Discussion 2: Language differences I have noticed…
What differences have you noticed in the ways people use language?
Think first about regional differences, then fill in the other major social categories: age, gender & sexuality, ethnicity & race, social class (working class, middle class, upper class).
Then think about broader “community” categories– categories like surfer, stoner, prep, jock, drama/theater kid, band geek, hipster, princess, dork/nerd/geek, meathead, etc.
Are there any groups that stick out in your mind as people who use language in a specific or unique way? What– exactly– are they doing with their language that seems different to you?
To get fullest possible credit, comment on the main post (this one) and at least two other classmates’ posts as well. Make sure to use tags in your responses along with any other media (images, maps, audio or video clips) that you think might help illustrate your point.
This will be available until Thursday morning. Go a-linguisting!
-doug
D5 Creation
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A language difference that I notice is that a lot people that are from chula vista like myself tend to use spanglish way too much. The fact that there is a lot of Hispanics obviously influences that but over the years I have noticed that even non Spanish speakers that spend lots of time with spanglish speakers tend to imitate words like “porque” instead of why or “Ni modo” instead of oh well.
It is odd to realize now, but I am from a primarily white, middle-class area, and even though we were almost all taking Spanish classes in order to graduate, I don’t think that I heard spanish being spoken between any students outside of class even once. I suppose it was actually shamed at my school, even though I don’t think that it was ever done outright. I had an odd experience in this regard, when I began working at McDonald’s. I “knew” spanish and had been around it in class a lot, but it was so foreign to me when I listened to my managers talk amongst themselves. It ended up being extremely eye opening to me, realizing how close-minded my school/area was.
I come from a similar school type that excluded anyone else that wasn’t speaking plain english or American Sign Language. Once I moved off to college, I noticed a dramatic change to this. everyday it seems like I am hearing a new language being spoken, which is eye opening and takes away bias from my high school
I agree and disagree. I always hear a lot of spanglish even on campus, but I think spanglish only occurs when both parties are very comfortable with both languages and it is between friends or family. At least in my experience I’ve never “spanglished”(ha!) with anyone who wasn’t a family member or a friend. Even if my boss or professor spoke Spanish I would never use “spanglish”, I would either stick to just Spanish or English.
The word “guey” is another.
I’ve also noticed that this holds true to people that hang around others that speak a different language for instance when going to eat out there is a Filipino term “KKB” which means everybody pays for themselves, I’ve noticed that since I’ve been inviting my non-Filipino friends to go out with my Filipino friends, they’ve been using it every now and then.
Also, because of the rising popularity of animes and mangas(Japanese cartoons and comics) and Korean Dramas and Pop music, people have been jokingly using “sugoi”(cool) and “kawaii”(cute). which are Japanese or “daebak”(awesome) and “fighting”(which is like something to say for encouragement) which are Korean.
I come from a working class family, so most of the things that were discussed has some relation to money or whether it was a wise investment. Typically, my parents would talk about if anything needed to be fixed. After my first year of college, I stayed with a friend’s family and they were really wealthy. They typically talked about issues that seemed irrelevant, like whether the lights should use a different bulb or if the should get a rug to match the furniture. They never talked about money, but rather what things they should be spending their money on.
During my second year of college, I lived with an African American guy from Mississippi. He talked really fast and used words that I never heard before. He would talk about pop (soda) and backwoods (cigars). Often times, I would ask him to repeat what he said because I was convinced he wasn’t using English when he spoke. His words often slurred together into one long cacophonous sound. When we played drinking games, he would use insults that I never heard, most popularly, he would shout “monkey nuts” as if that would confuse the listener causing them to make a mistake.
Most of my friends are rather unsuccessful and this is apparent in how they talk. They don’t speak highly of anything or anyone useless they are really excited. Lots of them are stoners and they talk in terms of marijuana. Being a stoner, they would say things that sound really profound but if you took a minute to really think about what they are saying you would realize how dumb they are being. Typically, they also speak rather slowly and ask lots of dumb questions.
Overall, the people you associate with, where you learned your language, and the economic background you have greatly affect not only the way in which you speak, but in particular, the things you talk about and how you talk about them.
#lignuistics #regions #dialects #speechvariance #stoners #mississippi #pop
I definitely agree that we as individuals are often influenced and affected by the people we associate with, as well as our background. It’s hard to speak in a different way than the people we tend to hang out with. I realize that people will pick up what their friends say and they would start to say it too.
I too agree with the notion that you are the reflection of your environment. For example, since I was raised in Boston I had trouble Le pronouncing my “r”s but after living in southern California now I have trouble using my backwards “c” that is famously used in the word “caught”. However, every now and then, especially when I’m upset I would unconsciously fall back on my Bostonian accent. I think this is caused by the influence of my friends and generally speaking Southern Californian have trouble understanding other regional dialects other than Valley and Gringo.
Having grown up in the bay area, I have become very accustomed to using the word “hella” in all walks of conversation. I have been outright told that it makes me sound ignorant and immature. My response to this is that I am fairly intune with my intelligence, and do not need the approval of those I talk to on the streets to base my self-image or self-worth off of. I am past the point in life of caring about the judgements I may get from those around me. I use “hella” because it is the slang I grew up with, and it has become natural to me. In no way does that mean that I am some idiot, who doesn’t know how to speak properly. If I wanted to sound like some stuck up old asshole in a peacoat then I would. But alas, I choose to speak to you on a more comfortable, informal level, because I want to be natural, and allow you to see what I am actually like. I don’t tend to judge people based on how they choose to talk, because I feel that there is a time and a place for seeing how proper you are capable of communicating.
Stoners. Stoners are a very interesting category of people that I find myself falling into on occasion. There is something about the various means of communication while under the influence of marijuana that can be extremely enjoyable to observe. People who are “stoned” tend to be much more open about the range of things flowing through their train of thought. This very often leads to long conversations, with seemingly impossible subjects, that are almost never found discussed in any other category of people. This group also has its own jargon, including “blaze” “tree” “bud” “ganja” “burn” “green goddess” “kush” “dank” “weed” “chiba” “chronic” “dope” “grass”.
#linguistics #language #diction #stoner #category
I feel like listening to the way people talk can give insight on the activities they like to partake in, for example if you were to blindly ask a stranger how many different terms they knew for marijuana, and they listed off 10 different names, it is more likely that they are either a stoner, or know a lot about the stoner culture for another reason. same with other social groups. Surfers are a great example.
I suppose I used to fit into this category and I have never heard anyone refer to it as the “green goddess”, “buddha”, yes but not green goddess. The thing that bugs me about stoners is they think it is a panacea. I’ve found stoners to be an incredibly boring group who are too lazy to go out and do something unless of course it involves weed.
“seemingly impossible subjects”, what do you mean by this? are you 420blazeitup having quantum physics discussions?
#420 #420blazeitup #cannabis #weed
People who are raised using a specific dialect of a language are going to differ than people who were raised in a different area under certain circumstances. Whats really amazing to me is that even if two people are raised in the same area, they still can different ways of using languages based of social status, friends, or hobbies. Specifically thinking, I am a theatre kid, and this typically means that when I speak, I articulate, I use different voices for different people when telling a story, and My expressions are enlarged.
I realized this as well, having friends that come from many different backgrounds and cultures. We were all raised in the same neighborhood, but we have different ways of using language because many of us have different hobbies and interests. I used to take Irish dance lessons, so whenever I talk about dance moves, many of my friends will be confused because they don’t dance and won’t know what I’m talking about.
The most obvious regional accent I have experienced is that of California. Usually Californians have a more extended, relaxed way of speaking. We have certain words that distinguish us from the rest of the United States such as the way we say “oh my gawd,” “hella” or “gnarly.” A good depiction of this is shown in Saturday Night Live’s skit, The Californians.
https://screen.yahoo.com/the-californians-snl-skits/
Although this is incredibly exaggerated, Californians (especially Southern Californians) do tend to give directions for everything, speak with their mouths always open, and say “like” after every other word. This tends to be more in touch with the “surfer,” “princess” or “prep” community categories.
