Lecture 24

Lecture 24 -- Summary Outline

Language and Society: What Your Speech Says about You

By Valerie Fridland

The Changing Face of Linguistic Diversity

People are often interested in two questions related to the subject of

linguistics: (1) Are English dialects becoming more similar over time,

and (2) What effect does mass media have on language? It seems

obvious that the massive exporting of English and American pop culture must

be shaping the way people communicate in some fashion, but surprisingly,

these questions are understudied by theoretical linguists. In this lecture, we

will take a look at the opposing forces of convergence and divergence in

language, both at home and abroad. We’ll examine both the power and the

limitations of linguistic imperialism. And We’ll find out if the global reach

of popular media is, in fact, shaping the way English is spoken worldwide.

I. The Question of Convergence

A. Convergence can be as simple as borrowing vocabulary words or as

complex as acquiring new grammatical rules. It is much more likely

in the former case than the latter. For example, we have easily

picked up the words sake and sushi, but we don’t generally adopt

Japanese grammatical word order.

B. We can also discuss convergence in terms of decreasing numbers

of languages in the world overall or in terms of linguistic leveling

across regionally distinctive forms within a single language.

C. Adding to this complexity, language is driven toward divergence

in response to social pressures, such as gender, race, and class.

Cultural and social motivations often ch‘ive us to speak differently,

either because of geographic or social separation or a desire to set

ourselves apart.

D. Why might we want to converge or diverge linguistically? In yotn'

own experience, do you pick up on certain styles of speaking when

the person you’re talking to is someone with whom you identify

strongly? Do you sometimes move to a formal, impersonal style

because you want to distance yourself from someone? These

questions point to the power of identity construction, which is

crucial to the issue of convergence.

II. Identity Construction

A. In an earlier lecture, we discussed a number of social factors, such

as migration, geography, ecology, and group reference, that help

to form and maintain dialects. Quite frequently, as we’ve seen,

language changes occur in ways that make speakers more distinct

from others. This leads to the recognition of specific dialects and, in

some cases, the birth of new languages. In fact, this is how English

came into existence in the first place.

B. Language divergence happens when speakers move away from each

other for economic, sociopolitical, or psychological reasons. Often,

this occurs simultaneously with a population shift, as in situations

involving colonization, migration, or war. Insofar as these same

pressures affect us today and into the future, it is unlikely that the

process of linguistic divergence will disappear altogether.

C. However, languages or language varieties also become more similar

over time. For example, the early settlement of the United States led

to increasing divergence from dialects in England. As the settlers in

the New World established social and cultural ties, a new koine was

formed-a new variety of language resulting from the mixture of

various language inputs. As a result of this New World koine, the

children of the early settlers began to speak more like one another

and less like those who stayed behind in the original homeland.

D. Likewise, the emergence of a standard language in the face of

many regionalized or local varieties often has a homogenizing

effect to some degree on the local varieties themselves. Thus, in

our own history, colonists began to see their land not as isolated

settlements but as a united band of colonies in opposition to the

British government. This recognition of greater similarity across

groups brought greater linguistic convergence. In other words,

regionalisms, though still present, became part of a larger, more

recognizable “American” dialect-bringing with it symbolic unity.

E. Sometimes this linguistic standardization occurs not just at the

national level but also at the international level. The expansion of

a nation economically, politically, or militarily can establish that

language as an international linguistic model. In modem times,

this process of standardization has certainly intensified with our

increased global connectedness and reliance on CMC.

III. The Global Expansion of English

A. Over the last century, English has spread rapidly around the globe

in its role as a language of diplomacy, economy, and entertainment.

For those speaking a less economically or socially advantageous

language, there is something to be gained by teaching their children

English or adopting English as a second language themselves.

With such widespread adoption of English, we certainly seem to be

converging toward a smaller set of dominant languages.

B. At the same time, this expansion gives birth to new and diverging

dialects of English. Many world Englishes have now moved

beyond being just second languages. They have become thriving

separate dialects, in some cases, with a native speaker base of

their own. This is true in Singapore, West Africa, Hong Kong, and

the Philippines.

C. The key to the development of world English has been contact-

situations in which two or more groups of speakers are forced

to interact and communicate with each other. This contact alone

establishes a new form of language, particularly when members of

one group must acquire a language to meet a dominant group’s needs.

