We have all heard the word dialect, but I never really knew the definition. This week in class we distinguished the difference between slang, accent, and dialect. Slang is usually informal, used by the younger generation and is temporary; it dies as the generation ages. Back in the 60s and 70s a popular slag word was "groovy;" people don't use that word today. (Every once in a while it slips out of my dad's mouth, but that is more to get a laugh.) Today people might say "sick" or "cool" to describe something they like. Slang focuses strictly on vocabulary; the grammar and pronunciation doesn't change. Accents and dialects tells people who you are and how you would like to be perceived. Accents are usually heard when a person is speaking a second language. The grammar and vocabulary is the same, the words are just pronounced differently. Everyone has an accent in someone's opinion; people who live in the south may feel that we have Californian accents. A dialect is a unique variety of a language that differs from the other varieties in regards to vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar. Everyone has a dialect. Dialects can be social (Ebonics is associated with the African-American population) or regional (Gullah in the south).
You never think that you have an accent or a dialect, but we all do. It may be easier to recognize that you use slang on a regular basis because it is cool and a conscious choice. We learn proper English in school, but we choose to insert slang in order to make ourselves look better or to fit into a group. Our own accent automatically comes out of our mouth and we may not even be able to pronounce the words differently. Some people who are learning a new language end up taking speech lessons in order to improve their accents. Everyone around us speaks our dialect. In our case we speak Californian. We may think that this is the right way to speak, but people from other parts of the country may think we sound funny. Even within California there are many dialects.
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