#californians #accents #language #category #linguistics
I totally agree with your comment. looking at Californian accent from an outsider’s perspective, I can hear this relaxed way of speaking. Californian also seem to like to hold their “a”. at the start, when I just moved to California, I thought this use is a bit annoying especially when girls used it. For me, I always felt that words were extended and stretched way too much.
Not only is there significant language distinctions between people from California and other states, there’s also many regions in California alone that have distinguishable language differences. For example, I met someone here at SDSU who was a Mexican from the bay area. I, being Mexican as well, began using some of the Mexican slang that I was surrounded by in Ventura County. I used words like “firme” (cool) and “trucha” (watch out) and he had no idea what I was talking about.
One language difference I have noticed since I started to learn English is that Japanese has a lot more ways to say “I”. Basically, we have 2 diffenrent ways to say “I” based on gender, which is “boku” and “watashi”. The former is for males and the latter is for females( sometimes males use this too, to be polite). In addition to this, we also say “watakushi”, “zibun”, “ore” and so on.
I like your example because it shows a great use of how diction in a language depends on gender.
When I was learning Japanese it was extremely difficult because diction changes not only toward gender but age, time and place. But kudos to you to knowing both Japanese and English.
Im currently learning japanese. one thing about the langauge is that works can also change its meaning depending on the pitch? i ont know if im phrasing that right but like “Mou” can mean either more or already depending if you stress the u sound
Growing up in a Latino neighborhood in San Francisco, I would always hear either English, Spanish, or Spanglish. Of course you would hear the Spanish coming from those who are Latino of either middle class or working class (for a long time there was no upper class living in the Mission). When looking at “community,” I believe that Bay Area kids could be seen as one. We have our own lingo that people in Southern California hate on. “Hella” and “juiced” are some words that we say up North, but when we say “hella” down here, people tend to get very rude and claim they want to punch us in the face. They say we sound stupid, but when you are raised on it yet you are still educated, there’s a big difference. If they think they don’t sound not so intelligent when they sound like a surfer bum or valley girl saying “like” every other word, they are in denial. There are different cultures that you grow up with and there will always be a different culture from every different region that you go to. Slang is all relative no matter where you are from. I feel that anybody who isn’t a native English speaker stands out to me because every language has a certain way and order of speaking, and when they have to translate and switch to English, you notice that their word selection and way of speaking is slightly different although you can still fully understand them.
One language difference that stands out to me is the difference between social classes. Upper class people tend to be more educated, and speak with a complex, condescending vocabulary, while lower class people tend to use more slang and simple words in speech.
I agree with your point however the concept of upper class is probably at least to me partially inclusive of those BIG names we have all heard of/seen a lot of on t.v./can point out in the grocery store magazine: Oprah, Donald Trump, Barbara Walters, Obama, George Clooney, etc. They may speak with more complexity however their choice of words and/or their tone could be interpreted as being condescending.
This would not be an example of condescending, rather in regards to being more educated. I recall watching a Youtube video about the Clinton’s where Chelsea spoke of her father’s first presidential campaign:
“In 1992 when my father was running for President, Americans were asking
__________” questions.
Where I would have said important, her choice of word was “profound”.
I touched a bit on how upperclass can use a broad vocabulary. I didn’t think of it being condescending but it does make so much sense. I can really understand where you are coming from on this.
Have you ever dealt with this condescending nature of an individual yourself? I am trying to compare this with professors I have met while at University. The Clinton example is interesting, and I’m glad you pointed it out. I think a lot of politics can use large vocabulary to describe certain things, even if it is just nonsense. You hit home on this, very interesting.
I would agree in the sense that this is how rich people are portrayed against poor people but from my experience, this isn’t the case. The wealthy people I know talk as if they are just as simple minded as my poorer associates except that they hold a certain air in what they say. It is as if that since they have money, everything about them is automatically better. In this sense, the condescending tone isn’t found in the language itself but rather how they speak what it is they are saying, and how they feel about themselves as they are saying it.
Hi
here is the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4VatyYq2rw
16:55-19:18
definitions courtesy of Google:
reciprocity
noun
the practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit, especially privileges granted by one country or organization to another.
codified
cod·i·fy
verb
past tense: codified; past participle: codified
arrange (laws or rules) into a systematic code.
synonyms;systematize, systemize, organize, arrange, order, structure; More arrange according to a plan or system.
inveterate
in·vet·er·ate
inˈvedərət/
adjective
having a particular habit, activity, or interest that is long-established and unlikely to change.
in regards to condescending, I once had a Spanish profesor yell at me as if i had a personal issue with her, this was years ago at community college so I don’t exactly remember but she said something…”And I don’t like it!” and I answered her saying I’m looking at you as a student at least trying to pay attention and make sense of better conjugating the different tenses. Later on – long after her class that I did pass, she did apologize.
Also I have a relative that I don’t really deal with much because they contributed to my lack of self-esteem as a kid and in retrospect I wish I had talked back and told this person “Shut Up! “You’re not my parent” This person was condescending and liked to refer to my hair as a “mop”
“Your hair looks like a mop; don’t you want to braid it, do something with it”.. etc. I have/still wonder if a person’s choice of words in language has any kind of influence of birth order/horoscope. I occasionally read the horoscope on the same page as sudoku in the newspaper but don’t really take it seriously, this person who referred to my hair as a mop is a Capricorn and the youngest of 4.
this post I had intended to reply to McGonigal .
P.S. the person who called to my hair/lack out hair style as a mop, referred to that comment as “constructive critcism” told because they loved me.
I had a new Language expericance yesterday at the grocery store. I had a free sandwhich coupon and after placing my order and listing the topping I heard a new accent from the man making it.
I said “PEPPERS”; he said “PEPPARS” I asked where he was from originaly – he comes from New Jersey.
I would agree in the sense that this is how rich people are portrayed against poor people but from my experience, this isn’t the case. The wealthy people I know talk as if they are just as simple minded as my poorer associates except that they hold a certain air in what they say. It is as if that since they have money, everything about them is automatically better. In this sense, the condescending tone isn’t found in the language itself but rather how they speak what it is they are saying, and how they feel about themselves as they are saying it.
I agree; I think it isn’t the social class that determines how a person speaks, but the amount of education a person receives instead. This may not be true, but I am just speaking from my own experiences.
Although education has an effect on the way people use language, I think that social class affect even deeper the way people use language. it is just that some only adjust the way they speak depending on the environment they are in, or only to prove a point “stand out”.
I totally agree. I think the way people talk really represents the sociological group they greu up in, and also people in the group consider the differences as their identity.
I agree and disagree. Funds are what allow upper class people to receive a better education and opportunities which leads to an extensive vocabulary but the lower class can also do the same when given resources or aid.
Yes, lower class individuals talk in slang if improperly educated but there also some cases where lower class people can talk proper but their label entitles them to talk in slang without being judged compare to someone who was of higher class. I think it’s just all based on expectations…
I think one’s socioeconomic status is a key factor here. While the rich are able to send their kids to a private school where they will be taught how to speak properly from a young age versus those who go to an inner city school where there is a lot of slang to cover up their not so legal activities. Once you hit college a lot of this socioeconomic status goes away because your work and grade is based on skill.
Northern California comes to mind with its hecka and hella every few words compared to Southern California where if you are close enough to the beaches you will hear “dude”. Every class, female and male alike, not positive on sexuality, all races, poverty to upper middle class. It is their slang and culture that breeds this kind of vibe.
One of it’s genre creations was a form of rap called hyphe and that came to define the music of Northern California. There doesn’t seem to be one group you can pin it down to because I’ve heard of the geek listen and know about it as much as the jock.
I completely forgot about the Northern California words and phrases. It’s so true because I have also learned to start using the word “hella” and “heck” just being on campus here with people from Northern California.
I’ve never heard of the hyphe music, but it seems interesting. How did you hear about this? I guess it just goes to show how many different people listen to this, from geeks and jocks. Very interesting.
