By Jessica Jacklitch
For The Diamondback
Linguist and New York Times columnist John McWhorter detailed recent trends in human dialects and languages during a talk Friday afternoon at the University of Maryland.
The Maryland Language Science Center hosted McWhorter’s “Why Most Humans Talk in Two or More Ways” event, which was held in Stamp Student Union. During the talk, McWhorter explained how “diglossia” — the use of multiple dialects within one language — has become humans’ standard communication method across the world.
“It’s easy for us to understand that there are people who can speak two or more languages,” McWhorter said during his talk. “Often the case is that we can be a little bit thrown by the fact that people speak their own language in more than one way.”
McWhorter is an associate English and comparative literature professor at Columbia University. He has also authored multiple books about language, Black culture, and race relations in the United States.
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McWhorter explored dialects across many languages, including German, Arabic, Sinhalese, French and English on Friday. A person may employ a different form of language in certain contexts as each region has its own dialect, he added.
People speak in different ways without realizing it, which is a natural phenomenon, McWhorter explained.
Most languages have a “high” and “low” way of speaking, McWhorter said. “High” language refers to how a language is used in formal settings, according to McWhorter, while “low” refers to how it is used in everyday conversations.
McWhorter stressed attendees not to think of “high” language as a more sophisticated form, but rather a more suitable version for its context.
There is more than one way to speak in English, McWhorter said. African American Vernacular English carries complexity and cultural significance that is not always understood, he added.
Abby Kameny, a university alum who earned a linguistics undergraduate degree and master’s in education, attended Friday’s event. Kameny told The Diamondback that the event was important to her as a teacher who teaches English as a second language.
“It’s important for [my students] to have role models and teachers that embrace their linguistic diversity,” Kameny said.
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Mac Lauchman, another university alum who studied linguistics, said the event represented her as both a linguist and English speaker raised by a Russian mother. Moving forward, Lauchman said it is important for people to respect others, even if they speak a different dialect.
“You’re not better than somebody or more articulate just because you pronounce your O’s in a different part of your mouth,” Lauchman said. “Grammar is just as complex, whether or not it’s standard or non standard.”
According to McWhorter, diglossia exists to some extent even in what he describes as “standard American English.” English speakers use different vocabulary in different social contexts, he added.
McWhorter is hopeful people will appreciate other languages and dialects and become more aware of how they talk in their everyday lives, whether using different vocabularies or shifting between dialects.
“[I want others] to be less inclined to listen to people speaking something other than the standard and think ‘What’s up with that?’ rather than ‘Isn’t that cool?’” McWhorter said during the talk.
