Dialects: The Impact of Culture on Languages
Originally Submitted April 20, 2023 for Write in Time.
There has yet to be a consensus on what makes a dialect different from a language. The usual distinction is that less spoken languages such as Tidewater Southern in the Southern United States or Provençal in France, are dialects. Those who use a more widely spoken language, like English, French, or German, are considered to use a standard language. Those who speak standard languages, see themselves as well educated and of a higher social class, and they use their perceived status against dialect speakers. In other words, to quote Max Weinreich, “A language is a dialect with an army and a navy” (qtd. in Fridland). However, I see languages and dialects as equal. Language is simply a dialect that is spoken by a large portion of a country’s population. Small groups of people use dialects to have a better form of communication that better represents themselves through the influence of their culture. The associations with that though vary, such as in South Africa where many languages spoken by small portions of the population are not being treated as real languages or the dialects found in the Southern United States where the speakers are considered “‘slow’ or ‘uneducated’” (Shepler, 2). In her article, “The sound of racial profiling: When language leads to discrimination,” Valerie Fridland, a professor of linguistics at the University of Nevada, discusses “linguistic profiling.” People tend to assign an ethnicity to a person by hearing their speech (such as the removal of [r] in pronunciation) and hold prejudices with those speech differences. A large part of this is centred around comprehension, especially in North America where African dialects are often considered incomprehensible (Fridland). Dialects are languages that have become influenced by culture, which has resulted in dialect speakers being perceived as negative stereotypes: poorly educated, illiterate, and lesser by those speaking more standard languages.
These negatives—uneducated, illiterate, and insignificant—are often born from a person’s preconceived notions of where someone is from. In her article for “The Lectern,” Molly Shepler brings attention to the two types of dialect: regional and social (1). It’s these two factors that give influence over people’s opinions. It is not just where someone lives, but also what they look like, where they work, and who they associate with. Shepler uses the example of the Tidewater Southern dialect in the Southern United States (2). Originally spoken by white plantation owners, following the American Civil War, the wealthy white families hired African American nannies who began to speak it (Shepler, 2). The dialect adopts numerous features such as the merging of certain vowels, elongated [a] sounds, and its defining trait: the dropping of the [r] sound (Shepler, 2). These traits are what have led to the stereotype of Southern dialect speakers as being “‘slow’ or ‘uneducated’” (2). Combined with the established negative stereotypes held of African Americans, those who speak Tidewater Southern are further prejudiced against, even though they are simply speaking a language influenced by their culture. However, as seen with women like Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, three extraordinary women whose work at NASA was instrumental to the United States in the Space Race (Shepler 2; Shetterly) these stereotypes held of African American Tidewater Southern speakers are false. These women show that just because someone does not use a standard language, there is more to them than a person’s biased opinion on the way they speak. This army of prejudice that is held by others should be challenged. It is clear culture’s influence on language is unrelated to intelligence or another negative stereotype. As such, dialects should be treated as equal to the languages they come from.
In French, cultural language is divided up into two categories: dialecte and patois. The former refers to dialects that “include a complete literary culture” (Littré qtd. in Haugen, 924), or dialects that have a written form and are used officially; patois is used for languages that do not have a written form and are used for informal purposes (Haugen, 924). So, you have the various communities within a region, such as Provence, which are united by one shared written dialect, the dialecte Provençal, and then you have the languages spoken within those communities that are functionally similar, patois (924). Unfortunately, this separation is not a positive thing, as patois are not seen as equal due to their lack of a written form (924). They may have culture, but it is not a “literary culture.” An attitude that is all too present around the world, such as in South Africa.
South Africa’s Constitution states a “right to freedom of association.” In South Africa, there are dozens of languages and dialects, but there are only 11 officially recognized languages, which are spoken by 98% of the population (Rakgogo & Mandende 179). Several of the remaining 2% are not allowed to associate with their culture which includes their language, due in part to their language not having a written from as is the case with the Khelobedu language of the Balobedu people (182). In 1999, Her Majesty Queen Modjadji V requested that Khelobedu be recognized as an official language as her people were forced to use the more prominent Sepedi language. Her request was denied by Nelson Mandela, then President of South Africa, and her people had to remain learning Sepedi instead (179–180). The Balobedu are located amongst three groups of people: the Vhavenda, the Vhatsonga, and the Bapedi (Sepedi speakers) but are not related to the Bapedi. Regardless, Khelobedu is considered a dialect of Sepedi (181), due to their location and Sepedi having a written form. As seen in France with dialectes, a language with a written form is held in higher esteem due to their ability to be used in formal and official situations.
