Idiolect: Drum Kit and Lebanese Roots
‘Though you might say that the way you speak is a very personal thing, and that you have your own ‘idiolect’, the way you speak is actually more determined by other people than by yourself.’ How has you idiolect been affected?
Everyone’s idiolect is influenced by many factors throughout their life, school, media, peers and many more. An idiolect is the way one speaks the vocabulary they use; the accent they have, the dialect they adopted. An idiolect is for one individual, it is unique, and no two people in the world have the exact same idiolect.
My idiolect began to be affected and form the day I was able to speak. My mother gave birth to me in Toronto, Canada. Therefore, being born in Toronto the ’typical’ Canadian accent was adopted straight away. Using words like ‘aye’ and ‘no problem’ in a discussion with friends was a habit, even from a very early age. These words were adopted by hearing them in my school, friends and my cousin, who speaks in a semi-Canadian accent.
Another major aspect that majorly affected the way I speak was my mother and father. Being born by Lebanese roots, most people including my mother thought I would take up Arabic as my mother tongue, however it was English. Having this difference from my mother and father affected my idiolect the day I was born and still affects me today. My mother speaks Arabic and English, but her main language is Arabic. Speaking English, from my perspective, was due to be born in a non-Arab country. Saying ‘Hello’ or ‘Hi’ to a teacher in school instead of ‘Salam’ was due to the majority of the country spoke English. Arabic became less useful living in Canada and English became necessary.
One of the biggest factors that affected my idiolect was moving from Canada to Bahrain. Bahrain in some ways was closer to my Lebanese roots and in others very different. Moving to Bahrain, my mother put me in a British curriculum school. Therefore most teachers, students and parents spoke in a British accent. This
Everyone’s idiolect is influenced by many factors throughout their life, school, media, peers and many more. An idiolect is the way one speaks the vocabulary they use; the accent they have, the dialect they adopted. An idiolect is for one individual, it is unique, and no two people in the world have the exact same idiolect.
My idiolect began to be affected and form the day I was able to speak. My mother gave birth to me in Toronto, Canada. Therefore, being born in Toronto the ’typical’ Canadian accent was adopted straight away. Using words like ‘aye’ and ‘no problem’ in a discussion with friends was a habit, even from a very early age. These words were adopted by hearing them in my school, friends and my cousin, who speaks in a semi-Canadian accent.
Another major aspect that majorly affected the way I speak was my mother and father. Being born by Lebanese roots, most people including my mother thought I would take up Arabic as my mother tongue, however it was English. Having this difference from my mother and father affected my idiolect the day I was born and still affects me today. My mother speaks Arabic and English, but her main language is Arabic. Speaking English, from my perspective, was due to be born in a non-Arab country. Saying ‘Hello’ or ‘Hi’ to a teacher in school instead of ‘Salam’ was due to the majority of the country spoke English. Arabic became less useful living in Canada and English became necessary.
One of the biggest factors that affected my idiolect was moving from Canada to Bahrain. Bahrain in some ways was closer to my Lebanese roots and in others very different. Moving to Bahrain, my mother put me in a British curriculum school. Therefore most teachers, students and parents spoke in a British accent. This