Correct American Language as Prestige Language Prejudice What is Sociolinguistics?

 

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Crossing in NYC
Join in on a conversation in a music store

Watch your Language
Language is a form of social identity  

Hip Hop Nation
A creative variety borrowed by many

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Language as Prestige Index

Language as Prestige

Crossing Over

Language Crossing —
Borrowing Identity 
Linguists study "crossing" to understand how — and why — individuals mimic the speech of another group. "Borrowing" another language variety is often an expression of identity. Cecelia Cutler explains. Read Full Essay

Different accents, whether regional or foreign, signal different types of people. In animated Disney films villainous characters often have a British accent whereas stupid characters may have a southern accent. Robin Hood spoke with a California accent. King Louis the orangutan in “The Jungle Story” spoke with an African American accent. In action hero cartoons the enemy may have some kind of foreign accent — Russian or Arabic, (see Rosina Lippi-Green’s book “English with an Accent” for more examples). The meanings these accents carry can be used in turn by ordinary people in everyday situations, on the radio and on television to mimic, paraphrase, or mock the speech of others, or simply to have fun. People engage in this kind of verbal behavior for a number of reasons: sometimes it’s to get laugh. In other cases, we use the words of others to strengthen our own arguments. We may also imitate another group’s speech to show that we identify with its speakers. Still in other instances, we perform someone’s speech in order to mock them or to distance ourselves from their views. Linguists often refer to this kind of behavior as “language crossing” or simply “crossing.”

When crossing into a foreign, regional or social accent, the speaker may either be signaling solidarity with or distance from that group of speakers depending on how the speech is performed and what its market value is. Some foreign accents and dialects are associated with wealth and prestige (i.e. a French accent or certain British accents) and may be used in ways that play on commonly understand associations between these accents and their speakers. Some types of English have “covert” prestige for certain groups. Varieties like African American English — shunned by the mainstream — have special ingroup cachet for young people — especially young men — who affiliate with hip-hop culture. White suburban middle class hip hoppers adopt the speech patterns and lingo of their urban African American counterparts in ingroup settings. It helps them project a more urban, “street” persona in these situations than their ethnic and class status would otherwise afford them.

Other accents are arguably not prestigious and may even be stigmatized in mainstream society (e.g. a Spanish accent or “Brooklynese”).  When crossing involves these kinds of accents, it may be used to mock the speakers associated with them. It also effectively distances the speaker from the words and or message being delivered such as when people intentionally misuse Spanish expressions like “hasta la pasta” instead of “hasta la vista.” Some researchers call this “mock Spanish” and claim that it is a racist strategy employed by many Anglos in the Southwest and in California to distance themselves from Latinos. But crossing can also simply be part of the playful repertoire of a group of friends who draw on familiar pop cultural references from Monte Python to The Simpsons for humorous effect.