buyingSummary of Do You Speak American
Having watched Robert MacNeil’s documentary Do You Speak American? one may perceive a famous saying of Socrates “Speak, so that I may see you” from different angles. At first glance, one nation – one language, but the film proves how eclectic America is, even from a linguistic point of view. Thus, the central issue is the state of American English and its diversity.
First and foremost, what is Standard English? Even though many linguists consider it to be English-Received Pronunciation, which emerged in London in 19th century and was widely used in so-called Big Tories Cities (namely, Boston, New York, Richmond, Savannah, etc.), no distinct answer may be given. American English developed in a different direction, especially after the World War II. In fact, most Americans regard the Midland dialect as the most correct one.
Dialect is “a form of a language which is spoken only in one area, with words or grammar that are slightly different from other forms of the same language” (as cited in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 2009). Variety of English dialects – not only in the whole world, but also within states, or even separate cities (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania may serve as an example) – is so large that their connoisseurs may not achieve mutual understanding. I support the opinion of Barbara Johnstone: “Fierce pride in one’s own speech is a measure of the importance of place.” Even if one’s language or pronunciation is an object of mockery, it is still something that makes you to stand out. Moreover, a language should not become a basis for discrimination or misleading stereotypes (as it was demonstrated in the case of Black English). In my humble opinion, the situation with grapholect, i. e. a peculiar local manner of writing (Redling 16), also differs as far as informal written language is verbalization of thoughts.
The next point to be discussed is the existence of two polar views concerning slang and its influence on American English. On the one hand, it has detrimental effect on the state of the language vulgarizing and damaging all of its levels (from phonetic to stylistic one). The other side of the coin suggests taking pleasure in slang as far as it is the way we express ourselves. One may take elementary precautions, but it is impossible to eliminate slang completely.
To conclude, according to the investigation, American English is facing three threats: informal grammar (significantly affected by mass-communication), disturbing neologisms, and influence of immigrant languages. Language is like a living substance – absorbing, recreating, evolving, and vice verse – degrading, suffering, or dying out. This documentary might inspire future researchers in the field of general linguistics, sociolinguistics, and cultural studies. Perhaps, aphoristic saying of Socrates should be updated to: “Speak, so that I may see from what part of the USA you are.”