LL-L "Language varieties" 2003.02.13 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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From: Alannah Stepa <astepa at shaw.ca>
Subject: Dialects


I have know knowledge of any attempts to preserve dialects but I am now
living in a country (Canada) that, apart from a small area in The Maritimes,
is devoid of them. I was brought up in England and at the age of about 14
decided that I should forsake my native dialect and learn to speak "The
Queen's English" in order to make myself more acceptable in a social
environment that judged a person on ones ability to speak in a, so called,
comprehensivable voice that was lacking any trace of ones area of origin.
Almost all the anglicanised colonies have not developed the specific,
regional variations in speech that is so prevalent in countries where the
language originated and evolved over hundreds of generations, instead of
being newly introduced by immigrants from many countries that have unified
their language. Many have addopted traditions that have transformed language
into a uniform vision of what is acceptable. One of the beautiful things
about dialects is that the language they embrace is not about acceptability,
but what has evolved from many of the things that are not considered
incorrect by most of society.
This can also be translated into the written form, although some may not
consider this as an important issue to be taken into account, when they
consider that dialect is confined to conversation alone, but into all the
forms that language embraces. When I first arrived in Canada I had a place
in a local schools. (I was 28, here school, this was a difficult concept for
me because I left "school" many years ago to enter college) My final
semester paper was marked by the English course professor, who although he
gave me a 100% grade, told me that if I wanted to "be read" should learn to
write in Canadian/American as my sentence structure was too long and complex
to be comprehensive by the average North American reader and now I relish
the chances I have of reading "real English", the way I have learned it as a
child.

Now when I see and hear any English content, be it on the television, in
films or on the internet I cherish the heritage that I have and hope that it
continues to flourish. I have to translate many idioms, and this in turn is
a large part of dialect, and Cockney is a typical example, into Canadian and
explain how they came into being, the historical and social meanings that
another "English" culture can never understand. It would be terrible if this
part of the language was lost, be it in Dutch, German or Japanese or any
other ancient and long evolving language.

----------

From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Language varieties

Thanks for your contribution (above), Alannah, and welcome to Lowlands-L and
to the Gallery of the Unlurked!

I expect that what you addressed is close to the heart of many people on
this list, judging by what more "vocal" Lowlanders have been saying over the
years and by what subscription applicants tend to write under "Purpose."  Of
course, to a large extent it is a case of preaching to the converted,
because virtually all people that join Lowlands-L are interested in language
diversity to one degree or other, though I do not want to jump to the
conclusion that everyone is interested in diversity of "dialects," namely of
non-standard forms of languages.

While I do not know your current age, I know from what you wrote that you
are definitely beyond the age of 28.  On this basis, please allow me to say
that I think your case is fairly typical of people who by way of time and/or
space emotionally and intellectually return to their linguistic and cultural
roots and in doing so acquire a more general, if not global level of
appreciation of linguistic and cultural diversity.   Some do so earlier than
others, and some get there mostly through time while others do so mostly
through space.  A few very insightful ones require neither but get there by
way of some sort of epiphany in their youth (like several of the
"youngsters" we are fortunate to have on Lowlands-L).  Most frequently, I
hear that people come to appreciate and return to their native language
varieties in more advanced age, in their "settling down" phase of life, so
to speak.  Others gain this appreciation after having been transplanted,
typically to other countries or linguistically and culturally very different
parts of their countries, frequently -- like you and me -- to countries in
which there is little or no diversity or in which open expression of
diversity is not fully condoned (i.e., beyond lipservice and tokenism) and
tends to result in marginalization.

I am under the impression that people can be most easily provoked to reject
non-standard varieties in themselves and in others when they are quite
young, because that is the time of life in which you feel a need to be
socially fully acceptable, "popular," the time of life when the urge to mate
and thus the need  to be perceived as "normal" (= "attractive") are
strongest.  I believe that this is why language policies affecting formal
education, certainly pre-tertiary education, are so crucial.   Like you, I
was given strong signals by my elders to reject my linguistic roots, and
peer pressure did the rest (except that in my particular case the damage was
obviously not permanent).   Maturing whilst living in Australia and in the
United States and intellectually/academically dealing with linguistic and
cultural diversity in various parts of the world (other than my own!)
eventually led me to "rediscover" and finally "embrace" my own heritage and
those heritages that are closely related to it, and to cherish them in my
settling-down phase.

Over the years many people have written and talked to me about their shifts
in attitude and about their regrets of having little or no proficiency in
their ancestral language varieties.  Some do manage to acquire it later, but
more often than not resources are lacking or inadequate, or lack of
confidence and guidance is an issue.  This is why creating such resources is
so important.  I also believe that it is important to let politicians,
educators and parents know about such experiences and regrets in hopes of
preventing perpetuation of linguistic and cultural impoverishment as a nasty
side-effect of nationalization and globalization (the latter of which, in my
opinion, is not necessarily a bad thing if balanced with safeguards and
promotion of diversity).

There you have my Euro's worth.  Something tells me that this is not the
last response to your posting.

Best wishes,
Reinhard/Ron

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