Myths about Language PDF

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LING102 – English Language

Week 1

Language Myths (Part 1) Language Myths  Beliefs about language which are produced and reproduced within particular communities. Becomes part of a cultural ideology (‘folk wisdom’) which is used to evaluate language and account for it. However these ‘folk beliefs’ are inconsistent with linguistic ‘facts’.

Myth 1: Posh British English people don’t drop letters of words when they speak There are examples of the Queen not pronouncing all of the d’s when she says the word ‘and’. Dropping  Omitting to represent a letter in Standard Written English spelling T’s are often not ‘dropped’ but replaced with a glottal stop, all people drop some type of t’s, e.g. ‘letter’ and ‘the’. Some t’s can be dropped depending on the surrounding sounds. In the past ‘f’ and ‘v’ were used in the same words but pronounced differently, however this was later prescribed but is still evident in some words such as ‘of’. Dropping some letters is actually prestigious such as ‘trait’ and can be linked to conservative upper-class speech (e.g. “’ospital”). Myths ignore the complexity of actual usage. This suggests only people with a good grasp of grammar will succeed but there is no perfect standard of language. Different language varieties exist in different contexts. “It is a good rule, with respect to pronunciation, to adhere to the written words, unless custom has clearly decided otherwise” (Lindley Murray, An English Grammar, 1808, p.38) Working class are seen as illiterate, unable to speak effectively – 1980 Education Act = The first legislation to look at education in Britain. 1880 Act = Made attendance compulsory between ages 5-10. 1944 Act = Created secondary schools and allowed girls and the working class to attend with free meals.

Myth 2: American English is ruining British English Movie vs Film – Both terms increased in usage post-2000 due to cultural influences and other contextual factors (e.g. society, technology) (Leech 2009) Modal verbs have been used less in both British and American English. Unknown/irrelevant factors may have caused this. ‘Dodgy’ terms (e.g. kissogram) are stereotypically associated with being American in origin. However the etymology shows it’s actually from Britain. Follows the idea that change is bad and new language forms are of low value. “language change equates with language decay” (Milroy 1999:175)

Prescriptivism Involves standardising the English Language and creating rules which are meant to be followed (prescribed) and to avoid others (proscribed). It’s seen as the more dominant idea in society. “Should not be dismissed as it helps define how language is” (cf. Cameron 1995) Descriptivism Describes linguistic facts based on observation, approach and experimentation.

Language Myths (Part 2) Myth 3: People are abandoning polite English A common assumption, Londoners are seen as representing all of Britain. Another incorrect assumption is that the working class are rough, uneducated and aggressive. In Johnson’s Dictionary (1755) politeness is described as “elegance of manners; gentility; good breeding” Culpepper & Archer (2008) Looked at 1200 requests in trial proceedings and drama from Shakespeare’s era. Then = 1 in 3 requests were simple imperatives (e.g. “fetch me water”, “go” etc) Now = 1 in 10 requests (cf. Blum-Kulka et al 1989) are simple imperatives Politeness isn’t just what people say, it’s how it’s perceived, this changes overtime/throughout time. Using simple imperatives in Shakespeare’s era was not seen as rude. We’re now more of a democratic society driven by a Freudian philosophy. Old values clashing with the new: Victorian Values vs Express Yourself Philosophy (cf. Cameron 2008) Corporations/businesses now expect and want employees to be direct and authorative. Reversed Standard Language Ideology Different contexts mean different ideologies & different ideologies mean different values.    

Facts are only as good as the methodology Linguists describe facts (based on observation, experimentation and argument) Myths are a part of ideologies, can be investigated and described Linguists look at relevant myths, corresponding attitudes towards English and the consequences

Politness  “elegance of manners; gentility; good breeding” (Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, 1755; Sheridan 1790; Webster 1828)

Linguistic Theory of Language

Folk Theory of Language

‘Standard Language Ideology’

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Good English (= written standard)

[Ordinary English]

- Other Englishes - Dialects - Spoken English - Recent English - Sub-English

Bad English

- Errors - Ungrammatical English - Incorrect English - Impolite English...