The Social Aspect of Accents - Term Paper Example

 «The Social Aspect of Accents» Language is the medium through which we as humans communicate. It is only fitting that such an integral part of our day to day lives should be studied in minute detail. For purposes of communication, for thinking about abstract problems, for expressing oneself, the only real tool that we have at our disposal is language. Considering that humans are also extremely social creatures, an analysis of language in social contexts seems highly appropriate as well. This sort of approach to the analysis of language is referred to as sociolinguistics. Because people’s speech patterns are so idiosyncratic and individual, it should be noted that attempting to define any sociolinguistic norms based a single individuals is futile. Instead, sociolinguistics tends to focus on what are referred to as speech communities. Speech communities are groups of people who share any sort of linguistic traits or social conventions (O‘Grady 485). The most obvious way that people can think of differing speech communities is to think of accents. Accents are easy to identify by anyone because people growing up with hearing language a certain way in certain areas acclimates people to speaking and hearing language that certain way. People can often easily identify specific districts that other people are coming from if they both share a native language. It is even more obvious when listening to a person who is attempting to speak a non-native language to those who that language is their native language. Whether considering minor phonetic differences or a completely dissimilar vowel orientation, accents are the most common ways that people can differentiate between people from different areas or countries (Milroy 25). Where the social aspect of accents comes in to play is partly in the way that some people set themselves apart and judge people according to accents. Language can be a source of pride for people, and it can also be used as a sort of social ranking system. A person who makes use of non-standard grammatical structures or pronunciations might be considered to be less educated and therefore less wealthy than a person who has few non-standard aspects to their language use. Sociolinguistics, of course, makes distinctions or judgments in regards to the correctness or appropriateness of language. Language is simply a means of communication to be studied, and it is of more interest the reasons why judgments are made than how the judgments were made. Dialects are also of importance in sociolinguistics. Specifically, dialects are considered to be methodical differences that exist between two different varieties of language. There are several different types of dialects. For instance, a dialect that is associated with an ethnicity is referred to as an ethnic dialect. A dialect that is associated with a particular region is referred to as a regional dialect. A dialect that is associated with a social group is referred to as a sociolect (O‘Grady 487). In some cases, dialects can become so extreme that two speakers of the same language aren’t able to communicate. There are many reasons for considering mutually unintelligible dialects to be different varieties of the same language as opposed to different languages. For instance, often times the speakers are within the same country or they belong to the same ethnic group. For instance, China is this way. Chinese, for instance, has a large number of dialects, many of which are mutually unintelligible in spoken form, but they all use the same writing system. Two people who speak vastly contrasting Chinese dialects that are unable to communicate orally with each other would be able to pick up and read the same newspaper. This is another reason why Chinese considers all of its varieties to simply be different dialects of the same language. The situation is further complicated by the numerous factors that pay into mutual intelligibility: “Mutual intelligibility will also depend, it appears, on other factors such as listeners degree of exposure to the other language, their degree of education,…and their willingness to understand” (Chambers 4). The differences between languages and dialects is not always clear, and this difficulty informs much of their study. It is important to take into consideration how widely ranging a single speech community can be. The extent to which different communities with vary with each other also will vary itself. When taking into consideration language, dialect, or accent differences, sometimes sociolinguistic norms are present that don’t exactly fall into the three mentioned categories. In these cases the term speech variety is used to discuss similarities and differences in these varieties of languages. Sociolinguistic norms can be used to discuss how a speaker will structure language in a given social situation. These are referred to as sociolinguistics of language. Different conventions call for different language usages depending upon the situation. Many languages have features built into them for given situation. For instance, both German and French, among many others, have pronouns that are to be specifically used in formal situations. Any and every interaction, whether formal, casual, or technical, can be the subject of a sociolinguistic study At times particular sets of vocabulary are used in different sets of circumstances. For instance, if a particular set is associated with a profession or activity, then that set of vocabulary is referred to as jargon. Also to be noted is that at times jargon may involve specific and specialised definitions for word that already appear in general lexicons. Jargon can also consist of new terms that are coined for specific circumstances that arise in various situations of the profession. The main and initial purpose of jargon is to make communication within a group more readily accessible and efficient, but it does have other effects as well. Like all aspects of language that tends to differentiate itself from various varieties, jargon can be used to identify other members of a group as well as leave out members that do not belong to a specific group. Opinion of jargon can vary within the group that uses it as well, so it should be noted that jargon comes with negative connotations at times (O‘Grady 499). Slang can also be used to identify members of various social groups. The lack of the use of slang is also indicative of inclusion of certain social groups as well. Specifically, slang refers to words that are used in non-standard lexical patterns. It should be noted that slang words generally follow trends and have the tendency to disappear for various reasons. For instance, a word might fall out of popularity and no longer be used. However, if