Teenage speak and beyond
Dennis Preston
preston at MSU.EDU
Sat Jun 2 13:06:30 UTC 2007
Affect vs. effect (for those who have them as
homophones) is a pretty good example of how
English 'morphological' spelling is pretty handy.
dInIs
>---------------------- Information from the mail
>header -----------------------
>Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster: Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
>Subject: Re: Teenage speak and beyond
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>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-taskingî Changing the Amount and Nature of Young Peopleís Media
>Use
>
>Bedrooms Have Become Multi-Media Centers
>
>Kids Say Parents Donít Set or Enforce Rules on Media Use
>Washington, D.C. ñ Children and teens are spending an increasing amount of
>time using ìnew mediaî like computers, the Internet and video games, without
>cutting back on the time they spend with ìoldî 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),
>theyíre 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 ñ 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 ìmedia
>multi-taskingî 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 ‡
>hours a day (going from 6:19 to 6:21), or 44 ‡ hours a week. For example,
>one in four (28%) youth say they ìoftenî (10%) or ìsometimesî (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 ìmost of the timeî while watching TV (24%), reading (28%),
>listening to music (33%) or using a computer (33%).
>
>ìKids are multi-tasking and consuming many different kinds of media all at
>once,î said Drew Altman, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Kaiser Family
>Foundation. ìMulti-tasking is a growing phenomenon in media use and we donít
>know whether itís good or bad or both.î
>
>Media in the bedroom. Childrenís 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 1‡
>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 peopleís homes the TV
>is a constant companion: nearly two-thirds (63%) say the TV is ìusuallyî on
>during meals, and half (51%) say they live in homes where the TV is left on
>ìmostî or ìallî of the time, whether anyone is watching it or not.
>
>Parental rules. While prior studies indicate that parents have strong
>concerns about childrenís 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
>ìmostî 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.
>
>ìThese kids are spending the equivalent of a full-time work week using
>media, plus overtime,î said Vicky Rideout, M.A., a Kaiser Family Foundation
>Vice President who directed the study. ìAnything that takes up that much
>space in their lives certainly deserves our full attention.î
>
>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
>CNNís 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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>> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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