ipl-logo

Southern Dialect Essay

585 Words3 Pages

America is a melting pot of different cultures and peoples, so it’s no surprise that the same applies to languages. A wide variety of languages can be heard here everyday. Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Arabic are the top 5 spoken after English, with nearly 50 million speakers. Even within English, America has plenty of variation, distinguished by slang and accents. Linguists recognize 5 main regions, which can be split up into 24 smaller regions. These languages and dialects are different, but they’re all equally American. My personal dialect is Coastal Southern, which is within the larger Southern dialect. A Coastal Southern dialect is the “classic Southern” accent. The dialect is non-rhotic, meaning words ending with an “-er” …show more content…

America has many different cultures and languages, due to the large amount of immigration. While some places in America speak almost entirely English, there are many places that speak other languages entirely. French Creole (Cajun) is used in Louisiana, Pennsylvanian German in Amish communities, Spanish in Southwest, Haitian Creole and Spanish in Florida, are some examples. Their shared language and culture unites people within the area. These non-English speaking communities don’t divide America, as many people believe, but actually allow non-English speaking immigrants to feel more at home in America. This is seen in New York City -a hub for immigration- where neighborhoods consist of one language, culture, or country of origin. Despite the citizens fully embracing their own culture, New York City is still regarded as one of the most American cities in the US, showing that we are not strictly confined to English as a nation. The official language of a country is the language that the government uses. It is often the language that the majority of the population speak. Having an official language is practical, as it saves money within the government. Outside of the government though, it doesn’t accomplish much. While some people argue that it promotes national unity, many agree that an official language contradicts America’s “melting pot” culture. English should not be the official language,

Show More
Related

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Southern Comfort By George Packer

    563 Words  | 3 Pages

    Rhetorical Analysis on “Southern Discomfort” In “Southern Discomfort” George Packer initially constructs a foundation on which he can build his coming argument by mentioning a recent vote in Congress in which southern republicans dissented from the rest of the party by making up half of the “no” votes. Packer then goes on recall the history of the South, touch on some major political issues and controversies, and just generally establish himself as a credible and knowledgeable individual on the South. Throughout the article, Packer makes numerous implications that both the South as well as its culture is out-of-date; a sort of antiquated representation of America from 1970 to 2008, one filled with the cliché southerner who only loves country, guns, and football.

    Read More

  • Civil War North Vs South Essay

    1655 Words  | 7 Pages

    From the dawn of the United States, there were clear sectional differences in the county. The South had slaves and the North did not. The North had mercantilism and the South had agriculture. The founding fathers had the chance to vastly change these differences by abolishing slavery in the Constitution, but they feared the Constitution not being ratified by the Southern states. These differences, while at the time, may have seemed small, gave our country two unique economies.

    Read More

  • What Are The Barriers In The Devil's Highway Urrea

    742 Words  | 3 Pages

    Very few, if any, immigrants have the chance to learn English before traveling to the U.S. Because of this barrier, it is nearly impossible for organizations such as the Border Patrol to warn, aid, and communicate with them as they travel to the U.S. Although there are helpful signs along the border, they are written in English and are therefore indecipherable. Furthermore, the language border hinders an immigrant’s ability to survive in American society once they arrive. English is the written and spoken language in almost every city, thwarting immigrants’ opportunity to find jobs and interact with others. As they struggle to communicate, they become ostracized and do not fit in.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Immigration To The United States

    212 Words  | 1 Pages

    As a gateway to the United States, New York City has been defined by the generations of immigrants who have made it their home. According to the 2012 American Community Survey, more than 3.1 millions of people are immigrants. Immigrant entrepreneurs have made great impacts on transforming and enhancing the neighbors in New York City. Immigrants met hostilities when they first arrived to United States, they bound geographically, culturally, linguistically and economically. The formulation of Chinatown is an example, Chinese gathered together and did business.

    Read More

  • Southern Slavery Essay

    956 Words  | 4 Pages

    Most slavery took place in the American South during the seventeen and eighteen hundred’s. Although some slavery did happen in the North as well. The South did not think what they were doing was wrong, and they thought that the African American people needed the help of their masters because they were too unintelligent to care for themselves. This idea came from most slaves not learning how to read or write, because their masters would not allow it. If a slave did know how to read and write, they could not tell anyone because they might be punished harshly for knowing so.

    Read More

  • The Skin That We Speak Analysis

    1395 Words  | 6 Pages

    Language is used to convey a message as well as connect people to a particular culture or ethnicity he or she identifies with. People who share the same language share a bond and pass their history through language. In chapter one of The Skin That We Speak: Thoughts on Language and Culture in the Classroom Joanne Kilgour Dowdy speak about growing up in Trinidad and her mother insisting on her speaking in the colonizer's language rather than her native Trinidadian language. Joanne Kilgour Dowdy felt as if her identity was being pushed to the side when she was forced to speak “Colonized English” when she was at school or around the social elite of her community, and felt ridiculed from her peers for speaking proper as if she was white or of the elite social class. Dowdy major concern was how to have the freedom to go back and forth from home, language to the public language without feeling judged from both sides of her

    Read More

  • Essay On Southern Colonies

    458 Words  | 2 Pages

    Based upon the areas of geography and climate resources, and political and social life, the Southern colonies will prove to be an asset in a possible war with France. The geography and climate in the Southern colonies would be suitable for battles but, it would be avoided for economic reason. The Southern colonies will be able to cover the economic problems in the war. The political and social life would be no problem since they would probably be loyal to England. There are no problems in including the Southern colonies in a possible war against France.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Ethiopia And Usa

    633 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the U.S the primary and only language is English. English is an international language that is a custom to everyone. It is also well-known amongst majority of the nations. English is also practiced and taught to people in Ethiopia. Almost all schools in Ethiopia are taught with English.

    Read More

  • Latino ELL Students: A Case Study

    2036 Words  | 9 Pages

    Spanish is the most common language that English Language Learner (ELL) students speak or understand, and is quickly becoming an important language in the United States of America (US). (López & González-Barrera, (2013). Massachusetts is home to a large and growing population of Latino ELL students (Fry, & Gonzales, 2008, Rennie Center, 2007). These students come from diverse national, socioeconomic and linguistic backgrounds. Some may be highly educated, others may have had very limited or no formal education.

    Read More

  • Coming To America From A Foreign Country

    165 Words  | 1 Pages

    Being born and raised in a culture and then uprooting your life to pursue opportunities in a different culture can be hard in three ways. First, speaking a foreign language and then coming to America where majority of the people speak English can be difficult to adapt to. When a person has grown accustomed to speaking their native language, it can be problematic to have to pick up an entire new language. Possibilities can be limited because of the restrictions on one’s ability to communicate with other. Second, if a teenager comes to America from a foreign country they will have to take on responsibilities that they normally would not.

    Read More

  • Open Letter To The South Essay

    696 Words  | 3 Pages

    Colossians 1:16-17 reads “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” In “Open Letter to the South” (1902-1967) written by Langston Hughes and the art piece “For Bread and Freedom all Workers Demonstrate.” (1929-1935) creator unknown associate skillfully together. The two pieces figuratively describe the inequality and injustices that the white and black community faced during a time when the two races could have been more influential together opposed to separate.

    Read More

  • Essay On Immigrant Experience

    475 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Mexico, my home country, I was able to successfully communicate with others and complete assignments just by the utilizing the Spanish language, but that was not the case on this side of the border. I had to learn a whole new language that seemed to be far different from my natal

    Read More

  • Flushing Immigration History

    1368 Words  | 6 Pages

    The city of New York has been a place of immigration since the beginning and is the most diverse area in the country. Looking closer we find that Queens is the most diverse borough of the city (Starr, 2015), with Astoria as the most diverse neighborhood. There are multiple immigrants from multiple origins and many of those immigrants in Queens originate from Asia, more specifically China. The highest concentration of Chinese immigrants is in Main Street, Flushing, often called the other Chinatown of New York.

    Read More

  • English Should Be America's Official Language

    1146 Words  | 5 Pages

    In conclusion, English should be the main language spoken in the United States because of the social and economic benefits of the decision. With English as the single, common language of all Americans, immigrants, and expatriates, Americans could break down the barriers which stand between them. Having one common language could help improve life for all Americans. A common language that is spoken in a nation can bring different cultures and traditions together. With English as the official language of the United States, citizens would experience societal and economic benefits.

    Read More

  • David Troutt's Essay Defining Who We Are In Society

    618 Words  | 3 Pages

    Societies are defined by many of their aspects, but perhaps one of the most distinguishable characteristics of any given society is the language spoken there. This fact carries over even to the United States of America. The United States is a vastly multicultural country. That being said, English is the dominant language of the land, and should be officially declared its national language.

    Read More

More about Southern Dialect Essay

Open Document