[log in to unmask] wrote:
>
> Dear Ategers
>
> How would you folks analyze these sentences?
>
> 1.  He went, like, "you're crazy!"
>
> 2.  He was all like "You're crazy!"
>
Note that 'He was all "You're crazy!" ' is also a possible usage in
current 'youth English'. Both 'be all' and 'be like' (and, it seems, the
two in combination) are indeed being used as 'quotatives', that is, to
introduce direct quotations from another's speech. I've also heard/read
that 'like' is being used as a discourse marker to mark new information
or to highlight the bit of information that the speaker wants the
listener to attend to most. If this is true, it's not a mere
'place-holder' like 'um'.

I wouldn't interpret 'like' as a preposition in either its quotative use
or its discourse-marker use.

These are indeed elements of informal, teen language (they probably
qualify as 'slang'), but that doesn't make them illegitimate, nor is it
necessarily a sign of reduced competence to use the language. In-group
language exists in many groups, for very real social reasons. Slang
serves its purpose, and would not exist unless it had a purpose to
fulfill. Language communities would be poorer and more restricted
without slang and in-group language.

A lot of slang expressions are short-lived; others make their way into
informal standard language. These uses of 'all' and 'like' haven't been
around long enough to see what will happen with them. I don't use the
quotative 'like', but I have found myself using the discourse-marker
'like'. So that one may find its way into the usage of older people as
well. The fact that students cease to use it when they move into
professional life suggests that they are aware of its in-group, informal
status and of its inappropriateness in more-formal settings. This may
also doom it to a short life. Time will tell.

I feel it's important to acknowledge the validity of slang in its
appropriate social context. Formal language 'has no place' in informal
or intimate contexts--it can be seriously socially wrong when used in
situations in which informal language is expected. Slang isn't some kind
of 'bad habit'. It has an ecological niche in the world of communication.

If students aren't mastering language beyond their in-group, we have to
ask why as well as just lament it. People learn language varieties that
(a) they are exposed to sufficiently to internalize them (that is, a
lot) and (b) they perceive they need to learn in order to function
socially and professionally. If the surrounding culture (parents,
schools, popular culture, etc.) does not provide them with sufficient
exposure and does not demand that they perform in formal varieties of
language, there's no reason to expect they will learn them. This
indicates nothing about their inherent language or thinking abilities.
People of normal intelligence will learn several varieties of their
native language (indeed, several languages) if their society is
structured in such a way that several varieties are regularly and
generously used and required.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Johanna Rubba   Assistant Professor, Linguistics
English Department, California Polytechnic State University
One Grand Avenue  • San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
Tel. (805)-756-2184  •  Fax: (805)-756-6374 • Dept. Phone.  756-259
• E-mail: [log in to unmask] •  Home page: http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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