Much as I like what I see as your intent here (suggesting ways to respect non-standard dialects of English spoken by people who aren't in power) I do have a couple of issues with your approach here.
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One is with the idea that anyone's dialect can be seen as an incomplete language. If it's someone's native tongue, it's a complete language. Maybe not as wealthy in words as one spoken by millions, but still a complete language and capable of extending to a pretty much infinite degree, as the speaker encounters things they need to express.
Actually, the same goes for anyone's *ideolect* (their personal variant of their dialect).
'Standard American English' is a dialect. So are 'standard British English' and all the other 'standard' versions of English.
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American English (AE) is a cousin of modern British English (BE), not a descendant of it. It's got features of the two dialects' common ancestor that have been lost in modern BE, just as modern BE has features that AE has lost.
Both also have innovations unique to themselves and both have borrowed from each other.
no subject
Date: 5 Feb 2011 12:40 am (UTC)***
1
One is with the idea that anyone's dialect can be seen as an incomplete language. If it's someone's native tongue, it's a complete language. Maybe not as wealthy in words as one spoken by millions, but still a complete language and capable of extending to a pretty much infinite degree, as the speaker encounters things they need to express.
Actually, the same goes for anyone's *ideolect* (their personal variant of their dialect).
'Standard American English' is a dialect. So are 'standard British English' and all the other 'standard' versions of English.
***
2
American English (AE) is a cousin of modern British English (BE), not a descendant of it. It's got features of the two dialects' common ancestor that have been lost in modern BE, just as modern BE has features that AE has lost.
Both also have innovations unique to themselves and both have borrowed from each other.