Standard English

In the last programme in the series Melvyn looks at Standard English. He is joined by Lynda Mugglestone, Fellow of English Language at Pembroke College, Oxford and John Wells, Professor of Phonetics at the University of London. Together they attempt to answer some of the questions raised by the series.


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What? Why? How? Lynda Mugglestone defines Standard English

What is it?

When is it used?

Where does it come from?

Why is Standard English valued over other dialects?

John Wells believes that the success of a dialect is bound to the status of its speakers.

A new standard?

The comedian Ben Elton is often cited as a speaker of Estuary English, or, less charitably, 'mockney'.

But what is Estuary English? John Wells explains.

And is it a dialect? Lynda Mugglestone thinks not.

The future of regional

Travel, globalisation and new forms of communication are levelling our dialectal differences, according to Lynda Mugglestone.

So will English become a linguistic monolith, indistinguishable between regions, occupations and social classes? Not according to John Wells.