sociolinguistics ⑧ xiao long-fu applied linguistics programme school of foreign languages sdnu...

Sociolinguistics⑧

Xiao Long-Fu Applied Linguistics

Programme School of Foreign L

anguages SDNU 01-26-2013

Chapter 8 Standard & nonstandard English

“English is a fluid and democratic language in which meanings shift and change in response to the pressure of common usage rather than the dictates of committees.” (Bill Bryson, 1996?). 美国，《纽约时报》 (New York Times) 记者、《难词词典》 (A Dictionary of Troublesome Words)编者比尔 .布莱森 (Bill Bryson) 曾指出，英语是一种规则比较宽泛、自由度较大的语言。

Standard & nonstandard English

In as early as 1905 ， Otto Jesperson argued ， English lacks effective authorities, and, compared with French, it seems not to be as rigid. In this field of English, you can run freely at will, and do not need to be afraid of any gardeners who will ask you to follow the rules.

Indeed, both Britain and the USA have appealed to set up language research academy to normalize the standards of English, but quite many authoritative linguists or VIP do not take it seriously.


Joseph Priestly, a 18th century grammarian, is one of those who are against setting up such kind of research institute to normalize English language. He said: do not set up authoritative organizations to normalize people’s speeches. It is no good for developing the talents of a democratic country by doing things that way. The speech patterns will become perfect with the time going on. There are many debates over that, but history will have the final say. Though it may take time, it is better than the careless and inappropriate normalization made by the authoritative organizations.


What Priestly said has many followers. Thomas Jefferson then also thought that it is better not to set up language research institute to normalize the English patterns. The issue of normalizing English language often rely on the speeches of famous persons/liberties or the explanation in the dictionaries. This is surely effective. The Declaration of Independence, and Gettysburg Address have been both used in schools as models to learn by students.

(e.f. 曝光 exposure- Pu guang ，也作 bao guang)


Gettysburg Address was delivered on the 19th of Nov.1863. It has been one of the most beautiful and poetic speeches in American literature. It has not been warlike at all, though it is a speech celebrating military victory; on the contrary, it is a touching ode, praising those who lost their lives, and the ideals for which these gave their lives.

林肯的葛底斯堡演说是美国文学中最漂亮、最富有诗意的文章之一。虽然这是一篇庆祝军事胜利的演说，但它没有好战之气；相反地，这是一篇感人肺腑的颂辞，赞美那些作出最后牺牲的人，以及他们爲之献身的那些理想。


8.1 Standard & nonstandard English

“Standard English is that variety of English which is usually used in print, and which is normally taught in schools and to non-native speakers learning the language. It is also the variety which is normally spoken by educated people and used in news broadcasts and other similar situations.” (Trudgill, 1992)


Generally speaking, standard English has all-accepted systematic grammar, and is used by the educated and authorities. Speaking about standard English, it means that it is grammatically correct, word precisely, in accordance with norms and usage. As to pronunciation, it is not very rigid. People can speak standard English with one’s own local accent. In theory, at least, this can be thought of like that. As it often happens in China, people from different provinces or autonomous regions all can speak Putonghua, but their Putonghua is of local dialect. The pronunciation of standard


Trudgill argues ，” It is, however, not necessary to speak RP to speak Standard English. Standard English can be spoken with any regional accent.” BBC English and Oxford English are both RP. When teaching non-native speakers English, we in China also teach then RP. The London accent we have talked about in China is RP.


Both the status and prestige of standard English are superior to those of English dialects. It is regarded as the correct one, beautiful, good, and pure, while nonstandard English, with a low status, is regarded as incorrect, ugly, corrupt, and bad. However, Trudgill argues all languages, from a linguistic perspective, including their local dialects, are all as good.


The reason why one language is regarded as correct and pure is totally because of people’s social attitudes, not because of the classification of superiority and inferiority in languages or dialects themselves. The division of so-called good and bad English is also forged by social factors, not by the language itself. People who speak nonstandard English (or call it bad English) are mostly people of poverty and low status. The pronunciations of people from the country are regarded as unpleasant( 难听）。


标准英语的地位与声誉都高于英语方言，因此被看作是正确的、漂亮的、好的、纯正的，而地位较低的非标准英语被看作是错误的、丑陋的、讹用的 (corrupt) 、坏的。然而， Trudgill 认为，从语言学立场看，所有的语言包括其相应的方言，都是一样的好。之所以某种语言被认为正确与纯粹，完全是因为社会态度造成的，而不是语言或方言本身有什么优劣之分。所谓好英语与坏英语也是社会因素，不是语言因素造成的。说非标准英语（或称坏英语）的人们多是贫困和社会地位低下的人们。英国乡下人的发音往往被认为难听 (unpleasant) 。