For languages that lack a written form, their speakers are looked down upon, and seen as illiterate and uneducated. These attitudes have become so prominent that speakers of most of the Northern Sotho (Sepedi) dialects without written forms have expressed a desire to learn the more standard language because they do not want to be seen as lower class (182). What is interesting is that the constitution lists the 11 official languages, while granting special status to other languages, such as the indigenous languages, Khoi, Nama, and San, along with sign language, Hindi, German, and Arabic (“Constitution of the Republic of South Africa,” amend. 17, ch. 1, sec. 6). One can conclude that language and official standard language are different. Rakgogo & Mandende put forth the idea that language isn’t just one standard, but also encompasses all languages that are derived from it (180). Therefore, there is no reason Khelobedu and others, should be seen as not a real language. Just because a dialect is spoken by a smaller group of people or does not have a written form, it does not make it any less of a language. Those derivatives are the dialects that are infused with local culture and should be treated equally, not discriminated against.
As seen with Tidewater Southern and now Khelobedu, many African-based languages are frequently the targets of unjust behaviour. This was seen again in the 2013 trial of George Zimmerman, where the use of African American English resulted in Rachel Jeantel, the prosecution’s key witness, being seen as “inarticulate, not credible and incomprehensible” (Fridland). This also resulted in her erroneously recorded testimony in court transcripts (Fridland). Jeantel being seen as “incomprehensible” opens a wider understanding of these negative stereotypes of dialects. If one cannot comprehend someone, they will have a harder time understanding them. It is not impossible, you simply need to put in the extra effort to cast aside any assumptions held against the person or group of people. A person’s dialect holds their culture and it should not be erased for the sake of comprehension.
Many speakers’ cultures are even having their languages replaced in things like movies to allow for better comprehension by other language speakers (Shepler, 4). This change in language erases their culture and allows the negative stereotypes to continue by not showing a culture in a truthful way (5). Shepler calls attention to The Sound of Music (1965), which features an Austrian family in the 1930s fleeing from a potential German invasion during World War II. The family is based off a real-life family, but instead of speaking German, in the movie, the family speaks in English because the intended audience spoke English (4). This helps build the relationship between the Austrian characters with the English audience; however, it eliminates the relationship between the Austrian characters and German culture. As a result, the film’s portrayal of Austrians and Germans then eliminates the relationship with the English audience, leaving room for misinterpretation by audiences that Nazi Germany is German culture—even if the two are vastly different (5). The intention was for English speakers to better comprehend the characters on screen and have an easier time identifying with them, but it was done at the cost of realism and culture erasure. German is unanimously considered standard language, but it too was considered incomprehensible, and was replaced to fit the needs of the English-speaking audience. Not all movies do this, Hidden Figures (2016) maintained the Tidewater Southern dialect of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, for example, and it challenged the perception of the dialect’s speakers.
Dialects are languages that have been influenced by culture and should not be seen in a negative light. They should be given the proper attention and respect they deserve, just like every other language. The preconceived notions held against someone’s upbringing or class should not influence the ability to see a person for who they are. Communities of people should be allowed to use the language that best represents them. A person’s culture should not be ridiculed or cast aside simply because it is easier to understand another language. Those who see themselves as of a higher class due to their use of a standard language, should not be putting down those who speak with dialects. The thought is that the only thing dialect speakers have backing them are negative stereotypes, but this is false. Dialects are still a language; their military is just their culture.
Works Cited
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. Constitutional Court of South Africa, 23 August 2013, www.concourt.org.za/images/phocadownload/the_text/english-2013.pdf.
Fridland, Valerie. “The sound of racial profiling: When language leads to discrimination.” Nevada Today, University of Nevada, Reno, 26 June 2020, www.unr.edu/nevada-today/blogs/2020/the-sound-of-racial-profiling.
Haugen, Einar. “Dialect, Language, Nation.” American Anthropologist, vol. 68, no. 4, 1966, pp. 922–35. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/670407. Accessed 20 Apr. 2023.
Rakgogo, Tebogo Jacob, and Itani Peter Mandende. “Is Khelobedu a Language or a Dialect?” South African Journal of African Languages, vol. 42, no. 2, May 2022, pp. 179–189, doi:10.1080/02572117.2022.2094049. Accessed 20 Apr. 2023.
Shepler, Molly. “Dialects and Linguistic Replacement: How Language Impacts Cultural and Social Perceptions.” The Lectern, no. 1, 2021, pp. 1–10. thelectern.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Shepler_DialectsandLinguisticReplacement.pdf. Accessed 20 Apr. 2023.
Shetterly, Margot Lee. “Katherine Johnson Biography.” NASA. 24 Feb. 2020, www.nasa.gov/content/katherine-johnson-biography. Accessed 20 Apr. 2023.