"Everyone speaks a dialect."

Daniels, Harvey A. “Nine Ideas about Language.” Language: Introductory Readings. 7th ed. Ed. Virginia Clark, Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa and Beth Lee Simon. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008. 3-20. Print.

In “Nine Ideas about Language” Daniels asserts that the English language is and “will remain useful and vibrant as long as it is spoken, whether we eagerly try to tend and nurture and prune its growth or if we just leave it alone. (3)” To support this statement, he lists nine fundamental ideas or facts about language and summarizes and synthesizes the research and thinking of linguistic scholars. Included among the “Nine” are discussions on how young children learn language (quickly, effectively and without instruction), the rules of language (all languages operate by rules), dialects (we all speak them) and language changes (it’s normal so relax).

Idea 4, “Everyone speaks a dialect” resonated most with me. Growing up in small farming communities in Kentucky and Tennessee, rural southern and Appalachian dialects were part of the air I breathed. A dialect, Harvey says “designates a variety of a particular language which has a certain set of lexical, phonological, and grammatical rules that distinguish it from other dialects.” Some examples of words and phrases in the dialects that I was exposed to were “over yonder” (over there), “shet of” (get rid of), and “hose pipe” (water hose). My brother recalls a time standing in line at a small grocery store in town. The two men in line ahead of him were “clearly not from ‘round here” my brother said. The young cashier rang up their purchases and asked if they wanted it put in a “poke.” They looked at her uncomprehendingly. Then as she handed them their change, one man asked, rather arrogantly my brother said, “Could you please put that in a paper bag?” After they walked out, my brother and the young clerk had a good chuckle over the “fool” ways of Yankees. Another story: When I was 12 or 13, my best friend’s brother teasingly took a ring from me and refused to give it back. When my friend asked for it, he replied to her, “Hit ain't yourn, hits hern.” After my friend translated, I snatched it back, snarling, “It’s not ‘hisn’ either.” I was not mollified when my friend nudged me and whispered that it was his way of showing he liked me. I wasn’t interested in dating an ignorant hillbilly! These two stories illustrate the confusion in communication and the prejudice that can result when you encounter someone who speaks a different dialect. The young female cashier and my friend’s brother spoke in a dialect different from ours. The cashier followed her rules and her training -- she politely offered a “poke” or a bag. My friend’s brother followed the rules in his dialect: “hit” is it and “hisn,” “hern” and “yourn” are possessive pronouns, his, hers and yours.

I think this is an important article to read particularly in relation to the issue of dialects. I cannot speak for the men involved in the story of the “poke,” but I can for myself. If I had had this article, or an understanding of the information in it when I was growing up, hopefully I would have been less quick to write off those who spoke differently from me as ignorant hillbillies. I could have approached this experience as an opportunity to learn and share information about language, customs and culture. It was only after I moved to New York City that I began to realize the richness of the language and heritage that I had left behind without ever really getting to know. And I also encountered for the first time, prejudice against my own way of speaking, my own southern country dialect.