I heard about it from a friend who grew up in norcal, moved down to san diego to attend SDSU and brought with him hyphe.
I feel like the terms hecka and hella don’t necessarily come from northern California. Ive lived in southern California all my life, Chula vista to be exact and those are words that I grew up nearing all the time from classmates or family that are also from southern Cali.
I don’t agree with this. From my experience here in Southern California, people do not say hella and in fact, they frown upon it. When I lived in the dorms freshman year, I remember asking my dorm mates who were from all over the USA, if they used hella. It turned out that Southern California is the only place that doesn’t embrace the term. I believe this is a way to create a division between the North and the South as a way to perpetuate that one is better than the other although it is completely arbitrary.
I mentioned in my post about “hella” how if I use it, it’s more along the lines of “making fun of the word” and using it as a joke. We can all relate to the South Park Halloween episode where Cartman would always use that word…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pohEb7DUac
I grew up in SoCal too and people at my school were starting to use it. It wasn’t frowned upon because people didn’t like the term itself, but because it’s not originally from our area. If someone used hella people would usually just say “You’re not from the Bay Area why are you saying that?” I feel like certain areas embrace it more than others in Southern California
I’m from Seattle Washington, and plenty of people, including myself, say Hella quite frequently. The highest frequency of people who say these terms might be located in Northern California, but I don’t know if the terms originated there or not.
I am from Los Angeles and I seldom hear the term “hella,” I think the only time I will hear that word is when I go to the more “ghetto” areas in LA.
One of my suitemates is from San Diego and she says hella more than anyone I’ve met from Northern California. In fact my roommate is from the bay area and I don’t know that I’ve ever heard her say hella.
It really depends on who the people hang out with.
Let’s take the word “ham”
I use to never use “ham” but then probably last year my friends from church started using “ham” quite often and then when I got my job, my coworkers use “ham” all the time. And now I often find myself using “ham” for everything.
Go ham or go home.
I went ham on that ham sandwich.
Professor Bigham went ham on that lecture.
Other words I find myself saying because of the different people I hang out with are “fosho” “guey” “n*gga”
The most recent is ” ___ fly ___ buy” the blanks being able to be replaced with “you” and “I”. It basically means if one person provides the ride the other pays for the meal.
The weird thing is I never urban dictionaried any of the terms, I just eventually started using them.
TL;DR: the people you hang out with definitely influence the way you speak and you don’t really need urban dictionary to figure out what it means.
I did go ham on that lecture, didn’t I?
Hella originated in East Bay in the Bay Area (i.e. Oakland) and then from there it expanded. It’s annoying because it’s associated with “ghetto” and “lower class” people when in reality I feel it’s a “culture” of young people from the Bay and then it expanded throughout the West Coast. It became a hella big movement!
#hella #startedfromthebottomnowwerehere #baearea #hellaupinhere
Duuuude. I say dude way too much, to men and women even though its literal meaning is “a guy.” I grew up in Southern California, and am a Hispanic bilingual girl who has never been in touch with the “surfer/beachy” category. I have noticed that “dude” is a huge part of our language in California, especially among people our age and in SoCal.
I heard “Hella” for the first time through my dorm roommate freshman year who was originally from the Bay. I’ll admit, at first I hated it, and it became a kind of annoyance for it mostly due to some sort of rivalry between NorCal and SoCal–I don’t know why it mattered so much, but everyone else who was also from SoCal would find it annoying too (saying “this is SoCal, get that ‘hella’ stuff outta here” etc, etc).
I did hear Hyphe in high school however, which I attended in Fullerton, CA, so I’m not sure how that came down here because I knew it was from up north as well.
My friends who are originally from San Diego but are attending school in the bay area, came back for the first time last year over winter break spewing out “hella’s” like a faucet…”LOL”
I talked about the use of “hella” in my post also, and how it distinguishes Northern California from Southern California. This is what we assume, but as previously learned, some people from NorCal don’t say “hella” and some people from SoCal use it all the time. One of my friends who is from Northern California uses it all the time, and before she told me where she was from, I asked her if she was from NorCal. It’s funny how we can pick up on these slight language differences and put these types of people into different categories of region.
This is an interesting topic to discuss. Since moving into the dorms I hear a lot of new lingo from around different parts of the country. I know for me, I specifically think of my cousins who live in Pennsylvania. They say words like “wicked” “hoagie” “buggy” “crick”. I also think that depending on your class you speak differently. I think sometimes upperclass have a connotation of being more educated and therefore using a complex vocabulary while lower class will use a smaller vocabulary with less complex wording.
You can definitely tell the kind of area someone is from just by listening to how they talk. The slang that comes through, or the wording of their sentences can sometimes be an indicator of how well off the person may have been. This is NOT always the case, but is a somewhat decent generalization. You tend to find less people talking with slang and bad grammar when you look at a private high school in a rich area, while when looking at poor neighborhoods, you will see more of a broken english, because the proper way to speak and communicate is not reinforced by the community.
The differences that I have noticed in the way the people use language depends on their age in the way that they might not have a fully developed vocabulary but yet manage to be able to communicate and express themselves when they are young. When they are adults they have a variety of different words that they can use to express themselves with no problem. In regards to gender, the only difference I can think of is that sometimes men communicate using swearing words and women don’t as much. In regards to social class I see more differences because obviously a person who is not fully educated, will not be able to express themselves with elevated diction like a person who is fully educated who can express themselves in many different words. Language is also different according to where people are from, as we learned in class today using the maps.
I thought this was really interesting in class, when speaking about gender and how we categorize someone on whether they are men or woman when in reality a woman can be a potty mouth or a man can speak like a woman.
The whole swearing thing is very true. Women are looked down upon if they swear, although most people would agree that swear words are bad regardless of gender. I guess it goes back to the whole “women should be proper and polite” rule we are socially obligated to follow.
As a woman, I feel like since it’s not something I grew up used to hearing, I feel awkward and out of place when I swear, which is why I don’t do it often. I guess it just depends on the environment and also who you hangout with enough to influence you into using swear words.
See I’m also female, but I swear like a sailor most of the time. I definitely agree that it has something to do with are you grew up in and the people you hang out with. Most of my friends swear just as much as me so there’s no expectation to be “proper and polite” just because I’m female.
Great observance with the social class, and I forgot how much education has to do with language. When someone thinks of social class, they usually just look at the issue of money, but it also has to do with the schooling these children are receiving. It’s sad to learn how children with parents who are middle class or higher have a better language development, and children of poorer class families are left to fend for themselves a good amount of the time with their language. This progresses throughout their lives and this language barrier can hold them back in many parts of life.
Being from Hawaii, where we do not speak Standard American English, but rather Hawaiian Pidgin English, I can see these regional linguistic distinctions clear as day. My American side of the family resides largely on the East Cost and in the Mid-West. The English they speak there is DRASTICALLY different. California is interesting, because, especially So-Cal, it is the most similar to Hawaii, in terms of its language. Perhaps it is its relatively large Asian population, or perhaps it is its roots in the “Surfer” / “Beach Go-er” culture. I don’t know for sure.
Because I have lived in Hawaii for most of my life, and I think I can offer a unique view that no one else can, I’ll use the culture in Hawaii, or Oahu at least, for the major social categories.
Age: Age is a pretty large factor in Hawaii. Pidgin, what we speak, is a constantly changing language, and many of the words that were used in the past, maybe pre 60’s, are barely used at all, unless you grew up during those times or speak VERY VERY thick Pidgin. I’ve noticed that most of this archaic vocabulary is that which is based in foreign languages (as Pidgin is made up of many languages. If you want to know the history of Hawaiian Pidgin feel free to Google it. It’s quite interesting), mostly Japanese. For example, a word that used to used to mean “bathe”, or “bath”, was “bocha”, from Japanese. I have never heard anyone under the age of 70 say this in natural speech. Many people don’t even know what it means. This is probably because at the time when these words were used, a very large chunk of the population was either First, Second, or Third Generation Immigrants. However, now that these families have been away from their original country for several generations, a lot of the terminology seemed to go away.
