Language as a badge of identity
‘Language acts as a badge of identity.’ Discuss, referring to at least three of the subsystems.
Language is used every day to communicate with one another but beneath that conversation lies another message. The speaker’s use of language gives listeners insight as to who they are, like a badge of identity on their chest. Australian English’s unique phonology and lexicon is recognised globally and distinguishes it from other accents, giving the speaker a clear national identity. Ethno-lects are spoken by a specific group of people who have the same cultural background. These “ethno-lects” not only help express an individual’s identity and separate themselves from the rest, but also assist in bringing together speakers from similar backgrounds; much like a football jersey. Text speak is constantly evolving as lexemes are taking on new changes. Many teenagers and younger children have begun to adopt this in an attempt to identify with others and fit in. Through language, we can get a glimpse of a person’s identity but they can use the same medium to change that identity as well.
Australian English is unlike other Englishes in many different aspects, especially phonetically morphologically and semantically. Phonology plays a great role in national identity as it is what creates different accents. The broad, ocker Australian accent with its trademark nasal, flattened vowels is one of the key elements of Australian linguistics that sets it apart from the rest of the world. Diphthongs in lexemes like “high” are more rounded, resulting in /hoɪ/. Phonetic features such as these are easily identified as Australian. Slang is another feature of Australian English that sets it apart from others. Replacing suffixes with vowels is a good example of this. “Afternoon” becomes “arvo”, names like “Barry” becomes “Bazza” and by replacing the last element with an ‘-o’, the adjective “povo” has undergone a word class shift from the noun “poverty”. Popular culture has also
Language is used every day to communicate with one another but beneath that conversation lies another message. The speaker’s use of language gives listeners insight as to who they are, like a badge of identity on their chest. Australian English’s unique phonology and lexicon is recognised globally and distinguishes it from other accents, giving the speaker a clear national identity. Ethno-lects are spoken by a specific group of people who have the same cultural background. These “ethno-lects” not only help express an individual’s identity and separate themselves from the rest, but also assist in bringing together speakers from similar backgrounds; much like a football jersey. Text speak is constantly evolving as lexemes are taking on new changes. Many teenagers and younger children have begun to adopt this in an attempt to identify with others and fit in. Through language, we can get a glimpse of a person’s identity but they can use the same medium to change that identity as well.
Australian English is unlike other Englishes in many different aspects, especially phonetically morphologically and semantically. Phonology plays a great role in national identity as it is what creates different accents. The broad, ocker Australian accent with its trademark nasal, flattened vowels is one of the key elements of Australian linguistics that sets it apart from the rest of the world. Diphthongs in lexemes like “high” are more rounded, resulting in /hoɪ/. Phonetic features such as these are easily identified as Australian. Slang is another feature of Australian English that sets it apart from others. Replacing suffixes with vowels is a good example of this. “Afternoon” becomes “arvo”, names like “Barry” becomes “Bazza” and by replacing the last element with an ‘-o’, the adjective “povo” has undergone a word class shift from the noun “poverty”. Popular culture has also
Bibliography: Das, S, 2005. Struth! Someone 's nicked me Strine. The Age, 29 January. 34. Seaton, M, 2001. Word Up. Guardian, 21 September. 46.