Bidialectallism and image - Writers Forum

jayme · 04-22-2005, 08:45 AM

I just want to talk about bidialectalism, the act of using two dialects and changing them according to addressee. Is it possible that a person talks with their standard idiolect and dialect amongst thier friends and changes it say at work, or in a bar or somewhere?

Saponification · 04-22-2005, 09:16 AM

You mean like registers? Sure, we do it all the time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Register_%28linguistics%29

mammamaia · 04-22-2005, 09:40 AM

people do it all the time... it's the result of wanting to be accepted as one of the crowd...

or, in my case, to be more easily understood by locals in the many foreign countries i visit/live in...

to those with a sensitive ear, it's automatic... when i'm spending time with an aussie or a brit, for instance, it's almost impossible not to slip into their 'sound' and use words i wouldn't ordinarily, like 'cheers' for hello and goodby...

and, when conversing in english with italians or greeks or others whose main language's syntax is not the same as english, i automatically use theirs, instead of mine... it makes it easier for them to get what i'm saying with the minimum of mental translation...

NeverHeardOfHer · 04-22-2005, 10:58 AM

OMG, absolutely! Around the neighborhood, I talk street. When I'm with my White friends, I talk just like them. And though I know this may be controversial to say, when I am with African Americans who are more educated than I, I avoid street talk; they seem to be more comfortable when I do.

jayme · 04-26-2005, 09:32 AM

So it's OK to talk "street" with your mates and use more complex lexis with no dialect whilst in front of say a boss?

mammamaia · 04-26-2005, 09:51 AM

of course it's ok... why wouldn't it be?... it's a form of courtesy, actually... speaking so you will be most easily understood by those you're speaking to is just a basic courtesy, imo...

NeverHeardOfHer · 04-26-2005, 10:47 AM

Members of minorities live in multiple worlds. We have more practice moving from one to the other. My friends and colleagues from more homogenous groups find it a strain to try to understand dialects. I find it easier to accommodate them than they would to follow what I say, so I just do it. Yeah, I guess it's a courtesy.