> From: "Donna J. Bursey" <[log in to unmask]>
<SNIP>
> The way spoken (and written) English is deteriorating is appalling! And just
> to give it a sf-nal context, I find it interesting that, even in cyberpunk
> novels, where everyone is "street gang" level in society, they still speak more
> correctly than many people (of all societal levels) actually do in real life.
> Is this saying something about the author, do you think, or something about an
> impatience with dialect that would have to be generated (since it all changes
> so quickly), or to keep clarity for the reader? Motivations?
>
> Thoughts, please?
> donnab
> [log in to unmask]
Hmm... That's an interesting question, and one that I haven't really
considered. How about the computer teaching street-punks english,
and therefore them speaking "perfect" english? ;) I know, it
doesn't work. However, speaking from a writer's point of view, I
haven't really heard people talking about dialect in Future English,
although writers tend to "know" when they're doing historical fiction
that dialect is an important thing to portray atmosphere. I have
heard of this before -- I took a class in linguistics in college, but
even then, I didn't connect the two!!
I'd say, from all that, that its probably just something that a
lot of writers don't think of, or if they do, just brush off because
very few other sf authors write in dialect and sell -- a fearful
future when you invest a lot of time in a work. Personally, I am a
bit deterred at the thought just because when I read dialect, it is
ALWAYS in a historical context and *I* don't personally find it any
more enjoyable a read in most cases. There are certain exceptions,
but... A lot of writers went overboard on the use of dialect in the
past century, and people are being more frugal now-a-days.
Just while I'm thinking about it, how would that be handled?
From a reader or a writer? I know that some writers change words for
others (clockwork orange a noteable one, as well as "smaller" works
like trainspotting) though they are "modern" and not really science
fiction -- although maybe clockwork orange has a tinge of science
fiction there... You can switch words, but if you mess up the
language a lot, dropping words, as someone suggested, or grammatical
context, I have serious doubts that a reader would put up with your
"fooling." As a reader, I find that I can extend a level of
"disbelief" to the use of language in that manner. Would many people
here truly be INTERESTED in a story or novel written in a "future
dialect?"
Those may be thoughts that are going through an author's head
as he/she writes... just off MINE...
Arysta
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