Variations in Dialects Are Inherently Equal, Essay Example

To help my friend understand that variations in dialects are inherently equal, I would employ a dual argument.  My friend believes that a dialect is superior when it more closely adheres to the standardized speech of the culture, and this would enable me to point out several weaknesses in such thinking.  Firstly, it is based, not on concern for the quality of the language or speech, but on social and class values; it relies on conformity as a standard of excellence, and this clearly goes to supporting the dominant, mainstream class.  To illustrate this, I would ask what his/her reaction would be on hearing a white, wealthy woman use a double negative.  No doubt the reaction would be that the woman is mocking a lower class or trying to be amusing, and this then reinforces the social meaning actually defining dialect in his/her mind.  In plain terms, the viewpoint ignores the actual speech and depends entirely on a subjective perception of the associated regionality, class, or race.

To this, my friend would then say that, no matter the social component, the dialect in question reflects ignorance of proper English, so a “lower class” association is justified.  To this I would answer that he/she is ignoring the crucial element of language as evolving, and typically from marginalized cultures – not educated in standard English – introducing dialectical and idiomatic forms which enrich the language.  Such cultures are like visitors from a distant land who use wood in a way we never have; we all rely on it, but they carve it in interesting ways that offer new choices in how it may be used.  It is the same with English, as it is important to remember that the greatest masters of the language seized upon dialects.  Dickens uses double negatives and slang all the time, and not always as character dialogue; it provides energy to his otherwise formal style. Shakespeare famously commits the sin of inventing words all the time, which is a charge leveled at minorities. To categorize nonstandard dialects as ignorant, then, is to actually doom the language to stagnation.  It is to be blind to the reality that richness of expression very often originates within the uneducated, nonstandard cultures who shape language to suit their needs and consequently bring invention and novelty to it.