In
British English, there are two main ways of pronouncing the suffix -ING (in
words like talking or going): [ɪŋ], ‘ing’, with a velar
nasal sound following the vowel, the way it’s usually said by BBC newreaders, and
[ɪn], ‘in’, which is what most British people also say in informal speech. In
Manchester, and other places in Northwest England, there is another
pronunciation, [ɪŋg], ‘inG’, with
two distinct sounds following the vowel. Erik Schleef and Nicholas Flynn wanted
to find out if Mancunians ascribe different meanings to these three different
pronunciations.
 |
| go-ing somewhere in Manchester? or go-in? or go-inG? |
They
recorded two male and two female voices three times, each with one of the three
different pronunciations: ‘ing’, ‘in’ and ‘inG’. These were then
used for an online survey within the Manchester community, which asked
listeners to rate the different voices they heard in terms of ‘attributes’ like
superiority, friendliness, education, etc.
Of course, the listeners were unknowingly listening to the same
speakers.
In
general, the listeners thought ‘ing’ speakers sounded more confident, posher,
better educated and more hard-working than the ‘in’ speakers, as well as more
energetic than those using ‘inG’
(although less so than the ‘in’ users). ‘ing’ was thought to signal more prestige
and superiority and was also rated as the most dynamic of the three
pronunciations. ‘in’ was considered more casual, younger and less
educated. ‘inG’ emerged as having its own unique social meaning: the ‘inG’
users were rated as much more uptight, formal and non-energetic than speakers
who used the other two pronunciations.
Schleef
and Flynn divided the respondents of their survey into two distinct age groups,
over-22s and under-22s (based on the idea that UK students leave university and
enter the ‘adult’ world at the age of 22), and this produced some other
interesting results. For example, the
over-22s thought that ‘ing’ speakers sounded the poshest, most articulate and
most reliable, whereas the under-22s thought that ‘ing’ speakers and ‘in’ speakers
were similar in relation to articulateness, and that ‘ing’ speakers sounded
more common than ‘inG’
speakers, who they rated as the poshest and most reliable.
These
interesting differences could be explained by the two age groups being in
different ‘lifestages’. For example, ‘ing’ is the ‘standard’ British
pronunciation, the form that is more usual and expected. Adults are at a lifestage where conforming to
community standards is necessary to succeed in life and so sounding ‘standard’
is important. The standard form also indicates
a polite and caring attitude on the part of the speaker towards their listener
as it is the expected form: adults are at a lifestage where they are often in a
carer role and thinking more of others’ needs.
In
contrast, the under-22s are at a lifestage, often described as ‘adolescence’,
which involves disassociating themselves from their parents and deliberately
diverging from adult norms and standards.
This may help to explain why they don’t agree with the over-22s that
‘-ing’ is the poshest of the three pronunciations. Their rating of ‘-inG’ as the most formal could also be influenced by the fact
that young people have less experience of formal speech situations than
adults. They could simply rate ‘-inG’ as the poshest form as this
best reflects the suffix’s spelling and they instinctively think of the written
form as formal.
Schleef
and Flynn are keen to point out that these explanations are mainly conjecture
but it’s definitely worth thinking about...or thinkin’ about...or even thinkinG about!
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
Erik
Schleef and Nicholas Flynn (2015). Ageing meanings of (ing). Age and
indexicality in Manchester, England. English World-Wide 36(1): 48–90. doi.
10.1075/eww.36.1.04sch
This
summary was written by Gemma Stoyle
