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Williams, Joseph M. Standards and Dialects in English. Center DOCUMENT RESUME ED 290 335 FL 017 122 AUTHOR Shopen, Timothy; Williams, Joseph M. TITLE Standards and Dialects in English. INSTITUTION Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington, D.C. PUB DATE 80 NOTE 231p.; For a companion volume, see FL 017 121. PUB TYPE Collected Works - General (020) Reference Materials - General (130) -- Books (010) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC10 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Black Dialects; *English; Evaluation Criteria; Language Usage; *Language Variation; Pronunciation; *Regional Dialects; Rural Areas; Socioeconomic Status; Sociolinguistics; *Spelling; *Standard Spoken Usage; Urban Areas; Young Children IDENTIFIERS *Appalachia; *New York (New York); Orthography ABSTRACT A collection of ersays on linguistic variation in English that distinguishes communities and social groups from one another includes: "Standard English: Biography of a Symbol" (Shirley Brice Heath); "The Rise of Standard English" (Margaret Shaklee); "English Orthography" (Wayne O'Neil); "How Pablo Says 'Love' and 'Stove'" and "An Afterword: How English Speakers Say 'Finger' and 'Sing'" (Timothy Shopen); "Creative Spelling by Young Children" (Charles Read); "Selections from Bengt Loman's 'Conversations in a Negro American Dialect'" (Timothy Shopen); "The Speech of the New York City Upper Class" (Geoffrey Nunberg); and "On the Application of Sociolinguistic Information: Test Evaluation and Dialect Differences in Appalachia" (Walt Wolfram, Donna Christian) and "An Afterword: The Accidents of History" (Joseph M. Williams). (MSE) *********************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * *********************************************************************** TIMOTHY SHOPEN JOSEPH M. WILLIAMS Australian National University University of Chicago under the auspices of the Center for Applied Linguistics Standards and Dialects in English THIS "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF BY EDUCATION MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED Office of Educational ReWith and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION (ERIC) Thentisdocument has beenreproduced as yreceived from the personor organization originating it, O Minor changes havebeen made to improve reproduction Quality TO THE EDUCATIONALRESOURCES o Points of viewer opinionsstated in this docu merit do not necessarily INFORMATION CENTER (ERICI." OERI position or policy represent official ciL 06 c-t- Z) Winthrop Publishers, Inc. -.1 Cambridge, Massachusetts Li- BEST COPYAVAILABLE k ! 2 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Main entry under title: Standards and dialects in English. Includes bibliographies. I. English languageStandardisationAddresses, essays, lectures.2. English languageVariation Addresses, essays. lectures.3. English language DialectsUnited StatesAddresses, essays, lectures. 4. SociolinguisticsAddresses, essays, lectures. I. Shopen, Timothy.II. Williams, Joseph M. III. Center for Applied Linguistics. PE1072.575 420 80-14647 ISBN 0-87626-817-3 Design by Amato Prudente Photo Credits Page 1: Jacob Riis/Museum of the City of New York Page 85: Hella Hammid/Photo Researchers, Inc. Page 137: Frank Siteman/The Picture Cube Page 175: Constantine Manos/Magnum Photos, Inc. @ 1980 by Winthrop Publishers, Inc. 17 Dunster Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 Allrights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ;I ',;**-. Contents Illustrations on the Cassette ix Introduction xi Standards 1 1 Standard English: Biography of a Symbol 3 Shirley Brice Heath Standards, 3 1 The Beginnings: Principles, 5 1 The Be- ginnings: Pronunciation and Spelling, 7 1 The Beginnings: Grammar and Diction, 14 1 A New Prescriptivism, 20 1 Changing Perspectives in the Twentieth Century, 29 1 Suggestions for Further Reading, 31 2 The Rise of Standard English 33 Margaret Shaklee Introduction: The Overlapping Features of Regional, Social, and Style Dialects, 33 1 Regional and Social Variation in the Speech of Medieval England, 37 1 Variant Forms: Competition for a Place at the Top, 41 1 A Shift in Social Favor, 48 1 Social Dialects in London, 52 1 Prestige Styles as a Force for Linguistic Change, 59 1 Suggestions for Further Reading, 61 3 English Orthography 63 Wayne O'Neil Introduction, 63 1 Some Principles of Writing, 63 1 English: Some Special Rules, 66 1 The Principle of Abstract Representation, 72 1 Variation Through Time and Place, 75 1 Suggestions for Further Reading, 83 "I Contents The New Generation 85 4 How Pablo Says "Love" and "Stove" 87 Timothy Shopen Child Language: hnitation vs. Original Creation, 87 I Pronunciation, 92 I Answers, 99 I Postscript, 101 I Suggestions for Further Reading, 101 An Afterword. How English Speakers Say "Finger" and "Sing" Timothy Shope,' 103 5 Creative Spelling by Young Children 106 Charles Read Introduction, 106 I Spellings of [e], 113 I Toward Descrip- tive Adequacy, 117 I A Proposed Explanation, 119 I Experimental Evidence, 126 I