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CUNNING
LINGUISTICS
Karen Stollznow - B@D
LANGUAGE
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Are some
languages better than others?
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Can people speak
in tongues?
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Is
F.U.C.K an acronym for: For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge?
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Can graphology reveal
information about personality?
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Is it wrong to say aks instead of ask?
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We all hold personal beliefs about language, words we prefer,
prejudices about accent and spelling... but how can we tell fact from
fiction? Let's investigate some myths and misconceptions about language!
Should we ban the 'N-word'?
The fact that we censor and euphemise this word
illustrates that this is one explosive word bomb, one flammable fighting
word, and one titanic taboo.
In November 2006 Seinfeld’s ‘Cosmo Kramer’ (not better
known as the actor Michael Richards) performed at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood, California.
Following a dose of heckling (something every stand-up comedian should
expect and deflect), Richards burst into a tourettesque
tirade of racial vitriol in which he made gratuitous use of the n-word. A
media circus followed the incident, whereby a well-meaning group, including
Reverend Jesse Jackson, Reverend Al Sharpton and
a chastened and contrite Richards, called for a ban on this word, and other
racial epithets.
Should we ban this word? The real
question is: can we ban this word? The short answer is ‘no’,
and the long answer is…
Consider the unsuccessful bans placed on
alcohol during the Prohibition period in the US, and the ongoing prohibition
against other drugs. Comparing language prescription and drug prohibition
isn’t such a long bow to draw. Ban alcohol, people will still drink.
Ban drugs, people will still sniff, snort, smoke and shoot up. Ban words
and people will still speak them.
How would society ‘ban’ a
word anyway? How would this ban be policed? Muzzle people? Pre-screen
speech? Monitor the home? Censor media? To some extent, we have already
tried expurgating the use of the word…but it’s still there. We
can dust it under the dictionary, hide it from
television and radio, reproach the use of it in society…but
it’s still there. In fact, making a word more taboo will only ensure
its continued existence. Banning the n-word would ‘heighten’
the taboo…and also increase its power.
An attempt to ban language is an attempt
to ban thought. Picture some ignorant twat deciding what you can and cannot
read, hear and think. That’s prejudice in a different way. This
1984-style control simply won’t work, and it isn’t a good thing
to try to achieve. But let’s not obscure the real issue here:
attitudes. The word (an arbitrary symbol infused with ‘bad
meaning’) is there to label the attitude.
Keep in mind that the n-word is very
offensive in some varieties of English, in some usages. In Australia, New
Zealand and the UK, most exposure to the word
is from US sources. It is a tool of prejudice, but there’s an obvious
paradox here too. As much as the n-word is taboo, ironically, it is a
common, common word. This is due to a process that many of you will have
heard about: reclamation. In an empowering move, the in-group (those that
have been a target for the word) have reclaimed/recovered/rescued the word.
When this happens, a derogatory epithet develops a positive sense that can
ameliorate the word itself. This has happened with other words like queer and gay (thankfully for my Mum, whose name is Gaye). This is why
the n-word is so taboo, yet I heard it in a song yesterday, in a movie last
night, and on the BART (train) this morning.
Banning a word implies illegality, which
further implies punishment for language ‘misdemeanours’.
Imagine crossing the street and being fined for jaywalking and listening to
NWA. Imagine being fired from your job because you use a word such as
niggardly that only bears a bloody resemblance to the taboo word and isn’t
even etymologically related to the taboo word (Guess what? This actually
happened).
In the history of the English language,
societies have tried to ban words. The sacrilegious Jesus! and Christ! that you now so flippantly
utter when you stub your toe, or the orgasmic Oh God! were all once illegal, with a
stiff penalty. During the middle ages in Britain, blasphemy was
punishable by death. Not only am I not joking, but this is still the case,
in some other societies, and some other religions.
Let’s time travel for a moment,
stepping outside of our modern minds. Did you know that mob (short for mobile vulgus) was once considered a
crude abbreviation that supposedly reflected loose morals in society? Did
you know that calling someone a cad, bounder or blackguard was once as
offensive as calling them cunt, bitch or prick today? Did you know that there was a time where the
n-word only meant ‘a dark skinned person’ and didn’t have
any negative connotations? We are a product of our own society. The n-word
hurts today, but it won’t always mean what it means right now. Reclamation is healthy, and may be the first step to the eventual
‘whitewashing’ of the word whereby it will lose its
‘sting’.
The whole situation has spawned copy cat
calls to ban other ‘offensive’ words. In a December 2nd poll,
Yahoo! Australia mused, “Do you think the word Pom is offensive and should
be banned?” At last count, 87% said ‘no’, 5% said
‘yes’ and 7% said ‘don’t care’. The moral of
this story is, language is a runaway train, and we don’t, and
can’t have complete control over it.
