Category: language

Via silent-tristero, I discovered this article in the LA Times on a recent study on dialects in America. You might think that it’d be mostly common sense but, there were some surprises as well:

Work on the atlas already has begun to unveil some surprising facts about the state of North America's dialects, such as the sharp boundaries that exist between them. Some linguists have argued that pronunciation patterns should vary along continuums, the way the northern prairie gradually becomes the southern desert. Labov has found that dialects tend to abut sharply, more like cold and warm weather fronts.

“When you drive from Akron down to Columbus, Ohio,” he said, “you’re crossing one of the great American divides [from the Northern to the Midland dialect], even if you're not aware of it.” [...]

The article also links to the web version of their dialect atlas. There, you can see, for instance, that Oklahoma City is part of the South Midland dialect — the same as Cincinnatti — not the Southern dialect. And, El Paso is part of the West dialect — same as Sacramento — not the Southern dialect either.

From Word Spy, today's coined-word of the day is “defensive pessimism”.

Defensive pessimism can be reduced to a three-step mental rehearsal. First, approach the anxiety-producing task with lowered expectations, certain that it will go badly. (Take, for example, public speaking, a common fear: commit yourself to the idea that your next speech will be a disaster.) Then, imagine in detail all the ways in which it will go awry. (You will lose your notes at the 11th hour, you will trip on the way to the podium, you will be pilloried by your colleagues.) Finally, map out ways to avert each catastrophe.

For strategic optimists, the sorts of people who like to psych themselves up for a challenge, this routine would produce more anxiety, not less. But for anxious people, Norem’s findings show that this unusual method can offer a sense of control, however limited, over uncomfortable circumstances.

—David Rakoff, “The Year in Ideas,“ The New York Times Magazine, December 9, 2001

Word Spy continues:

The “Norem” mentioned in the above citation is psychologist Julie K. Norem. In 2001 she published a book called The Positive Power of Negative Thinking that outlined the techniques and paradoxical benefits of defensive pessimism.

If you’re wondering whether such a strategy might work for you, Norem has a quiz you can take to see if you qualify as a defensive pessimist (I scored a 61, btw).

I'm on the mailing list for the American Dialect Society and one guy mentioned the “hypothetical subjunctive” tense. Yoiks, I don’t even know what that means, but I like the sound of it ;).

This seems to be a phenomenon that surpasses language boundaries: I have often wondered why german sportscasters shun the hypothetical subjunctive (Konjunktiv in German) of the “missed chance” type. They invariably say “Die Mannschaft musste noch ein Tor schiessen, statt nur das Resultat zu sichern" instead of “haette noch ein Tor schiessen muessen”. I have come to accept it as a marker of a specific functional style, particularly now that I learn it is the same in English.

Prof. Dr. Peter Lucko
Humboldt-Universit�t zu Berlin
Institut f�r Anglistik und Amerikanistik