My Language is Better Than Yours!

In her story “Yes and No,” Amy Tan tells a story about a time when she crossed a New York Times article that criticized the Chinese culture as being overly modest and passive. The author of the news article draws this criticism because the Chinese language does not have words that directly represent “yes or no,” which the author infers is a result of the Chinese culture’s passive nature. It was not the first time she has heard such assumptions and because she is of Chinese heritage, she felt frustrated by other people’s perceptions of Chinese people as being abnormally polite.

I found it most interesting when Tan began to criticize the suspicious practice of comparing languages. On page 30, Tan makes the claim that “one language-that of the person doing the comparing- is often used as the standard, the benchmark for a logical form of expression,” and as a result, the language that is being compared will always be “lacking.” In that case, is there ever really a language that is lacking?

Is it also unfair to compare a formal language from its common slang? I remember when I was younger I used to talk in slang constantly. I also cursed frequently and when my family would criticize me for my “bad” speaking habits, I could not understand what made my habits so bad. In my eyes, I simply spoke words, and while my family did not agree with the words I chose to use, they always understood what I had to say. Perhaps slang does not fit the standards of the English language, but does that necessary make it deficient?

My name in IPA

[dʒanəθən]

dʒ- voiced palatal affricate

a- low back

n- voiced alveolar nasal

ə- mid central

θ- voiceless dental fricative

ə- mid central

n- voiced alveolar nasal

Some say [tometo] and some say [toməto], but regardless of the varied way the word is pronounced, somehow we still manage to understand tomato. George Yule addresses the slight variations of these sounds, known as allophones, and explains why they exist. In addition, he differentiates between phonemes and allophones, noting that swapping a phoneme in a word will result in a new meaning. I find this interesting; how is it possible that some changes in sounds do not affect a word but others do?

I also found the phonotactics section on page 46 fascinating! Yule’s examples of words like vig and [fsɪɡ] remind me of my childhood days playing scrabble. Especially at those game-breaking moments, when there would be no letters left and all the players would try to sound out the most awkward letter combinations in search of words, I think about how true phonotactics are. Daring as my friends and I might have been with some potential words, there were always some combinations of letters that clearly could not be potential words. It never needed to be questioned that zjag or oq are not words; now I am aware that my subconscious competency of phonotactics is responsible for this ability. While we do not tend to think about the rules of our language, they certainly do exist.

In fact, it makes me wonder, who is responsible for starting the English language? Were these initial rules set in place consciously or accidentally? Or to what extent was the English language planned? This class has been like an awakening and led me to question something that I had originally felt so sure of, my language.

Bridging the Gap

Growing up, I had no respect for language. Whenever I spoke, my sentences would usually start and end with some sort of curse word and my vocabulary was extremely limited. Of course, neither the fact that English was not my mother’s native language nor the fact that by my freshman year of high school I was cutting classes regularly, helped to combat my constricted English. But at the time, my limited use of language did not seem to matter; the people that were important could understand the things I had to say, namely my family and friends.

Now in my second year of college, I can see the error in my ways. I did not see the power of language when I was younger or understand the benefit of having a selection of words to choose from to share an idea. Now aware of the complexity of my thoughts, I can fully understand the importance of mastering English so that I can express my ideas clearly and thoughtfully.

Language is like an art, while words and pronunciation are like the brushes and colors available to the artist. In the same way an artist must choose the right size brush to meet the specific needs of every line, thick or thin, and the right blend of colors to bring their artwork to life, people must choose the right words and pronunciation so their audience can effectively understand what they say. Thus, I believe that the more access I have to words, the better I can express myself to a wide audience.

But then the questions are: how do I go about doing this? What are the best ways to expand my vocabulary? How do I interchange between dialects and pronunciations? How do I choose my approach in communication? And most important, do these questions really matter?

As I begin take this class, I hope to answer these questions. I hope to will learn why there are so many differences, different languages and the different dialects within those languages. Perhaps after learning about these concepts, I will be prepared with the resources to talk between people of different walks of life; whether I am speaking with a labor union worker from Milwaukee, a politician from Washington D.C. or an actor from Beverley Hills, we will be on the same page and get the most out of our conversation.