Diversity enriches the English language
What do you know about the English language? Caribbean-English is one of the many rich new varieties of English you might hear in the UK. Why do people complain? Isobel Francis reports.
English, as the brilliant linguistic professor David Crystal once observed, is a 'vacuum cleaner of a language'. As it stands, almost a third of the words we think of as 'English' are actually derived from French, thanks to the Norman invasion of 1066. Nobody seems to complain. So, how come we allow French to be a part of English yet, when Carribean language is introduced through immigration and affects teen speech through integration and popular culture, British people seem to be extremely opposed to it. It may be ignorance, idiocy or simply racism. Those classic British values.
London’s boroughs are extremely diverse and, as a consequence of this, Multicultural London English, MLE, developed in the 1980s. The popularity of Jamaican music in the UK has led to the emergence of slang rooted in Jamaican patois being used. MLE developed through Jamaican patois, (patois is the colloquail or lower status dialect of a particular region compared to the main language of the country), but has also had a large range of influences ranging from Punjabi, Bengali and Tamil, to Yoruba, Akan, Arabic and Turkish. Its diversity has helped teens growing up to understand their heritage and create an identity. Yet many people - particularly conservative cultural commentators - believe it ‘sounds ridiculous’ and absurd. These views are usually thought of by the middle to upper class who are comfortably living in the least diverse parts of the country or the capital. West London princesses moan to their ‘daddies’ about how ‘ghetto’ people are talking despite not understanding the deep roots behind the accent and slang.
The Caribbean-English accent constantly gets degraded and attacked without proper reasoning. The people who criticise it seem to believe that bringing this accent, and its linguistic baggage, to the UK goes against what it means to be British. This brings up the question, what does it mean to be British? Surely exiling those who speak non-standard English should not be a good English value. In that case, we’ve got to ship off half of the Midlands! This is clearly nonsense. England has always thrived through immigration and the mixing of cultures. Our tea is from India; our cars are from Japan; our electronics are from China; our beer is from Germany; our cinemas and television are from America and some of our language is from the West Indies. Get over it.
Many people are just ‘baffled’ by the new surge of Caribbean slang but they choose not to adapt and accept that it is just a new addition to the British culture. This has happened many times in the past and will happen again and again in the future. Not accepting it proves how incapable the older generation are of appreciating new things. Teens today are more engaged in current events than ever. We watch the news, understand politics and accept the introduction of new slang. So why are some older people so averse to it? ‘But this just didn’t happen in my day!’ is always the common excuse. You didn’t have the internet or your iPhone but you have adapted to using it now without kicking up a fuss on how it ‘just isn’t British’.
The resistance to MLE, with its 'bare', 'buff', 'gyaldem', 'ting' isn't just about the language itself. It's an indication of an undercurrent of racism that seems to remain ingrained in Britain. OAPs won’t complain about Scottish 'bairns', or Yorkshire 'now'ts' - they're unlikely to complain about American 'cookies' or 'movies', but when the influence involves people of colour, suddenly there's a problem. All this despite the fact that they'll happily order food from any culture at their local takeaway. Baffling!
Over 250 languages are spoken in London alone, and 31% of the British population speak two languages, which demonstrates how diverse Britain is. We are a country built on immigration and other cultures. It's worth remembering that this rich diversity is mainly down to our history and its cultural legacy. Until the early 20th century, the British Empire invaded and occupied as many countries as it could, including the Americas, Australia, the West Indies, India, Libya, Somaliland, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Madagascar. It's not surprising that Britain today is made up of other cultures. This is because we stole everyone else’s and left behind an education in speaking English in return!
Honestly, Carribean-English creates a new form of English that we need to accept. It is part of the new British. Rich, diverse and fascinating.
Isobel Francis, Year 13
English, as the brilliant linguistic professor David Crystal once observed, is a 'vacuum cleaner of a language'. As it stands, almost a third of the words we think of as 'English' are actually derived from French, thanks to the Norman invasion of 1066. Nobody seems to complain. So, how come we allow French to be a part of English yet, when Carribean language is introduced through immigration and affects teen speech through integration and popular culture, British people seem to be extremely opposed to it. It may be ignorance, idiocy or simply racism. Those classic British values.
London’s boroughs are extremely diverse and, as a consequence of this, Multicultural London English, MLE, developed in the 1980s. The popularity of Jamaican music in the UK has led to the emergence of slang rooted in Jamaican patois being used. MLE developed through Jamaican patois, (patois is the colloquail or lower status dialect of a particular region compared to the main language of the country), but has also had a large range of influences ranging from Punjabi, Bengali and Tamil, to Yoruba, Akan, Arabic and Turkish. Its diversity has helped teens growing up to understand their heritage and create an identity. Yet many people - particularly conservative cultural commentators - believe it ‘sounds ridiculous’ and absurd. These views are usually thought of by the middle to upper class who are comfortably living in the least diverse parts of the country or the capital. West London princesses moan to their ‘daddies’ about how ‘ghetto’ people are talking despite not understanding the deep roots behind the accent and slang.
The Caribbean-English accent constantly gets degraded and attacked without proper reasoning. The people who criticise it seem to believe that bringing this accent, and its linguistic baggage, to the UK goes against what it means to be British. This brings up the question, what does it mean to be British? Surely exiling those who speak non-standard English should not be a good English value. In that case, we’ve got to ship off half of the Midlands! This is clearly nonsense. England has always thrived through immigration and the mixing of cultures. Our tea is from India; our cars are from Japan; our electronics are from China; our beer is from Germany; our cinemas and television are from America and some of our language is from the West Indies. Get over it.
Many people are just ‘baffled’ by the new surge of Caribbean slang but they choose not to adapt and accept that it is just a new addition to the British culture. This has happened many times in the past and will happen again and again in the future. Not accepting it proves how incapable the older generation are of appreciating new things. Teens today are more engaged in current events than ever. We watch the news, understand politics and accept the introduction of new slang. So why are some older people so averse to it? ‘But this just didn’t happen in my day!’ is always the common excuse. You didn’t have the internet or your iPhone but you have adapted to using it now without kicking up a fuss on how it ‘just isn’t British’.
The resistance to MLE, with its 'bare', 'buff', 'gyaldem', 'ting' isn't just about the language itself. It's an indication of an undercurrent of racism that seems to remain ingrained in Britain. OAPs won’t complain about Scottish 'bairns', or Yorkshire 'now'ts' - they're unlikely to complain about American 'cookies' or 'movies', but when the influence involves people of colour, suddenly there's a problem. All this despite the fact that they'll happily order food from any culture at their local takeaway. Baffling!
Over 250 languages are spoken in London alone, and 31% of the British population speak two languages, which demonstrates how diverse Britain is. We are a country built on immigration and other cultures. It's worth remembering that this rich diversity is mainly down to our history and its cultural legacy. Until the early 20th century, the British Empire invaded and occupied as many countries as it could, including the Americas, Australia, the West Indies, India, Libya, Somaliland, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Madagascar. It's not surprising that Britain today is made up of other cultures. This is because we stole everyone else’s and left behind an education in speaking English in return!
Honestly, Carribean-English creates a new form of English that we need to accept. It is part of the new British. Rich, diverse and fascinating.
Isobel Francis, Year 13