Adventures in the English language; AkaThe YGS thread

[Hermit]

On the subject of 'innit' it is interesting to me that it seems to be used by certain speech groups as the default tag question.
'Iz cool, innit?' adheres to the rules of English. But I've heard such instances as 'That was wicked, innit?'
English is especially productive in tag question formation, requiring reversing the polarity and selecting the correct verb tense and pronoun, and using 'do' or 'will' or other words, depending on the original statement.
He is late, isn't he?. They are late, aren't they? He isn't late, is he? They aren't late, are they? They like it, don't they? She disagreed, didn't she? She'll meet us, won't she?
In Japanese there is a general tag question that applies to all constructions. ですね？Desu ne?
You can tack it on to any statement and it still serves as a tag.
(I think that something similar applies with German 'Nicht Wahr?, but I'll happily be corrected by any German speakers here.)

The German language has a whole raft of those tags which serve (with minor inflections) the same purpose. In addition to the one you mentioned there are 'ne', 'wa', 'gell', 'gelle', 'woll', 'he', 'oder', 'stimmt's' or simply 'nicht'.

[Hermit]

"...one of the only..."

[The_Piper]

I like that one.

[The_Piper]

"Fly it high and proud God bless America
People are like a dozen chocolates you never know when your going to find the nut"
I think we found that nut.

[don't get me started]

Modal verb with 'of' instead of 'have' ('ve)
'You should of called.'
'I would of waited.'
'They could of told us.'
'What would you of done?'

Nah....

[The_Piper]

I hate that one!

[don't get me started]

I was thinking a little bit about this thread and the ways that language users are simultaneously conservative regulators of the language they speak and also devil-may-care innovators. The two tendencies seem to be co-present in speakers, on-and-off, even in close proximity within a conversation.

I was reflecting on my own language use and its changes. I have noticed that I have recently started using the set expression 'I hear you' when I want to signal agreement (or partial agreement), or understanding and so on and generally affiliate with what the previous speaker has said. This is an interesting development for me. I'll explain why.

In my readings on linguistic typology a common trait of many languages is to prioritize the visual sense over the other senses in line with the unequal division of human sensory perception. ( Sight> Sound> (Touch, Smell, Taste))
This manifests itself in a complex of verbs for visual perception (see, look, watch in English) and a much simpler division for 'lesser' senses'. (Consider 'He looked at it and saw that it was damaged' vs 'He tasted it and it tasted sweet). The visual verb often gets linked to cognition as in 'I see' in English meaning 'I understand'. (I even read once that the retina is not merely a light sensitive membrane at the back of the eye, but can also be seen (!) as a 'distant outpost of the brain'.)

The visual verb seems more self-referential and internal (It is MY understanding that is the focus) whereas the auditory verb seems to be more rooted in the interaction I hear you)

My own shift from a visual verb to signal comprehension to an auditory verb to signal not just comprehension but also affiliation is an interesting example of small scale change, although I think I still use 'I see' in some situations.

Here is an interesting paper on perception and interaction for anyone interested in reading further on this topic.

Universal meaning extensions of perception verbs are grounded in interaction
Lila San Roque, Kobin H. Kendrick, Elisabeth Norcliffe and Asifa Majid


https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/cogl.2018.29.issue-3/cog-2017-0034/cog-2017-0034.xml

[don't get me started]

I came across this dialect quiz.
It's really good and located me pretty accurately. (South West Scotland, North Cumbria and the North East. All places I lived when I was growing up.)

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/02/15/upshot/british-irish-dialect-quiz.html

It was well nostalgic to read the word that was common for one's girlfriend when I was at school...Mot.

[romansh]

I came across this dialect quiz.
It's really good and located me pretty accurately. (South West Scotland, North Cumbria and the North East. All places I lived when I was growing up.)

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/02/15/upshot/british-irish-dialect-quiz.html

It was well nostalgic to read the word that was common for one's girlfriend when I was at school...Mot.

Well having been out of the country close to forty years … I had to do the 96 question version to get it about right.
West Midlands yeah.

But my wife's London habits must have influenced me.

Where's Professor Higgins?

[don't get me started]

Yeah, I think that having lived out of the UK for nigh on 25 years my language has evened out a fair bit. I've also worked alongside Americans and Canadians for all of that time so there are a few transatlantic terms that I use now (sneakers instead of trainers and stand in line instead of queue up). There were a few questions that weren't on the quiz that would have been a dead giveaway.

To make a mistake - To maff it up.
An untidy room or place - Scrow
To bicker in the manner of young siblings - To fratch
Embarrassed or ashamed - Shanned up or ladgeful
Head - Bonce
Ears - Lugs
To steal - To chore
Tomorrow - Ain the morn
Can't you... - Can ye no..?
I'll accompany you to the station - I'll chum ye tae the station
Packed lunch taken to school or work - Your 'piece'

[zulumoose]

Packed lunch taken to school or work - Your 'piece'

I don't recognise any of the others, but this one was used by my grandparent's and Father's (born 1933) generation in Belfast.

[Fallible]

My results created a big stripe from mid Wales to Cornwall. Hmm. Never lived in Wales, but I did spend a lot of formative years around the Bristol area. I also spent time in the South East, but almost nothing pings up from there. My chosen words are only mildly used in the Liverpool area, where I've been for nearly 20 years. A few flag up in Ireland.

[zulumoose]

I can't get the dialect quiz to work. It asks a question "up-front" about your upbringing, but won't respond to my choice at all.

[Scot Dutchy]

I cover most of the country with an emphasis on Scotland (no surprise).

[Hermit]

Definitely not from around here are you? Your answers were closer to the average person outside of Ireland and Britain than anywhere inside it.

Spot on. I was raised in Germany for almost 16 years and lived in Australia for the next 50.

[Scot Dutchy]

I am the same but almost in reverse.

[Fallible]

I've clearly retained next to nothing from my childhood in Canada.

[Svartalf]

same here.

Never got why people devoted so much attention and passion on hockey in winter and baseball in summer.

[Fallible]

Same with me! I don't even understand baseball.

[felltoearth]

I've clearly retained next to nothing from my childhood in Canada.

Just a bit of orange in the south west. It knew I wasn’t from around the UK.