308 Lynn Clark and Graeme Trousdale
4). This is important because the sound change we explore in this article
(TH-Fronting) is associated with particular social meanings for the highly-
localized group from whom the data were collected.
TH-Fronting is one of a number of consonantal changes taking place in
non-standard varieties of British English that are showing rapid changes,
allegedly in the direction of a Southern English model of pronunciation. In
Scotland, this has led to a number of media speculations that Scottish
youngsters are being “influenced by Frank Butcher and other Cockneys in
Eastenders” (Daily Record, 27th June 2000; cited in Stuart-Smith, Timmins,
and Tweedie 2007: 221). However in this community (as in many work-
ing class communities across Scotland) there remains a strong anti-English
attitude:
(2a) Scots
S: English. Well see the English maist folk’ll just hink eh pricks
LC: aye?
S: aye
(2b) English
S: English. Well see the English maist people will just think of pricks
LC: yes?
S: yes
It therefore seems unlikely that the speakers who are TH-Fronting in this
community are consciously accommodating towards a linguistic variety
that they associate with an ‘English’ stereotype. In fact some speakers seem
to regard it as a local feature^15 :
(3a) Scots
LC: dae you associate it wi English folk?
N: what ‘thanks’ wi a-an ‘f’?
LC: mm
N: nuh a wid eh said it wiz em, nah more a Fife way eh saying it
LC: dae ye hink so?
N: or a lazy way
LC: a lazy way
N: //but a-a’ve never thought English folk said it
(3b) English
LC: do you associate it with English people?
N: what ‘thanks’ with a-an ‘f’?