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The role of language in culture
The role of language in culture
The role of language in culture
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When, in the course of human language, it becomes necessary for people to create or redefine, words or phrases to express an object or an action; and to assume, among society, the acceptance and usage of these words and their definitions, in one’s own language, or idiolect. A decent respect to the opinions of mankind, requires that
Americans should recognize slang adopted into language.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that language is expression of thought, in the form of speech or written symbols, that have agreed-upon meanings. That, many large speaking languages contain dialects, or other versions of languages within a community, that are different in some aspects of grammar, pronunciation, or vocabulary.
That, because language is a form of one’s own ideas and expression, everyone possesses his or her own individual language, or idiolect. That, not only does perception change language, but that language changes perception. That, through the course of history, idiolects have shaped dialects, which have shaped language, which in turn, have shaped concepts. Conservatives, indeed, will dictate that languages will follow a narrow path toward a standard language. And accordingly, expression will follow the rules and guidelines that limit thought, rather than the ability to rethink old vocabulary and enrich new ones. When we speak, write, learn, and think in a slowly evolving vocabulary, which does not adapt to the more rapid introduction of cultures, concepts, fashion, and technology, we must add new meaning to conventional vocabulary. Such has been the language of Conservative American English speakers and writers, who have discouraged the use of creative language and the use of dialects and idiolects. Many individuals have not noticed that new vocabulary is, at many times, adopted into one’s language. A large number of slang words and phrases have been considered standard in today’s daily speech.
To prove this, let us claim a few of the many slang terms that have been adopted.
Slang has been used, where other words seemed unfit to describe a thought or feeling: "Awesome."
"Radical."
"Cool."
"Far Out"
New words that were created to describe new technology:
A "cellular" or mobile telephone.
The "internet" or the computer and modem accessed information highway.
"Electronic mail" or computer generated mail.
A "beeper" or an electronic paging device.
Metaphors, similes, and creativeness also create slang:
A coward is a "chicken."
Money is "bread."
A "ride" is a car.
One thousand dollars is a "grand."
People eat "grub."
Smoking marijuana is the same thing as smoking "weed" or "pot.
In the article “Do You Speak American?,” Robert MacNeil is trying to reach the american public, especially those who do not have a complete understanding of the ongoing changes that are happening to the English that is spoken throughout the United States. He uses a multitude of examples to prove this very fact. For one he wants to inform the people that one reason for this change is that average people now have more influence in the way language is spoken.Which to him is a good thing. He enjoys the new evolution that American English has undertaken. He believes that it is a step in the right direction. Another, example he uses are the changes different regions and/or group of people have made on the English language. He uses the different accents and dialect to show the growth and improvement that occurred. Even though, some linguist view these changes as wrong, MacNeil views them as necessary and as something that is unique to the United States. In essence, a necessary growth that only makes the United States grow into a better country. Thus, making it more diverse.
Most people who grow up with a foreign language spoken in there house grow up with an advantage in society. This advantage can only occur once the individual learning that foreign language also learns the dominant language spoken in that country. Once both of these languages are learned and mastered, the individual has now placed them se...
being taught in their family’s language. What they seem not to recognize is that, as a socially
African American Slang has had many other names: Ebonics, Jive, Black English, and more. The Oxford English Dictionary defines slang (in reference to language) in three different ways: 1) the special vocabulary used by any set of persons of a low or disreputable character; language of a low and vulgar type 2) the special vocabulary or phraseology of a particular calling or profession; the cant or jargon of a certain class or period 3) language of a highly colloquial type, considered as below the level of standard educated speech, and consisting either of new words or of current words employed in some special sense. Whatever one’s perspective on slang, it is a natural and inevitable part of language. In this paper I will discuss examples of current slang being used that some people may not understand.
Another difficulty cultures deal with is language and the way people speak. In some cases, people struggle to belong by making changes in the way they speak the English language just to be assimilated. They attempt to use words and letters, as well as body language that fit in the norm; all in an attempt to denounce their original intonation and style of pronunciation. One ...
