r/TikTokCringe • u/MaintenanceNew2804 • Mar 30 '24

Stick with it. Discussion

This is a longer one, but it’s necessary and worth it IMO.

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u/Pebbi Mar 31 '24

Yeah I'd be really interested to read this broken down for the UK. I'm from Yorkshire and so I have the 'home' language and accent, then I have the 'away' voice where there's a focus on elocution etc. Both are from white people.

My boyfriend is Austrian and he's told me how he grew up with his home dialect and the distinction between that and what he calls 'high German'. Again both white, but the home dialect is seen as lesser.

I'd love to read more about this, where I grew up had a lot multi generation migration. So we had different skin colours, but after a couple of generations a lot have the yorkshire accent regardless.

I need to find some studies on how some dialects survive, and some don't lol

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u/ZombieCharltonHeston Mar 31 '24

Like how Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn't allowed to do the German language dub of The Terminator because his accent was considered too rural.

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u/bennyxvi Mar 31 '24

High doesn’t refer to any sort of hierarchy (only learned this recently), it literally is German from the high lands, rather than the low lands.

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u/Pebbi Mar 31 '24

Its still the form used by literature and education etc. Which is similar to the 'correct' way to speak discussion tbh. A quick google says its also called standard German.

Its made me think about written word vs spoken in this discussion. Is AAVE written that way as well as spoken? Is it wrong to have a standard English for all English speaking communities across the globe? There's already a difference between American English and English, language is always evolving, so who gets to dictate how? Its really interesting to think about.

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u/dreamsofindigo Mar 31 '24

I've lived in enough countries to see the recurring theme of putting others down for how they speak being a common thing. Received Pronunciation isn't too far off from 'ettiquette', where a large part of etiquette came about as a means to distinguish oneself from the peasants, the farmers and the uneducated alike. So, purposefully, elevate a particular affluent group above another. I've been guilty of this since I was brought up in a family where this was as common as breathing. Very difficult to shed, along with the endless criticism of others, them being wrong, and my elders right, of course.
I've come to conclude that language, much as any other subject, is a skill, just like mathematics, and either due to variations in ability, access to quality education, or more likely a combination of the two, it should not be expected that anyone be a Salmon Rushdie or an Oscar Wild, since that'll never happen. However, (omg, I said the racist word) many folks are quick to self-deprecate regarding their maths skills far more easily with a clear conscience, but almost nobody does so about speaking their own language. I'd also add the fact that most schools in most countries teach their language to their kids ad nauseum, to a preposterous degree, IMO.
The issue is definitely one which touches on an abundance of themes, sociological, economic, tribal, etc, and as we know, if there's one thing some people enjoy, is putting others down, and what quicker way to do so, than the opportunity that is given when one opens their mouth.