Fry's Planet Word - Ep.2 - Language and Identity

Fry's Planet Word - notes taken when watching:
'How language and our accents shape our identity'

  • Accents are shaped by both where we are born and where we are raised
  • Geographical location can sometimes be an indicator of social class or status
  • Some accents are ' better' or more desirable than others because they represent different things
  • Geordie accent is popular, friendly and reassuring
  • RP/SE accents are more powerful as they represent a higher social status
  • Call centre - geordie picks up phone, if there are problems the phone is given to someone with a posh accent who says the exact same thing and the problem is resolved
  • Variations between language can affect how we think/ see the world, e.g. if a person's language has gendered objects then people often describe said objects relating to the gender
  • Language can depend on who you're addressing, especially when there are different ways to say the same thing, e.g. a colloquial phrase compared to a formal phrase
  • Languages often take words from other langauges
  • Language can make people feel like they belong more to the land thy are in
  • Linguicide - the death of a language, often caused by globalisation  
  • The French academy - only want one version of the French language so meet up to decide which words are included and which words are excluded from the language - oppress minority languages - feel their language is threatened by English as the numbers of English speakers has increased
  • Music has an effect on language, e.g. rap music influences slang and informal register as the codes used in the music can be translated into everyday life
  • When reviving dead languages new words need to be created for things that did not exist during the time the language was used - this often creates a hybrid of their language and the language they took inspiration from 

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