Verbal Differences

Words said differently and new phrases

• o   Tram/ Mobile
• o   “Take-away” vs take out
• o   Wash vs warsh
• o   Schedule
• o   Spar and other “r” ending words
• o   Harlaxton (Har-lex-ton vs Har-lax-ton)

During the few short weeks I’ve been here in England, I haven’t heard a large range of English accent types but it has been explained to me by locals that they feel they sound very different! However, I am beginning to think that this isn’t a “My Fair Lady” type of different sounding, rather than being through accents it is more through verbatim. For example, in Grantham (where Harlaxton is located), people have a Lincolnshire accent. Meanwhile, London is said to have a Cockney accent. I have yet to be able to tell the distinction yet at this point in the trip. So I am very curious to know if I will be able to tell by the end of week three.

If you aren’t familiar with the term “lingua franca”, it is basically a common language to help communicate, often a mix of languages. According to this site, because English stems from so many other languages, it is a common lingua franca worldwide. While most people in London use English already, as it is the national language in England, I have encountered lots of other languages in a short time in London. While I certainly have not been sure what all of them are, I have recognized some German, Chinese, probably Korean, and some Hindi. With English being so common to the area and to other languages, it isn’t easy to come to understand other people but you can make it work! When we were at Harlaxton, this didn’t come up but it did rather quickly in London at a bus station!

     

 

You may have heard of the phrase “language influences our view of reality” and I really think it does. For example, I have heard for many years that people think that German is an aggressive language. And personally, I find it to be very beautiful. Maybe I just love umlauts, but I think that the language is as thick as it’s history and burly as I wish I were. German has a certain umph to it that can only be found in the way someone’s voice is used when speaking. I think that because Germany has such a negative connotation now due to the Nazi connections, the language of German has also been associated with that. Meanwhile, English speakers are known to be worldwide, common and typically courteous. Because of that, it is a friendly language. To look at another example, the language of Spanish is known for the romance and sultry of the culture.

Of course, within each language is subsets with the use of different verbatim and even accents within. Because of all of these differences, it is actually easy to decipher where people have been (physically) and where they loved being. Where they are from and where their friends or family are from. It is so interesting to me, listening to people because I can dissect their voices like a diary into their life. How do they sound when surprised? Do they get a southern tone when they’re upset? I think that listening to people’s levels of profanity is also a huge teller about their life experiences. People say to not read a book by its cover, so why read a person by their body? Instead, to know a book, you read it’s pages. To know a person, you just need to listen. Take in their words and how they say them!