Gender & Sexuality: For the most part, there isn’t a serious distinction between Male and Female speech. Of course, if you use a term such as “Tita” (auntie) to describe yourself as a male, you will be seen as either very strange or very feminine. And, likewise, if you use the word “Moke” (hard for me to define) to describe yourself as female, you will be seen as strange, scary, or Tomboy-ish. There is, however, one gender/class that does tend to speak quite differently from everyone else, and that is that of the “Mahu”. Mahu is a fairly vague term that is often used to describe somebody who is non-heterosexual, but more specifically refers to a homosexual male who is usually a transvestite/transgender. This is, of course stereotypical and discriminatory, but it is often remarked that you can always tell a Mahu by the way they speak. I personally have not had enough/ long enough encounters with (a) Mahu(s) to be able to list the distinctions.
Ethnicity & Race: *Disclaimer: Hawaii, much like any other culture, has cases of Racism and Stereotypes. While this is, of course, wrong, it is not nearly as looked down upon due to Hawaii’s history, culture, and nonchalant atmosphere. If you’re offended, don’t be.* I won’t go very in-depth into these racial distinctions because there are VERY many and hard to explain, but I will try. Filipino people who are considered FOB or are first generation most likely have a fairly thick accent, and many second generation people have a slight accent as well. The same case is true with Japanese people,but very rarely do those from the second generation have an “Japanese Accent”. However, often times those from the second generation who were raised bilingual have their own unique accent which is quite distinct from other pidgin speakers. Chinese immigrants are a little different, as the main influx of Chinese people has long since passed, and as such most families are many generations in and have all but assimilated into the local culture. The exception to this is those families who live almost exclusively in China Town. A friend of mine once said something that is strangely true: “If you grew up in China Town, you didn’t REALLY grow up in Hawaii, or wherever it is you are.” And so on and so forth. Hawaii is a melting pot and there are innumerable cultures and distinctions.
Social Class: This one is interesting. If you grew up in Hawaii in a family that did not shelter you from the local culture (yes, this does happen), then you almost certainly speak some level of Pidgin. The distinction here lies not in the ability to speak Pidgin or Standard American English (nearly all can manage both), but rather the propensity to speak either. Those in the lower/ middle class often speak Pidgin for the majority of the day. To their peers, at their work, to their family, etc. Pidgin is their primary language. However, those in the upper class will speak American English much more than others. Often it is because of their international/ interstate relationships/ employments. Another thing to take note of is that many members of the Upper class are not actually from Hawaii. A large portion, if not the majority, of the Upper class is from Mainland America or are International who have come to Hawaii for business or leisure.
Jesus this was ridiculously long.
tl;dr Hawaii is complicated.
One thing of several that I have noticed the couple of years of being here at State, is the differences people use in language. Since many, if not most, people are from outside of San Diego or California, the linguistic differences from the South Bay area of San Diego are very clear and easy to spot. From vocabulary to even tone, its different yet amazing to see the different “dialects” of English there can be throughout the US.
Being raised in a heavily Mexican populated area, Spanglish is seen as common. Most of these speakers of Spanglish have some things in common; they are first generation born in the US with parents who migrated from Mexico in recent years, such as myself. They combine the cultures, ideas, and lifestyles, and along with that comes the language to mix both. They are also younger, as there arent many older people who use Spanglish. Social class is apparent amongst them as most are around middle class, whereas most working class speak mainly Spanish only, and upper class speak English almost exclusively, although not many. These have been my observations living in the area.
As for community categories, there arent many to begin with because many identify themselves as simply Mexicans, but within this, there are a few subgroups such as those who have been Americanized and seem to forget there roots, those who seem to equally share both cultures, and those who are still getting familiar with living, or at least attending school, here in the US. These categories can be identified by the type of language they use, making it easier to identify with experience among them. I like to consider myself as sharing both cultures equally.
It is common to see a mixture of both Spanish and English, although I dont like to mix them. Some words that are used have been badly translated and have been morphed into a new word that seem normal for others, but would make a native Spanish speaker and any Spanish teacher cringe; for example, “parquear” is used to say “to park (a car)” when the correct word in Spanish is “estacionar.”
In the maps used in class, it was easy to identify certain parts of California, mainly So-Cal, as many of these Spanish and English vocabulary raced in my mind.
From your post I can immediately draw a connection between Native Americans and Mexicans assimilating into the culture of America and losing their tribal or ancestors due to wanting to not stick out as a sore thumb.
I agree, as a fluent speaker of Spanish, I notice a lot of people my age don’t want to use it. I feel as if it is a form of assimilation into the culture that is portrayed around here. The phrase “typical beaner” to describe a Mexican person comes out a lot, and it’s kind of a putdown, so I feel like the way people say things, even jokingly, makes culture disappear.
Some things I’ve noticed for people under 25:
-use of “fosho”
-trying to > “trynna”, want to > “wanna”, going to >”gonna”
-turn nouns into verbs “Google it” “instagram it”
Many Filipino-Americanss:
-use “MacDo” to refer to McDonald’s.
-mix up he/she because there is no gender pronouns in Tagalog
-“Taglish” is pretty common among Filipino Americans
-refer to an older Filipino either as uncle or auntie even though they’re not related
-some older Filipinos will refer to younger ones as “anak” which means child even though they’re not related
I like the point you brought up about Filipinos referring to their elders as aunts or uncles even though they aren’t related. Although I am Chinese and not Filipino, I do agree to the fact that many Asians often refer to family friends or neighbors as aunts and uncles. When I moved to America from China this was something that I noticed Americans don’t do. I think this is mostly an Asian practice because it’s sort of a way of showing respect to older people. I think it shows how Asians are more closely knitted and like to treat everyone like family.
In Hawaii we also largely refer to an significantly older man or woman (could actually be your aunt or uncle) as “auntie” or “uncle”. This is probably due to the large Filipino population in Hawaii. I have noticed that this is present in a lot of Asian cultures.
so I community category I belonged to a high school was that of the band crowd- (was there a musician group in class on Tues I overlooked and instead joined students?)
anyways the term was not ‘geek’ I was one of those band ‘nerds’
Band camp was held about July/start of the school year plus rehearsals about 3 times a week. Ever seen a field show (band on football field) and wonder how they know there places – training during band camp – you are a number on a chart x19 for example in your section and you gradually learn the counts of the piece your playing in accordance to your position at a given point.
In addition to the commands we learn: mark time, attention, horns up etc. Music is a language in words that go along in its written form on the sheet for example poco a poco cresc. the cresc means crecendo the whole phrase is saying at these measures aka ‘bars’ “little by little increase in volume (louder) and intensity (more feeling).
In regards to marching when you see a group holding (or not) an instrument, the people in lines are in ranks and ranks of 3+ is a ‘block’. When you see a block all marching forward that term is a ‘company front’. At my school we had “drill downs” aka Simon Says game modified with marching commands – band is one of my great high school memories and I plan on joining the Marching Aztecs before I graduate :=)
I learned ‘set’ as “1-2 Horns Up” and close as “Halt”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14UNpuwdAEg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7Qmworuw0w
hopefully you’ll be able to see the pictures
<a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=kbrpzm" – me in uniform
sheet music where I mentioned the musical language
<a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=21n3zpy"
<a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=a3p2zs"
Coming from a family which is half-British, I have noticed differences in diction between my dad’s side of the family and my mom’s side. For example, instead of saying “sidewalk,” my dad will use “pavement.” I have also noticed that in England, the phrasing of some sentences are different. For example, in America we might say something like “I really want one of those,” but my family in England would say, “I could do with one of those/them.” There are also a lot of differences in slang. I’ve never heard anyone say “awesome” over in England. Even though we speak English in both America and England, there are many differences in the way the two countries use language.
Its miraculous that In a country that speaks the same base language, there are so many different ways of using language.
