The Concept of Overt and Covert Prestige in Relation to English in UK
Overt and covert prestige is used to differentiate the use of English language UK in relation to
different social prestige (Fyfe, et al, 2017). People in the United Kingdom use different English depending
on their Social roles such as occupations or their career status in different organizations. For instance the
English language that is used by the Lawyers, teachers and doctors is not the same as the English
language that is used by the hawkers. Besides, it may also result from sociopolitical or the leisure
activities carried by the person. Overt prestige is therefore said to be the formal language features that are
considered to be of high standards and they are used to express power and status. It is therefore used by
the high prestige people like the doctors and the professors (Fyfe, et al,2017). On the other side, low variety
language is related to the vernacular and dialects language that it is often said to be nonstandard language.
It is used to express solidarity and unity in the community since it is used by the highest percentage of
people.
English in the UK is awarded prestige based on certain factors such as langauge transformation,
international positions or the prestige of the speaker and the audience being addressed (Fyfe, et al, 2017). It
is due to variation of the dialect depending on the speaker, situation, the context and other contextual
elements such as geographical location that the relative status of the language will vary. The English
language in UK can still be connected with culture where there is said to be a strong relationship between
the standards of a particular group of people and the respect rendered to the language they speak (Fyfe, et
al, 2017). For example there is the Latin’s prestige where Latin was referred to as noble and beautiful and
it was thus used by churchmen, lawyers and scholars. This has been transferred to the English-speaking
population where in Western Europe it was considered to be language of high prestige as compared to the
Renaissance language.
The research shows that the increased continued use of the non-standard dialects is to generate or
preserve group identity within the community language (Fyfe, et al, 2017). Covert prestige therefore
reveals the worth system of the society and the various sub-cultures within the society. The use of this
language can still be influenced by the gender where the male gender is said not to consider the standards
and the working class speech varieties. They are instead more concerned of the achieving group unity
rather than sounding people of high status (Fyfe, et al,2017). The reverse applies to the female gender
where they want to achieve high status. The choice of low variety language can be used go indicate that
one is a member of the community and he is proud of the local culture as compared to the high variety
language. Despite this, there has however been a change in the community where the lower status groups
tends to imitate the speeches from the higher standard people over time and this has caused evolution of
be prestige (Fyfe, et al,2017). There is also a current trend where the people using overt English language
sough to differentiate themselves from the other people.
References
Fyfe, A., Coate, K., Curry, S., Lawson, S., Moxham, N., & Røstvik, C. M. (2017). Untangling academic publishing:
A history of the relationship between commercial interests, academic prestige and the circulation of research.