Some English learners often find that some sentences are grammatically correct, but do not comply with the usage, while some ones follow the usage, but are not grammatically correct. So, it is the degree that the learners have to master in learning the language: we should not be limited to grammar rules, nor should we be widely free. What we should do is to follow the usage.Language is a kind of behavior of man, which has been governed by some parts of society all the time. Grammar is one of them. To talk about usage without grammar seems to be very hard for people to follow, especially for those who learn English as a foreign language.


”The term dialect can be used to apply to all varieties, not just to nonstandard varieties.” (Trudgill)Standard English in fact is also a kind of dialect. But the social status of this dialect is superior to other dialects, apart from that it is different from other dialects in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary.标准英语其实也是一种方言。不过这种方言除去在发音、语法、用词方面不同于其他所有方言之外，其社会地位比别的方言都高。

8.2 Classification of English

Robert Pooley, a linguist, classifies English into several levels as to good and bad English ：

① The lowest level of English is illiterate level ( 文盲层次 ), whose users are mainly the uneducated or of little education. Their English cannot be admitted into the classroom, for example:

I We come wentYou is You was He done Have cameThey They seen didThem run saw

This level of English is orderless in tense, lacking verbs and wording incorrectly. Their parts of speech are misused, and not matched in negative forms.这一层次的英语句子时态混乱、缺少动词和用词不当、词性混用、否定形式不对等等。

Classification of English

②The next is homely level. This level of English does not belong to standard English, nor totally illiterate level. Some very talented persons, because of their background, parentage, occupation, or region limitation, have no chance at all to receive education and enter into upper social classes. They speak this kind of English with their children at home. Their children are attending schools in the country. Their teachers are trying to teach these students standard English on the one hand, and help these students to get rid of those bad English on the other. The incorrectness of this level of English is also very clear. Some have problems in grammar, while others may be wrong in lexicon.


Pooley offers the following examples: Mary’s mother, she isn’t very smart. （错误的双主语）

We can’t scarcely do it. （错误的双重否定） Hadn’t he ought to do it? （助动词错）Stop the bus, I want out. （缺不定式）He comes of a Sunday. （介词用错）He don’t come here any more. （动词人称错）

In the US, many children and lower class members often use this level of English, but it is not widely accepted. Teachers at schools show sympathy and understanding for this level of English by children, and do not laugh at them. They try to help them to learn to speak standard English, and let them know that standard English is worth valued.


③The third level is standard English at informal level(第三个层次是非正式层次的标准英语 )， which is used at informal occasions by the well-bred, and the educated. Some of the vocabularies can reveal this feature. But in formal social contact, talking with strangers, and making public speeches alike, they do not use this level of English. Mostly, the teachers use this level of English in classrooms, and the students are also required to master this level of English. This level of English is not bookish. It is not necessary at all to use formal English because between the students themselves they are friends.


The following are examples, which we often meet with in daily life and are offered by Pooley:I have never seen anyone act like he does.Most everyone is familiar with this picture.John is the quickest of the two.Who did you send for？Where can you get these kind of gloves?


这种英语是有教养、受过教育的人们在非正式场合使用的，某些词语可以体现出其特点。但在正式的社会联络、与陌生人交谈、公开演说等场合，不用这种英语。通常教师们在课堂上讲课要用这个层次的英语，学校的学生要求掌握的也是这种英语。这种英语不具书卷气，学生之间交谈如同朋友之间交谈，也毫无必要使用正式形式。


The fourth level is formal standard English (第四层次是正式的标准英语 )， which is very aesthetic in wording and phrasing. It avoids informal styles. They are grammatically correct. For instance, the cases of noun and pronoun are very clear; the tenses of verbs and the forms of the theme are very rigid; there are more modifiers, with each in its precise position. The sentence structures are complex, and bookish. This level of English are mainly used as written English, including official letters, documents, reports, editorials, textbooks, formal speeches, literary works and literary criticism.


In composition classes, the teachers require the students to use this level of English to write expositions and argumentations. However, in writing narrations, and letters to friends, students are not encouraged to use this level of English. Some conjunctions, adverbs, prepositions or phrases are signs of formal style of English. Some of the frequently appeared are “despite, furthermore, inasmuchas, notwithstanding, on the contrary, etc.” These are sure to appear in formal style of writing, and are not used in informal English contexts.


