Monday, October 29, 2007
Language Varieties.
Reading some of the other posts, it made me think of something. Does the interpretation of whether a variety is slang or just it's own variety depend on who is interpreting it? Because with the British and American english, do the British think that we are using thier standard English but adding a horrible accent and "twist" to thier rules for the language? And even though many throughout the world assume that english is American English, do all countries? And are there places where, when the word English is thought of, the British version is what comes to mind instead?
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3 comments:
Carlene makes an interesting point. I had not though of that. It goes to show that for a way of speaking to be considered language, dialect, or hybrid must be determined by the speakers of that "language". If enough people speak it, then it becomes recognized or naturilized (if this term even applies here) :)
Yes, I think for sure that the interpretation of slang or variety depends on who is interpreting. Well, unless you are talking about someone who actually knows the difference between slang and variety. But, the average layperson will probably assume that slang is a "reduced" or "unintelligent" version of a given language. That term has negative connotations, I think.
I can say, for sure, that in my travels to England, some folks think I'm butchering their language and that my accent is terrible. But, others don't. Some just think it sounds different.
There are plenty of places around the world where English is thought of as British, particularly all across India and lots of places in Africa. I would say that essentialy, it depends on the history of the countries, and which empire colonized them: was it England or America?
Tiffany
Carlene is brilliant, I never thought of the whole; British and American English side. Right after that I instantly thought that, let's say that the British think we took their language and put our native tongue to it and made it slang, than who do we think we are when other ethnicities try to learn our language with their native tongue. . . ?
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