Variability, unconscious accent adaptation and sense of identity: the case of RP influences on speakers of Standard Scottish English

Abstract

We consider the phenomenon of accent modification here, using the phenomenon of speakers of Standard Scottish English (SSE) whose speech is modified in the direction of Received Pronunciation (RP). We focus on unconscious accent modification, asking whether unconscious accommodation towards a different accent is connected with sense of national or regional identity. Tentatively, we suggest that this is not the case. We consider research on the neural mechanisms involved in unconscious (implicit) learning and memory and work by Damasio (2000) on the neural underpinnings of selfhood. We argue that sense of national or regional identity is necessarily conscious, and that unconscious accent accommodation falls below the level of conscious sense of identity.