Cynthia,
 
In the 1980s MacNeil-Lehrer Productions and the BBC produced a series called The Story of English.  It's a series of five videotapes.  They interviewed people speaking in different parts of the British Isles, and traced their accents into different areas of the United States.    The accents in different parts of the British Isles vary widely.
 
The impression they give is that these regional differences in the U.S. are not the result of change from one common language, but quite the reverse.  In many sections of the country, the English we use has changed very little from that which was used in England several centuries ago.  In some cases the language has changed more in England than in the U.S. 
 
These malapropisms and mondegreens, however, unless they receive widespread usage, may be immaturity in the use of the language, and it is our task to clarify them to the students.  
My classes were international students, and I would start class every day (and take attendance) with a quiz based on a problem sentence from a paper I had graded recently.  Of course, corrections are easier with international students, because their egos are not attached to the foreign (to them) language in the classroom. 
 
Missouri.   People have asked me about the last syllable, and I find the question confusing.  I never thought about the last syllable.  It is totally without accent.  When I say it, it does reduce to the ee sound, but I suppose it could reduce to uh without my noticing. 
 
Jean Waldman
----- Original Message -----
From: [log in to unmask] href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">Cynthia Baird
To: [log in to unmask] href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]
Sent: Thursday, March 16, 2006 8:01 PM
Subject: Re: Edith/Herb Question: Language change and malapropism

I do not have more examples right off the top of my head, but my non-English teacher husband just raised the same concerns as I shared with him my excitement over the internet's ability to quickly track and analyze language changes.  He insists that when communication is compromised, a standard must be adopted. The question is, whose standard and what standard and how much change is "good" and how much is "bad"?  Rather rhetorical question, I admit, but as teachers of English, important questions, I think.

Linda DiDesidero <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
The vowel changes are interesting, Herb. But what about the disconnect betweent the speaker's intent and the hearer's perception? This is where the interesting issues lie (i! ssues that make good conversation at Edith's faculty meetings! and at ours too!)
 
If a speaker says 'flush it out' but she really means 'to fill in the details', she is not communicating effectively to me because I will understand that she means 'to get rid of it'.
 
If she describes a little girl as a 'pre Madonna' but I hear 'prima donna', we are understanding things rather differently.
 
I guess that these are examples of how one generation can create new concepts that in some places will supplant the old ones. 
 
Does anyone have any more examples?
 
Linda
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