So before I went to bed last night, I watched the relatively short snowfall and thought, ‘hmm, that’s annoying, I have a train to catch in the morning. But it’ll be ok, it’s not that much I suppose’. Then I awake this morning to find I have somehow left Manchester and awoken at Everest base camp. Good god. I’ve never had to actively seek out a taxi on Oxford Road, it just doesn’t happen. I held on for dear life during the ride to the station, taxi drivers + snow = a very scary ride indeed. But to give him his due, I arrived safe, and I even tipped the thieving bastard ten pence (even if it was because I was in a rush and he was fumbling to find it).
I wouldn’t usually dream of writing to you whilst on the move, however my only other option is to look out of the window, and I care very little to look upon field after field of white any longer. I could, of course, try to strike up a conversation with those around me. Only one problem lies with that though – I’m not mental. There is always that one person who starts a conversation on a train, much to the dismay of their fellow passengers. I saw this in action when coming into Manchester on Monday, and thoroughly enjoyed watching from afar as those around this enigma of a man squirmed, reeking of being incredibly uncomfortable.
I’m sorry it’s been such a long time since I wrote last, but honestly, I lead a dull life. And I haven’t had nearly enough inclination to sit down and think of something interesting to write. Hopefully this will suffice.
It has been odd to read posts on Facebook and such from those currently at school. Such posts that, not even a year ago, I would have happily joined in with and celebrated. Posts which shout delight at the snow and herald it as a miracle, closing schools and giving days off left, right and centre. But now I look at them with dismay, to anyone in the real world (that is of course if you would class University as the’ real world’) snow is a nightmare. It is cold, wet and makes transport in England crumble. After last winter especially, many have grown to loathe it.
You have to feel sorry in some part for these poor Southerners as well who have come from warmer climates, from the reactions I have seen them give, you would think they were all from the Middle East or some such and that cold weather was unheard of to them. So when I say we should feel sorry for them in part, that part is that they’re just soft. Then again, this is coming from the one sat in a Royal Navy greatcoat, scarf and snow boots. Hypocrisy thy name is...
Right, well, I seem to be drawing closer to Leeds, so I’d better pack away my laptop lest a chav jump me for it. I wonder what the weather is doing here? Oh, it’s snowing, what a surprise.
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Thursday, 18 November 2010
"Language is a dialect with an army and a navy." - Discuss
Right, before you start reading this, I warm you now: This is my first essay for university, it is not my usual blog post and so if you don't like it, tough. Anyone remotely interested in language might appreciate it though - (So that'll be you Alasdair.) The essay question was the title of the blog post. Have fun.
This much used metaphor was said by, Yiddish Linguist, Max Weinreich in 1945. With this quote, he was making the point that a language is only so because of social factors, not linguistic factors. With this essay I will look at the basis for this and try to determine whether things such as politics are the driving forces behind what sets aside a language from a dialect.
The OED defines dialect as – ‘One of the subordinate forms or varieties of a language arising from local peculiarities of vocabulary, pronunciation, and idiom.’ And a language as – ‘The system of spoken or written communication used by a particular country, people, community, etc.’ So, going merely from this, it would suggest that a language is a specific communication used by a specific group of people and that a dialect is a subordinate form of this. But, take for example Scots. Many disagree as to whether it is its own language, or just a dialect of English due to its history and the fact the two are mutually intelligible, but either way it has now been accepted by the UK Government as a ‘regional language’ and is a part of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The point I make here is that; if Scotland had retained its independence as a country, and was not a part of the United Kingdom, would Scots have ever have been in question as to whether it was in fact a language? Is it only because of the close ties of Scotland and England that it was at all ever considered to be just a dialect?
