<< Back 10/2/02 Linguistic differences ought to be celebrated By Christina Reitz Ever since I was introduced to socio-linguistics, in a course I took this spring, I’ve wanted to give a big linguistic “hug” to everyone who suffers from the belief that they “don’t talk good.” Linguistic insecurity, its technical term, is essentially the degree to which a person feels their own manner of speaking differs from the standard variety. Speakers of southern dialects, including Appalachian, are among the most linguistically insecure in the nation. This insecurity should hardly come as a surprise. Not only are southern dialects used as examples of the “wrong” way to speak English in classrooms everywhere, but there is joke upon joke about Southern speech. Remember that email on “how to speak southern” that was forwarded to thousands of inboxes across America last year? Hollywood has done much to exacerbate the situation with its history of portraying only racists and uneducated people with southern dialects and then juxtaposing these characters with intelligent, northern counterparts. But even without Hollywood, it’s obvious that not only accentual differences exist between North and South, but lexical, morphological, and syntactical differences as well. Put simply, they just talk differently. So what’s the big deal with linguistic insecurity? What’s so bad about thinking you don’t speak Standard English if, in fact, you don’t? The problem is that Standard English is considered, by many, the only correct form, which makes everything else improper, bad, wrong. The belief that you don’t speak correctly can be incredibly damaging. It leads people to speech therapy, silence to avoid ridicule, hypercorrection and at the heart of all this, it leads people to believe that they are stupid. This is tragic. There are many brilliant people who feel they are unintelligent because their speech doesn’t live up to the almighty standard. But isn’t it “the standard” because it is the best, and is the most correct? No. The standard variety of any language is simply that which enjoys the most social prestige. It is what is taught in schools and spoken on the radio. It is usually the speech of the upper-class and urban. Contrary to popular belief, the standard variety is not the oldest, purest form of a language, but rather, the newer. Also, Standard English is usually just a written variety. Think about it. How many people do you know that never use slang, always use “whom” correctly and never leave a preposition dangling? No one I know. The fact is that everyone speaks a certain dialect and those who were raised with a southern dialect are no less intelligent than someone who speaks Cuban Spanish instead of Castilian. Another important thing to remember about nonstandard varieties of any language is that they are not grammatically deficient. They simply have different rules. African-American vernacular (i.e. Ebonics), which is often criticized as being completely ungrammatical, actually has a grammar system every bit as elaborate and valid as Standard English. Similarly, southern dialects have rules governing language usage as well. Every region of the United States has certain lexical variations — pop vs. soda, pocketbook vs. purse, etc. — but the South is unique in its treatment of certain parts of speech. For instance, southern dialects often employ relic forms, or forms of older English that have become obsolete in Standard English. An example of this is a-prefixing to signify a progressive verb or adverbial compliment, such as “a-comin’” or “a-goin.’” “Yonder” would be a lexical example of this as well. Double modals (might could, might should) are also a common occurrence in southern speech. Grammatical nuances like these should not be shunned, but celebrated as a preservation of culture. I am not suggesting that schools throw out the Standard English curriculum and teach a regional dialect. People will always make judgments based on language and for this I think it especially necessary that everyone learns how to speak and write Standard English. The sad truth is that most employers are not going to take someone as seriously if their interview is conducted in Ebonics or Appalachian, and for this alone I think it’s important that people are able to draw on the standard if necessary. However, it is also important to realize that judging someone’s character or intelligence based solely on their speech is just as ignorant and unfounded as judging someone on their race or religion. (Cristina Reitz is a Haywood County resident currently attending UNC-Chapel Hill.)