Toward Explanatory Adequa- cy, 120 I Teaching and Learning, 132 I Problems, 134 I Suggestions for Further Reading, 136 Dialects 137 6 Selections from Bengt Loman's "Conversations in a Negro Amer- ican Dialect" (with recorded material on side 1 of the cassette)139 Timothy Shopen Introduction, 139 I Five Conversations, 139 I Five Addi- tional Conversations, 147 I Suggestions for Further Reading (and Listening), 148 7 The Speech of the New York City Upper Class (with recorded ma- terial on sides 1 and 2 of the cassette) 150 Geoffrey Nunberg Introduction: The Upper Class in America, 150 I How to Use this Chapter, 154 I Local Features in the Dialect of the New York City Upper Class, 155 I The Features in Time and Space, 162 I Suggestions for Further Reading, 172 Vi I 5 Contents Dialect Encounters Standard 175 8 On the Application of Sociolinguistic Information: Test Evaluation and Dialect Differences in Appalachia (with recorded material on side 2 of the cassette) 177 Walt Wolfram and Donna Christian Introduction, 177 / Testing and the Notion of "Correct- ness," 179 / Principles for Test Evaluation, 191 / Applying the Principles, 198 / Suggestions for Further Reading, 203 APPENDIX A: Some Grammatical Characteristics of Ap- palachian English, 205 APPENDIX B: Two Illustrative Narratives from West Vir- ginia, 210 An Afterword. The Accidents of History Joseph M. Williams 213 vii --11, Illustrations on the Cassette Side I(28:53) Chapter 6: Selections from Bengt Lontan's "Conversations ina Negro American Dialect" Part I: Five Conversations(11:02) Conversation1:GregoryJ.(10) and MichaelJ.(10), cousins(1:31) Conversation 2: Jacqueline D. (11) and Michael J.(0:46) Conversation 3: Anita P. (10) and Jacqueline D.(2:31) Conversation 4: Jacqueline D., Anita P., and Sandy B. (one of the interviewers)(1:07) Conversation 5: Anita P., Margy G. (one of the interviewers), Michael J., and Jacqueline D.(4:30) Part II: Five Additional Conversations(11:09) Conversation 6: Gregory J. and his aunt Patricia J.(3:13) Conversation 7: Gregory J. and Patricia J.(1:39) Conversation 8: Gregory J. and Margy G.(2:14) Conversation 9: Jacqueline D. and Margy G.(1:56) Conversation 10: Anita P. and Margy G.(1:42) Chapter 7: The Speech of the New York City Upper Class Part I: Local Features in the Dialect(6:42) Section 1.1 How to Say "Coffee" and "Dog" (Passage A)(1:14) BryanL.( middle class Californian, student, 24) Judy E. (lower middle class, secretary, 27) Robert H. (working class, route manager, 23) Barbara D. (upper class, book editor, 32) Robert N. (upper class, college teacher, 31) ix ti 7 Illustrations on the Cassette Section 1.2 How to Say "Aunt" and "Fast" (Passage B)(2:44) Judy E., Robert H., Barbara D., Robert N., and Peyton M. (upper class, student, 24) Section 1.3 Studied Indifference (Passages A and B)(2:21) Passage A: Judy E., Barbara D, and David L. (middle class, advertiser, 37) Passage B: Judy E., Robert N., and David L. Side II(23:11) Chapter 7 Continued Part II: The Features in Time and Space(16:51) Section 2.1 Changes in Upper-Class Speech (Passage C and conversa- tion)(6:42) Reading: Robert H., Robert N., Leo G. (working class, stu- dent, 25); Conversation: Leo G., Robert N.; Reading: Jane C. (upper class, housewife, 44); Conver'sation: Lawrence M. (upper class, diplomat, born 1903), Carter C. (upper class, publisher, born 1897), Henry S. (upper class, politician, born 1880) Section 2.2 The New York City Upper Class and the Upper Class Elsewhere (Passage D and conversation)(3:42) Reading: Robert N., Barbara D., Peyton M., Judy E., Bryan L., Leo G., Weston T. (Boston upper class, art dealer, 32), Nancy G. (Boston upper class, political activist, 27); Conversation: Robert N.; Reading and Conversation: Betty W. (Boston middle class aspiring to upper class, college teacher, 33) Section 2.3 It Takes One to Know One (conversation)(6:04) Barbara D., Peyton M., Jane C., Weston T., Peyton M. Chapter 8: On the Application of Sociolinguistic Information: Test Evalua- tion and Dialect Differences in Appalachia Passage 1: An Appalachian Ghost Story(3:16) Passage 2: An Appalachian Hunting Story(2:26) x Introduction The Aim of this Book and Its Companion Volume STANDARDS AND DIALECTS IN ENGLISH has a companion volume, STYLE AND VARIABLES IN ENGLISH. Together they provide an intro- duction to the English language, especially American English, as part of the culture of those who speak it. Both books are about linguistic variationthis one about the kind that distinguishes cemmunities and social groups from each other, its companion volume about the kind that occurs in the same community and even in the words of a single person. We have provided copious illustrative material, including the cassette that comes with this book, the expression of a variety of English speakers. We hope readers will find themselves involved in the exploration and analysis of this data, and then discover how they might continue wi.:1 research of their own. Diversity and Unity Languages are forever changing, largely because new generations renew them in creative way.,.
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