Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Inquiry 1: Ovuh Dyuh
Joanne Dowdy gives her account of what it was like as an adolescent in Trinidad. Her mother’s wish was for her to become well acquainted with British English. This created a distance between Joanne and her peers. Joanne dealt with the struggle to be herself, or lose herself. This reminds me of using curse words around your friends. In the classroom and at home with your parents, curse words are not allowed (at least in your adolescent years). When students use curse words in front of teachers or elders they are looked at as a “disobedient student”, but yet with your peers you feel the need to use them to fit in and look cool. My question is why is it so hard to accept that people are different from one another? I think with the invention of the internet languages and people have become more and more interconnected and the newer generations are better at recognizing each other’s differences and accepting them. As languages have evolved they have merged with one another. In 1066 French was spread throughout the England. Through this the English language picked up little pieces of French and Latin. So, when, if ever, will it happen that the English language in America starts to pick up little bits of Italian or little pieces of Spanish? Ciao!
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I really like the analogy with students using curse words. This situation makes me understand with more depth how Dowdy feels about using English in front of her friends and Trinidadian in public. The language that we use in front of our parents and teachers, especially when we are younger, as RDWRIGHT stated, is much more formal and respectful than the language we use with our peers. We feel more comfortable using language that is considered inappropriate when we know that we will not be scolded (at least seriously). This brings me to yet another question: Is the trinidadian language considered inappropriate? Is it something to be scolded for, or considered disrespectful? Perhaps it is considered disrespectful since only English would have been used towards authority figures.
ReplyDeleteAs far as English picking up bits of Italian or Spanish, I am of the opinion that the English language is already starting to go through this phenomenon. Many students say “Hola” or, in Louisiana, “Bonjour” as a way of greeting, even if often in jest. This is the beginning of incorporation of another language into the “mother language.” We pick up little words commonly known and use them to be cute or funny, or even just to see if the person we say it to knows what we are talking about – a kind of code language, if you will. Perhaps in 300 years or so, what we know as Modern English will be considered a type of Middle English. Old English may not have any resonance of of the "future" English. Although it looks liek another language, try to get a recording of Old Enlgish to hear it (best with a script while listening). You'll see what I mean. It's amazing how one language can change so much and still be recognizable, however slight it may be.
Our language is constantly changing, and if other languages aren't changing as well, I'm loco!