I have at many a times come across sessions of heated arguments with my friends over this issue. Their basic finding is that certain dialects are substandard in aspects like their wordings, pronunciation, the amount of respect shown to the folks in a conversation and so on. Does that mean the whole community conversing in that dialect are culture-less? Can we regard dialect as a measure of standard of the society?
Here are my views on this, but then these are mine and mine only. Disagreements are welcome.
I reckon those with the view in the title are "Narrow Minded". Languages were essentially meant for man to express himself in the most comfortable form with the least amount of labour. With time changes everything and so does languages and their dialects. Reasons may be numerous. But the point is that it changes.
It is quite natural for him to 'fall in love' with the dialect one is used to from his birth. Other dialects naturally tend to fall in his sub-standard list; which is what I regard to as his narrow mindedness.
It makes no sense for me to have a sense of pride in ones language or dialect. I personally have been in different parts of India and heard quite a lot of different languages and their dialects. Those long tenures at different places made me realize the power of languages; how different they are, yet they serve the same purpose. I always have tried to learn to speak in the regional dialect and slang. And these trials were natural, nobody asked me for it. It makes me to enjoy the beauty of different languages. And this is no boasting. The situation then demanded me to be on the learning and adaptive phase each time I went to a new place. I couldn't have afford to stick to the belief that my previous regional language was more elegant than this! It would have turned me into the ODD man deserving to be OUT.
Malayalam is a very wonderful language with a lot of regional dialects. I have never been able to figure out if I belong to any one. I have stayed in different parts of Kerala and witnessed major differences in all aspects of the language. All the time they only amused me, never pushed me into differentiating or comparing them.
We Indians are always proud of our UNITY IN DIVERSITY. Languages are meant to break the barriers between our minds. Regional dialects of a language is never an image of the relative standard or culture of the society. No other nation can boast of such varied shades of languages and their countless dialects like us.
Languages are divided to unite HUMANITY.
Here are my views on this, but then these are mine and mine only. Disagreements are welcome.
I reckon those with the view in the title are "Narrow Minded". Languages were essentially meant for man to express himself in the most comfortable form with the least amount of labour. With time changes everything and so does languages and their dialects. Reasons may be numerous. But the point is that it changes.
It is quite natural for him to 'fall in love' with the dialect one is used to from his birth. Other dialects naturally tend to fall in his sub-standard list; which is what I regard to as his narrow mindedness.
It makes no sense for me to have a sense of pride in ones language or dialect. I personally have been in different parts of India and heard quite a lot of different languages and their dialects. Those long tenures at different places made me realize the power of languages; how different they are, yet they serve the same purpose. I always have tried to learn to speak in the regional dialect and slang. And these trials were natural, nobody asked me for it. It makes me to enjoy the beauty of different languages. And this is no boasting. The situation then demanded me to be on the learning and adaptive phase each time I went to a new place. I couldn't have afford to stick to the belief that my previous regional language was more elegant than this! It would have turned me into the ODD man deserving to be OUT.
Malayalam is a very wonderful language with a lot of regional dialects. I have never been able to figure out if I belong to any one. I have stayed in different parts of Kerala and witnessed major differences in all aspects of the language. All the time they only amused me, never pushed me into differentiating or comparing them.
We Indians are always proud of our UNITY IN DIVERSITY. Languages are meant to break the barriers between our minds. Regional dialects of a language is never an image of the relative standard or culture of the society. No other nation can boast of such varied shades of languages and their countless dialects like us.
Languages are divided to unite HUMANITY.
"Their basic finding is that certain dialects are substandard in aspects like their wordings, pronunciation, the amount of respect shown to the folks in a conversation and so on."
ReplyDeleteWell I have to agree to the above line coz its is a fact.
"One's language reflects his culture. And vice versa too."
Quoting ur own words " Languages were essentially meant for man to express himself in the most comfortable form with the least amount of labour."
Here, ill like to add that one's words to others shows the respect he has to the person. Aint it?? (Well, u aint gonna be talking to ur parents using the words u use to us friends ;))
The culture or the "civilized nature" comes to a man mainly from education. r8? And the most educated and respected persons of a community r the persons who develop and refine their language or dialect over many generations simply coz everybody's gonna follow them. Also they r the ones who will be the main contributers to the literature of the language. If we consider this fact then u have to agree that the dialects which lie most closer to the written form of a language are better refined than the other ones. And talking such a dialect will bring in this refined nature into their lives too. Well noone's gonna include a 'theri or a bad word' in their officially recognized language vocabulary.
I aint telling all people talking a so called "substandard dialect" is gonna have a substandard culture. But sure there is a chance that others may feel so from their words.
And i do recognize the fact that the culture of the people who talk a particular dialect transfers the impresion to their dialect too.
For eg, if u live in a place of "substandard dialect" and show a much worse culture than theirs, there is a chance that they consider everybody speaking ur dialect as worse as urs ;).
After all its the culture that matters and not the dialect. So, cheer up!!;)