Some would argue that the fact English speakers can understand Scots, means that it is therefore a dialect and not another language all together. They would accept Welsh as another Language because it is not understandable by English speakers. However, if we look at Danish and Norwegian, these two languages are comparable to the relationship between English and Scots as each is widely understood by speakers of the other. However, there is no argument as to whether they are distinct languages or not. Why is this? It is here we come back to our quote, Norwegian and Danish both hold ‘an army and a navy’. That is to say, each of the languages is spoken by an independent country, with native speakers who know each language as their own and it is recognised by the government as being an official language. We can take from this then that distinct and independent countries, where the lines are not blurred, have specific languages despite holding mutual intelligibility with another which would usually suggest dialects of the same language.
Therefore we see that politics has its hand heavily in what defines a language aside from a dialect with regards to separate countries, but what about different languages within one country? New Zealand for example has three (politically) recognised official languages, English, NZ Sign Language, and Maori. Maori comprises a mere 4.2% of the overall spoken languages, and yet there is no dispute as to whether this is a language or not. The reason for this is due to social factors rather than the more political ones I previously outlined. Maori is a distinct and proud culture with a strong historical grounding in the country, if the government was to decide to not have it as an official language, there would be outcry of discrimination and unjustness, and so we see that some languages have power for entirely different reasons. Another language that is not as much a political language is Yiddish. Here we see a language that has developed from a religious community, rather than a geographical one, with such we would struggle to hold it as a dialect due to its worldwide presence.
A final are that I will look at, are variations of the same language, but which are recognised as separate ones. Why is it that American English, a direct result of British English, is not considered to be a dialect, but is instead very definitely its own language? We (speakers of British English) have no problem, accent aside, understanding those who speak American English, and vice versa. However, differences lie not just in the spoken language, but also in written language. Spelling, orthography, grammar. All of these have a bearing on a language setting its self aside from another, regardless of similarity in spoken form. Again though, if America weren’t such a powerful country as it is, would it still be known as American English? Or would it have retained more of its original form? Of course, there is an exception to every rule. If we look at China, the main language of the country is Mandarin Chinese. There are however, numerous other languages and variation recognised by the country, a big one of which is Cantonese. These two languages in spoken form are not mutually intelligible, however, they share a writing system with Mandarin which has only few differences and so the written form can be understood, even thought the spoken form cannot.
In conclusion, it would seem that, yes, having political influence and power can make a language and set it aside from what might otherwise just be a dialect, and that it is as much to do with borders and specific countries as anything else. Also cultural and social factors play a huge part in the distinction between language and dialect, such as heritage and religion, and these bend the lines that might normally be used to define, ‘what is a language?’. Looking at this, we have placed the army with political factors, and we have placed the navy with more social aspects. The point made about differences and similarities in written language defining a language instead of being a dialect then, I can only assume, must be the elusive air force.
This much used metaphor was said by, Yiddish Linguist, Max Weinreich in 1945. With this quote, he was making the point that a language is only so because of social factors, not linguistic factors. With this essay I will look at the basis for this and try to determine whether things such as politics are the driving forces behind what sets aside a language from a dialect.
The OED defines dialect as – ‘One of the subordinate forms or varieties of a language arising from local peculiarities of vocabulary, pronunciation, and idiom.’ And a language as – ‘The system of spoken or written communication used by a particular country, people, community, etc.’ So, going merely from this, it would suggest that a language is a specific communication used by a specific group of people and that a dialect is a subordinate form of this. But, take for example Scots. Many disagree as to whether it is its own language, or just a dialect of English due to its history and the fact the two are mutually intelligible, but either way it has now been accepted by the UK Government as a ‘regional language’ and is a part of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The point I make here is that; if Scotland had retained its independence as a country, and was not a part of the United Kingdom, would Scots have ever have been in question as to whether it was in fact a language? Is it only because of the close ties of Scotland and England that it was at all ever considered to be just a dialect?
