It's time to challenge the notion that there is
only one way to speak English
Harry Ritchie
The Guardian,
http://gu.com/p/3ybhb
Why do we persist in thinking that standard English is right, when it is spoken by only 15% of the British population? Linguistics-loving Harry Ritchie blames Noam Chomsky
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We welcome this attention to linguistics. The fundamental conundrum being, however, that
a. a culture will only sustain itself by nurturing a standard, + b. sensibly, the cultural mode must be based in inclusivity allowing for the standard's embrace of different configurations of expression, = c. where do we draw the line?
As a music student in Copenhagen in the 1970s I recall a fellow student from the dark, inhospitable, all too godly, inners of Jutland having to take a course in 'getting rid of your accent.' There's only so much abuse the Danish treasure of poetic folk-psalms can take! In that particular case, probably, a separate language. Danish also approaches English in grammatical structure the further west you go from Copenhagen. For example, eventually, the two genders en/et disappear in a simple, useful 'a.' It makes sense, then, that farmers there are known not to say much. In regards to any topic they just look at the weather and intuitively know what each other is thinking.
Now, Copenhagen, as we know, is awash in cultural snobbism; which means a viewpoint such as Richie's is refreshing for any standard.
While we shouldn't solely 'blame' Chomsky, Richie paints a just picture of what must be academic snobbism:
"Chomsky also played a significant part in creating a subject that managed to avoid engagement with culture and society. He turned grammar into an technical subject full of jargon and algebra studied on whiteboards by men with beards, leaving everyone prey to the pernicious drivel of the traditional grammar guardians, who belong to the 15%. "
So much for the why. Where, how do we draw the line?
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