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Changing Attitudes Towards the Welsh English Accent: A View from Twitter

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Sociolinguistics in Wales

Abstract

This chapter presents an analysis of tweets containing the terms Welsh and accent. Each tweet was coded with respect to the attitudes found in it and whether they were positive, negative, or other.

Nearly half (49%) the tweets analysed indicated positive attitudes towards the Welsh accent, while only 15% were negative. Overwhelmingly, the positive tweets commented on the attractiveness of the accent (and of its speakers) or on the tweeter’s own desire to have a Welsh accent. The analysis also revealed that the Welsh English accent is particularly associated with the South Wales Valleys in people’s minds and that recent television shows have played a part in the increased appreciation of the accent.

Mae’r bennod hon yn cyflwyno dadansoddiad o drydariadau sydd yn cynnwys y termau Welsh ac accent. Dadansoddwyd pob trydariad er mwyn ymchwilio i ymagweddau’r anfonwr tuag at acen Saesneg Cymru. Fe’u rhannwyd yn ôl tri chategori, sef positif, negyddol neu arall. Dangosodd 49% o’r trydariadau ymagweddau positif tuag at yr acen Gymreig o’i gymharu â 15% o drydariadau negyddol. Dywedodd y rhai positif fod yr acen Gymreig (a’i siaradwyr) yn ddeniadol. Dangosodd y canlyniadau fod pobl yn dueddol o feddwl am acen Cymoedd De Cymru wrth ystyried acen Gymreig. Rwyf yn honni bod nifer gynyddol yn gwerthfawrogi’r acen o achos dylanwad cyfresi teledu diweddar.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In order to protect the identity of the tweeters, the examples used in this paper were slightly modified so that they cannot be as easily found in a search.

  2. 2.

    The data collection is ongoing, but for the purposes of this analysis only tweet sent in the specific nine-month period will be considered.

  3. 3.

    The first few months were collected using a now defunct site called http://searchhash.com and then with Martin Hawksey’s google spreadsheet template (https://tags.hawksey.info/get-tags/).

  4. 4.

    These are categorised as metalinguistic, although all the tweets collected are metalinguistic in some way.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the Centre for Language and Communication Research at Cardiff University for a small research grant at the start of the project, as well as Dorottya Csenge Cserző for help with the initial analysis.

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  1. Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

    Mercedes Durham

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  1. Mercedes Durham
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  1. Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom

    Mercedes Durham

  2. Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom

    Jonathan Morris

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Durham, M. (2016). Changing Attitudes Towards the Welsh English Accent: A View from Twitter. In: Durham, M., Morris, J. (eds) Sociolinguistics in Wales. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52897-1_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52897-1_7

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-52896-4

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