Some would argue that the fact English speakers can understand Scots, means that it is therefore a dialect and not another language all together. They would accept Welsh as another Language because it is not understandable by English speakers. However, if we look at Danish and Norwegian, these two languages are comparable to the relationship between English and Scots as each is widely understood by speakers of the other. However, there is no argument as to whether they are distinct languages or not. Why is this? It is here we come back to our quote, Norwegian and Danish both hold ‘an army and a navy’. That is to say, each of the languages is spoken by an independent country, with native speakers who know each language as their own and it is recognised by the government as being an official language. We can take from this then that distinct and independent countries, where the lines are not blurred, have specific languages despite holding mutual intelligibility with another which would usually suggest dialects of the same language.
Therefore we see that politics has its hand heavily in what defines a language aside from a dialect with regards to separate countries, but what about different languages within one country? New Zealand for example has three (politically) recognised official languages, English, NZ Sign Language, and Maori. Maori comprises a mere 4.2% of the overall spoken languages, and yet there is no dispute as to whether this is a language or not. The reason for this is due to social factors rather than the more political ones I previously outlined. Maori is a distinct and proud culture with a strong historical grounding in the country, if the government was to decide to not have it as an official language, there would be outcry of discrimination and unjustness, and so we see that some languages have power for entirely different reasons. Another language that is not as much a political language is Yiddish. Here we see a language that has developed from a religious community, rather than a geographical one, with such we would struggle to hold it as a dialect due to its worldwide presence.
A final are that I will look at, are variations of the same language, but which are recognised as separate ones. Why is it that American English, a direct result of British English, is not considered to be a dialect, but is instead very definitely its own language? We (speakers of British English) have no problem, accent aside, understanding those who speak American English, and vice versa. However, differences lie not just in the spoken language, but also in written language. Spelling, orthography, grammar. All of these have a bearing on a language setting its self aside from another, regardless of similarity in spoken form. Again though, if America weren’t such a powerful country as it is, would it still be known as American English? Or would it have retained more of its original form? Of course, there is an exception to every rule. If we look at China, the main language of the country is Mandarin Chinese. There are however, numerous other languages and variation recognised by the country, a big one of which is Cantonese. These two languages in spoken form are not mutually intelligible, however, they share a writing system with Mandarin which has only few differences and so the written form can be understood, even thought the spoken form cannot.
In conclusion, it would seem that, yes, having political influence and power can make a language and set it aside from what might otherwise just be a dialect, and that it is as much to do with borders and specific countries as anything else. Also cultural and social factors play a huge part in the distinction between language and dialect, such as heritage and religion, and these bend the lines that might normally be used to define, ‘what is a language?’. Looking at this, we have placed the army with political factors, and we have placed the navy with more social aspects. The point made about differences and similarities in written language defining a language instead of being a dialect then, I can only assume, must be the elusive air force.
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
Remembrance
Just a short post.
Tomorrow is armistice day, a day of remembrance for the men who gave their lives fighting for our country. But also so I feel, a day to remember those others we have lost, and it feels somewhat poignant.
I today learned of the very sad death of one of the men who I hold in very high regard, and as one of my inspirations to become a teacher. Myself and many others are deeply saddened and feel we owed him a lot.
My thoughts are with all those who have someone to remember tomorrow.
Tomorrow is armistice day, a day of remembrance for the men who gave their lives fighting for our country. But also so I feel, a day to remember those others we have lost, and it feels somewhat poignant.
I today learned of the very sad death of one of the men who I hold in very high regard, and as one of my inspirations to become a teacher. Myself and many others are deeply saddened and feel we owed him a lot.
My thoughts are with all those who have someone to remember tomorrow.
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
Optimism, for a Change
"Never take life too seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway" - Frank Arudini
Tomorrow I hope to win the lottery, have lots of money, and live comfortably for the rest of my life. Well, one can dream. I will, in fact, not win and instead, continue to live as a poor student worrying about whether I will be able to pay the rent next month. At least I'm in the same boat as many others.
I apologise for the delay in this latest post, but I do have a reason (sort of). You see, last week was reading week, or dossers week as I prefer to call it. This basically means that no one has lectures or tutorials, effectively making it a week off. That is of course unless you are one of the poor bastards studying anything remotely science based it seems. Thank goodness I am not, I feel it is a trifle of a win for a BA there, rather than a BSC. Huzzah.