It’s really interesting how many differences there are between the British and American dialects of English. Calling pants trousers, trucks becomes lorries, elevators are lifts, etc. What I wish I could figure out, is how these differences arose. I know the story behind soccer is that it was called football, but there were many different rules that people created “association football”. English was also going through a phase where it liked to add “-er” to everything (five pound note being called fivers, etc)hence as(soc)iation football was turned into soccer, and so that’s what it was called when it was played in the US and the root of the word was probably forgotten.
it is really interesting that there are that much difference between British English and American English, but it also is one of the most difficult parts in learning English. They use different expressions for the same thing, and the diffference in accent is always confusing and hard to listen to once I got used to listening to English with American accent.
Oh wow, I never actually noticed that the same language can be “constructed” differently between two different regions. I don’t know why but I’ve always had the notion that British-English is only different from American-English because of the words they use. For example, they say “lift” instead of “elevator” but I never realized that British-English can also be syntactically different. I think I would have actually been very confused if i heard the phrase “I could do with one of those.”
There are many different ways people use language myself included. Where you are from plays an important role in how you use language. Your vocabulary and the way you pronounce words are some of the things point out when they are trying to decipher where you are from. I’ve had my share of experiences with this. Working in retail I’ve dealt with my share of people, and many different languages. People who speak French, Portuguese, German and Spanish. Although I grew up speaking Spanish I sometimes feel like I don’t understand it when I’m speaking to someone from Guatemala or Mexico City. Yes, they both speak Spanish but use completely different vocabulary, or they speak slang I have never heard before.
Linguistic differences can also be found with English locally. California is a mixture of so many different ethnicities and culture that words and phrases used in one city are not as common in another. Some of the words or phrases would be associated more to different “community” categories such as surfers, skater, hipsters or princesses. Words like “stoked” “gnarly” for surfers “sick” “epic” for skaters “like” “so” “whatever” for the princesses/valley girl. Every group uses their language to describe their activities and when you hear it you associate it with a particular group. A particular group that is really changing the use of language is the hipsters. Words like “yolo” “totes” “watevs” “awks” are just shorter or acronyms, very useful for this digital age.
Language definitely changes depending on the group who uses it, then more specifically by each individual depending on how they were brought up or where they grew up. An individual will also choose when and where certain language should be used, because in my opinion, you are perceived differently by the language you use in different settings (school, work, home, with friends etc).
I have definitely noticed the change of voice in people depending where they are. When I talk to adults or strangers, I tend to use my “polite voice.” Our tone of voice changes depending on to whom I’m talking. I know that I do not swear a quarter as much talking to my parents as I do with my friends.
Growing up in New England I’ve been surrounded by people who speak a very particular way. But my family is originally from the midwest so I’ve constantly heard mixes of both dialects, and the way my family speaks has become a mix between the two. Which seems very strange to think about, because they’re extremely different dialects. I’ve grown up saying “wicked” constantly, and hearing people not pronounce the “r’s” in words (car is said like “cah” or yard is said like “yahd”), but then add on “r’s” to the end of words (like the ever painful to hear “idear” instead of “idea”). But then my dad (who grew up in Missouri) often pronounces wash as “warsh” and pronounces aunt as “ant”. I’ve learned that the two very different dialects can sound odd when mixed, which has left me with a pretty interesting way of speaking.
It is, somehow, very expected for people language to be affected by their social status. Although this is not always evident in the way people speak but as some purposely try to change the way the use language to make them more adjusted to the environment they live in. as I might have mentioned before, I grew up with both of my parents speaking a different dialect of Arabic. While my dad used a suburban dialect of Israelian Arabic, my mom uses an urban Jordanian dialect. Since I was so attached to my dad, I was most times using his dialect at home.
I always noticed that my classmate at school in Kuwait spoke differently than both of my parents. Although I still used my father dialect at home, I had to use the Kuwaiti dialect just so I can “fit in”. Because I was born in Kuwait using Kuwaiti dialect cam very natural to me. I was easily jumping from one dialect to another depending on the person I talked to.
When I moved to Jordan that all changed. Although I do not really have any trouble switching to the Jordanian on, at the beginning I did not realize that I was not using the Jordanian dialect at first.
I remember using my father dialect at that time.
For example, I have used to say /tʃif hælık?/ to ask (how are you?) not /kif hælık?/ which was used by my classmates at school. I also used to answer with /Ɛmniħ/ while they answered with /Ɛkwaısə/
They used to laugh at me, whenever I spoke that way. Shortly after that, to fit in, I started taking with their dialect at school.
I am sure that I was not the only one to do that. Many other people adjust the way they speak for many reason. If it only to fit in or stand out people use language in different ways.
For example, in Germany, as a way to stand out, Turks use a Turkish-German dialect just as a way to let others know that they are Turks. Using that Turkish-German dialect is not the result of their inability to use regular German but it is their way to stand out.
Please notice the videos here. Sorry if any of the videos are offensive to any of you.
Arabic dialect:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEjGATxtjhE
Standard German Vs. Turkish-German:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFmaUYMRlkU
One language difference that stands out to me is the language differences between older adults and younger people in their late teens, twenties, and early thirties. Older adults that I have been surrounded by tend to use words that aren’t very common anymore (I can’t think of any off the top of my head), words that were popular when they were in their twenties or thirties, while many young adults now tend to use more modern slang and improper grammar. I also notice that older adults seem to be more well-spoken than younger adults (but that may just come with experience). One of the most obvious language differences I’ve noticed when it comes to choice of words is that younger adults use the word “like” WAY too often, but older adults use others words that are more proper because that was the common way of speaking up until the last two decades or so.
I can definitely see where you are coming from as far as the generation gap is concerned with slang words. My guess would be that ‘older adults’ had the same differences with people who were considerately older than them when they were our age as well.
I also wonder why we generally tend to associate the way older people speak with language that is more intellectual. I used to have a neighbor who would use old-fashioned words like “supper”, “smitten”, and “fortnight”, and I was always amazed at how sophisticated he sounded. Thinking about it now, I wonder why? Why does “supper” sound so intellectual when we can simply say “dinner”? (same with the word “smitten” when we can simply use words such as “like” or “love”). I also talked about something similar in my original comment as well, so you can check that out as well to see if we are both thinking the same thing.
I’ve noticed word choice depends on mainly age and gender.
When I’m talking to my peers I talk in slang. I prefer talking in slang because if requires less effort, it’s more fun and a reminder that I’m still young. Example of “fun” terms I use are “ratchet” to describe someone or something gross or “turn up” to refer to drinking and such. Also being a native of San Diego I’ve gotten accustomed to using words like “bro” and “hella” and “Cali. I also noticed I’m more blunt and crude when talking to guys rather than girls because they usually don’t get offended or grossed out.
However, there are instances where slang is unnecessary such as at school, your place and when talking to older adults. It’s just more respectful to speak “proper.”
As much as a love talking in slang I don’t enjoy as much while texting or instant messaging. When people use “k” or “lol” as a response message it really annoys me because it seems a waste of a notification. Or if they ask “wrud?” it’s like just call me if you want to do something rather than waste time texting me.
I agree with you on the fact that word choice depends on age. But, I do believe that word phrases such as “ratchet” and “turn up” are our generation’s way of communicating to each other. If we used slang such as “groovy” or “far out”, there would be a communication break among ourselves because they are not terms that we have grown to use while communicating to one another.
And, as far as “proper English” is concerned, I think it is more of a standardized way of having all the generations communicate about something. It would somewhat be like having the word ‘fish’ in multiple languages (each generation’s slang) and not having anyone understand each other until someone pointed to a picture of one (proper English) so that everyone knew what the others were trying to say.