The following examples offered by Pooley can be identified in terms of wording, and mood as standard English.

I shall be glad to help you.Here are three whom we have omitted from the list.We had better stay at home.Under the circumstances, he did as well as might be expected.


这一层次的英语在遣词造句上都很讲究，回避非正式语体；语法规范，如名词、代词的格、数很细致，动词时态、句子的主位格式都严谨；修饰语较多，位置精确，次序分明，句子结构复杂，具有书卷气。这主要用作书面语，包括公函、文件、报道、社论、课本、正式演讲词，文学作品及其评论也多用这个层次的英语。学生作文课上教师要求写的说明文 (exposition) 和辩论文(argumentation)要用这种英语。但记叙文 (narration) 、与朋友之间的通信不必用这种正式的英语。有些连词、副词、介词或短语是正式文体的标志。例如经常出现的有： despite, furthermore, inasmuch as, notwithstanding, on the contrary等。这些一定是出现在正式文体之中，非正式英语中不会使用这类词语。 Pooley 所举下列例句从用词上、语气上都可以看出是正式标准英语 .


⑤The fifth level is literary level English. According to Pooley, this level of English is not only formal standard English, but also very strict in choosing words and phrases, paying attention to swing （音律） . The author is often very passionate in expressing. The rhetoric within the sentences, such as rhythm, pair, metaphor, etc. are clear, which impresses people aesthetically,let’say, the charm of art. The whole speeches in Gettysburg Address delivered by Abraham Lincoln are regarded as literary level English. (Delivered on the 19th Day of November, 1863Cemetery Hill, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania)

Give me liberty, or give me death. （不自由，毋宁死）对语。（ antithesis) 所用的语句被认为是文学层次的英语。


Robert Pooley identifies the above five levels of English. It is generally accepted that the first two levels belong to “bad English”, while the last three are “good English”. Anyway, this is not absolute because everything is changing.Robert Pooley所列举的上述五个层次的英语，一般认为前两种属于“bad English”, 而后三种属于“good English”。但这又不是绝对的，因为事物都在变化。Bill Bryson says，” Considerations of what makes good English or bad English are to an uncomfortably large extent matters of prejudice and conditioning.” He offers examples, saying that in the 18th century when you referred to one person, one could say “you was”, but now one should say you were.他举例说，18世纪时，当 you 指一个人时，可以说you was,现在都变成了 you were.


Then why after the singular form you the plural form were is followed? He then offers another example, saying: I am hurrying, are I not? Is not grammatically right. But how to explain “I am hurrying, aren’t I”, which is thought as perfect English?

Grammar and usage is a pair of contradicts, and both are supplementary to each other. To only pay attention to grammar and take no notice of usage is not living language; conversely, to only pay attention to usage and take no notice of grammar is not good language. In fact, grammar and usage are often in accordance with each other.

8.3 Flabby English ( 松弛英语）

Flabby English refers to the English which people regard it as “unchangeable”, and therefore write or speak it scholastically or by following all the rules, or with attitude of linguistic purism.

However, there are some who use flabby English because of their carelessness and little training. Gary Goshgarian says in his book 《语言探索》 Language Exploration like the muscle of human being, it will sag if it lacks training. When reading flabby English, it seems to be very precise and overstaffed （古板臃肿） ,outmoded, lifeless. There are many overlappings and circuities. For example, one can say “I enjoy reading Hamlet”, but instead one likes to say “After I read hamlet, I had the feeling that I was glad that I had read it”.

松弛英语

Flabby English is also characterized by using cliché. This kind of words and phrases are flyblown ( 声誉低下） and are stereotyped and mediocre. Some boring metaphors and hackneyed (陈腐的 ) grammar rules, such as, “far be it from me to”.Partridge offers many examples, first of which are idoms that are characterized by synonymy, near-synonymy, and overlapping. For example, “by leaps and bounds, far and wide, chop and change, pick and choose, safe and sound, null and void, heart and soul”. Some antisense joint ( 反义联合 ) phrases also belong to this group ， such as ：” slow but sure, kill or cure, fast and loose, as fit as a fiddle, as old as hills, as steady as a rock, etc”.