Here is the official advice from a
linguist (with a silly hat). Don’t bother trying to ban the word. Let
in-group members continue to reclaim the word. Let’s not worry about
so-called ‘bad’ words, but instead worry about bad attitudes.
Let the n-word take its natural course and one day (or tens of years later)
it will be about as offensive as mob.
Trust me, I’m a doctor.
I don't have an accent!
Oh yes, you do!
What are some misconceptions about accents?
My brother lives in London and jetsets between the UK
and Germany
for business. For this reason, he’s learning German. During one
class, his teacher enthused:
“Your German is so good that you don’t even have an accent!
You sound like you’re from Hannover!”
Of course he has an accent when he speaks German…and
that’s why the teacher linked the accent to the Hannover
region. The teacher probably meant:
1. Your German sounds natural and is unaffected by your Aussie
English accent.
and/or
2. People from Hannover have a
Standard German accent.
A
‘Standard’ accent is the one with the most social prestige.
This is the pronunciation that’s taught in schools and used by news
anchors and in broadcasting. It isn’t inherently superior, but
becomes the ‘Standard’ by way of sociolinguistic, cultural and
economic factors. Think about how London is England’s socio-economic ‘Mecca’, and the
(non-Cockney) accent from that area is considered to be ‘Standard
British English’. ‘Standard’ does not necessarily mean
the most common accent. ‘Standard’ does not mean the
‘best’ accent, as this would be a subjective, unscientific, prejudiced
assessment.
I lectured in linguistics at a university in San Francisco where at least half of the
class didn’t believe that they
had an accent. ‘Why, only people from Texas
and New York
have accents!’ Curiously, people from Texas
and New York
think that it’s those Californians
that have accents…but y’all do…
Everyone
has an accent. Some readers might think, ‘No shit! That’s
obvious!’ But it’s not obvious, smart arse.
A survey
held in Britain
in 2005 revealed that 7% of respondents don’t believe they have an
accent. I would claim that the actual figure is even much higher than that.
We’re all prisoners of our own culture. Living within a society,
we’re surrounded and bombarded by a majority accent. To us, that
accent sounds natural and other accents sound different. Sometimes we
confuse the familiar accent as being ‘right’, and the different
ones as being ‘wrong’.
Accents don’t just vary at the level of nationality (e.g.,
Aussie) or region (e.g., Boston).
They also vary with the individual (e.g., you). Your accent is a
‘fingerprint’, a totally unique, distinctive way of talking
(linguists call this an ‘idiolect’). It isn’t fixed
though. It can change, with the right combination of influence and interest.
Recently, some twit asked me, “Why don’t you sound
American yet?” Okay, I’ve been in the States for two and a half
years now, and my accent now sounds a little different to me. But, by
contrast, this difference is generally imperceptible to Americans (and
non-linguists). Your accent does leave a Hansel and Gretel-like trail of
where you’ve been. Obviously, it takes awhile for a new accent to
‘kick in’. Other factors can influence this process too,
whether you want to adopt
an accent (convergence) or don’t
want to adopt it (divergence).
Another twit drives around with a bumper sticker on his SUV
proclaiming: ‘Welcome to America. Now…speak
English or get out!’ What a funny fuck! This pseudo-patriotic,
prejudiced twit has no control over who speaks what and where. This is a
dynamic process that he can only witness. American English may be the
fastest growing version of English…but Spanish is the fastest growing
language in America…
Accents are like ‘tracking devices’ that can reveal
where you’ve been. The field of Forensic Linguistics
investigates this area. In August 2005, a militant video
of an al-Qaeda fighter was found. A forensic linguist was able to determine
several aspects of the fighter’s identity, that he had been raised in
Australia
and possibly had parents of Middle Eastern descent. This area is useful in
legal cases, especially for identification, transcription and in authenticating
recordings.
So, accents can reveal our regional origins, but they can also
suggest what kind of social circles we move in. Compare the Queen of
England’s accent to that of a miner in Yorkshire.
Accent can also provide info about your economic background and education.
Stop practicing your accent…I can hear you right now!
What accent can’t tell
us about is personality. Accents are plagued by stereotypes. Many people
have bad attitudes towards various accents, and make judgment calls about a
person on the basis of their accent. Those with a US Southern
accent are country bumpkins. Australians are friendly and laid back. The
English are pompous. These may be funny or cruel, and even appear to be
correct at times, but they are always
generalisations. A Texan may be a stupid, gun-totin’ bible-bashin’
redneck racist… but that’s completely independent of accent!
Unfortunately, there isn’t an accent that proves someone is an
‘arsehole’, an ‘idiot’ or a ‘liar’. You
have to listen to what people say, not how they say it…
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