“Do you speak American?” Journalist and writer Robert MacNeil asks this question across America to investigate how and why people speak the way they do. Watching this documentary prompted me to ask myself this same question. Do I speak American?
I believe this is somewhat of an absurd question. There are numerous dialects that fill our country from east to west, north to south. Not one person can speak American. It is however, the hundreds of dialects that build upon each other that create the American Language. The manner in which I speak contributes to the complete American Language.
Normal is how I would describe the style I speak. I am surrounded by my friends who speak exactly in the same fashion as I do and am therefore acceptable. The word “like” comfortably occupies the space between every other word. “Ya’ll” is the name that I address to all my friends. The speed in which I say my words are long and drawn out. Particular characteristics that make up my dialect are ordinary in the region I live but may be uncommon elsewhere.
It was always an experience visiting my cousins in Philadelphia and New Jersey. They would make fun of the way I speak just because it was different. My cousins however, did not realize that I thought the same about their dialect. At times I could not even understand the words they said. For example, the word “geeyet” means “did you eat yet”, and “wotaice” is “water ice” meaning a slushy. These words were foreign to me. The fact that each dialect possesses its own words and pronunciations brings out the importance of standard American English.
I do not believe by any means that everyone should speak standard American English, but I do think everyone should be educated in it. The Academic English Mastery Program, mentioned in the documentary, is a valuable step to bringing the fundamentals of standard English to children. It is beneficial that they teach in a manner that does not condone their native language.
Language expresses your identity. It demonstrates who you are what you want to be. Your own dialect encompasses qualities of your personality, geography, culture, and social status. Just as there is not one personality and culture in America, there is not one single American Language. Appreciating the dialect you speak is accepting your individuality as well.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Language as identity, entirely true. You point out how you have language conflicts with those family members from the North, makes your identity with them. I like how you have recognized that language is the main way that we are identified, whether we are from different continents, or from different regions, we are identified by our language.
I really like how you question if you speak American. Does anyone really speak American? Does American even exist? I definitely agree with you on thinking that I, myself, speak American, and the people who speak differently than me, don't. Language is definitely one way we identify ourselves because it differentiates us from other people.
Truthfully, I think that to have a standard form of Enlish labled as correct is to lose identity of what made it. The recognition that it is evolving should be made by those traditionalists that want to preserve it the way it is.
Post a Comment