松弛英语

by leaps and bounds(飞跃地，突飞猛进地 );far and wide(广泛地 ),； chop and change （变化无常）； pick and choose （挑挑拣拣）； safe and sound （安然无恙）； null and void （空虚、无效）； heart and soul （灵魂）” . Some antisense joint ( 反义联合 ) phrases also belong to this group ， such as ：” slow but sure （宁慢勿乱；慢工出细活；龟兔赛跑；虽然慢但最后一定胜利） , kill or cure （ (医药 )要么断送生命，要么挽救生命；不管怎样，好歹；孤注一掷；要么成功，要么失败） , fast and loose （飞快地） , as fit as a fiddle （非常健康） , as old as hills （万古千秋、极古老、极老） , as steady as a rock （坚如磐石） , etc”.

松弛英语

松弛英语还表现在使用陈腐词语 (cliché)方面。这种词语是一种声誉低下 (flyblown)的表达方式，是一种陈旧的 (stereotyped) 、平庸的短语，包括某些乏味的隐喻和某些陈腐的 (hackneyed) 语法格式（如 far be it from me to . . .) 。

松弛英语

Some are boring non-idom word and expressions, which make the listeners and readers sick. Such as, “armed to the teeth, as a matter of fact, from the bottom of one’s heart, last but not least, one’s better half, quite the opposite, to fall on deaf ear, to welcome with open arms, etc.” Some are not new in grammar rules, such as, “all things considered, be that as it may, etc.”

松弛英语

Some quotations are also regarded as flabby English because they are quoted too often and too much. For instance, “To be or not to be, that is the question”, (Shakespeare: 做还是不做，是一个值得考虑的问题） .

“A thing of beauty is a joy for ever”, (Keats (济慈 ) 一件美好的东西是永远的喜乐）Some quotative words and phrases from Latin, French are also regarded as flabby English. E.g. “aqua pura”（拉丁语，水），” carte blanche”（全权委托） , which are used too often. quotative

松弛英语

Why we say hackneyed English belong to flabby English?

为什么说陈腐英语也属松弛英语呢？

松弛英语

This is because people often use half a verbalism ( 套话） or one whole sentence in a deliberately mystifying manner to express what can be done by using one or two words. Such as, “to all intents and purposes (virtually); to have neither chick nor child (to be childless)”.

Generally speaking, those who like to use this k

ind of English/ cliché are those who are half-educated or uncultured, little-reading. They might know very little about hackneyed English, have the words at hand, or think it may drive their level of speeches and articles up by quoting the celeberties and then use it.

松弛英语

However, this probably outsmarts themselves. Actually, it is not absolute not to use hackneyed English. It can be used when to achieve a kind of effect and an aim. Partridge argues that public figures/politicians treat this group of words as friends in need. We can come across these words and phrases in their speeches and articles.

8.4 American SlangSlang (sl): very informal words, phrases, etc. commonly used in speeches, esp. between people from the same social group or who work together, not considered suitable for formal contexts and often not in use for long.“Grass” is criminal slang for “informer”.Slang is also informal language, and used generally in informal contexts. The Americans seem to be particularly hospitable to slangs. According to Paul Dickson, the author of Slangs, there are more than 35,000 words that are once or now slangs in American English. The slangs we talk about here are those accepted by, and familiar to the American residents.

American Slang

American slangs come mainly from cant (行话、术语 - specialized language of a particular group; jargon; thieves’ cant) , jargon, and argot (words and phrases used by a particular group, especially thieves, and not intended to be understood by others; cant) words. When more people get familiar with these words, some of them will probably become slangs.

American Slang

俚语也是一种非正式语言，一般在非正式场合经常使用，主要表现在某些词语和句子上与标准语有距离。美国人对俚语似乎特别 hospitable 。据《俚语》一书作者 ,Paul Dickson, 美国英语之中不下35000个词语曾经是或现在是俚语。这里所说的俚语是被美国公民所广泛认可、熟悉的。美国俚语主要来自 cant （行话、术语 - specialized language of a particular group; jargon; thieves’ cant) ,jargon 和 argot (words and phrases used by a particular group, especially thieves, and not intended to be understood by others; cant) 词语。这种词语被越来越多的人知道后，其中一部分词语则可能上升为俚语。

American Slang

Slang has a very long history. There have been slangs ever since there have been languages. Slangs are mostly used in spoken form. According to Stuart Berg Flexner, a linguist, some slangs were slangs not long ago, but now have become formal language; some slangs last briefly, and are very popular at one period of time, but are quickly forgotten by people. Americans show great interest in slangs. They are filled with imagination, confidence, optimism, and free in language use. In the US, there are nor institutions to normalize their English.

End

Thanks

sociolinguistics ⑧ xiao long-fu applied linguistics programme school of foreign languages sdnu...

Documents