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Varieties-and-Invented-Languages-3
Varieties-and-Invented-Languages-3
I. Learning objectives
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
describe the strategies used to represent a certain language and
dialect; and
examine the different language variations and how it contributes to
the overall meaning of a text
Language Varieties
We all speak in a slightly different style and this style is likely to vary depending upon
the context and purpose of an interaction. Linguistic styles also vary across regional and
social groupings, so an individual’s speech style tends to be influenced by the place(s)
where they live, the nature of their education, and the communities of which they are a
part. Distinctive languages and linguistic styles are referred to in linguistics as varieties.
Authors often use eye dialect, or nonstandard spelling and phrases in writing, to
convey a character’s speech patterns. Eye dialect is effective in literature when the
writer uses it for a specific purpose, such as characterization or establishing a setting.
Pygmalion. George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion (later adapted into the 1956
stage production and 1964 film My Fair Lady) uses its characters’ dialects as a
main plot point. In the first scene, Eliza Doolittle chastises Freddy’s mother in her
Cockney accent, which Dr. Henry Higgins overhears.
Ow, eez ye-ooa san, is e? Wal, fewd dan y' de-ooty bawmz a mather should,
eed now bettern to spawl a pore gel's flahrzn than ran awy atbaht pyin. Will ye-
oo py me f'them?
Eliza’s dialect makes her line difficult to read. It translates to standard English as,
“Oh, he’s your son, is he? Well, if you’d done your duty as a mother should, he’d
know better than to spoil a poor girl’s flowers, then run away without paying. Will
you pay me for them?” Shaw notes in his stage direction:
Here, with apologies, this desperate attempt to represent her dialect without a
phonetic alphabet must be abandoned as unintelligible outside London.
Eliza’s dialogue is written in more standard English in subsequent lines, but this line
exists to establish how incomprehensible her accent can be. The majority of the
play’s characters, including Higgins, speak with standard English to contrast Eliza’s
dialect. Higgins takes on the task of changing Eliza’s speech and therefore her
social station, reinforcing the importance of one’s dialect as a character trait.
COGNATE ELECTIVE 2 – Stylistics and Discourse Analysis
Establish Setting. Dialect can be an effective way to bring a reader into the
characters’ world. These stories typically include characters with very similar
dialects. They are typically told in the first first-person perspective, though some
bold stories may carry a dialect into a third-person narration.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. One of the most enduring examples of a story told
in regional dialect is Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In one of the
most famous examples of dialect in children’s literature, Twain famously weaves
several different dialects throughout the story, as explained in his preface.
But as the narrator, Huck Finn himself carries a distinct dialect throughout the entire
story. Here, Huck describes a conversation in which he tells Miss Watson he’d prefer
“the bad place” (hell) to sitting through a spelling lesson with her.
Huck’s restless, boyish perspective carries the reader through his adventures. Twain
limits eye dialect in this case, as too much nonstandard phrasing could be
distracting in the long term. However, when Jim speaks, his dialect as a Southern
slave is much more distinctive:
“Say, who is you? Whar is you? Dog my cats ef I didn’ hear sumf’n. Well, I know
what I’s gwyne to do: I’s gwyne to set down here and listen tell I hears it agin.”
Jim’s dialect represents speech that Twain describes as the “Missouri negro
dialect.” The vernacular was popular in literature such as Gone with the Wind by
Margaret Mitchell and Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. However, it
can be considered stereotypical and racist in modern society.
Example of Idiolect. While your dialect can be shared by others raised in the same
area, your idiolect represents a speech pattern that is yours alone. It includes your
dialect as well as your life experiences, allusions, preferences, sayings, verbal tics,
and any other element of your speech. Every person – and literary character – has
a unique idiolect.
The fall
(bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrho
unawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk!) of a once wallstrait oldparr is retaled
early in bed and later on life down through all christian minstrelsy. The great fall
of the offwall entailed at such short notice the pftjschute of Finnegan, erse solid
man, that the humptyhillhead of humself prumptly sends an unquiring one well to
the west in quest of his tumptytumtoes: and their upturnpikepointandplace is at
the knock out in the park where oranges have been laid to rust upon the green
since devlinsfirst loved livvy.
COGNATE ELECTIVE 2 – Stylistics and Discourse Analysis
The idiolect here includes Christian gospel (or “mistrelsy”), several brand-new
words, lots of nonstandard spelling, and clever turns of phrase common to Joyce’s
writing (“laid to rust” rather than “laid to rest”). Joyce’s previous works, such as A
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Ulysses, use language and dialect to
firmly establish Ireland as their setting. But the idiolect Joyce created for Finnegan’s
Wake is so unique that it is regarded as almost untranslatable to other languages.
III. Activity/Assessment
Read the story “How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife” by Manuel Arguilla.
Create an analysis. Identify what language variation/s are used, explain how it was
used in the piece and how it contributed to the overall meaning.
Note. The analysis must be in paragraph form with introduction, body, and
conclusion. Provide in-text citations.
References: