Re: YAEPT alert! [Re: Not phonetic but ___???]

In France, there seems to be a new dialect rising
since some years. It's used by what we call "les
jeunes des quartiers" (one has to understand: the
youngsters from the poor, difficult suburbs). It's
rather much influenced by Northern-African accent, but
even people being not from Northern Africa use it. It
uses special pronunciation, syntax (or lack of
syntax), and vocabulary (for ex "verlan" = reversing
the normal syllable order and simplifying the result:
femme -> meuf (woman), flic -> keuf (cop), shit ->
teushi (hashisch), etc.

Those people have access to French national TV
channels, but it seems that in reaction, they do all
they can to speak their own way. Now even TV channels
often interview them (trying to show that these
channels are young, up-to-date, comprehensive, and
non-racists). So it seems that there is a real split
in the language. Usually you can guess that somebody
will speak this new language, because he wears a cap
marked with the Nike sign, unstringed sport shoes, and
baggy trousers. Kind of a uniform. I think it's not
just a temporary fashion, it looks to be something
deeper. Perhaps in 20 years there will be two official
languages in France.

--- Gary Shannon <fiziwig@...> wrote:
> --- John Cowan <cowan@...> wrote:
> > Christophe Grandsire scripsit:
>
> <snip>
>
> >
> > What makes English unusual, indeed, is how little
> > diverse it is outside
> > Britain: one can go for thousands of miles in
> North
> > America or Australia
> > and discern only the finest possible differences
> in
> > dialect.  The lack of
> > a standard dialect, though, is much more unusual
> for
> > a language so widely
> > spread and with such a substantial literary
> > tradition (the differences
> > between *written* Englishes other than lexis are
> > absolutely trivial).
>
> I don't honestly believe that the old rules apply
> any
> more.  Even the most isolated community of English
> speakers still has access to global television,
> radio,
> movies, music, and the Internet.
>
> Contrary to all of recorded history, I believe that
> the future will see regional dialects of English
> becoming LESS distinct over time due to the effects
> of
> global connectivity.  I find my own pronunciation
> drifting ever so slightly in the British direction
> due
> to long exposure to BBC America.
>
> It's interesting to note that even now pop singers
> from Great Britian, India, and Australia, while they
> SPEAK in their native dialect tend usually to SING
> in
> a distinctly American dialect, and singers of
> country
> western music, regardless of their SPOKEN dialect
> tend
> always to SING in the stylized "country music
> dialect".
>
> --gary

=====
Philippe Caquant

"High thoughts must have high language." (Aristophanes, Frogs)


	
		
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