English dialects
Message #8 Posted by James M. Prange (Michigan) on 11 Oct 2006, 7:51 a.m.,
in response to message #7 by Ron Allen
Quote:
James, I take it your letter is with "Tongue-in-cheek,"
Well yes; that's why I included the ";-)". Of course, whichever
dialect one is most accustomed to listening to is very likely to
be the easiest to understand.
Quote:
which explains why it sounds goobledegookish.
"Goobledegookish"? I think that my post is quite clear. Although
particularly when posting on-line, knowing that English isn't the
"mother-tongue" for some of the readers, I'm usually rather
careful to try to use clear and grammatically correct "Standard
American English", which may well make my posts seem a bit
stilted.
I read somewhere or other that the goal of a writer should be to
write in a manner which not only can be understood, but won't be
misunderstood. That strikes me as a worthy goal, especially when
writing for a general readership.
Quote:
... but I distinctly recall it being asserted that the most pure
"American" dialect came from San Francisco
That could well be. I think that, as California was largely
populated by those who immigrated there from various other U.S.
regions, its language, especially in the larger cities, would've
tended to evolve to a "region-neutral" dialect.
Of course, now mass communications tends to encourage a
region-neutral dialect, although I expect that some quite
intentionally cultivate a "non-standard" dialect.
Quote:
while the nearest thing to the "King's" English in America in
those days came from the well-educated in the Southeastern states.
Of course, that means that they were educated in Michigan. ;-)
I note that "the King's English" isn't necessarily the easiest for
me to understand, and not "Standard American English".
The Southeast may well have tended to retain the dialect of the
original English settlers, while the dialects in other regions
were evolving faster because of more immigrants speaking other
dialects and languages, and, I think, faster social changes in
general.
For what it's worth, I've read that some relatively isolated
communities in the Appalachian region tended to retain some usages
long after they became archaic in other areas.
I expect that, in general, the more isolated a community is, the
more slowly its language evolves. On the other hand, an isolated
community, particularly if its founders spoke different dialects,
may sometimes instead quickly evolve its own unique dialect,
different from anything that came before.
The closest to my idea of "the King's English" that I've ever
heard was spoken by a Navy chief who was a native of Jamaica, who
also happened to be black, and tended to be a bit intolerant of
anyone using less than perfect grammar and enunciation.
My "French" relatives of my grandmother's generation (descended
from French-Canadians who immigrated in the early 1600s) tended to
speak with an accent and word usage that seemed a bit "strange" to
me. I occasionally still notice a little of that around Algonac,
Michigan.
I've been told that my first-generation "German"
great-grandparents and their neighbors, who immigrated in the late
1850s, insisted that their children and grandchildren speak only
proper English, although they often spoke German among themselves,
especially when they didn't want the children to understand what
they were saying.
I think that my predominantly German ancestry neighborhood still
tends to use "correct" English, and tends to avoid assuming a
"first name" familiarity for any adult who isn't a family member
or childhood friend. I still rather prefer the formality of
addressing adults as "Mr.", "Mrs.", or "Miss" with their surname,
but it seems that this is generally perceived as being overly
formal and rather standoffish. Also, many "liberated" women seem
to take offense at being addressed with the traditional "Miss" or
"Mrs." instead of that (to me, horrible sounding) new "Mizz".
For me, understanding someone (not necessarily "well-educated")
from the Southeastern states, can sometimes be a bit difficult.
For example, to me, Southerners in general seem to pronounce "pen"
exactly the same as "pin". But my four years in the Navy somewhat
accustomed me to understanding various regional accents. In
particular, on the U.S.S. Coral Sea, I was assigned as the
"running mate" (to help someone find his way around the aircraft
carrier, which can be a bit difficult at first) for a new shipmate
from Lumberton, North Carolina. At first, we could hardly
understand each other (he was also a Seminole, which might've
added to the difficulty), but after a week or so, I understood him
easily enough, but then, when I spoke to anyone else, they often
asked me to "say again".
Quote:
I married a girl from Michigan therefore I am precluded from
speaking for or against "Midwest speak."
"Midwest"? I tend to think of Michigan as being the heart of the
"Great Lakes Region"! To me, people from Indiana, for example,
have a very peculiar (and rather amusing) "twang" to their accent.
But surely she wouldn't object to your saying something "for" her
manner of speaking? Or maybe you just aren't allowed to notice
that her accent isn't exactly the same as everyone else's?
Regards,
James
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