Language and dialects as unintelligent and not beautiful. Folk linguistics can be visible when comparing Standard English and African American language. Some individuals
Style has been an integral component in the field of linguistics. Linguistic style refers to a person’s speaking pattern, which can include different features such as pace, pitch, intonation, syntactic patterns, etc. Styles of speech is learned, and is often influenced by location, gender, ethnicity, and age. As different cultures and sub-cultures arise, linguistic variations occur and different sociolinguistic styles come into being. Each style can index social meanings such as group membership, personal attributes or beliefs.
Languages are continually changing and developing, and these changes occur in many different ways and for a variety of reasons. Language change is detectable to some extent in all languages, and ‘similar paths of change’ can be recognised in numerous unrelated languages (Bybee, 2015, p. 139). Since users of language all over the world have ‘the same mental processes’ and ‘use communication for the same or very similar ends’ (Bybee, 2015, p. 1), similar changes occur on the same linguistic aspects, and in many cases these changes produce similar results in multiple languages. However, language change is limited by the function it performs. Languages must be learnt to such an extent which allows communication between the generation above and below one’s own (McMahon, 1994, p. 5). Hence language change is a gradual, lethargic process, as only small changes in
Most children learn language with remarkable ease, but how are we to account for this extraordinary fact? The problem plaguing our understanding of language and language acquisition can be described as. How can one learn anything genuinely new and become linguistically creative and how this learning is possible at all, unless one already has some path into language, for example, a suitable framework in which language learning takes place? It is this framework that interests us here.
There are three main theories of child language acquisition; Cognitive Theory, Imitation and Positive Reinforcement, and Innateness of Certain Linguistic Features (Linguistics 201). All three theories offer a substantial amount of proof and experiments, but none of them have been proven entirely correct. The search for how children acquire their native language in such a short period of time has been studied for many centuries. In a changing world, it is difficult to pinpoint any definite specifics of language because of the diversity and modification throughout thousands of millions of years.
As a society evolves the culture and language also begins to change. The language changes because it is always trying to adapt to its community. For instance, the word tattoo has several associations to it that include self expression, criminality, and identification. This is a wide range of definitions for a word that is simple body modification. It was created as a mere accident when someone who was hurt rubbed their wound with soot and ash, and later discovered that the mark would not go away (Tattoo Temple).
Swain, M. (1993). The output hypothesis: Just speaking and writing aren't enough. The Canadian Modern Language Review/La Revue Canadienne Des Langues Vivantes, 50(1), 158-164.
For many years, the thought of English being the official language of the United States has come with a little controversy. Some argue that English should be the official language because it is the most dominant language in the world. Some believe by doing so, it would create a stronger unity among the American people. Proponents believe that although the United States is diverse, it may be too much for the American people to juggle multiple languages. Others believe that English shouldn’t be the official language and instead be one of many prominent languages that are widely used in our nation such as Spanish, French, and Chinese. I believe English should be the official language in the United States. However, I believe more emphasis should be placed on learning new languages especially among youths in school and during developmental stages.
Language is the basis of human communication. It is a cultural and social interaction, and the way language is used is influenced by the circumstances in which it takes place (Emmitt, 2010, p. 49; Green, 2006, p. 2). Children become aware that there are different types of language, including languages used at home, at childcare and at school, as they observe and participate in various language situations (Fellowes & Oakley, 2014, p. 39). Some of these languages may be unfamiliar, and children will need to learn the different roles and uses of language. The different roles of language in a child’s life are, therefore, part of their growing understanding of how to behave in society and in a particular context. As they experience different types and uses of language, children develop an understanding of how to use language appropriately for any given situation.
"Varieties of English: American and British." Switched On Schoolhouse. CD-ROM Rock Rapids, Michigan Alpha Omega Publications 2008.