The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 18, 1977, Page Page 4, Image 4
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
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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.
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