Teenage speak and beyond
Tom Zurinskas
truespel at HOTMAIL.COM
Sat Jun 2 11:54:21 UTC 2007
I think the affect of TV and other media on dialect is under-rated. Data
are below. My hope is that dialect changes more in agreement with spelling
(the alphabetical principle) than less. But I think the dynamic doesn't
work that way. Much uv the trend is to replace harder to say vowel (like
"awe") with easier ones to say (like "ah").
If a kid drops a home accent for a media accent that would be a good thing.
They could become eligible for a job in media, whereas with a think accent
maybe not.
Embargoed for release until:
9:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, March 9, 2005
Media Multi-tasking” Changing the Amount and Nature of Young People’s Media
Use
Bedrooms Have Become Multi-Media Centers
Kids Say Parents Don’t Set or Enforce Rules on Media Use
Washington, D.C. – Children and teens are spending an increasing amount of
time using “new media” like computers, the Internet and video games, without
cutting back on the time they spend with “old” media like TV, print and
music, according to a new study released today by the Kaiser Family
Foundation. Instead, because of the amount of time they spend using more
than one medium at a time (for example, going online while watching TV),
they’re managing to pack increasing amounts of media content into the same
amount of time each day. The study, Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18
Year-olds, examined media use among a nationally representative sample of
more than 2,000 3rd through 12th graders who completed detailed
questionnaires, including nearly 700 self-selected participants who also
maintained seven-day media diaries.
The study - which measured recreational (non-school) use of TV and videos,
music, video games, computers, movies, and print – found that the total
amount of media content young people are exposed to each day has increased
by more than an hour over the past five years (from 7:29 to 8:33), with most
of the increase coming from video games (up from 0:26 to 0:49) and computers
(up from 0:27 to 1:02, excluding school-work). However, because the media
use diaries indicate that the amount of time young people spend “media
multi-tasking” has increased from 16% to 26% of media time, the actual
number of hours devoted to media use has remained steady, at just under 6 ½
hours a day (going from 6:19 to 6:21), or 44 ½ hours a week. For example,
one in four (28%) youth say they “often” (10%) or “sometimes” (18%) go
online while watching TV to do something related to the show they are
watching. Anywhere from a quarter to a third of kids say they are using
another media “most of the time” while watching TV (24%), reading (28%),
listening to music (33%) or using a computer (33%).
“Kids are multi-tasking and consuming many different kinds of media all at
once,” said Drew Altman, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Kaiser Family
Foundation. “Multi-tasking is a growing phenomenon in media use and we don’t
know whether it’s good or bad or both.”
Media in the bedroom. Children’s bedrooms have increasingly become
multi-media centers, raising important issues about supervision and exposure
to unlimited content. Two-thirds of all 8-18 year-olds have a TV in their
room (68%), and half (49%) have a video game player there. Increasing
numbers have a VCR or DVD player (up from 36% to 54%), cable or satellite TV
(from 29% to 37%), computer (from 21% to 31%), and Internet access (from 10%
to 20%) in their bedroom. Those with a TV in their room spend almost 1½
hours (1:27) more in a typical day watching TV than those without a set in
their room. Outside of their bedrooms, in many young people’s homes the TV
is a constant companion: nearly two-thirds (63%) say the TV is “usually” on
during meals, and half (51%) say they live in homes where the TV is left on
“most” or “all” of the time, whether anyone is watching it or not.
Parental rules. While prior studies indicate that parents have strong
concerns about children’s exposure to media, about half (53%) of all 8-18
year olds say their families have no rules about TV watching. Forty-six
percent say they do have rules, but just 20% say their rules are enforced
“most” of the time. The study indicates that parents who impose rules and
enforce them do influence the amount of time their children devote to media.
Kids with TV rules that are enforced most of the time report two hours less
(2:01) daily media exposure than those from homes without rules.
“These kids are spending the equivalent of a full-time work week using
media, plus overtime,” said Vicky Rideout, M.A., a Kaiser Family Foundation
Vice President who directed the study. “Anything that takes up that much
space in their lives certainly deserves our full attention.”
The study was released today at a forum that included a keynote speech by
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and a roundtable discussion featuring FCC
Commissioner Michael Copps, Hip Hop artist Common, and top executives from
the video game and television industries. The discussion was moderated by
CNN’s Jeff Greenfield and a webcast will be available by 1:00 p.m. ET today
at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/healthcast/kff/09mar05 .
Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL5+
See truespel.com - and the 4 truespel books plus "Occasional Poems" at
authorhouse.com.
>From: Paul Johnston <paul.johnston at WMICH.EDU>
>Reply-To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Subject: Re: Teenage speak and beyond
>Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2007 02:38:29 -0400
>
>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster: Paul Johnston <paul.johnston at WMICH.EDU>
>Subject: Re: Teenage speak and beyond
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Check out any number of books and articles, from Macafee (1994)
>through Lippi-Green (2000). Basically--there are such things as
>media-borne innovations, but they tend to be (1) lexical and (2)
>buzzwords or catch-phrases. Usually these have a short shelf-life.
>We generally don't copy pronunciations (unless they are embedded in
>the above buzzwords, and ONLY in them) so consciously from the media,
>since pronunciation is something that (for most people) is more or
>less fully-learned by age eight or so. We may partially acquire a
>second accent as we move around--some do this more than others--but
>the acquisition is a slow and incomplete process. What the media's
>main effect is--and here, I'm in complete agreement with Caroline
>Macafee's work--is softening us up to accept change by promoting
>anything that is new as cool, and anything traditional as too old-
>fashioned to use or, alternatively, rather artificially authentic
>("antique" or "retro") but even here, this affects the parts of the
>language we learn throughout our lives (vocabulary) more directly
>than pronunciation, etc. It does figure in the decline of certain
>traditional dialect features.
> The idea that people--even teenagers--pick up new pronunciations
>(as
>opposed to certain kinds of catchphrases) from TV or the movies is
>largely a myth. If these kids are shifting their vowels, it's
>because their friends--or people they know who they want to be like--
>are shifting theirs.
> Incidentally, when I was doing a sociolinguistic survey in urban
>Scotland in 1980-83 (see my article on Variation in the Standard
>Scottish English of Morningside in English World-Wide, 1985), the
>upper-middle class young women's speech were doing some of the same
>things Valley Girls were---/a/ was backing, /E/ and /I/ were
>lowering, /u/ was fronting--though without diphthongization, /o/ was
>diphthongizing in the same fashion, and there were voice quality and
>intonational similarities too. No connection, though--it seemed to
>be a reaction to something local called the Morningside Accent, with
>just the opposite vocalic characteristics--think of the way all the
>adult female characters speak in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie--and
>associated with snobbery and conservatism. The way the girls spoke
>was beginning to be cartooned by the boys of the same age group, who
>started calling it the "Ahctually Ahccent", because the word
>pronunced "Ahctualleh", beginning sentences, was a stereotype. Oh,
>yes, and young girls had it too, not just adolescents, and the
>process continues with the next generation. But it sure knocked me
>for a loop when I first heard Frank Zappa's "Valley Girl" in '82.
> By the way, I've heard the vowel shifts you describe from young,
>pre-
>adolescent girls in upscale New York suburbs like Morristown, New
>Jersey too--and some of these changes might be even older than the
>'80s in this area (notably /ae/-lowering). I think some
>contemporaries of mine (born 1950) had them.
>
>Paul Johnston
>
>On Jun 1, 2007, at 5:45 AM, Richard Vallis wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster: Richard Vallis <rvallis at OPTONLINE.NET>
> > Subject: Re: Fw: Teenage speak and beyond
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > ---------
> >
> > Thank you for confirming my observation. I think "hitting the
> > media" is a
> > vital point in the spread of this. The media can instantly affect
> > speech
> > patterns, especially among the young who are so hooked on it. I
> > really would
> > like to know if there are any studies that have been done on this
> > talk.
> > Although not universal, it is pervasive enough to be an annoying and
> > corrupting element in many American young people's speech.
> > (Don't forget "sax" or "sux" for "sex.")
> >
> > Richard Vallis
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Tom Zurinskas" <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
> > To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2007 10:42 PM
> > Subject: Re: Fw: Teenage speak and beyond
> >
> >
> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail
> > header -----------------------
> >> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> Poster: Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
> >> Subject: Re: Fw: Teenage speak and beyond
> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> -----
> > -----
> >>
> >> Good point, Richard. Interesting the dynamic of how accents
> >> start. They
> >> can start with kids, just like clothing styles change. If it hits
> >> the
> > media
> >> and can spread like wildfire - totally arbitrary and capricious
> >> and in
> >> violation of spelling conventions. I hear "keds" for "kids" and
> >> "sex"
> > for
> >> "six". My favorite is "chooldren" (Where "oo" is as in "wool") for
> >> children.
> >>
> >> Another favorite is what I call the California power purr.
> >> (linguists
> > must
> >> have a term for this, hopefully not in greek). It's a purring
> >> sound down
> > in
> >> the vocal chords that show a very relaxed casual, almost fay
> >> attitude,
> > like
> >> nothing is bothering me, I'm so above it all I'm purring
> >>
> >> Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL5+
> >> See truespel.com - and the 4 truespel books plus "Occasional
> >> Poems" at
> >> authorhouse.com.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>> From: Richard Vallis <rvallis at OPTONLINE.NET>
> >>> Reply-To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >>> Subject: Re: Fw: Teenage speak and beyond
> >>> Date: Thu, 31 May 2007 21:05:20 -0400
> >>>
> >>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >>> -----------------------
> >>> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >>> Poster: Richard Vallis <rvallis at OPTONLINE.NET>
> >>> Subject: Re: Fw: Teenage speak and beyond
> >>
> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> ------
> > ----
> >>>
> >>> In my experience, the individuals to which I refer, DO NOT
> >>> speak this
> >>> way
> >>> prior to adolescence. They acquire an affectation after the
> >>> onset of
> > their
> >>> teen years. Hence, it is not a regional speech pattern.
> >>> It can be heard in Great Neck, Rosllyn, Scarsdale and New
> >>> Rochelle in
> > the
> >>> New York City vicinity where I live, and in upwardly mobile
> > neighborhoods
> >>> of other metropolitan areas.
> >>> Perhaps you might want to dig a little deeper into this.
> >>>
> >>> Richard Vallis
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> ----- Original Message -----
> >>> From: "Michael H Covarrubias" <mcovarru at PURDUE.EDU>
> >>> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >>> Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2007 7:40 PM
> >>> Subject: Re: Fw: Teenage speak and beyond
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail
> >>> header -----------------------
> >>>> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >>>> Poster: Michael H Covarrubias <mcovarru at PURDUE.EDU>
> >>>> Subject: Re: Fw: Teenage speak and beyond
> >>>>
> >>
> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> -----
> >>> -----
> >>>>
> >>>> Better points than anything I was trying to make. Well taken.
> >>>>
> >>>> Michael
> >>>>
> >>>> Quoting "Gordon, Matthew J." <GordonMJ at MISSOURI.EDU>:
> >>>>
> >>>>> Both the lowering of /E/ and the backing of /ae/ are found in
> >>>>> the =
> >>>>> California Shift and the Canadian Shift. People inclined to
> >>>>> believe
> > in
> >>> =
> >>>>> chain shifting might chalk these movements up to the presence
> >>>>> of the
> > =
> >>>>> low-back merger (cot=3Dcaught) in both these regions. But, feel
> >>>>> free
> >>> to
> >>> =
> >>>>> ignore such structuralist explanations and continue
> >>>>> psychoanalyzing.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Self-promotion: http://www.pbs.org/speak/ahead/change/changin/
> >>>>>
> >>>>> -Matt Gordon
> >>>>>
> >>>>> -----Original Message-----
> >>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>> In what appears to be an attempt at speech sophistication, the =
> >>>>> adolescent
> >>>>>> girl (and occasional guy) characteristically distorts the vowel =
> >>>>> sounds,
> >>>>>> especially the "e" as in the word best. Best becomes "bast" or
> > =
> >>>>> "bost" or
> >>>>>> "bus." Better becomes "batter" as the mouth opens wide to
> >>> accommodate
> >>> =
> >>>>> this
> >>>>>> apparently classy way of enunciating. Other vowel sounds are =
> >>>>> similarly
> >>>>>> affected by the sophisticatedly wide open mouth. Bush becomes
> >>> "bahsh"
> >>> =
> >>>>> and on
> >>>>>> it goes, endlessly. What's more daunting, is that the individual
> > =
> >>>>> continues
> >>>>>> this distortion into post adolescence and beyond when a young
> >>> person's
> >>>>>> apparent need for "fitting in" and peer pressure would seem to be
> >>>>>> diminished.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Television personalities and actors have generally been purged of
> >>> it,
> >>> =
> >>>>> but it
> >>>>>> maddeningly rears itself, wide-mouthed, in commercials. What's =
> >>>>> surprising is
> >>>>>> that most listeners don't seem to notice the bend in
> >>>>>> pronunciation
> > =
> >>>>> until it's
> >>>>>> pointed out to them....
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Richard Vallis
> >>>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
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>
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