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Language; H " m, but that's c By JAY WELLS Gamecock Staff Writer Some persons fear that spoken English in the United States is declining in quality, but language change is constant, unavoidable and necessary so that society can uiutjji iu c? jjunsianuy cnanging environment, Raymond O'Cain an associate English progessor at USC, says. "PEOPLE DON'T abuse language. They use it to express what they want to say. Everybody thinks we should have a standard spoken English, but there are times when it just ain't important," O'Cain said in WIS-TV interview yesterday. "Language should be different. Language is similar as compared with clothes because language should be different on the occasion." The English language is changing and the e hange reflects social alterations, geographic differences, and the amount of education one has. O'Cain said. "IN SOUTH Carolina there are two different speech patterns spoken. One is from the low country, reaching from Charleston to Columbia. The other speech pattern is from the midlands to the upper part of the state. It reflects the migrations of people from Pennsylvania and Virginia. These people settled in western North Carolina, northern Alabama, and in the piedmont of our state," O'Cain said. Language usage is a way pvupic- juuge people, people i affiliate others by their accent and j Krnr ?r T i k. J i a ' t ain't respeci >kay, prof es the choice of words they use, he said. Group affiliations influence language use because of the forces of a peer group. A person wants to belong and excepts and uses the spoken language of the peer group, he said. "We are taught what good English is, but we change our language to meet our needs," he said. "WE HAVE WORDS that we use as references to different things like fashions snnrte everything we do." A type of slang that has developed are words substituted for other words. The word "bones" has been used in place of "dice". Bones expresses the ivory color of GRADUATE IF YOU HAVF STAPTi JOB, IT IS TIME FOR YOUR PROFESSION^ S.O.S. COMPOSE, ED PROFESSIONAL RE IMPROVE YOUR CHA AN IIM I fcK FOR APPOINT/ 254-i HmanH iT T i I ted, GAr fiQirc kJv^JL oaj o the die. Words may also change meanings when used in different situations O'Cain said. "In the past eight years, over 1500 words have taken on new meanings. Since 1961 there have been 50,000 new slang words and 50,000 new and different meanings,"he said. "Our language is changing so much that new words and meanings are formed, but the only ones that go into the dictionary are the words that get accepted by the people," he said. * As spoken language changes so does grammar, O'Cain said, and changes in the written language follow changes in the spoken after a period of time. IG SENIORS ed looking for a you to prepare \l resume. we at it, and prepare a SUME that will lNCES of getting i VIEW. AENT CALL >343 B 1 * *J0EM2Z Sf ; 1^ Jk I\UM31 Reg.- $ I 629 Main St. I I Reuben Shackelford's LION'S HEAD RESTAURANT FAMILY STEAK NIGHT MONDAY, TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY Includes: Rib-eye Steak, Baked potato, ? QQ bread, trip to salad bar, ^ h ^ w iced tea or coffee 5:30 to 9:30 P.M. Proper Dross Roquirod RESERVATIONS REOIIIBCn | 741 SoludY*Ave!" 799-6303 BLACK SUNDAY It could be tomorrow I 3rd W?*kl N I ?:M : - ?fe?wjLAA i 3 PERFORMANCES.' Mft/||]ll#in rfylrf AT2:15 JO DAILY ^^H?MftU^ll>UI^M| 5:15-8:15 UrrT'S BEEF SPECIAL 139 Super - $275 fi-nn DAA 4:1 . .vi 111 closing FREE DELIVERY 771-4098