D. In the case of English, indigenous language speakers adopted

the variety brought to their land by British colonizers, starting in

the l6“‘ century. Over time, these varieties developed uniquely to

represent the cultural and linguistic diversity of those speaking it.

E. Though it may seem that the colonizer simply instills a dominant

linguistic code, it is rare that the experience of the linguistic groups

involved is that rigid and fixed. Instead, though the language may

be imposed by a politically and economically dominant group, it is

altered and shaped by the experiences of the indigenous population.

Of course, it is here that English takes on the role of the “killer”

language-when it begins to encroach on the domains of the

indigenous language that preceded it.

F. Although such spread of English is often taken as evidence of

increasing linguistic homogenization, that is far from true.

1. Over time, the English of another land comes to represent the

social and cultural aspects of those speakers in the same way

that Southern speech in the United States has come to represent

a different history and way of life in the South. It is from this

perspective that we seem to fear English’s globalization-not

because of a fear of homogenization, but because English

becomes something else to someone else.

2. The dark side of this convergence is that it typically results in

the death of some languages, particularly those that don’t have

a large number of speakers.

G. Even granting the serious nature of this phenomenon, we should

remember the forces of linguistic divergence. As English becomes

more widespread, speakers become proficient at creating global

varieties that come to represent group identity.

IV. The Effects of Mass Media

A. If we think of linguistic movement toward similar vocabulary,

or “Iexis,” as being a meaningful type of convergence, then we

can certainly say that movies, television, and online media are

promoting convergence around English forms. For the most part,

though, linguistic change beyond new vocabulary requires true

social engagement and interaction.

B. Despite extensive contact with mainstream varieties, the social cost

of convergence still outweighs the potential benefits. Thus, in every

major city of the United States, ethnic varieties are alive and well.

This suggests that we are far from convergence toward a single

variety of English, despite mass media and increasing mobility.

C. Of course, we still find evidence of convergence. Although ethnic

varieties retain their distinction from mainstream English, it’s

often true that this distinction is now maintained by fewer, more

recognizable features, rather than by a large collection of linguistic

characteristics. This process, in which fewer but salient features do

the work of social identification, is called linguistic focusing.

D. We also find that changes in U.S. migratory patterns have affected

what were once salient ecological differences among American

dialects. For example, over the last century, rural dialects have

atrophied Migration to cities has created both dialect contact and

a motivation for speakers of rural dialects to shift toward more

standard forms. Research suggests that similar dialect leveling is

occurring in Great Britain.

E. To some degree, changes in modern speech can be traced to

exposure to pop culture and the media. The most obvious examples

here include the spread of vocabulary items or phrases. What else

does our mass media export?

1. In general, research has found little support for the idea that

grammatical and phonological patterns are diffused via media

Picking up an isolated pronunciation of a word is not unusual,

but deeper levels of linguistic influence require peer group

interaction and local rewards for using new forms.

2. There is limited evidence, however, that popular media might

be able to spread some phonological alternations. This is

true only if the media norm plays into a linguistic and social

ideology that already exists in the target community. In other

words, some research suggests that exposure to norms already

familiar and accessible at some level within a community can

be assisted by modeling in pop culture.

V. Linguistic Unity?

A. As we’ve discussed, there is a consistent trend toward linguistic

leveling across a number of regional dialects. However, there is

also ample evidence of divergence.

1. Earlier, for example, we saw a number of vowel changes

affecting the regional dialects of American English. This is

in contrast to what we might expect given accessibility and

contact patterns.

2. In addition, vowel patterns in Englishes worldwide, such as

New Zealand English and varieties of Southern British English,

are also showing divergent vowel systems. Such tendencies

suggest that at the level of phonology, there is not a great deal

of convergence overall.

B. We also have found no evidence that access to mass media has

introduced much beyond vocabulary worldwide. In other words,

social interaction remains the primary means through which

language changes. Limited social engagement, such as that typically

found among speakers of different global English varieties, limits

the degree to which language converges toward shared nouns.

C. Most importantly, though, the belief that we are headed toward

linguistic convergence doesn’t take into account the fact that

linguistic diversity serves an important role. Dialects are about

communicating identity as much as about communicating facts.

D. Throughout this course, we have seen how much our language

differs depending on who is using it and who we are talking to.

Clearly, these influences will not lessen or fade away soon.

Language, as long as it is part and parcel of social identity, will

remain a flexible and evolving tool to reflect our differences, as

well as our similarities.