quick write time! what is a dialect? do you speak a dialect? how would you describe the way you...
TRANSCRIPT
Quick write time! What is a dialect? Do you speak a dialect? How would you
describe the way you speak? Does everyone speak a dialect? Is a dialect the same thing as slang?
There are approximately 2 million cases of linguistic profiling every year in the US.
That is nearly 5500 instances per day. We may not intend to discriminate based
on the way someone speaks. We automatically use how a person speaks as an information source about that person.
Statistics from NC State Dialect Awareness Program
dialects Varieties within a language
Pronunciation Vocabulary grammar
Many different dialects of English across the United States
We all speak a dialect! Dialect slang!
Why do we speak the way we do? What’s spoken around us
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Standard:
Linguistic Continuum
More standard Less standard
What differences do you notice between the dialects of characters in TKaM? How might we explain these differences?
“Miss Scout, if you give me your attention I’ll tell you what an entailment is. Jem’s definitions are very nearly accurate sometimes.”
-Atticus
“There ain’t no need to fear a cootie, ma’am. Ain’t you ever seen one? Now don’t you be afraid, you just go back to your desk and teach us some more.”
-Little Chuck Little“Report and be damned to ye! Ain’t no snot-nosed slut of a schoolteacher ever born c’n make me do nothin’! You ain’t makin’ me go nowhere, missus.”
-Burris Ewell
“I’ll be dogged…I didn’t know no better than not to read to her, and she held me responsible—listen Atticus, I don’t have to go to school!”
-Scout“You all hush…Reckon this is long enough to reach from the sidewalk?”
-Jem
“Why, one spring of nut-grass can ruin a whole yard. Look here. When it comes fall this dries up and the wind blows it all over Maycomb County!”
-Miss Maudie“And why do I not understand children, Miss Jean Louise? Such conduct as yours requires little understanding. It was obstreperous, disorderly, and abusive—”
-Uncle Jack
“Baby, …, I just can’t help it if Mister Jem’s growin’ up. He’s gonna want to be off to himself a lot now, doin’ whatever boys do, so you just come right on in the kitchen when you feel lonesome.”
-Calpurnia
“Brethren and sisters, we are particularly glad to have company with us this morning. Mister and Miss Finch. You all know their father. Before I begin I will read some announcements.”
-Reverend Sykes
“Mister Jem, …, we’re might glad to have you all here. Don’t pay no ‘tention to Lula, she’s contentious because Reverend Sykes threatened to church her. She’s a troublemaker from way back, got fancy ideas an’ haughty ways—we’re mighty glad to have you all”
Zeebo
“You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here—they got their church, we got our’n. It is our church, ain’t it, Miss Cal?”
-Lula
Let’s place these characters on the linguistic continuum!
What do you notice about placement on the continuum?
Linguistic Bias Tendency to favor or disfavor one way of speaking
over another“She talks in slang all the time!”“He talks too proper. He sounds like an old man.”“People on Facebook need to learn how to talk.”“People with country accents annoy me. They talk too slow.”
Think about in To Kill a Mockingbird… Do Jem and Scout have a linguistic bias?
Jem and Scout ask Calpurnia why she speaks in different dialects “when you know it’s not right” (143). Do you agree with Jem and Scout’s reasoning? Do you agree with Cal’s reasoning? Why would some people say that one dialect of English “better” than another?
Let’s explore some of our dialects by looking at idioms! Figurative meaning of the expression is
different from the literal Figurative meaning is commonly
understood by speakers of the dialect Varies with dialect
Recognize these idioms? Can’t hold a candle to Madder than a wet hen Faster than greased lightning Sharp as a tack Tuckered out
-from highlands Southern dialect (western NC, Oklahoma, east Texas)
Slow as Christmas His backbone’s rubbing his belly Slick as a peeled onion
Appalachian
Mad as a rooster in a henhouse Don’t get crosslegged Tearing up the peapatch Kneewalkin’ drunk Three bricks shy of a load
Southern
Idioms we can add?
Idioms used in To Kill a Mockingbird? Other variations you notice?
Imagine a conversation with a friend about a movie you saw recently. Try to capture two sentences from that conversation on paper.
Imagine a typical conversation about the same movie with a family member. Would you say it any differently? Try to capture two sentences from that conversation on paper.
Now imagine a conversation about the same movie arises at a job interview. Would it be any different? Try to capture two sentences of that conversation on paper.
Style shifting We all shift the way we speak depending
on the situation
Can you think of instances of style shifting in To Kill a Mockingbird?
Scout says Calpurnia has “command of two languages” (143). Do you agree?
What does dialect add to the novel?
Do you think Harper Lee did an accurate job of portraying different dialects?
Why would this be difficult?
How could we find out?
What happens when dialects are not portrayed authentically?
Adapted from:NC Life and Language Project Dialect Awareness CurriculumInformation on idioms from: http
://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/ling201/test3materials/AmericanDialects.htm
Answer in a well-reasoned, beautifully-crafted paragraph:
In To Kill a Mockingbird, how does the language a character uses contribute to our understanding of that character?