Anyway, the reason that meant I didn't post you anything remotely interesting to read, was because I tend to write during lectures, about the only time I should be listening. Instead, I had a lovely few days away from this hell hole of a city. Mancunians may dislike me for that comment, but Mancunians don't like anyone, so it really doesn't matter.
Since much has transpired since then, I will start with an episode from last week. Halloween. An over rated, ridiculous American holiday which we have no reason to adopt. That said, for the first time ever, this year I actually enjoyed my self. This was though achieved with copious amounts of alcohol and an outfit to put most to shame. Yes, I mean you over there who applied a bit of ketchup to your neck or a bandage around your head, make an effort if you're going to bother at all.
So, now it's over, as is bonfire night (a real, English, reason to have some sort of social event). Winter has well and truly come knocking, we've had floods and snow around the country already and remembering the hell of last years three months of white, people are quaking in their new fortified snow boots. On the upside to this - yes, /I/ am offering an upside, don't worry, I'm quite well - Christmas is just around the corner and this year I find it hard to be as scrooge like as I would have hoped. Despite being poor and not being able to buy for more than one person, I am truly looking forward to it. I feel I should give something here that is cheerful and uplifting, or a reason, but I struggle to do so, so I shan't.
One final thing. I think that today has been the most adult one of my life - house browsing for next year. A scary and exciting prospect, but at least I know who I want to be living with and actually like all of them. That's right. Eight relative strangers, all from one flat, and not one that I dislike, it is truly something rare. I feel adopted by them, like a pet maybe?
Off I go to curl up and sleep on their floor...
Tomorrow I hope to win the lottery, have lots of money, and live comfortably for the rest of my life. Well, one can dream. I will, in fact, not win and instead, continue to live as a poor student worrying about whether I will be able to pay the rent next month. At least I'm in the same boat as many others.
I apologise for the delay in this latest post, but I do have a reason (sort of). You see, last week was reading week, or dossers week as I prefer to call it. This basically means that no one has lectures or tutorials, effectively making it a week off. That is of course unless you are one of the poor bastards studying anything remotely science based it seems. Thank goodness I am not, I feel it is a trifle of a win for a BA there, rather than a BSC. Huzzah.
Anyway, the reason that meant I didn't post you anything remotely interesting to read, was because I tend to write during lectures, about the only time I should be listening. Instead, I had a lovely few days away from this hell hole of a city. Mancunians may dislike me for that comment, but Mancunians don't like anyone, so it really doesn't matter.
Since much has transpired since then, I will start with an episode from last week. Halloween. An over rated, ridiculous American holiday which we have no reason to adopt. That said, for the first time ever, this year I actually enjoyed my self. This was though achieved with copious amounts of alcohol and an outfit to put most to shame. Yes, I mean you over there who applied a bit of ketchup to your neck or a bandage around your head, make an effort if you're going to bother at all.
So, now it's over, as is bonfire night (a real, English, reason to have some sort of social event). Winter has well and truly come knocking, we've had floods and snow around the country already and remembering the hell of last years three months of white, people are quaking in their new fortified snow boots. On the upside to this - yes, /I/ am offering an upside, don't worry, I'm quite well - Christmas is just around the corner and this year I find it hard to be as scrooge like as I would have hoped. Despite being poor and not being able to buy for more than one person, I am truly looking forward to it. I feel I should give something here that is cheerful and uplifting, or a reason, but I struggle to do so, so I shan't.
One final thing. I think that today has been the most adult one of my life - house browsing for next year. A scary and exciting prospect, but at least I know who I want to be living with and actually like all of them. That's right. Eight relative strangers, all from one flat, and not one that I dislike, it is truly something rare. I feel adopted by them, like a pet maybe?
Off I go to curl up and sleep on their floor...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)