tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post2246277823378104021..comments2024-03-28T01:00:29.382-07:00Comments on TalkToYoUniverse: Language Pride/Language ControlJuliette Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-76108762334834427622010-02-22T19:45:36.425-08:002010-02-22T19:45:36.425-08:00Thanks for all your contributions, JDsg, atsiko, O...Thanks for all your contributions, JDsg, atsiko, OFloinn, hampshireflyer and Meindzai. These are all good things to think about - who knows when the situations you describe might be relevant to a story that someone is writing. There's lots of inspiration to be had in real world language situations of all types.<br /><br />Meindzai, sometimes you'll find the same situation - a Japanese person speaking English to a person who is trying to speak Japanese - but usually for entirely different reasons than in the Hindi case. It's interesting.Juliette Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-59583430468393343842010-02-22T14:20:11.011-08:002010-02-22T14:20:11.011-08:00What's the opposite of language pride? On a r...What's the opposite of language pride? On a recent NPR "World in Words" podcast, they discussed how many native speakers of Hindi actually consider it to be a lower status than English. So, confronted by an English speaking person who is trying to respect the language and culture, they may actually switch to English. <br /><br />If you don't already know about this cool podcast, here is the link:<br />http://www.theworld.org/podcasts/the-world-in-words-podcast/Meindzaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17463956045443466478noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-40691809360203898652010-02-22T13:21:38.470-08:002010-02-22T13:21:38.470-08:00I always want to know what language/s my character...I always want to know what language/s my characters are going to be speaking... and then make sure none of their dialogue or POV uses a figure of speech their language hasn't got...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-33701012713223293262010-02-22T11:39:38.984-08:002010-02-22T11:39:38.984-08:00Danes and Norwegians, explained a Norse friend, ca...Danes and Norwegians, explained a Norse friend, can understand each other. With a little effort, he added, they could understand a Swede, "but why would you want to?" (Swedes are the butt of Scandanavian jokes.) It's political. When Norway declared its independence from Sweden, she discovered to her horror that she did not have a language. Everyone in Norway spoke Danish. (Denmark had ruled Norway for centuries.) So the professors fanned out into the countryside and recorded all the dialects spoken in remote viks, etc. Then they "calculated an average" (as my friend Fredrik put it) and tabbed that as New Norse (Nynorsk). <br /><br />You find similar differences between Germany and the Swiss-Bavarian-Austrian flavor. In the north, for example, they say "zwo" for two (and you can see how that creeps across to English). In the south they say "zwei" (tsvai) which is the actual High German. Ditto: "Appel" in the north and "Apfel" in the south for apple. <br /><br />Germans think Austrians sound like hicks. Austrians think Germans sound like Prussian officers.TheOFloinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14756711106266484327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-90480288576810625392010-02-22T09:54:11.072-08:002010-02-22T09:54:11.072-08:00Yeah, pidgins and creoles can be fun.
Juliette, I...Yeah, pidgins and creoles can be fun.<br /><br />Juliette, I'm sure <i>you've</i> heard this before, but it's often said that “a language is a dialect with an army and a navy. “ Nowadays, I'd imagine an air force might help, as well—and maybe a nuclear arsenal.<br /><br /><br />On China-- As I understand it, there are at least eight spoken languages in China-plus inumerable dialects--and then you have written Chinese, which could almost be considered its own language, and is readable by people speaking almost every language or dialect in the country.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-15901823919594982292010-02-22T04:54:55.552-08:002010-02-22T04:54:55.552-08:00Don't forget about "creoles." Singl...Don't forget about "creoles." Singlish, here in Singapore, is a mixture of Malay, Hokkien (a Chinese dialect) and English (with a fair amount of the English having come from 1810s Britain - contemporary with Jane Austen). It's an odd mix and takes some getting used to (at least for me), but it's extremely popular with the natives.JDsghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04735390644321868222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-59316179046300502282010-02-21T19:54:40.920-08:002010-02-21T19:54:40.920-08:00Good point, Atsiko. The distinction between diale...Good point, Atsiko. The distinction between dialect and language is a blurry one. We talk about dialects of Chinese, for example, but many of them are mutually unintelligible. Why call them all "dialects"? Then again, there's the distinction between languages like Flemish and Dutch and Afrikaans. They may be mutually intelligible, but they have different names. I think there are historical factors involved in these distinctions, but also that mutual intelligibility and unintelligibility can't be assumed to be the final criteria.Juliette Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-7587928996647862822010-02-21T19:44:41.998-08:002010-02-21T19:44:41.998-08:00'Nother interesting thing to think about-- How...'Nother interesting thing to think about-- How do you define a "language"? If Country A and Country B can understand each other, why do they insist that they speak different languages?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-45499493306348847292010-02-21T19:17:56.076-08:002010-02-21T19:17:56.076-08:00Funny, this is one of the core principles I like t...Funny, this is one of the core principles I like to explore when I first dig into a language and I was just thinking about this. (Love simultaneous thought patterns. :smiles: ) Trying to figure out how a character/community/culture/nation views their language creates such a telling point in every interaction with someone from outside of the community/culture/nation. Whether they speak the same language or a different one, the character's view of their OWN language affects how they view the other character and their choice and/or use of language.<br /><br />Timely post and I thank you. I'm going to incorporate the thoughts here and link back when I return to my (currently in draft mode) post on creating language from the inside out.Megs - Scattered Bitshttp://writing.smeganpayne.comnoreply@blogger.com