Although I lived in Southern California for most of my life, the city I lived in wasn’t as heavily influenced by Hispanic culture as other So-Cal communities. I grew up in a middle/working class community that had an unusually large population of Asians which is why Spanglish wasn’t something I’d hear very often. I’m from a pretty diverse Asian community populated by Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino and some Korean and Japanese people. Growing up in this area has definitely affected my use of language. For this post I will be focusing on the ways high school students from an area heavily influenced by Asians would use language. Most of the students from my school tend to be bilingual so when they speak to their friends, they would slip in a few words from their language. For example, cussing and swearing in a language other than English was quite popular at my high school. Even if you didn’t speak that language you would still be able to pick up a cuss word or two in Vietnamese, Cantonese or mandarin. Also I’ve noticed how there are some words or slangs only Asian Americans understand such as the word “fob” and acronyms like “abc” (American born Chinese). Fob isn’t actually a word, it’s more of an acronym meaning fresh of the boat, which is a word Asian Americans use to refer to Asian immigrants, those who were born in Asia and moved to America afterwards. So for example I would be a fob because I was born in China. However, since people don’t really come to America by boat, a new term was created to have the same connotation and that was “boba” which stands for bought over by airplane. Spending 4 years in such a high school I’ve also picked up on slangs like “fetus, scandalous, handling” and etc.
Coming from a very different community, I am really curious as to what fetus and scandelous mean to the Asian American community?
One difference I have noticed between those in college (ages 18-25) and those out of college (ages 26+) is the use of swear words as adjectives. For example, on any given day on campus, it is quite possible to hear something along the lines of: “I f***ing hate that person”; unless they are trying to get across the message that they dislike the person to point of having intercourse with them, I think they are misinterpreting what it is they are actually saying. It seems to be something that does not differ among other categories (regional, gender & sexuality, ethnicity & race, social class), nor does it seem to differ among “communities” with the probable exception of princesses. The main difference appears to be between the ages and, as far as ‘princesses’are concerned, needing to look professional.
What’s quite interesting is the context that comes with “f*ckin”
“f*kin X” means so many things just by the tone of somebody’s voice”
same with “n*gga” “sh*t”
or how people use “that’s gay” in response to something they don’t like
What I wonder is how we became so numb to these words?
I definitely notice the cursing tying into specific age groups. This probably has to do with the maturity level (at least for me, I used to curse way more in high school than I do now) and the fact that adults must maintain a certain degree of professionalism as far as their careers go. Whereas, on campus or in class, no one cares if you do or do not use swear words. Interesting though, plus some people just have sailor mouths no matter their age. #swearing #maturity #age
I agree with the matured level. though it does upset me that words are losing their meaning. like “gay” and “bitch” and other words. Like.. i hope i can explain this.. i think its wrong when i heard 13 year old kids using these words like they are nothing. its like the words have lost its meaning.
The high school I attended was largely concentrated with Filipino’s, not entirely, but a large percentage of the school fell under this category. Naturally a large amount of my friends and even my girlfriend, were and still are Filipino, however I fall into the Mexican category. While being around this culture I was exposed to certain terminology and phrases that are pretty unique such as “close the lights” (turn off the lights), and calling your friend’s parents auntie/uncle as a sign of respect. The thing that is curious about this is that my friends who can now be considered to be “americanized” or “white-washed” still use phrases such as “close the lights” although they are 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th generation filipino-americans.I have come to realize that they still use phrases like these because they are exposed to it throughout their whole lives by parents and other family members Even though they may be 4th generation, certain terminology is passed down through generations because it is commonly used in the household or in their environment, and this applies to all cultures.
Wait, I’m Filipino and I’ve never heard of “close the lights” what does that mean?
hahahaha my mom says “close/open the lights.” When she says that she means turn on or off the lights.
#filipinoproblems #mothersthesedays
“quit the lights” is common among Latin@s in Texas; it’s a similar thing. It’s because in the original language, that would be the direct translation
Being involved with theatre in high school, the vocabulary my friends and I had compared to others was pretty evident. Obviously the genre of things we discussed, like productions and the like, but there are certain aspects of the stage environment that those outside probably wouldn’t use. Terms like “Hell Week”, “Dry/Wet Tech”, “Cold Read”, “Catwalks”, “Annunciation”, “Strike”, “Read Through”, “Thespi”, “Cheat Out” and “Fuck Cheating Out” and the phrase “Volume. Diction. Clarity.” were all part of our daily dialogue. Even going to State wide Thespian events, you could reference just about anything, and it seemed like everyone spoke the same language,despite technically being from opposite sides of the state. I think it’s pretty interesting as well that certain phrases can mean something else when applied to theatre, or anything else for that matter.
Also, since I’m from Oregon, everyone is obsessed with Kombucha, so eventually the majority of people in the southern region of Oregon gave it the loving nickname Kombuch.
I did theatre in high school too, and we had pretty much the exact same vocabulary. It’s cool that similar groups can have the same vocabulary even in completely different places.
In my opinion, people who are young tend to use some creative and brief language; however, old people prefer to use the traditional word and tend to make completed sentences when they are writing or typing.People who are working some jobs related to education tend to use some academic words when they are talking; in the other hand, people who are in working class prefer to use some simple words.
I agree with young people having a difference in the way they speak compared to older folks. I’m used to speaking more formal with adults as well, and i can see what you mean when you say that they use more traditional words and actual complete sentences. I also see the difference when talking to some one working at Albertsons vs a professor at San Diego State.,
I agree with the age difference. This generation has a tendency to be more loose and not have much of a filter. An adult will speak more traditional or more proper, however not all adults. I have heard some adults talk slang from their generation. The upper class will talk different in a working environment than a working class person.
Firstly， I think that the people with high social status can use some advanced words because this kind of people generally have received good education;by contrast, people with relatively low social class maybe use some easy words. As for the ethnicity, because of culture difference, maybe western people’s mind is more open, the words they use are more open as well.The people who are from some religion countries always notice their words in order to don’t offend their faith.There is also slight difference between male and female, girls usually express their meaning indirectly and implicitly, men express more straight forward in my opinion.
I agree that education plays a huge role in shaping the way we use language, but I don’t think it’s necessarily true that people from the upper class use bigger words than people for the lower class. People tend to automatically frame social classes and think different classes behave and act a certain way. Lower class people are always portrayed as uneducated and poor which is why they have a limited vocabulary. However, I think the use of vocabulary varies from people to people, not form class to class. I don’t think anyone’s class impacts their use of words. There are a lot of upper and middle class people out there who use lousy language, it’s not just people who are lower in status.
I grew I up in a gated community outside of Sacramento, California and attended Catholic school from kindergaten to twelfth grade. So basically, I grew up around a lot rich white people. I’ve learned that age really affects language. People in my hometown regularly use a wide vocabulary. Younger people are capable of using an extensive vocabulary, but typically litter their speech with “like.”
