[Whisper]

Language and Dialect
In Sociolinguistics: an introduction to language and society, Peter Trudgill (2000) addresses the factors which influence a person’s language and dialect. The first example that Trudgill brings up is a study in which judges had to guess the race of the speakers based on their voice over the phone. The speakers who were white were raised in predominantly black areas, and the black speakers were raised in predominantly white area. The judges guessed wrong with every speaker. What this study demonstrates is that there is no necessary correspondence between race or any physiological trait and dialect. Rather, Trudgill argues that language is a social construction (Trudgill, 2000, p. 48). Various factors, such as economic class, ethnicity, and geographical location may contribute to one’s language. According to American Tongues, the most influential thing behind the language or dialect a child will speak is the peer group the child finds. Children maintain this linguistic impression throughout their life. It can be argued that social class, ethnicity, and geography, are described more generally by the person’s identity or is a result of social interaction. However, the social interaction aspect of a person’s early development is ultimately more influential than their identity to language. One way in which social interactions is more influential than identity, is that language is a learned instinct, and identity includes more innate aspects of a person. A second way in which social interactions is more influential to one’s language than identity, is that one may use a language in order to receive social favors. A third one is that language is a function of social interaction.

One way in which social interactions is more influential than identity, is that language is a learned instinct, and identity includes more innate aspects of a person. Language is oftentimes used as an identifying characteristic (Trudgill, 2000, p. 45). A person’s identity no doubt includes their environment and the people they are around, however a person may have innate aspects to identity such as personality and physical race, which is agreed to be less of a contributing factor to how they speak. I would argue that parts identity such as personality and interests are having an increasing effect on language due to the internet in our era, but historically the development of language is restricted to a local environment and social interactions which the individual does not get to choose. People may have particular a way they personally speak, but it is not as drastic of a category such as an entire language, since language is created to communicate with other people. People’s identity is to an extent also expressed through their regional dialect, for example a southern accent. This identity of being southern was formed through the social interactions of living in the south. Despite this, it is problematic if one claims that all aspects of identity have a chiefly social cause (from outside of oneself). If identity is used as a blanket term (not exclusively in a social sense), this is a contradiction to Trudgill’s claim that language is a social construct, since identity is not necessarily a social construct, and language can be thought of as a social utility in part. Therefore social interactions are more influential to the development of language than identity.

A second way in which social interactions is more influential to one’s language than identity, is that one may use a language in order to receive social favors. This is where conformity comes into play. While an adult may desire to conduct business “professionally” in order to conform to societal standards, they tend to revert back to their original dialect or language on their own time. One may also gain social favors by being with an in-group. In American Tongues (Alvarez, L., Kolker, A. 1988), two black girls point at their friend who is a “schoolgirl” and state that she uses slang less. They speak of how slang gives a person more credibility. In the case of Black English, or AAVE, it may also be deemed appropriate to be more expressive when around a certain group. Conformity is a result of being disadvantaged in particular social interactions due to one’s accent or language. Therefore it is still an effect of social interactions. One may feel empowered to speak a language to affirm their identity culturally (which contextually is still a result of social interactions, or social position), or contrariwise they are disempowered and conform. Many rural or southern accents cause one to be perceived as unintelligent. Identity crises emerge from a person having conflicting values as to how they should identify socially.

A third way in which social interaction is more influential than identity to the development of language is that language is a function of social interaction. The identity of a culture can be thought of as entirely contained within that group of people’s social interactions. Therefore cultural identity is only a subcategory of a person’s social interactions. This is so because language is a learned behavior through social interactions of children from their peers, as explained in American Tongues when (Alvarez, L., Kolker, A. 1988). Language allows us to structure information, and communicate abstract ideas and images. Language does this in a social sense, and allows for widespread development through the spread of information. Individual identity may be a determining factor for choosing to speak a particular language, but language in general has a much more practical purpose. Language is meant to communicate information in the social sense. For the individual, a language may still be ultimately chosen as a social practicality rather than their own form of expression. Language is developed through communication, a form of social interaction. It is fallacious to presume that any one general language is a better language as a result. Musical syntax and Mathematical numbers are mechanically created for a utilitarian purpose, but cultures which develop general languages are more evolutionarily dynamic, formed by human values and regional cultural blending. This is exemplified by how the European immigrants landed on the East Coast of the United States, which has the most linguistic diversity as a result (Alvarez, L., Kolker, A , 1988).

In conclusion, social interaction is more influential to the development of language than identity. Although this is true, identity may have a growing influence. Identity is an abstract defining concept, oftentimes applied to a culture as well as an individual. Identity may often be defined based upon social class, ethnicity, and nationality lines. In our society, identity often tends to be more individual. The reason behind a more individual concept of identity in modern culture, is that the meaning of social interaction itself has begun to change as there is a diverse amount of sources of information, and much freedom to individualize. Overall, the social aspect of identity is defined through interaction.
 
References
Trugdill, P. (2000) Sociolinguistics: an introduction to language and society (p. 42, 45). 4th ed.
Alvarez, L., Kolker, A. (1988) American Tongues.
Harrison, D. (2007). An Extinction of (Ideas about) Species. In When Languages Die: The extinction of the World’s languages and the erosion of human knowledge (p.46, p.48, p.50). New York: Oxford University Press.
Pinker, S. (1994). The Language Instinct. (p.24, p.52). NY.

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