Ryan Peak There are some speech communities that are almost another language in America. I spent a summer in Georgia for basic training, and one Drill Sergeant was fresh out of Boston. He spoke so quickly and didn't pronounce any R sounds to the extent many people couldn't understand his instructions.
My grandmother uses phrases that I have never heard of. That being said, I have also picked up on a few of those phrases, and have made a habit of incorporating them into my everyday life. But the rest of the words and phrases are soon to become obsolete and forgotten the older my generation gets.
Now, I hardly ever hear adults saying things like “I seen” (with the exception of one of my coworkers), but I still hear kids saying it all the time, because they are in a speech community that embraces that type of language.
Roberts’ example of the differences between the family stage and the classroom stage can cause conflict in habits due to it being against what he/she has learned. Therefore, language is complicated business. This puzzled me, yet intrigued me how it always depends on what is admired or desired.
I grew up on a horse ranch in a southern, conservative enviroment. As a child I adopted many traits from the way my family spoke, "I seen", "ya'll", "ain't" and "fixin to" being only a few examples. However, over time I became less involved in the ranch and more involved in reading, film and weight lifting as well as becoming drastically more liberal. Thats when I began to make changes in the way I spoke. Some changes I attribute to my time working at Hastings and Cinemark with people my own age and others I associate with professors and students from ECU.
It seems ridiculous to judge a language, but this gives a fairly logical reason as to why it happens. We’re just doing our favorite pastime: judging other people. Depending on how we view people, we will either like or dislike their language.
Language change is inevitable and unstoppable, and the same goes for language dialects. Forms of our very own English language – spoken as well as what we’re exposed to – vary daily, and, sometimes, hour by hour. The way we can speak nonsense to our friends and then speak formally with a professor within the span of a few minutes proves that we have those speech forms in our heads and at the ready.
I was surprised that the “village” who stayed in the same spot were the ones whose language changed the most. I was almost one hundred percent sure that the ones who moved away would have adopted a different style to fit the new surroundings. However, now that I have thought on it I could see it the other way around too. Maybe those who moved away felt that the language was subconsciously their last connection to normalcy.
How common it is for children to adapt different forms of speech or language for different groups is remarkable. Even at a young age I knew there were ways I could talk around my friends I would dare talk around my momma or nanny. It wasn't appropriate for the relationship. I wouldn't have fit in.
. Students in high school use slang that I have no idea existed- and I have only been out of school for three years. I can barely understand some of the students that I observe. The same goes for my cousins who are still in high school. They will say something and I have to repeatedly ask ‘what?’ until they explain the term in depth. If language and vocabulary change so drastically in three years, I cannot imagine the difference after five-hundred years.
Ryan Peak
ReplyDeleteThere are some speech communities that are almost another language in America. I spent a summer in Georgia for basic training, and one Drill Sergeant was fresh out of Boston. He spoke so quickly and didn't pronounce any R sounds to the extent many people couldn't understand his instructions.
My grandmother uses phrases that I have never heard of. That being said, I have also picked up on a few of those phrases, and have made a habit of incorporating them into my everyday life. But the rest of the words and phrases are soon to become obsolete and forgotten the older my generation gets.
ReplyDeleteNow, I hardly ever hear adults saying things like “I seen” (with the exception of one of my coworkers), but I still hear kids saying it all the time, because they are in a speech community that embraces that type of language.
ReplyDeleteRoberts’ example of the differences between the family stage and the classroom stage can cause conflict in habits due to it being against what he/she has learned. Therefore, language is complicated business. This puzzled me, yet intrigued me how it always depends on what is admired or desired.
ReplyDeleteI grew up on a horse ranch in a southern, conservative enviroment. As a child I adopted many traits from the way my family spoke, "I seen", "ya'll", "ain't" and "fixin to" being only a few examples. However, over time I became less involved in the ranch and more involved in reading, film and weight lifting as well as becoming drastically more liberal. Thats when I began to make changes in the way I spoke. Some changes I attribute to my time working at Hastings and Cinemark with people my own age and others I associate with professors and students from ECU.
ReplyDeleteIt seems ridiculous to judge a language, but this gives a fairly logical reason as to why it happens. We’re just doing our favorite pastime: judging other people. Depending on how we view people, we will either like or dislike their language.
ReplyDelete(Emily Callan)
Language change is inevitable and unstoppable, and the same goes for language dialects. Forms of our very own English language – spoken as well as what we’re exposed to – vary daily, and, sometimes, hour by hour. The way we can speak nonsense to our friends and then speak formally with a professor within the span of a few minutes proves that we have those speech forms in our heads and at the ready.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised that the “village” who stayed in the same spot were the ones whose language changed the most. I was almost one hundred percent sure that the ones who moved away would have adopted a different style to fit the new surroundings. However, now that I have thought on it I could see it the other way around too. Maybe those who moved away felt that the language was subconsciously their last connection to normalcy.
ReplyDeleteHow common it is for children to adapt different forms of speech or language for different groups is remarkable. Even at a young age I knew there were ways I could talk around my friends I would dare talk around my momma or nanny. It wasn't appropriate for the relationship. I wouldn't have fit in.
ReplyDelete. Students in high school use slang that I have no idea existed- and I have only been out of school for three years. I can barely understand some of the students that I observe. The same goes for my cousins who are still in high school. They will say something and I have to repeatedly ask ‘what?’ until they explain the term in depth. If language and vocabulary change so drastically in three years, I cannot imagine the difference after five-hundred years.
ReplyDelete