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Production and perception of (ing) in Manchester English

2015; John Benjamins Publishing Company; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1075/silv.17.15sch

1872-9592

Erik Schleef, Nicholas Flynn, Michael Ramsammy,

Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies

Unlike most varieties of English, in which (ing) has only two major realisations, [ɪŋ] and [ɪn], in Manchester a third variant for (ing) occurs, [ɪŋɡ]. Our research firstly confirms that [ɪŋɡ] exists in Manchester as a variant of (ing) for young adult speakers and that it is more common in more formal speech. Secondly, we examine the social meanings of all three variants of (ing) in Manchester English and compare them with US data. Our comparison shows that the majority of the core differences of [ɪŋ] and [ɪn] are the same (e.g. [ɪŋ] is heard as more articulate, educated and less casual). We also observe social meanings that relate specifically to [ɪŋɡ]. It is strongly associated with an uptight, non-dynamic formalness.