a slang word continues to be used, then the word will then be standardized and no longer be considered to be a slang word. Slang is generally associated with either young or uneducated speakers of a language. For this reason it is generally considered to be a low form of language, and therefore identification through slang often comes with negative connotations. It is considered to be informal in nature, and because of this the use of slang would be looked down upon by participants of a speech event who did not belong to the particular social group who was utilising the slang. The use of speech events often can have particular goals which they are meant to accomplish. Speech events can be considered to be any event in which speech is utilised. They are considered to be the focus of particular cultural rules and have eight basic components which make up th mnemonic device SPEAKING. The setting is in reference to the exact location and time in which the speech event occurred. The participants are the people who were part of the speech event, and more specifically reference the addressor and the person being addressed. The ends is meant to be the purpose, even if unsuccessful, of the speech event. The act sequences is the subject matter. The key is in reference to either the tone or mood. Instrumentalities is the mode of discourse, such as spoken or written. Norms interaction is in reference to the conventions of a particular interaction. Finally, genres refers to the specific category of the event, such as a poem or a conversation. The ability to utilise these components is generally referred to as a person’s communicative competence. As mentioned, speech events often have specific goals or purposes. For instance, the use of a respectful and formal style or register can be used to show respect for a person or appease a person who is displeased. Style and register, though closely related, should not be considered the same, exact thing. Style refers to the terms of the formality of a situation which can range from informal to formal. Register refers to a specific speech situation which might not depend upon formality. For instance, the register of a newspaper or magazine might utilize the omission of determinants such as a or the (O‘Grady 505). Beyond the sociolinguistics of language, sociolinguistics refers to the way in which way in one’s language acts as a form of identification of a speaker’s social characteristics. Speakers can obviously have multiple different identities in which they must function at the same time. The complications of sociolinguistics deal with how people cope with their gender, age, ethnicity, or social class all at the same time. Does one put emphasis on one’s gender over age or ethnicity in speech events? Whatever patterns are followed, they tend to follow the apparent sociolinguistic societal norms for the whole society. Patterns that develop across various social groups helps to inform orderly heterogeneity. This should be considered because even though there will always be variations in norms across groups, there can still be found generalised models that show common linguistic systems and shared norms (Wardhaugh 72). As is the case with Chinese, multiple varieties make up a single language. However, in some languages there are movements that attempt to either keep language standardised or “pure.” Prescriptive grammarians attempt to determine the standardisation of languages such as English. Though the attempt to do so generally comes from the idea of a correct form of a language, it is an impossibility to define that standard form of a language or to find a speaker who strictly adheres at all times to this imagined correct version of a language. A better way to think of the standard variety of a language is to consider it to be the version which contains the most conventions which are considered to be prestigious by society. In summation, sociolinguistics takes into consideration all of the different ways in which people interact within society through language. From considering how the sociolinguistics of both language and society, we are able to analyse every language situation that arises. We can also see how much social classes are derived from the usages of language, and we can see how much emphasis is put on the perceived correct version of a language, and how much an exchange can depend on these perceived standard and uses of formality and politeness. Language and Gender The subject of gender and language has been of interest for a long time, and it was during the 1970’s that much of the interest in this filed of sociolinguistics intensified. There are two main aspects that are considered in gender and language. First, the approach to discern gender exclusivity in language and generalised language differences attempts to understand what the differences are in male and female speech patterns. For instance, in some languages men and women will use different forms of the same words based on their gender. Second, the aspect of language and gender that has been strongly influenced by feminism attempts to show the effects of a male dominated and dictated language systems. This aspect attempts to point out inherent sexism in language usage and show how to correct these inequalities. As noted earlier, power is created and maintained in speech events through word choices, and it has been stated that women more or less have the deck staked against them: “It is men who have made the world which women must inhabit, and if women are to begin to make their own world, it is necessary that they understand some of the ways in which such creation is accomplished” (Cameron 93). Gender exclusivity in language obviously does not refer to the inability of one gender to use a certain style of language or lexicon. Instead, it refers to the adverse social ramifications of a person of one gender using the language patterns and forms associated with the other gender. Japanese is one such language in which gender exclusivity can be found. Another related term is gender-variable language which focuses on the variation of terms that are gender dependent. For instance, males tend to have a wider variety of sport terms and women have a wider variety of color terms. The differences in males and females language usage have long been known, and considering all of the knowledge gathered on this topic, it is with much certainty that linguists have determined that the differences are due to societal factors as opposed to biological factors. With the lack of a biological basis for the differences, the question then turns to whether the differences are in part due to the intrinsic differences between the genders in society, or whether the differences in language creates the differences in society between