Thanks to someone reminding me via PM, and the fact that my english language note book is being lent out indefinitely (probably until end of VCE) as of tomorrow, I shall finish off my list
Important note: These are, more or less, copied word for word from my personal notes. Ie, I invented them. Consequently, to entertain myself I write stupid things within it. The quantity of stupid things increases as time goes on. You have been warned.
Broad/general/cultivatedBroad - helpful, friendly, trustworthy, understands the 'real' world, can be perceived to be stupid
Cultivated - clever but up themselves
- People are generally shifting from both ends -> general (dont want the attitudes from either extreme). People of course move up and down it to fit in with where they live, occupation etc -> identity + group membership
- The shifts away from broader accents make some people reckon that AE as a variety is dying - less idiomatic speech etc. However there is still a lot out there, also some people will push it by using heaps
These are also linked to standards - people with cultivated will adhere stronger to SAE.
However I didn't actually write any examples here, I just left a space for it
SAE-it needs to exist otherwise we can't understand each other/deviate from it
-it is in written language (books, legal things) as it is prestigious, can be understood by all people etc -> it is necessary to be able to use it, hence we learn it.
- most changes to it happen in spoken language, once change is accepted it enters standard
- people feel that it is being destroyed etc by young people, ie: [fill in examples here] non standard spelling/grammar, changes in meaning, new words
-when people whinge about this they tend to forget that language is constantly changing and the average person needs english from 1000 years ago 'translated' so we can understand it - people sometimes prefer what they know over change (it seems threatening etc)
- use of SAE is linked to power etc
- changes in SAE atm [things becoming acceptable in the standard] include ending sentences with prepositions, starting with conjunctions, use of pronouns eg 'they'
-also on pronouns, some people when making an effort to use SAE get it wrong eg using I instead of me when being the object in the sentence eg 'so and so visited my friend and I' is wrong.
- also there are some times where SAE isn't appropriate, eg in greetings, if someone said how are you, you say you're good as opposed to the gramatically correct 'I am well', you would get funny looks if you did this
Influences on AE- the world amazingly is changing so we need words to label the computer etc
-more importantly is our good mate america like killing our like language - influences like telly, movies, music ("American culture"), how to spell colour, -re/-er, -ise/-ize, zed or zee, some american words we shy away from if they sound too american eg sweater, candy, cookie, trailer park (on the flipside, we also avoid some words if they sound too british, it really just varies from word to word)
-'multiculturalism', immigrants [multicultralism is surrounded by " " as when you break down the word it can suggest australia is composed entirely of subgroups and there is no overall aussie culture. Be careful how you use the word and understand what it means]
Ethnolects-can sound 'wrong' due to stresses on wrong syllable
- can apply syntax of first language
- cannot say some of our phonemes, try to find substitutes for them
- do other things to mimic first language eg put vowel sounds at end of words
- can use regular rules for irregular word formation (gooder, but obviously examples should not be as extreme as this, people tend to know that one)
Regional variationNot many as Australia is a relatively new country, also we spread out quickly (think vs overseas countries where you can identify where in the country they came from with ease eg north vs south usa)
There are a few though, mainly in the domain of food, stuff like slide vs slippery dip as well
Overall attitudes etc1. SAE > all - it has power and prestige, however it isnt actually 'better' than any other variety in terms of how it's put together (phonology, morphology, syntax, based on these factors you cannot argue it is a superior variety)
2. language and identity - people will both consciously and unconsciously choose language to assert who they are. in terms of only AE, people are proud of it and will fight to protect it
Language variation according to useMain influence on this is obviously context - function, participants, social distance
Also consider formal/informal, politeness (=> hedging, euphemisms, more adherence to social protocols)
Slang -informality, reduce social distance etc
Examples from Aussie english (hey look I even wrote it in alphabetical order for you) - aggro, ankle biter, battler, bludge, chook, crikey, digger, drongo, (take a) squiz, snag, tucker, tinny, ute, your shout
Also you are teenagers, include young people slang (I left this space blank as I hate it lolz
)
Jargon => group membership
domain specific, includes specialist language - precise to speaker, rest of us have very little idea.
For here pick examples you are familiar with
Also you can be really lazy and use VCE jargon as an example (sacs and outcomes, the gat)
Doublespeak are euphemisms with intention of manipulating the truth
Incredibly original examples: friendly fire, pre-emptive strike, collateral damage (also this can be linked how 'we' are brave and 'they' are cowardly and go off and do sneak attacks, while *we* pre-emptive strike)
From shops - downsizing vs using firing, sacking, retrenching
Politics - can dodge questions, don't claim responsibility for things, euphemisms make it sound positive
Also these guys play with passives/nominalisation so they can hide the agent (thing doing the action) eg I hit him -> he was hit by me -> he was hit (agent dropped). We can now go further and alter the sentence to 'he got hit', this now sounds like he had it coming for him
Euphemisms and DysphemismsI actually wrote this heading with nothing under it, I think I had boring examples like carked it etc anyway.
Political correctness-Purpose to not cause offence, exclude people, remove stereotypes/connotations
-It was so successful, that no one likes PC as it is killing freedom of speech, people rely on being non-PC for most jokes to be funny
-It also sometimes further highlights what you were trying to 'fix' than if you had just used the normal word
Examples - dwarf/vertically challenged, blind person/person with blindness, gay/same sex attracted
Gendered languageToday we are all equal. [I wrote that sentence with irony/sarcasm behind it
] This language reflects an older society. Many of the changes people were originally against but now consider them as normal
Egs he -> they or he/she or s/he, manhole -> access hole, chairman -> chairperson, police officer, firefighter, flight attendant, postie (this one is good as it links into Aussie English, it was one of my favourites for linking things
)
There are still many words out there eg wo/man, history, to master something, connotations of words similar in meaning eg master vs mistress. Also you get masters/bachelors degrees. I guess I got over excited about one word there, sorry
Miscellaneous other pointsInternet/sms language - closely related to spoken mode with reductions, incomplete sentences, 'no grammar'. acronyms that are now words like lol. odd morphology eg 2, 4, thx, l8, @
Things you can do with pronouns eg include/exclude, us vs them, you can also exploit semantics by talking to a group of people and referring to them as 'you' but specifically looking at one person when you are doing this
Things people stuff up eg verses vs versus
Written language influences how words are said, creates shifts in pronunciation, possibly as we are taught to learn new words by trying to sound them out etc
People try to adhere to SAE with punctuation etc but stuff it up (rogue apostrophes that shouldn't be there etc). How we really don't need some of it in the first place because we seem to do alright in spoken language without them.
Also if something is missing we will add it in to make it coherent (eg if I gave you 200 words without full stops or capital letters to indicate where the sentences start and end, you would be trying to add it in there), we also force rhymes and rhythm etc to make it fit
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