<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><div><span>Dear Gareth , </span></div><div><span>Concerning your observation on youth speaking English in an 'inappropriate way' follwing the standards , I think that the role of a linguist is to decribe the linguistic situations and not to prescribe how people ought to speak . So, I understand your worries but we have nothing to do because it is a part of the natural human linguistic behaviour that we should observe , discuss and comment without judging !</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>all the best </span></div><div><span>Dr Mostari</span></div><div><span>Algeria </span></div><div><br></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><font size="2"
face="Arial"><hr size="1"><b><span style="font-weight:bold;">From:</span></b> Christina Paulston <paulston@pitt.edu><br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> Language Policy List <lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu><br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cc:</span></b> Dominika Baran <dominikabaran@gmail.com>; "Patrick, Peter L" <patrickp@essex.ac.uk>; David Britain <david.britain@ens.unibe.ch><br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Saturday, August 20, 2011 4:13 AM<br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: [lg policy] Ghetto grammar robs the young of a proper voice<br></font><br>Gareth,<br> I don't think I would make it so obvious to everyone on this list that you lack an understanding of linguistics. Not to bore everyone, one example will suffice, I don't think the French would quite understand what you mean by tedious double negatives., n'est-ce
pas? Or if it comes to that, English speakers: " It is not for nothing Chomsky does not pay taxes" was a popular counterexample during the Vietnamese war. And why is "innit" vacuous, it packs in one word the meaning of three, "is it not" - surely the very opposite of vacuous.? Etc. And metathesis with words like ask has been around for a very long time -- it is not increasingly fashionable.<br> Gareth, it is wonderful that you mentor young people but don't belittle them for the way they speak. They learned it from their family and friends -- you really want to tell them that they are squandering the glory that was England by the way they speak ? Christina<br><br><br><br><br><br><br>On Aug 19, 2011, at 8:44 PM, Gareth Price wrote:<br><br>> More on language and rioting, this time from Lindsay Johns in the<br>> London Evening Standard on Monday ...<br>> <br>> In the
wake of the riots, last Thursday evening, there was only one<br>> topic of conversation among the young people I mentor in Peckham.<br>> Thankfully, none of my mentees were involved in the disturbances. Yet<br>> almost all told me they had received the mass BBM broadcasts, written<br>> in street slang, inviting them to join in the thuggery.<br>> <br>> The English language is an incredibly rich inheritance. Yet it is<br>> being squandered by so many young people of all races and backgrounds.<br>> Across London and other cities it is increasingly fashionable for them<br>> to speak in an inarticulate slang full of vacuous words such as<br>> "innit" and wilful distortions like "arks" for "ask" or tedious double<br>> negatives.<br>> <br>> Full story: <a href="http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23978523-ghetto-grammar-robs-the-young-of-a-proper-voice.do"
target="_blank">http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23978523-ghetto-grammar-robs-the-young-of-a-proper-voice.do</a><br>> <br>> --Dr. Gareth Price<br>> Visiting Assistant Professor<br>> Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies<br>> 316 Languages Building, Box 90259<br>> Duke University<br>> Durham, NC 27708-0259<br>> USA<br>> _______________________________________________<br>> This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list<br>> <a ymailto="mailto:lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu" href="mailto:lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu">lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu</a><br>> To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format: <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list</a><br><br>_______________________________________________<br>This message came to you by way of the
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