My Pot and Pan is a Weekday Bacardi Breezer
According to research, men are more likely to downward converge, and women are more likely to upward converge. Welcome to the theory of accommodation.
Convergence is the art of moving towards other people’s speaking patterns whereas divergence is changing your language to sound further apart, usually to create a social divide.
In other words, downward convergence is the act of changing the way you speak when speaking to those of a ‘lower class’ than you. So basically, the stereotype is that if you’re lower class, you speak a bit ‘chavvy’ and a bit like a ‘geeza’. Obviously, this is just a stereotype for those who are angered by that statement.
Upward convergence is essentially the opposite. Adapting your speech to suit a more high-class audience. For example, those with a working class accent eliminating regional features when speaking to someone with a very posh “RP” accent.
*RP = Received Pronunciation (think BBC News readers).
And I can guarantee each and every one of us has done it and will continue to do so.
We’ve all been there; you’re speaking to your friends and you’re dropping your ‘T’s. In other words, you’re using glottal stops, so instead of ending your words with a ‘t’ you simply just end the word with your mouth open, releasing a dull tone and so “that” becomes “tha”. And maybe you’re dabbling in some ‘th fronting’ — where f and th sounds are easily replaced and as you’ve got no one to impress, you end up saying “fanks” instead of “thanks”. Basically, you sound like you’re straight of the cast of TOWIE.
Then, all off a sudden, you see your boss and you’re into that character role of an extra from Downton Abbey, you’re watching your ‘T’s and speaking in a rather robotic fashion. This, my friends, is called codeswitching.
A couple of years ago, I caught on to my dad’s speaking patterns. It seemed whenever he was at work, laying bricks or catching up with his old friends from East London, he suddenly turned into a lemon squeezer.
I looked on in horror as the sudden switch took place from perfect “BBC news”-esque English to “awrigh mate howzit goin” (roughly translated to “hello old friend, how are you.”) The polar opposite to how he would speak to me and the rest of my family at home. A recent study showed that men are more likely to downward converge as a sign of comradery, with the goal of enhancing social groups.
Women on the other hand, who are stereotypically more likely to have tighter knit social groups than men, due to more social discussion taking place in their jobs, were likely to upward converge in order to advance employment prospects. Studies have shown that “women consistently use forms which more closely approach those of the standard variety or the prestige accent than those used by men.”
Does this suggest women are always attempting to be in a higher class? Do they perhaps feel that in their status as women in society, traditionally marginalised against men, they need to prove themselves by having a clearer, posher accent?
Situational code switching is the changes in speech in reaction to a particular social situation:
Whether you’re hanging out with the lads and you’re playing up to the ‘cockney geeza’ stereotype, copying the slang of those around you and using the same banter in order to feel accepted.
Or whether you’re in a job interview, putting on your best ‘BBC News’ accent, approaching a variety closely mirroring the Queen’s speech.
Metaphorical code switching is the change in response to topic:
Perhaps you’re with your friends and someone brings up their career? An immediate switch into professional tone would take place. Or perhaps the topic of conversation shifts to your hometown and heritage. All of a sudden, you’re using slang characteristic of your hometown or putting on an Essex accent. All of these stimuli trigger responses in the way that you speak.
Now you might be wondering, why do people want to sound ‘posh’?
The ‘posh’ accent, a.k.a the accent you hear on BBC News, is the language of London. Well, the posh part anyway, not the East End. The ‘posh’ part is characteristically known for its affluence, money and being the powerhouse for employment.
This extends further than just within the city. Historically, there is a North/South divide, with those from the South (London) having the ‘posh’ accent and those from the North having the lower-class accent.
It seems the idea still perpetuates that people wish to appear wealthy, well-spoken and of a higher class in order to impress or attract employment.
However, certain people have different perceptions of the desired form to attain in order to impress. Perhaps your boss is a Northern miner — then downward convergence would be used to impress, with the aim to appear as the same social rank and class in order to build a solid relationship built on common ground.
So the next time you find yourself conversing with someone — stop and think “Am I converging?” and in what way. I promise you; you’ll be doing it.