I did wrestling senior year in high school and learned that there is this crazy community surrounding the sport. Opponents are decided by weight. Logically, you would want all of your weight to be muscle with as little fat as possible, causing people to lose as much weight as possible before the tournament or meet. Saying, “I need to lose five pounds by Friday” makes you sound like Regina George. The phrase in wrestling is “cutting weight.” When you meet someone who also wrestles, one of the first questions asked is “What weight do you wrestle?” The two strangers are immediately connected by the knowledge of the difficulty of wrestling at that particular weight. Probably 85% of the time that two wrestlers meet, they will have mutual respect and friendship. Ensuing conversations typically revolve around the craziest time they had to cut a ton of weight or some bear of a person that somehow got into their weight class. It does not matter what age the wrestlers are either, old guys who wrestled get along with younger wrestlers also. Most of the lingo is names of moves. For example, “The guy had me in a half, but I bridged out, hip heisted, then got an ankle pick, and pinned him with a Saturday Night Live.” I swear that sentence actually makes sense. #hella #oldpeople #wrastlin #holygoatrape
I have noticed that languages have many little differences even within a 100 mile distance. I lived in corona california, but my family and I would go up to our ranch every weekend and the friends I made up there had some language variations only being around 100 miles in distance. They lived in a much more rural and deserted area, and i noticed they’d refer to some object with different words than what i normally heard. I’m not sure if it was a town thing but everyone in the town said it like my friend and her family. Language is varied greatly through age in my opinion. When i speak to an older person I use different langauage, words, and attitude than when id be talking to a friend from school. I’ve seen differences in language as well in genders but it is very hard to distinguish it in gender groups. I’ve thought that girls are more polite in the way that they use their language, but I have also met many girls that are the complete opposite of polite. I see that in men as well. I think being straight, gay, or bisexual also affects the way that we use language. In the past when I’ve spoken to a gay guy they’ve usually been a lot more sweeter and descriptive with their language. I think language also varies through ethnicity as well because different races use different words and slang. For example in a Hispanic culture the word “vato” and “holmes” as a name to a person. Along with this difference are a lot of racist words that I’d much rather not get into :) In addition to language differing in these different social categories, i think that language differs a lot in social classes. I’ve been friends with people from every class and have seen a differences even in my self to fit in with how they’re speaking. Ive noticed that i feel more free to express my ideas and speak more freely with the middle and lower class because their language and tone is easier for me to adhere to. In the upper class, more sophisticated vocabulary is used and sentences are more perfectly spoken. I have seen language differ greatly within different communities as well. For example when I’ve hung out at the beach and met random people you can tell their use of language is different if they were born and raised by the beach. For example they say dude and bro to one another more often. Of course this is not everyone but it is common. Going back to my friends at home we were more the chicano latin group. We spoke different amongst each other for example speaking spanglish amongst each other. We even used words that people would tie back to Hispanics such as “guey” or “vato”. I dont like to refer to people as nerds, but they do use differently. They usually have a much higher vocabulary than the average person that you speak to, and if your not use to it it could be weird to have to change your own tone of voice and use of vocabulary to speak with them. it is kind of in my opinion like speaking to another adult. Hispanics are a group of people that use language in a very unique way in my opinion., We tend to speak spanglish very often, and it is very common to roll our Rs when speaking. I also notice that we use a lot of different words that distinguish the Hispanic race.
#Spanglish #Linguistics #language
I agree with the way that people can only be miles a part and speak differently. It is quite odd of how the social classes slang work. Of course, each type of class has some type of tone that they use. I do not think that “nerds” have a way of speaking, maybe from where they were born, like everyone else. The spanglish way changes with different regions and areas.
I have noticed that even the smallest areas have different ways of speaking. Like in LA, if someone comes from East LA and places them
in like Glendale, they speak differently. I am from LA and it is hard to say that this region has a specific way of speaking. In Hollywood, it is a lot of hipsters and in one part of the valley it very ghetto,”gangsta talk”, which I speak. And the other half of the valley, is like valley girl talk. Language is spoken differently within age groups. A younger person will use the slang of today. While, an older person will speak slang from a decade or more ago. I believe, in the gender category that women have a tendency of speaking more polite, maybe? Gender is hard. I feel that the different between men and women is the way they grew up and where they are from. Different race, have different slang. There is a different in language in ethnicity. People that are from diverse countries say things differently. For example, hispanic people from a certain country will say”guey” and then someone else from a different hispanic country will say “vato”. Now, these are people from the same race–both hispanic. However, that shows people how wide language grows and changes, once people decide to make up something that will make them feel unique. Not to be rude to anyone, the upper class will speak diversely from the middle class. And the middle class will contrast slang with the working class. There is more of a difference in the upper and working class than the middle class and upper class.
Coming from LA, I am used to the Latin groups. There are two groups that have always stood out to me, because I have been a part of it or experienced it. My closet friends will say things like “hey, bitch” or ” come on”( can’t really think of things they say). My distant friends or people I used to say “hi” in school, they would say things like “yo, homes”, “what up”, “hoodrats”, small things like that. I won’t go into detail of other sayings. I have found myself say some of those words when I would talk to them.
#LanguageLife#LA#Valleygirltalk#ghetto#talk
I can agree and see how there is language differences within only a few miles. I’ve never actually heard and correctly defined what valley girl talk is, but id love to hear it!:) I am also very used to being around a latin group, and what I find funny is that even though we both hung out with Hispanic people, we have found that we refer to many things differently and use different slang words as well! Linguistics is sooooooo interesting and its astonishing to be able to see all of these differences.
Going back to what you said about different versions of Spanish, I myself am Mexican American and bilingual. When I started working as a server, I tried to get to know all the cooks. One of them told me that my Spanish sounded so strange to him and that I had a different type of accent and used completely different phrases. My family is from Veracruz and our Spanish comes off as more proper and more closely tied to the original “Spain Spanish”. I had never realized that there were different versions of the same language, but it really does have to do with where you are geographically from.
#Spanish #dialects #language #linguistics
I think it’s funny how similar regions are supposed to be classified as primarily one language, when really there could be a melting pot of them, same with dialects or the way someone pronounces a word even. Gender, status, and race also add differences because it depends on which culture, economic status, and gender someone identifies with. Culture plays a big role, because you may speak a language all the time however a relative of yours could speak another. Same for economic status, if you live in a primarily poor, crime related area, you are going to get terms of slang which you might not hear in another area. For gender, men tend to primarily use more vulgar language than women, however it varies wherever you go, or how someone feels.
Growing up in the Philippines, a country that is mostly made up of islands that vary vastly in size, I can say that regional differences is probably the most predominant factor that affects the way people use language. I remember the first time I went to Manila, I was very confused at the way people spoke Tagalog differently. Since Manila is the capital, it has the most diverse population with people coming from different parts of the Philippines. I knew that there were different languages in the world such as Chinese, English, and Korean, but I was not familiar with regional dialects at that time. At the back of my mind I knew that those people were speaking in Tagalog, but I was confused as to why I was not able to understand a word they were saying. I would later find out that Tagalog has a bunch of other dialects.
The way Age, gender, race, and social class affect language on the other hand is less complex than the way region affects language. For age, the only difference I can think on the top of my head is how older people use old fashioned words, specifically Spanish words. My grandparents lived during the time when Spaniards were conquering the Philippines so they use words like Spanish words “escuela”, they also count in Spanish. Additionally, I always thought my grandparents spoke very eloquently because of their use of old-fashioned words. I don’t really know why but they sounded very poetic. For gender, the biggest difference I noticed is the use of “gender-specific” words. For example, when I talk about shoes with my sister I use simpler words like sneakers, heels, and sandals while my sister says words like flats, oxfords, slip-ons, wedges(?), high-tops, etc. Gender is similar to race in the sense that they use words that are specific to their native language. For example, most of my American friends say “spring rolls” while I say “lumpia.”
Lastly, I think the broader “community” categories are much harder to define in terms of sociolinguistics because they’re not as “standard” as the other categories. For example, your age, gender, region, race, etc. will affect the way you use language permanently (unless something drastic happens to you) but for categories like stoners, geeks, preps, they’re more like a phase that does not affect your use of language entirely.
Half of my family is from the Midwest (“pop” “you betcha”) and the other half is from Mexico (they use a more stiff form of learned English), so I definitely notice a huge difference in regards to regional affect on language. As far as age goes, I think it’s funny when adults finally catch on to the language of young adults, well after the term was popular. My mom just now started using the term “douche bag” and always looks to me for approval of her usage right after she says it. As for my dad, we finally convinced him that the word “bitchin” is no longer used as an adjective. Whereas young people immediately update their vocabulary when a new word comes around, it takes a while for the older generations to catch on (if they ever do). Social class plays a huge role as well. I grew up in a lower class area in Riverside County, and in high school, everyone would comment on my vocabulary and that I always use “big words”. Since coming to college, where there are a pretty good mix of classes with the average of students being of middle class, I never hear that and I feel that most everyone’s vocabulary is on par with mine or even better.
#language #differences #generationgap #socialclasses
A main reason we are able to tell right away if an individual is not from our area is from the use of their language. Recently, I came across a woman who was from Wisconsin, and just by hearing the way she spoke, I was able to tell she was not from around here. While interacting with her, I asked her where she was from and told her how I noticed her accent. Ironically, she told me how it seemed like WE were the ones with the accent, and she spoke normally. Although this language separation was from another state, we too have individuals in California who have various language categories that separate the way they speak from the way I speak. One example we are all familiar is the term “hella.” This term is originally a Northern California phrase, but many of us use it in Southern California. I will usually use it to “make fun of” the phrase (and those from NorCal), so it is not a common word in my vocabulary.