males and females. Whether or not this question is fully answerable is up for debate, but perhaps a better answer would not include an either/or assumption but instead reflect on how both of these assertions are interrelated and inform each other. Whatever the case, it cannot be denied that the language of men is favored over that of women in matters of prestige: “We also know that in all known societies it is the way that men speak that is held in high esteem, while women’s ways of talking are compared unfavorably with men’s” (Coates 2). While prescriptive grammarians attempt to keep a language the same or promote the “proper” version of the language, this should not be considered to be the same sort of tendency involved with the removal of male-oriented biases. This whole area raises some rather interesting questions: “May it be possible to describe a particular language as ‘sexist,’ or should we reserve such a description for those who use that language?” (Fasold 313). Let’s consider this question briefly. First off, the more easily defendable statement would be that language is not a conscious entity and is therefore not capable of being sexist or not sexist. This would leave the responsibility of sexism in a language up to the people that speak the language. However, not all people who speak a language will be sexist or use language in a way that promotes inequality in gender norms. As far as the people who do use language in sexist manner, should we consider the people who are merely following prescriptive grammarians’ rules to be as guilty as those who actually are guilty? And should the prescriptive grammarians be blamed as well? As all sorts of gender norms are learned throughout childhood, including but not exclusive to linguistic norms, we can state that children learn an inherently sexist system, and we should therefore not blame people when the entire system is set up for this way in the first place. However, does this excuse adults who have been educated in these matter and still continue to use these forms that are perceived as sexist? In order for a full and true equality to exist between men and women, inequalities in language would obviously have to be altered. There have been quite a few movements to deal with sexism in language. For instance, nouns which place the male perspective as the norm have been altered. For instance, policeman is now referred to police officer and fireman is referred to as firefighter. To some this might not seem to be too big of a deal, but it is important for people to be able to have the option and choices of non-male-oriented language to choose from. This is because gender should not be viewed as something that simply is an either/or matter: “Eckert argues that gender should not be treated as a binary variable, but rather as a continuum which speakers situate themselves socially between two reference points” (Miley 100). If gender is a binary variable, meaning that both sexes are able to display various aspects of male and female gender-orientation, the more options that are available in regards to language means that there are more ways in which an individual can display themselves. This is not simply just a matter of females being able to express themselves as females but for males to realise that there are more options and ways for them to express their identities as well. This way of thinking in regards to gender norms that many people unconsciously act in ways that they would not expect themselves to in order to further enforce gender norms: “It has been claimed that in the United States women may speak as if they were smaller than they are and men as if they were bigger than they are” (Macauly 99). Many European languages contain gendered noun systems which contain an inherent bias (498). It should be noted that though English has lost its gendered noun system, there are still ways in which this system can still be viewed in English. For instance, non-gender specific singular nouns male pronouns, such as he or him. For instance, the sentence Someone is here, and he is angry would be considered to be grammatically correct, even though some people have begun to use the word they as a word to be used in non-gender-specific situations. Though other options are to use he or she, people do not favor this setup because they find it to be clumsy and laborious to use. It should be noted that from a linguistic viewpoint there is nothing wrong with using they in this situation and is simply another way to accomplish communication. If a child is growing up thinking that masculine pronoun should be inserted into sentences when we do not know the gender of the person that is actually being written about, it is obvious that these children will grow up thinking that the male orientation is more correct than the female orientation. Not only will males find it to be easier and remain true to their identities but females will find it more difficult if they are simply being punished for not being male. Whatever the reason behind inequalities in language, what cannot be denied is that they exist. The level of inequalities might now be on a sliding scale, but it is truly beyond an individuals or a group of individuals to be able to fully influence language change. Language change is a simple matter a language being in existence for long enough, and this scale might slide back and forth throughout the history of English and other languages. Though linguistics does not deal with judgment values in general, it will be around to chart the differences as they arise. Works Cited Cameron, Deborah, The Feminist Critique of Language. London, Routledge, 1998. Chambers, J.K., Trudgill, Peter, Dialectology. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1998. Coates, Jennifer, Language and Gender: A Reader. Oxford, Blackwell Publishers, 1998. Fasold, Ralph, The Sociolinguistics of Language: Introduction to Sociolinguistics. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Oxford, Blackwell Publishing, 1990. Hymes, Dell, Foundations in Sociolinguistics: An Ethnographic Approach. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1974. Macauly, Ronald K.S., The Social Art: Language and Its Uses. Oxford University Press, 1996. McMahon, April M.S., Understanding Language Change. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Milroy, Leslie, Gordon, Matthew, Sociolinguistics: Method and Interpretation. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Oxford, Blackwell Publishing, 2003. O’Grady, William, Archibald, John, Aronoff, Mark, Rees-Miller, Janie, eds., Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction. Boston, Bedford/St. Martin, 2005. Wardhaugh, Ronald, An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Oxford, Blackwell Publishing, 2002. Read More