Drunk in the Outback?: A Few Words on Linguistic Prejudice
A recent fire-storm in linguistic circles reminds me why I study language --- and why it's important to do so. A series of news articles were recently published which recall an age-old linguistic myth: that the way you talk is somehow a reflection of your intellectual or moral character. In this case, the suggestion was made (by a university professor, but without any training in linguistics) that the particulars of the Australian accent could be traced to habitual ancestral drunkenness. There are so many things fundamentally wrong with this notion it would be laughable, if so many people didn't give it credence because it 'feels true'.
Think about the number of ways in which you've run into linguistic prejudices that 'feel true'. Have you ever thought someone sounds stupid because they speak with a Southern accent? Noted that women mostly like to talk about feelings? Thought it humorously fitting that Russian doesn't have a word for 'fun'? None of these things are really true, but people are surprisingly adept at misinterpreting (or baldly inventing) linguistic facts to back up preconceived notions about people and cultures. Language is a domain where folk wisdom often speaks louder than real wisdom --- an unfortunate situation linguistics shares with other fields like nutrition, medicine, and child psychology.
In fact language is not something that is easily understood by mere reflection and introspection, and not something well-served by gut feeling. The trouble is that while language --- any language --- is an extremely complex system in large part utilized unconsciously, individual speakers are acutely aware of and honestly overestimate their own agency. While an individual must pick a topic to speak about and pick the right words to do so, very little of this operation beyond the original intention is actually transparent to the speaker.
As a linguist who studies the unconscious factors underlying language, it becomes clear that to understand how any language works is to engage in deep cultural egalitarianism. There is no "correct" or "better", no "wrong" or "weird" --- just a series of sounds or signs marshaled in the service of the communication of ideas. All people with language have this ability, and all languages empower people to communicate successfully. Thus it is incumbent upon those of us who study language to fight back against the misinformed and occasionally xenophobic, sexist, bigoted, and down right crazy opinions people propagate about language. So no, Australian English isn't 'drunk English', a Southern accent does't mean you're dumb, and Russians do have fun (and talk about it, too)!
Though language matters to me in many professional and personal ways, studying language as a way of equipping yourself to combat stereotypes was the bait that hooked me. On par with understanding statistics, or learning to read critically, really understanding how language works and is used opens a door to higher truths about mankind and the human condition. For me, this discovery that language is in fact a living, breathing thing that exists independent of and in times despite moral and educational systems was a powerful elixir. Who wouldn't be swayed by the thought that through enough careful study, one could uncover fundamental truths about the way in which human behavior is structured?
About the Author:
Laurie Lawyer recently received her PhD in Linguistics from UC Davis, where she studied the intersection between cognitive neuroscience and phonological theory. She is currently a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Cognitive Neurolinguistics Laboratory at the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain.