The Reality of Dialects--

Dialects are an unavoidable reality, and our judgments about them are never neutral. We make judgments about social class, ethnicity, regional background, education and a host of other social characteristics based simply on the kind of language people are using.  In fact, many people believe that language differences are the single most reliable indicator
of social position in our society. When we live a certain way or belong to a certain group, we are expected to match that lifestyle with our talk, and when we do not, people notice.

Language differences seem to be unavoidable in a society composed of a variety of social groups, but such differences are not unique to America. Any civilization (past or present) with social and geographical dispersion can be expected to possess language diversity or dialect differences.

Defining Dialects--

Almost everyone has some notion of what the term dialect refers to. However, the formal or technical definition of the term in linguistics is different from its popular definition in some important but subtle ways:

1. Most importantly, dialect is a neutral label used to refer to any variety of a language shared by a group of speakers.

2. Languages are always made up of various dialects or varieties, and to speak a language is to speak some dialect of that language.

3. There are no particular social or attitudinal evaluations of the term (no "good" or "bad"); it is simply how we refer to any language variety that typifies a group of speakers within a language.

4. Finally, socially privileged or "standard" varieties are every bit as much a dialect as those varieties spoken by isolated, socially marginalized groups whose language differences are socially stigmatized.

Dialects: The Popular Viewpoint—

Judgments (often negative) about a dialect typically characterize these popular viewpoints. Typically, they exist on a continuum:

1. Dialect refers to people whose speech is noticeably different from our own. This is typically an individual perception.

2. Dialect refers to varieties of English whose features have become widely recognized throughout American society.

3. In the most extreme case, dialect refers to a kind of deficient or “corrupted” English. In these instances, dialect is perceived as an imperfect attempt to speak “correct” or standard English.

These popular, and often negative, misconceptions about dialects have often been described in terms of the Difference-Deficit Controversy or the Linguistic Inferiority Principle. Language scholars have attempted to educate people about why these perceptions are wrong.

REMEMBER! Dialects are NOT deviant or corrupt forms of a language but different language systems that operate according to their own rules and patterns. See the Exercise on A-Prefixing as an example of this.

Dialect Myths and Realities--

Myth: A dialect is something that someone else speaks.

Reality: Everyone who speaks a language speaks some dialect of the language; it is not possible to speak a language without speaking a dialect of the language.

Myth: Dialects always have highly noticeable features that set them apart.

Reality: Some dialects get much more attention than others; the status of speaking a dialect, however, is unrelated to public commentary about its special characteristics.

Myth: Only varieties of a language spoken by socially disfavored groups are dialects.

Reality: The notion of dialect exists apart from the social status of the language variety; there are socially favored as well as socially disfavored dialects.

Myth: Dialects result from unsuccessful attempts to speak the "correct" form of a language.

Reality: Dialect speakers learn their language by imitating members of their speech community who speak the same variety, not by failing to mimic speakers of the standard variety.

Myth: Dialects inherently carry negative social connotations.

Reality: Dialects are not necessarily positively or negatively valued; their social values are derived strictly from the social position of their speech community.

Problems with Terminology--

Many linguists now believe that because of the pervasive, popular misconceptions about dialects, the term "dialect" itself is problematic because it carries negative connotations. Many linguists use one or more of these neutral terms in place of the term "dialect": 1) language difference; 2) language variety; 3) language variation; 4) speech differences. We will use all of these terms interchangeably in this course (including
the term "dialect" in its neutral sense).

Standard English and Vernaculars--

Although every variety constitutes a dialect of that language, one particular variety or dialect usually is regarded as the standard. In our language, we call this variety Standard English.

Language Academies-- In some countries (most notably, France and Spain) language academies have been established that are responsible for determining what forms (spoken and written) are considered acceptable for the normative "standard." They determine, for example, what new words are allowed to be included in official dictionaries, and what grammatical forms and pronunciations are standard. In the United States, we do not have such an institution, and attempts to establish one have failed. However, the reality of a Standard American English still exists. Whether or not there is an institution to regulate language, language standardization to some degree is usually inevitable. Ultimately we can attribute this to underlying principles of behavior in which certain social codes (fashion or morality, for example) are established as normative for society.

When we consider Standard English, we need to distinguish between two different aspects or levels of operation:

1. Formal Standard English or Prescriptive Standard English—

Although we do not have a language academy, the norms of our language are prescribed by recognized sources of authority such as grammar and usage books, dictionaries, teachers, and educational institutions. Typically, Formal Standard English (FSE) is based on the written, rather than the spoken, language and is codified by the sources of authority listed above. As a variety of English, it tends to be very conservative, so that it is the last language style or variety to be affected by any changes going on in the language. FSE is likely to be found in formal kinds of written language and in formal kinds of spoken language, such as speeches and ceremonies. In everyday conversational speech, there are very few people who consistently speak FSE.

2. Informal Standard English (ISE)—

This spoken variety represents the attempts by speakers to conform their speech to FSE and is determined by the actual usage patterns of speakers.  While FSE relies on outside, prescriptive authorities, ISE is based on the actual kinds of assessments that different members of American society make as they judge the speech of others. In other words, listener judgment is essential in determining socially acceptable norms for ISE (ie, judgments about ISE can be fairly subjective). Consequently, ISE always exists on a linguistic continuum between standard and nonstandard poles. Different judgments will be made based on multiple norms of acceptability, including regional and social considerations. However, ISE seems to be determined more by what it is not than by what it is.  For example, if speakers with strong regional pronunciations avoid the use of socially stigmatized grammatical structures (eg., double negatives; irregular verb
forms), they often will be considered as speakers of Standard English. In this way, ISE is defined negatively.  If a person's speech is free of structures that are considered "nonstandard," then they may be considered standard. This also suggests that there may well be more than one uniform "standard" in America.

Vernacular Dialects—

At the other end of the continuum of standardness are varieties that are often referred to as nonstandard English dialects or vernacular dialects. This includes any variety of the language that is outside of ISE. Like ISE there are a number of different social and regional factors that contribute to the making of a vernacular dialect. However, unlike ISE (which is largely defined by the absence of socially stigmatized features) vernacular varieties seem to be characterized by the presence of socially noticeable or obtrusive features (something that marks them as nonstandard). While vernacular dialects are determined by actual usage patterns of speakers, the judgment of listeners is essential in determining social unacceptability.