Linguistics and Literature Studies Vol. 6(3), pp. 133 - 137
DOI: 10.13189/lls.2018.060304
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Immediate Phonological Features in Representing Regional Identity: Cases of Northern English Vowels in Contemporary Films

Qu Changliang ^*
School of English Studies, Dalian University of Foreign Languages, China

ABSTRACT

In Roman Jakobson's phonological framework of language, although distinctiveness of the phonological units (phonemes as well as distinctive features) is most widely known for its nature of "mediacy", i.e. they fulfill the role of meaning differentiation as signifiants that do not have any direct signifiés, it is their "immediacy" that highlights the last stage of his six-decade-long study of language sound, showing that certain phonological features, mostly non-distinctive, carry direct rather than indirect information that forms an important part of the communication. Features of any linguistic variety may be investigated socio-historically. While the globalized age offers unprecedentedly more opportunities for the English learners in China to be exposed to the English varieties, it is necessary for the English language teaching to give enough socio-historical interpretation to these varieties and their features, especially when they do appear in contemporary popular media. This essay exemplifies the socio-historical role of certain phonological features by illustrating their presence in some typical English films produced in the recent two decades and aims to help understand the cultural implicature of these features so as to offer a bridge to more efficient communication.

KEYWORDS
Phonological Features, Immediacy, Varieties of English

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Qu Changliang , "Immediate Phonological Features in Representing Regional Identity: Cases of Northern English Vowels in Contemporary Films," Linguistics and Literature Studies, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 133 - 137, 2018. DOI: 10.13189/lls.2018.060304.

(b). APA Format:
Qu Changliang (2018). Immediate Phonological Features in Representing Regional Identity: Cases of Northern English Vowels in Contemporary Films. Linguistics and Literature Studies, 6(3), 133 - 137. DOI: 10.13189/lls.2018.060304.