Another type of language we can refer to is body language. Some cultures find it rude if you look at them in the eye while you speak, others consider it rude if you do not. Some are more comfortable with their language while speaking, whereas others are more to themselves. Younger kids today have their own form of language, much of it via text, which the older generation would not understand. We are also able to pick up on different cues with the way one speaks and uses their body language, depending on their gender or sexual orientation. For example, the way a man sits may “take up more space” than a woman (or vise versa)—the same rules can apply to the way they speak. A man could be louder and more open than a woman (again, or vise versa). Except in my case, where I cuss like a sailor and am much louder than many men I have met.
An example I have used in the past is with my Italian family, and the way we “speak with our hands.” I catch myself all the time using my hands when I talk, and this is what brings color into my communication. “It’s always a contest in an Italian family to see who can talk the loudest.” This is fact. We seem like we’re arguing, but we are simply having a normal conversation. Many people I have come across only use their speech for communication, and leave out body language. We can use the “snob, upper class” example, where they look down on others and speak in a much more “proper” form.
I constantly pick up on subtle differences in the way others around me speak, and I am always making mental notes of how one word they use is different from the way I use it. It’s very interesting to listen to various types of words or phrases from other areas, such as our neighbors NorCal, all the way to the state of Wisconsin, who think WE sound strange.
Coming from a diverse city in Los Angeles, known as the San Gabriel Valley , I have picked up many slangs and cuss words in other languages such as Spanish, Vietnamese, and Korean. My community is mainly dominated by Asians, Hispanics, and “others” and because of this, everyone were pretty much friends and close with one another. I would always hear Asians cursing in Spanish to Hispanics and this was a way of being friendly because it sort of seemed like we all spoke the same language.
I think that the people we hang around with has a deep influence in the way we act and speak because as time goes on, we start to pick things up from our friends. For example, when my friends say a certain word or phrase a lot, I find myself saying it as well. From where I am from, people tend to say “that joint” a lot. Saying ”that joint was fresh yo” would mean that a person is complimenting someone that just said something new and witty, hence the word “fresh.” I would also hear people say “killed that joint.”
In addition, I think that people that want to look smart tend to use a lot of big vocabulary and complex sentences. These type of people are the ones that like to reply to text messages or Facebook comments with complete sentences and often times, in a paragraph form. Also, they are the ones that like to correct other people’s mistakes such as grammatical errors.
Members of higher classes tend to more particular about language. Their knowledge of what is considered proper is used strategically to communicate their status, and then eventually unconsciously incorporated into their grammar. Because we often see “Proper English” as something that has to be learned and formed to a greater extent than a dialect that comes off as casual, we assume intelligence in those who use it. How you use language can become a tool. People who grew up speaking a less conventional form of English might adopt proper English in certain situations to appear more learned. Though it isn’t in itself a determiner of intelligence, we treat it that way, sort of making it so. I’ve also noticed this working the other way. People who would usually speak “properly” (perhaps we’ll just assume the quotation marks for the rest of the post) might adopt a different dialect or loosen up their language to appeal more to, say, a younger person or one of a lower class. I do this myself.
Isolation of groups seems to be one of the most important factors in what sort of dialect a person adopts as they learn language. Most obviously this appears in differences of dialect of language spoken in different regions. Because one spends all of their time in a region and speaks to the people surrounding them almost exclusively, norms are established in that persons mind according to what they’ve heard. Someone in the midwest might hear a drink constantly referred to as “pop,” so they call it that. They have no more reason to use the word “soda” than they would have to use a foreign word. Differences of how sound are pronounced work similarly. They imitate and incorporate
Can I delete this somehow? Accidentally posted halfway through.
My post has become sort of an unorganized exploration of what I’ve noticed in how people use language, and why I think it happens. Bear with me
Members of higher classes tend to more particular about language. Their knowledge of what is considered proper is used strategically to communicate their status, and then eventually unconsciously incorporated into their grammar. Because we often see “Proper English” as something that has to be learned and formed to a greater extent than a dialect that comes off as casual, we assume intelligence in those who use it. How you use language can become a tool. People who grew up speaking a less conventional form of English might adopt proper English in certain situations to appear more learned. Though it isn’t in itself a determiner of intelligence, we treat it that way, sort of making it so. I’ve also noticed this working the other way. People who would usually speak “properly” (perhaps we’ll just assume the quotation marks for the rest of the post) might adopt a different dialect or loosen up their language to appeal more to, say, a younger person or one of a lower class. I do this myself.
Isolation of groups seems to be one of the most important factors in what sort of dialect a person adopts as they learn language. Most obviously this appears in differences of dialect of language spoken in different regions. Because one spends all of their time in a region and speaks to the people surrounding them almost exclusively, norms are established in that persons mind according to what they’ve heard. Someone in the midwest might hear a drink constantly referred to as “pop,” so they call it that. They have no more reason to use the word “soda” than they would have to use a foreign word. Differences of how sound are pronounced work similarly. They imitate and incorporate what they hear and how its said until it becomes a permement part of their mental grammar. This happens in many other groups as well. Social groups will develop their own lingo that remains largely localized within the circle. Hipsters generally have no use for surfing terms, so they’ll never learn them. On the other hand, surfers are constantly surrounded by this language, and so quickly learn to use it. Ethnicity falls into this as well. At the place we are in society right now, groups of a certain ethnicity or skin color tend to hang out together. Cultural differences that in language that were already present, for example an accent from an immigrant parent, are passed around and solidified within the group until it becomes a part of how everyone speaks. Whatever kind of language a person uses is constantly shaping the language of the people who surround them, and vice-versa.
Specific examples of jargon used within different groups:
Stoners: Kush, ganja, weed, pot, vape, blaze, dank, rolled, jay, blunt, bud.
Obviously these all have to do with marijuana and various ways you can get it inside ya. For someone who doesn’t smoke weed, these words are of very little use.
Gamers: OP, DRM, FPS, RPG, physics engine, AI, buffed, nerfed, K/D Ratio, immersion.
Again, not too abstract. These are all terms describing types of video games and the components that make them up.
Valley Girl: Totally, OMG, So…, As if, literally,
A lot of the phrases and words here are common, but in the context of a Valley Girl are used in specific ways. Usually, these words provide emphasis, maybe pointing to this kind of person wanting to attract attention to what they’re saying.
I grew up in Southern California in a city called Mission Viejo, which is a primarily white area. However since I was on the outer edges of the city I lived not even 5 minutes away from San Juan Capistrano, which in certain areas (including the one by my house) is primarily Hispanic. Since my school was right on the edge of Mission Viejo like my house was there was a good mixture of people. It wasn’t uncommon for me to hear Spanish up and down the halls or at lunch, but for the most part everyone talked the same. It was kind of a combination of the laid back surfer talk, with the use of “dude” a lot, and valley girl talk because a lot of girls would say things like ” I can’t even” or would use “like” more than was necessary.
Something I’ve noticed about age is that for the most part younger people all use the same type of slang and usually talk similarly no matter what social class they’re from. Adults, or older people in general, usually use older slang or don’t use slang at all. There is also a slight difference in vocabulary depending on the social class.
I was in band for seven years so in high school I guess I could have been called a “band geek.” That phrase actually wasn’t used as an insult at my school since all the high school cliches didn’t exist. We would call ourselves that jokingly. There were definitely some terms we used that people outside of band wouldn’t get. Some of those include “embouchure” , “reed”, ” trill” , and all those fun Italian music terms.
#bandgeek # language
Region is differently the one that stands out most for me. Depending where you are, even though its the same language it sounds different because of their dialect. I just find it interesting ans strange who people can slowly change how things sounds. it proves how language really is always changing.