American Tongues

             The video American Tongues is an illustration of the aspects of geographical linguistics within the United States, mainly dealing with dialects. A dialect is a regional variation of a particular language, and in this case the language is American English. Variations of English that result in local dialects are discussed, reasons for dialect differences are given, and attitudes about dialects are shown in the video.
             There are several ways that dialects form from "standard" languages. First there is accent or the way the language is pronounced. Second there is vocabulary and the different words used to describe the same item/activity. Third there is grammar or the way the words are put together into sentences. Last there are language functions that deal with the way language is used in social situations.
             Many reasons why dialects differ regionally are given. The first are settlement and migration patterns. Early settlers have a large impact on the local dialects that form in the area. For example, the early English who settled North America brought different English accents (such as London, Liverpool etc.) to different regions of the U.S. Next, contact with other languages such as words from foreign languages become part of the vocabulary of the dominant language when a foreign language is or was spoken in an area. An example of this is the African language or "slave talk" that made its way into the southern part of the U.S. Last there is the issue of isolation. Both physical isolation (such as rivers and mountain ranges) and social isolation (such as race and ethnicity) tend to develop and maintain local dialects.
             A large part of the video is spent discussing people's attitudes about different dialects. One issue brought to light is prestige. When a group is socially prestigious their dialect tends to also be prestigious and imitated. An example is white males. There dialect te
             ...

More Essays:

APA     MLA     Chicago
American Tongues . (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 06:57, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/58453.html