sounds like meeding . The definite article the is omitted before the titles Prime Minister and Premier and the honorifics Mrs and Mr disappear. And finally, utterance (b) contracts will not to won’t .